Battery Pack Maintenance Device for Cell Balancing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric vehicle battery packs are challenging to maintain due to high voltages, expensive replacement costs, and the need for skilled technicians, with unbalanced batteries reducing energy storage capacity and causing premature drainage of other batteries.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack maintenance device with power supplies, electrical loads, and test circuitry to balance and refurbish batteries by measuring charge and applying controlled voltage and load, allowing for the selection of batteries with similar parameters for replacement and balancing within the pack.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If battery packs use higher voltage and capacity to improve energy storage, then energy storage capacity increases, but maintenance difficulty and safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple individual battery cells that can be independently tested, diagnosed, and maintained. The system provides cell-level access to voltage, temperature, and charge state information, enabling targeted maintenance of specific cells rather than requiring service of the entire high-voltage pack, thus reducing maintenance complexity while preserving high capacity
Solution Approach 2:
A diagnostic and maintenance device serves as an intermediary between the technician and the high-voltage battery pack. This device interfaces with the battery management system to provide simplified diagnostics, cell balancing capabilities, and safety controls, shielding the technician from the complexity and hazards of direct high-voltage work while maintaining the ability to service high-capacity packs
2Duration of action of moving object
If battery capacity increases to extend vehicle range, then vehicle range improves, but battery balancing becomes more critical and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs battery cell balancing continuously during normal vehicle operation by redirecting charge current from fully charged cells to cells with lower charge state through the power supply units. This eliminates the need for separate balancing procedures and ensures all cells remain balanced throughout the vehicle's operational lifecycle, supporting extended range without increasing maintenance time
Solution Approach 2:
The diagnostic device pre-charges or pre-discharges individual battery cells to matching voltage levels before assembly or activation of the battery pack. This preliminary balancing action ensures that all cells start at equal charge states, preventing imbalance from developing during subsequent use and eliminating the need for time-consuming balancing procedures later
3Use of energy by moving object
If expensive battery packs are used to increase energy density, then energy efficiency improves, but replacement cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables recovery and reuse of individual battery cells that have degraded or failed within the pack. By providing diagnostic capabilities to identify specific problematic cells and tools to safely remove and replace only those cells rather than the entire pack, the system recovers functional cells for reuse in other applications, significantly reducing replacement costs while maintaining the high energy efficiency of the original expensive battery pack
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device enables efficient maintenance and refurbishment of electric vehicle battery packs, reducing the need for skilled technicians, lowering costs, and improving battery performance by ensuring balanced batteries, thus extending the life and efficiency of the battery packs.
Implementation Method 1
Control circuitry selectively controls a voltage applied to the battery by the plurality of power supplies
Implementation Method 2
a load applied to the battery by the plurality of electrical loads
Implementation Method 3
Test circuitry is configured to measure an amount of charge of the battery
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for balancing charge of a battery in a battery pack includes a plurality of power supplies configured to be selectively coupled to the battery and a plurality of electrical loads configured to be electrically coupled to the battery. Test circuitry is configured to measure an amount of charge of the battery. Control circuitry selectively controls a voltage applied to the battery by the plurality of power supplies and a load applied to the battery by the plurality of electrical loads based upon a measured amount of charge of the battery.A method and apparatus for repairing or testing a used battery pack from an electric vehicle includes optionally removing the battery pack from the vehicle. Batteries within the pack are balanced such that they have similar states of charge.The present invention includes a battery pack maintenance device for performing maintenance on battery packs of hybrid and/or electrical vehicles (referred herein generally as electric vehicles). In various embodiments, the device includes one or more loads for connecting to a battery pack for use in discharging the battery pack, and/or charging circuitry for use in charging the battery pack. Input/output circuitry can be provided for communicating with circuitry of in the battery pack and/or circuitry of the vehicle.