Battery Pulse Charging Control for Fast Charging and Durability

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing battery charging technologies face a trade-off between fast charging and maintaining battery durability, often requiring material or structural changes that incur additional costs and increase cell variation, leading to performance degradation.

Innovation Solution

A battery control apparatus and method using a charging pattern of pulse signal units with alternating charging and rest sections, adjusting cathode and anode potentials, and applying feedback controls to manage current and voltage differentials, thereby improving charging speed and durability without additional processes or costs.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If fast charging is applied to shorten charging time, then charging speed is improved, but battery durability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecharging speedVSAvoidbattery durability

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies periodic pulse charging instead of continuous charging. The charging current is applied in pulses with alternating charging sections and rest sections, creating periodic action that allows the battery to recover between charging intervals. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining high average charging speed while preventing durability degradation through periodic rest periods that reduce polarization and heat accumulation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent incorporates rest sections before full charging is completed to preliminarily address polarization issues. By applying reduced current or zero current during rest sections, the system preliminarily resolves polarization buildup before it causes significant durability damage, enabling subsequent fast charging cycles to proceed more effectively.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If battery material or structure is changed to improve charging speed and durability, then charging performance is improved, but manufacturing cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecharging performanceVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the temporal parameters of charging (pulse width, duty cycle, rest interval) rather than changing battery materials or structure. This parameter change approach achieves improved charging performance and durability while avoiding additional manufacturing costs, as it only requires control algorithm modifications rather than hardware changes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses a control pattern that can be copied and applied to existing battery designs without modification. The pulse charging algorithm can be implemented through software or control circuits in standard battery systems, avoiding the need for costly material or structural changes while achieving the desired performance improvement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Productivity

If battery structure becomes more complex to improve charging performance, then charging speed is improved, but cell variation increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecharging speedVSAvoidcell variation

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The periodic pulse charging pattern with standardized charging and rest sections provides uniform treatment to all battery cells, reducing variation. By applying the same temporal pattern to the entire battery system, the method ensures consistent charging conditions across cells, preventing the variation that would arise from complex or asymmetric structural modifications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

4Productivity

If constant current charging is applied to improve charging speed, then charging efficiency is improved, but polarization increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecharging efficiencyVSAvoidpolarization

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces continuous constant current charging with periodic pulse charging that includes rest sections. During charging sections, current is applied efficiently, while rest sections allow polarization to dissipate. This periodic modulation maintains high charging efficiency while preventing harmful polarization accumulation that would occur with uninterrupted constant current charging.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent converts the harmful effect of polarization into a manageable parameter by using rest sections to control its buildup. The polarization that naturally occurs during charging is allowed to reach a controlled level, then is reduced during rest sections, transforming what would be a harmful continuous accumulation into a controlled cyclic phenomenon that can be managed and even utilized to inform subsequent charging adjustments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

Data Source

PatentUS20260005537A1Apparatus for controlling battery and method thereof

Publication Date: 2026.01.01 HYUNDAI MOTOR CO LTD

AI summary

An apparatus for controlling a battery includes a memory that stores a program instruction, and a processor that executes the program instruction, wherein the processor may charge the battery based on a charging pattern of at least one pulse signal unit that includes a charging section in which a constant voltage is applied to the battery, and a rest section in which a current below a threshold current value is applied to the battery.