Battery Cell Matching Across Multiple Characteristics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing techniques cannot effectively match cells across multiple characteristics during battery assembly, leading to inefficiencies and a high number of leftover cells that are discarded.
Innovation Solution
A multi-characteristic cell matching process that evaluates cells based on multiple characteristics such as capacity, open circuit voltage, resistance, and self-discharge rate, using a cell compatibility matrix and a tiebreaker process to identify compatible cells for battery assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If cells are matched using a single characteristic, then the matching process is simple and quick, but the battery performance is suboptimal and many cells are discarded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from matching cells based on a single parameter to evaluating multiple cell characteristics simultaneously. The system calculates compatibility scores across multiple parameters (capacity, voltage, resistance, etc.) and uses these multi-dimensional evaluations to form battery packs, thereby improving both matching efficiency and battery performance without discarding excessive cells.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite compatibility score by combining multiple cell characteristics into a unified evaluation metric. Rather than treating each parameter separately, the system integrates multiple parameters into a composite assessment that determines overall cell compatibility, enabling more effective battery assembly while reducing waste.
2Reliability
If cells are matched across multiple characteristics, then battery performance improves and cell utilization increases, but the matching process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual or simple mechanical matching processes with an automated computational system. The processor automatically calculates compatibility scores across multiple parameters, compares cell characteristics, and determines optimal pairings, thereby managing the increased complexity through automation rather than manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-evaluation by automatically assessing cell compatibility across multiple parameters without requiring external intervention. The processor independently calculates compatibility scores, identifies suitable cell pairs, and determines battery pack compositions, enabling the matching process to handle its own complexity through self-service computation.
3Quantity of substance
If cells from different lots or manufacturing runs are mixed, then cell availability increases, but battery reliability decreases due to uncorrelated characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality assessment by evaluating each cell's specific characteristics individually rather than assuming uniformity across lots. The system measures and compares actual cell parameters (capacity, voltage, resistance) for each cell, allowing cells from different manufacturing runs to be matched based on their actual local properties rather than their origin, thereby maintaining reliability while increasing availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent shifts from lot-based matching (where cells are grouped by manufacturing batch) to parameter-based matching (where cells are grouped by actual measured characteristics). By changing the matching criterion from categorical (lot number) to continuous (measured parameters), the system can effectively mix cells from different lots while maintaining compatibility through quantitative parameter comparison.
Data Source
AI summary
For each cell in a plurality of cells from a same manufacturing run, a first and a second cell characteristic are received in order to obtain a plurality of cell characteristics. For each cell, a batch compatibility number that is associated with a number of compatible cells that that cell is compatible with is determined based at least in part on the plurality of cell characteristics. The plurality of cells is sorted according to the batch compatibility numbers to obtain a sorted list of cells. A plurality of compatible cells to include in a battery is selected from the plurality of cells, including by evaluating the plurality of cells according to the order of the sorted list of cells and beginning with the lowest batch compatibility number.