Integrated Battery Charging and Balancing Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery charging systems with separate charging and balancing circuits are inefficient, leading to prolonged charging times and potential damage to battery packs due to frequent over-voltage protection triggers, resulting in unbalanced cell voltages and shortened battery life.
Innovation Solution
A battery charging and balancing system that includes a detecting circuit to monitor cell voltages, a charging circuit to provide charging current based on valid balancing signals, and a balancing circuit to control discharging switches, enabling efficient cell balancing and charging based on cell or pack voltage thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the charging circuit and balancing circuit are separated in independent chips, then the charging circuit can control charging voltage and current, but the system cannot control the battery pack flexibly and efficiently, leading to prolonged charging time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the charging circuit and balancing circuit into a single integrated chip. The charging circuit includes a charging controller that can control charging voltage and current, while the balancing circuit includes a balancing controller that can balance cell voltages. This integration enables coordinated control of both charging and balancing functions, resolving the technical contradiction by improving charging speed through flexible control while managing device complexity through integration.
2Reliability
If the over voltage protection is triggered frequently to protect battery cells, then battery safety is improved, but the charging process is interrupted repeatedly, prolonging the charging time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary balancing action before over-voltage protection is triggered. The balancing controller detects cell voltage differences and activates balancing switches to discharge higher-voltage cells before the charging voltage reaches the over-voltage threshold. This preliminary action prevents frequent over-voltage protection triggers, thereby improving battery safety while avoiding charging interruptions and reducing charging time.
3Reliability
If the charging process stops when voltage or current thresholds are reached, then overcharging protection is provided, but the cell balance remains unfinished, hurting battery performance and life
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the charging controller and balancing controller continuously monitor cell voltages and charging parameters. When charging voltage or current reaches thresholds, the system provides feedback to the balancing controller to complete the balancing process before stopping charging. This feedback loop ensures both overcharge protection and complete cell balancing, thereby protecting battery life while maintaining reliability.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the balancing circuit discharges cells to achieve voltage balance, then cell balance is improved, but the charging process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the charging and balancing control functions into a single integrated chip with coordinated controllers. The charging controller manages charging voltage and current, while the balancing controller manages cell balancing by controlling balancing switches. This integration simplifies the overall control system architecture while achieving effective cell voltage balance, resolving the technical contradiction between balancing performance and system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery charging and balancing circuit, for charging a battery pack having a plurality of cells. The battery charging and balancing circuit having a detecting circuit to provide a balancing connection indicating signal; a charging circuit to charge the battery pack based on the cell voltages when the balancing connection indicating signal is valid, and to charge the battery voltage otherwise; and a balancing circuit to control the discharging switches coupled with the cells based on the cell voltages when the balancing connection indicating signal is valid.