Battery Cell Fault Isolation Using Fuse-Cut Discharge Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in detecting defective battery cells and preventing recurrence of risk factors that can lead to explosions, as existing solutions do not effectively disconnect and manage defective cells within the pack.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that include a fuse connected to a battery cell, a monitoring unit to measure voltage, current, and temperature, and a control unit to determine the state of charge and operational state of the battery cell, controlling a discharge switch to either turn on or off based on the cell's state and whether the fuse is cut, thereby disconnecting defective cells from the pack.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If battery cells are continuously monitored and defective cells are disconnected, then safety and prevention of explosions are improved, but device complexity increases due to additional monitoring and control components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the battery pack into individual monitorable units (battery cells) with dedicated monitoring and control for each cell. This allows targeted detection and disconnection of only defective cells rather than requiring complex system-wide monitoring, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a discharge switch as an intermediary component between the battery cell and the load. This simple switching mechanism serves as a mediator that can quickly isolate defective cells without requiring complex control systems, thereby improving safety while minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
An apparatus for detecting a defect of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may disconnect a battery cell at which a defect is detected inside a battery pack to remove a risk factor that may occur from the corresponding battery cell. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, risk factors that may cause explosions can be eliminated by discharging the battery cell at which a defect is detected. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the recurrence of the risk factor can be prevented in advance by disconnecting the battery cell at which the defect is detected from the battery pack.