Battery Control Circuitry for Automated Charging Mode Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery-powered vehicle charging methods are manually intensive, lack temperature-based charge rate control, and fail to auto-detect situations requiring different charging modes, such as lithium or lead acid batteries, leading to inefficiencies and potential over-discharge.
Innovation Solution
A system where rechargeable battery control circuitry communicates with a charger through charge delivery pathways to manage charging by opening and closing a contactor, sending messages to select appropriate charge modes based on battery conditions, temperature, and type, ensuring efficient and safe charging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual charging operation is used, then the user can control the charging process, but the operation becomes manually intensive and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The battery control circuitry automatically detects charger connection, identifies battery type, determines appropriate charging mode, and controls the charging process without requiring manual user intervention. The system serves itself by autonomously managing the entire charging sequence from connection detection to charging termination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors charging parameters, battery temperature, and charger status, using this feedback to dynamically adjust charging rates and communicate with the charger to optimize the charging process while preventing overheating and overcharging.
2Reliability
If automatic charging mode selection is implemented, then temperature-based charge rate control is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control circuitry performs multiple functions including charger connection detection, battery type identification, temperature monitoring, charging mode selection, and charger communication through a single integrated system, eliminating the need for separate dedicated circuits for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts charging parameters such as charge rate and voltage based on detected battery temperature and type, automatically selecting appropriate charging profiles without requiring complex manual configuration or multiple fixed-mode circuits.
3Adaptability or versatility
If battery information communication is enabled, then the charging station can auto-detect battery type and mode, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines power delivery pathways and information communication pathways into a single integrated connector interface, allowing the system to transmit both electrical power and battery identification signals through the same physical connection without requiring separate communication hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector serves dual purposes by simultaneously providing electrical power transfer and battery type/mode identification through integrated signal pathways, eliminating the need for separate dedicated communication ports or additional sensing components.
Data Source
AI summary
A system controls charging of a rechargeable battery. The system includes a rechargeable battery configured to provide rechargeable battery power to a set of electrical loads (e.g., an electric motor of a utility vehicle). The system further includes a connector configured to connect to a charger, and control circuitry coupled with the rechargeable battery and the connector. The control circuitry is operative to (i) sense a charge management event, (ii) in response to the charge management event, connect the rechargeable battery to the connector and disconnect the rechargeable battery from the connector to provide a message to the charger through the connector (e.g., via opening and closing a contactor), and (iii) after communicating the message to the charger, manage connection between the rechargeable battery and the charger to control charging of the rechargeable battery through the connector (e.g., via opening and closing the contactor).