JP2013140055A - Battery monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a battery monitoring system which efficiently supervises the deterioration information for each battery module.SOLUTION: A sensor unit 20 is fixed to each battery module 11. The sensor unit 20 includes a sensor information detection circuit 21 for acquiring the detection signal of a sensor 12 and a radio communication instrument 23. A battery monitoring unit 30 includes a radio communication instrument 32 and an ECU 33. The ECU 33 has a deterioration diagnosis function to sequentially obtain the deterioration information of each battery module 11 on the basis of the detection signal received by the radio communication instrument 32 at the sensor unit 20 when the battery module is used. The sensor unit 20 further includes a storage device 25 having a memory for storing the deterioration information. The storage device 25 stores the deterioration information received by the radio communication instrument 23 and obtained by the ECU 33 in the memory. The deterioration information stored in the storage device 25 can be read out at an arbitrary timing including after completion of use of a secondary battery 10 and can be transmitted outside the sensor unit 20 by a transceiver 23.

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery monitoring system, and more particularly to management of deterioration information of a secondary battery.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-339829 (Patent Document 1) describes a configuration for exchanging information by wireless communication as an assembled battery monitoring device for eliminating wiring complexity. In Patent Document 1, in an assembled battery composed of a plurality of battery modules, information is exchanged by wireless communication between a voltage measurement unit attached to each battery module and a battery control unit (ECU: Electronic Control Unit). The Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, information on the type of battery, manufacturer, lot information, battery capacity, etc., and control information necessary for charging the battery are stored in the memory of the voltage measurement unit configured by a ROM (Read Only Memory). It also describes storing control information necessary for charging the battery. Thus, in Patent Document 1, the complexity of the wiring is eliminated, and at the same time, the ECU can be used universally even if the characteristics of the battery used change.

  In addition, it is known that secondary batteries deteriorate as their use (charge / discharge) progresses. Therefore, it has been proposed to estimate the deterioration state of the secondary battery online when the secondary battery is used. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-241246 (Patent Document 2) describes a state estimation device for a secondary battery that performs online state estimation based on a battery model equation.

  According to the state estimation device disclosed in Patent Document 2, a characteristic map for a change in a parameter value at the time of a new product with respect to a change in a battery state is created for a parameter in a battery model formula, and a battery in use of a secondary battery Based on parameter identification based on a model formula, it is described that deterioration is diagnosed based on a ratio (change rate) between an identified parameter value and a new parameter value corresponding to the current battery state.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-195312 (Patent Document 3) describes a secondary battery life estimation apparatus that estimates a remaining life suitable for a secondary battery mounted on a vehicle. According to Patent Document 3, the correlation function is determined so as to have a high correlation value with the full charge capacity or internal resistance of the accumulated secondary battery. The correlation function is a linear function having the square root of the total mileage of the vehicle as a variable, and is determined using a least square method or the like. Then, the point where the determined correlation function intersects the life determination line is determined as the life, and the travel distance to the life is estimated as the remaining life.

JP-A-8-339829 JP 2008-241246 A JP 2007-195312 A

  In some cases, a secondary battery is used as an assembly of a plurality of battery modules in order to ensure a necessary output voltage and stored electric energy. For example, a battery pack configured as an assembly of battery modules is used as a power source for driving a motor in an electric vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. Each battery module includes one or a plurality of battery cells and a sensor that detects a state value (voltage, current, temperature, etc.) of the battery module.

  In the configuration as described above, since the price of the entire battery pack (assembled battery) increases, it is advantageous from the viewpoint of reusing the secondary battery to replace the battery in units of battery modules. In such a battery replacement mode, it is important to grasp and manage the deterioration state in units of battery modules. In addition, it is assumed that the entire battery module is stored in an integrated manner after a plurality of assembled batteries are disassembled into battery module units.

  According to Patent Literature 1, the ECU can perform various types of monitoring and control such as charging control and life determination of the assembled battery based on the battery information transmitted wirelessly from the voltage measurement unit. And while a voltage measurement unit is attached to the side surface of each battery module, ECU is arrange | positioned independently with respect to a some battery module in common with respect to several battery modules.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 1, since deterioration information of each battery module is monitored and managed by the ECU, it is difficult to manage deterioration information for each battery module after the assembled battery is removed from the apparatus. As a result, in battery replacement in units of battery modules as described above, the battery pack monitoring apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 may have difficulty in managing deterioration information of each battery module.

  Patent Documents 2 and 3 describe on-line estimation of the deterioration state of the secondary battery when the secondary battery is used, but how to manage such deterioration information in units of battery modules. There is no mention of what to do.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to facilitate battery reuse in units of battery modules constituting the assembled battery. A system configuration capable of efficiently managing deterioration information is provided.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a battery monitoring system includes a sensor unit attached to a battery module and a battery monitoring unit for monitoring the state of the battery module when the battery module is used. The sensor unit includes a sensor information detection circuit for acquiring a sensor detection signal for detecting a state value of the battery module, and a first wireless communication unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from the outside of the sensor unit. . The battery monitoring unit includes a second wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the sensor unit, and a deterioration of the battery module based on a detection signal received by the second wireless communication unit when the battery module is used. And a calculation unit for sequentially obtaining deterioration information indicating the state. The sensor unit further includes a first storage unit for storing deterioration information and a read / write control unit. The read / write control unit writes the deterioration information received by the first wireless communication unit to the first storage unit, and sends the deterioration information read from the first storage unit to the first wireless communication unit. Configured.

  In a further aspect of the present invention, the battery monitoring system includes a sensor unit attached to the battery module and a battery monitoring unit for monitoring the state of the battery module when the battery module is in use. The sensor unit sequentially obtains deterioration information indicating a deterioration state of the battery module based on the detection signal when the battery module is used, and a sensor information detection circuit for acquiring a detection signal of the sensor that detects the state value of the battery module A first wireless communication unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from the outside of the sensor unit, a first storage unit for storing deterioration information, and a read / write control unit . The read / write control unit is configured to write the deterioration information obtained by the arithmetic unit to the first storage unit and to send the deterioration information read from the first storage unit to the first wireless communication unit. . The battery monitoring unit includes a second wireless communication unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from the sensor unit.

  Preferably, the battery monitoring unit instructs the sensor unit to read the deterioration information in response to the reading request. The read / write control unit reads the deterioration information from the first storage unit in response to an instruction from the battery monitoring unit. The first wireless communication unit transmits the deterioration information read by the read / write control unit. The battery monitoring unit further includes a display unit for displaying the deterioration information received by the second wireless communication unit.

  Preferably, the battery monitoring system further includes an information acquisition device for acquiring information on the battery module. The information acquisition apparatus includes a third wireless communication unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from the sensor unit, and a control unit for instructing the sensor unit to read out deterioration information in response to the read request. Including. The read / write control unit reads the deterioration information from the first storage unit in response to an instruction from the information acquisition device. The first wireless communication unit transmits the deterioration information read by the read / write control unit. The information acquisition device further includes a display unit for displaying the deterioration information received by the third wireless communication unit.

  More preferably, the operation power of the sensor unit is supplied by a battery module to which the sensor unit is attached.

  More preferably, the battery monitoring unit is provided in common for a plurality of battery modules, and is equalized for some battery modules in order to equalize the output voltages of the plurality of battery modules. Generate instructions. The operation power of the sensor unit is supplied by a battery module to which the sensor unit is attached. In the sensor unit corresponding to the battery module that receives the equalization instruction from the battery monitoring unit, the first wireless communication unit transmits the invalid radio wave until the output voltage of the corresponding battery module decreases to the target voltage. To work.

  Alternatively, more preferably, the first wireless communication unit includes a disturbance radio wave determination unit and a frequency adjustment unit. The disturbance radio wave determination unit is configured to determine whether a disturbance radio wave exists in the communication frequency band used by the first wireless communication unit. The frequency adjustment unit is configured to change the transmission frequency by the first wireless communication unit when it is determined that a disturbance radio wave exists.

  Preferably, the battery monitoring unit is provided in common for the plurality of battery modules, and sequentially selects the plurality of battery modules. Each sensor unit or the first wireless communication unit of each sensor unit transmits and receives information to and from the battery monitoring unit in a period when the corresponding battery module is selected by the battery monitoring unit, while in a non-selected period. Is set to the standby state.

  Preferably, the deterioration information includes information on the internal resistance and capacity of the battery module.

  According to this invention, since the deterioration information of each battery module can be efficiently managed for the assembled battery composed of a plurality of battery modules, battery reuse in units of battery modules can be facilitated.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the battery monitoring system by Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage device illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart explaining the update process of the deterioration information of each battery module in the battery monitoring system by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the battery monitoring system by the modification of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the transmitter / receiver 23 by Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating intermittent operation of a sensor unit according to Embodiment 2. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the process sequence for implement | achieving intermittent operation | movement of the sensor unit shown in FIG. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the battery monitoring system by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the battery monitoring system by the modification of Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the same or corresponding parts in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated in principle.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a battery monitoring system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the secondary battery 10 is configured as an aggregate in which a plurality of battery modules 11 are connected. Each battery module 11 may be configured by a single battery cell, or may be configured by connecting a plurality of battery cells. The secondary battery 10 (that is, each battery cell) is configured by, for example, a nickel metal hydride battery or a lithium ion secondary battery.

  The secondary battery 10 supplies driving power for a load (not shown). The load is constituted by a traveling motor mounted on an electric vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. Further, the load charges the secondary battery 10 with regenerative power of the electric motor.

Each battery module 11 is provided with a sensor 12 for detecting a state value of the battery module. This state value includes at least a part of the battery voltage, the battery current, and the battery temperature.
Hereinafter, the state value detected by the sensor 12 is also collectively referred to as “battery data”. In the example of FIG. 1, since the battery modules 11 are connected in series, the battery current is common among the battery modules 11. Therefore, the current sensor can be omitted from the sensor 12 provided for each battery module.

  In the present embodiment, the state quantity can be detected for each battery module 11. Therefore, the deterioration state can be estimated individually for each battery module 11 based on the battery data. That is, preferably, the battery module 11 corresponds to a unit capable of individually calculating deterioration information indicating the deterioration state of the battery based on the battery data.

  A sensor unit 20 is provided for each battery module 11. Similarly to Patent Document 1, it is preferable that the sensor unit 20 is integrally attached to the corresponding battery module 11. Each sensor unit 20 includes a sensor information detection circuit 21, a transceiver 23, an antenna 24, and a storage device 25.

  The sensor information detection circuit 21 acquires a detection signal of the sensor 12 arranged in the corresponding battery module 11. That is, the sensor information detection circuit 21 can acquire battery data of the battery module 11.

  The transceiver 23 can transmit / receive information including data to / from the outside of the sensor unit 20 by wireless communication via the antenna 24. The transceiver 23 can transmit the battery data acquired by the sensor information detection circuit 21 to the outside of the sensor unit 20 through the antenna 24. The transceiver 23 can receive information from outside the sensor unit 20 by the antenna 24.

  The operating power supply of the sensor unit 20 is preferably obtained from the corresponding battery module 11 attached. In this way, since the power supply wiring of the sensor unit 20 from the outside of the battery module 11 can be omitted, the assembling property of the secondary battery 10 as an assembled battery is improved.

  The battery monitoring unit 30 includes an antenna 31, a transceiver 32, an ECU 33, and a display device 34. The battery monitoring unit 30 is provided in common for the plurality of battery modules 11 and monitors the charge state and the deterioration state of each battery module 11. Based on the charged state and the deteriorated state, the upper limit value of the input / output power of the secondary battery 10 is set. The battery monitoring unit 30 is mounted on a vehicle when the secondary battery 10 is an in-vehicle battery.

  The transmitter / receiver 32 can transmit / receive information including data to / from the outside of the battery monitoring unit 30 by wireless communication via the antenna 31. Thereby, information can be exchanged between the transceiver 32 of the battery monitoring unit 30 and the transceiver 23 of the sensor unit 20.

  The ECU 33 is typically configured by a microcomputer and executes predetermined control processing or arithmetic processing. The ECU 33 can acquire battery data from each sensor unit 20 by controlling the transceiver 32. The ECU 33 estimates the state of charge of each battery module 11 based on the battery data. For example, SOC (State Of Charge) indicating the current remaining capacity with respect to the full charge capacity as a percentage is calculated.

  Further, the ECU 33 can execute a deterioration diagnosis for calculating a deterioration parameter indicating a deterioration state based on the battery data of each battery module 11. The deterioration parameter includes the internal resistance and full charge capacity of the battery module 11 as shown in Patent Document 3. A known method can be appropriately used for calculating the internal resistance and the full charge capacity. Moreover, it is also possible to use the parameter of the battery model expression identified in Patent Document 2 as a deterioration parameter. Then, the ECU 33 generates deterioration information as the value of the deterioration parameter itself or information based on the deterioration parameter.

  The ECU 33 requests each sensor unit 20 to transmit battery data at a predetermined cycle. Then, the ECU 33 periodically performs charge state estimation and deterioration diagnosis using the transmitted battery data. Therefore, the deterioration information of each battery module 11 is sequentially updated based on the battery data detected sequentially.

  The ECU 33 can transmit the generated deterioration information to the outside of the battery monitoring unit 30 by controlling the transceiver 32. That is, the deterioration information generated by the ECU 33 can be transmitted to each sensor unit 20.

  The display device 34 is configured to display data or information calculated by the ECU 33 or received from the outside by the transceiver 32.

  In the configuration of FIG. 1, the transceiver 23 corresponds to a “first wireless communication unit”, and the transceiver 32 corresponds to a “second wireless communication unit”.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the storage device 25.
Referring to FIG. 2, storage device 25 includes a read / write control circuit 26, a memory 27 capable of only reading information, and a memory 28 capable of reading and writing information.

  The memory 27 is composed of a ROM. For example, the memory 27 can store information unique to the battery module 11 described in Patent Document 1. On the other hand, the memory 28 is constituted by a RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory 28 is preferably composed of a non-volatile memory so that data is not lost even if the voltage of the corresponding battery module 11 which is an operation power supply is lowered.

  The read / write control circuit 26 can transmit information to and from the transceiver 23 in both directions. As a result, information read from the memory 27 or 28 can be transmitted to the outside of the sensor unit 20 by the transceiver 23. In addition, information received from the outside of the sensor unit 20 by the transceiver 23 can be written into the memory 28.

  The memory 28 has a storage area 29 for storing deterioration information that is sequentially updated according to the use of the battery module 11. The read / write control circuit 26 can sequentially update the deterioration information while the secondary battery 10 is in use by overwriting the information transmitted from the transceiver 23 in the storage area 29. That is, the storage area 29 corresponds to the “first storage unit”.

  The read / write control circuit 26 can read the deterioration information stored in the storage area 29 at any timing including after the end of use of the secondary battery 10.

  Next, the update process of the deterioration information of each battery module 11 in the battery monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 3, when sensor unit 20 detects battery data (step S10), the battery data is transmitted from sensor unit 20 to battery monitoring unit 30 (step S15). The battery monitoring unit 30 receives battery data (step S20). Then, the battery monitoring unit 30 performs arithmetic processing for estimating the charged state and the deteriorated state using the received battery data (step S30). The battery monitoring unit 30 generates deterioration information for each battery module 11 based on the calculation process in step S30 (step S40).

  The calculated deterioration information is transmitted from the battery monitoring unit 30 to the sensor unit 20 by the transceiver 32 (step S50). The sensor unit 20 receives the deterioration information by the transceiver 23 (step S60) and stores the received deterioration information in the storage area 29 in the storage device 25 (step S70).

  A series of processing shown in FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle when the secondary battery 10 is used. Accordingly, the deterioration information is sequentially calculated when the secondary battery 10 is used. Then, the sequentially calculated deterioration information is overwritten in the storage area 29 in the sensor unit 20. Thereby, the deterioration information memorize | stored in the sensor unit 20 is updated according to charging / discharging at the time of use of the secondary battery 10. FIG.

  It should be noted that the degradation information that is sequentially updated is transmitted to the sensor unit 20 and is updated in the storage area 29 (steps S50 to S70). For example, when the secondary battery 10 is an in-vehicle battery, the above S50 to S70 may be executed only at the end of traveling (when the ignition switch is turned off).

  Referring to FIG. 1 again, when the secondary battery 10 is used, the degradation information updated sequentially is stored in the sensor unit 20. Therefore, when the secondary battery 10 is removed for reuse, deterioration information updated at the end of use of the secondary battery 10 is stored in the sensor unit 20 integrally attached to each battery module 11. It is in a memorized state.

  The ECU 33 instructs the sensor unit 20 to output deterioration information when a request for reading deterioration information is input to the battery monitoring unit 30. In response to this output instruction, the deterioration information stored in the sensor unit 20 (storage area 29) is read from the storage device 25 and transmitted to the outside of the sensor unit 20 by the transceiver 23. The ECU 33 displays the deterioration information on the display device 34 when the transmitter / receiver 32 receives the deterioration information output from the sensor unit 20. Thereby, deterioration information for each battery module 11 can be read out by inputting a read request to the ECU 33 at the time of periodic inspection of the vehicle.

  Therefore, in the battery monitoring system according to the first embodiment, the deterioration information of each battery module 11 is updated and stored in the sensor unit 20 attached to each battery module 11 and is optional after the secondary battery 10 is used. It is possible to read from the sensor unit 20 at the timing. As a result, the deterioration information of each battery module 11 can be managed easily and efficiently.

  In addition, since the deterioration information stored in each sensor unit 20 can be easily read out by wireless communication, in the determination of the replacement time of the battery module 11, selection of the battery module 11 to be reused, etc. The management efficiency of the battery module 11 is improved.

[Modification of Embodiment 1]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a battery monitoring system according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 4, in the modification of the first embodiment, deterioration information is read from each sensor unit 20 by information acquisition device 40 different from battery monitoring unit 30 used when secondary battery 10 is used. Is possible.

  The information acquisition device 40 includes an antenna 41, a transceiver 42, an ECU 43, and a display device 44.

  The ECU 43 instructs the sensor unit 20 to output deterioration information when a request for reading deterioration information is input to the information acquisition device 40. In response to this output instruction, the deterioration information stored in the sensor unit 20 (storage area 29) is read from the storage device 25 and transmitted to the outside of the sensor unit 20 by the transceiver 23.

  When the deterioration information output from the sensor unit 20 is received by the transceiver 42, the ECU 43 displays the deterioration information on the display device 44.

  In the battery monitoring system according to the modification of the first embodiment of the present invention, the information acquisition device 40 separate from the battery monitoring unit 30 used when the secondary battery 10 is used, the deterioration information of each battery module 11 is sent to each battery. Data can be read from the sensor unit 20 integrally attached to the module 11.

  Therefore, even when the secondary battery 10 is completely disconnected from the apparatus and a large number of battery modules 11 disassembled from a plurality of assembled batteries are stored collectively, the deterioration information can be easily managed. For example, when storing a used battery (battery module 11) in a warehouse or the like, if a wireless IC tag is arranged for each storage location, the storage position information is read from the wireless IC tag when storing the used battery, It can be stored together with the deterioration information in the storage device 25 (memory 28) of the sensor module 20. In this way, since the storage location can be read from each sensor module 20 together with the deterioration information, the information management for selecting the battery module 11 to be reused is further streamlined.

[Embodiment 2]
In the second embodiment, a preferable configuration or control of the transceiver 23 of the sensor unit 20 will be described.

(High quality wireless communication)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the transceiver 23 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 shows main functional blocks related to transmission among the functions of the transceiver 23. Since the configuration for realizing the function of each functional block is a known technique, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the transceiver 23 includes a disturbance radio wave determination unit 102, a frequency adjustment unit 104, and a transmission unit 106.

  The disturbance radio wave determination unit 102 determines whether a disturbance radio wave exists in the communication frequency band used by the transceiver 23 based on the radio wave received by the antenna 24.

  The frequency adjustment unit 104 adjusts the transmission frequency from the transmitter / receiver 23 when it is determined that the disturbance radio wave exists.

  The transmission unit 106 transmits information read from the storage device 25 to the outside of the sensor unit 20 via the antenna 24 at the transmission frequency adjusted by the frequency adjustment unit 104. At this time, when it is determined that a disturbance radio wave exists, an instruction for changing the transmission frequency to the sensor unit 20 may be transmitted together.

  As described above, according to the transmitter / receiver 23 according to the second embodiment, information is transmitted from the sensor unit 20 to the outside (for example, the battery monitoring unit 30 or the information acquisition device 40) while avoiding interference with disturbance radio waves. Can be sent. As a result, high-quality wireless transmission that is not affected by disturbance frequencies can be realized.

(Realization of equalization operation)
In general, in the secondary battery 10 composed of a plurality of battery modules 11, an equalization operation is performed to avoid a variation in output voltage (battery voltage) due to non-uniform SOC between the battery modules 11. Is done. This equalization operation is realized by forcibly discharging a battery module having a high SOC between the plurality of battery modules 11 until the output voltage (battery voltage) decreases to the target voltage.

  That is, the battery monitoring unit 30 transmits an equalization instruction to the sensor unit 20 corresponding to the battery module 11 whose output voltage is higher than that of other battery modules. The equalization instruction is input to the transmission unit 106 of the battery module.

  The transmission unit 106 that has received the equalization instruction from the battery monitoring unit 30 operates to transmit invalid radio waves. By adopting a configuration in which the operation power of the sensor unit 20 is supplied from the corresponding battery module 11, the SOC of the corresponding battery module 11 is reduced due to the power consumption when the transmission unit 106 transmits the invalid radio wave. Thereby, the output voltage of the battery module 11 also decreases. The transmission of the invalid radio wave is continued until the output voltage (battery voltage) of the corresponding battery module 11 acquired by the sensor information detection circuit 21 (FIG. 1) drops to the target voltage.

  In this way, even in the battery monitoring system according to the first embodiment or a modification thereof, in which the sensor units 20 and the battery monitoring unit 30 are not directly electrically connected, a plurality of battery monitoring units 30 monitor. The equalization operation for aligning the SOC among the battery modules 11 can be efficiently executed.

(Power consumption reduction by intermittent operation)
As described in the first embodiment, transmission / reception of information between the sensor unit 20 and the battery monitoring unit 30 is repeatedly executed every predetermined period. A plurality of battery modules 11 are monitored by one battery monitoring unit 30. Therefore, about the sensor unit 20, power consumption can be suppressed by making it operate intermittently.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating intermittent operation of the sensor unit 20 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 shows a plurality of N timings (N: 3 or more timings).

  Referring to FIG. 6, at time t1, in response to the activation signal from battery monitoring unit 30, first sensor unit 20 is activated. The first sensor unit 20 transmits the battery data from the first battery module 11 to the battery monitoring unit 30. And the deterioration information calculated | required by the period in the said period or the period before it is transmitted from the battery monitoring unit 30. FIG. This deterioration information is received by the first sensor unit 20. The received deterioration information is stored in the storage area 29 (FIG. 2). When the transmission / reception ends, the battery monitoring unit 30 transmits a standby signal for instructing the transition to the standby state to the first sensor unit 20. As a result, the first sensor unit 20 is placed in a standby state in which power consumption is suppressed compared to that during normal operation until the activation signal from the battery monitoring unit 30 is next transmitted.

  At time t2, the second sensor unit 20 is activated in response to the activation signal from the battery monitoring unit 30. When the same transmission / reception as that of the first sensor unit 20 is completed, the battery monitoring unit 30 transmits a standby signal to the second sensor unit 20. The second sensor unit 20 shifts to the standby state in response to the standby signal.

  Thereafter, each sensor unit 20 is sequentially selected by the battery monitoring unit 30. At time tx, the last Nth sensor unit 20 is selected. As described above, the selected sensor unit 20 is activated by the activation signal from the battery monitoring unit 30 and performs a predetermined transmission / reception operation. When the transmission / reception is completed, the sensor unit 20 is set in a standby state in response to a standby signal from the battery monitoring unit 30. At time tx, the Nth sensor unit shifts to the standby state, thereby completing the operation in the cycle. From time tx to the start of the next cycle, each sensor unit 20 is maintained in a standby state by a standby signal.

  When a predetermined period elapses from time t1, the next cycle is started and N sensor units 20 are sequentially selected in the same manner. In this manner, each sensor unit 20 performs an intermittent operation such that it is in a standby state except during a period in which data or information is transmitted / received to / from the battery monitoring unit 30.

  FIG. 7 shows a control processing procedure of the battery monitoring unit 30 for realizing the intermittent operation of each sensor unit 20 shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 7, ECU 33 of battery monitoring unit 30 determines whether or not a predetermined period corresponding to one cycle has elapsed in step S100. Until the predetermined period elapses (NO in S100), the processes in steps S110 to S160 are skipped and all the sensor units 20 are maintained in the standby state (step S170).

  When the predetermined period has elapsed (when YES is determined in S100), the cycle is started. This state corresponds to time t1 in FIG. The ECU 33 advances the process to step S110 and sets the variable i = 1. This variable i is a variable for specifying the sensor unit 20 being selected.

  In step S120, the ECU 33 transmits an activation signal to the i-th sensor unit. In step S130, the ECU 33 receives battery data from the i-th sensor unit 20. Further, in step S <b> 130, the battery monitoring unit 30 transmits deterioration information based on the calculation result in the cycle or the calculation result in the previous cycle to the i-th sensor unit 20.

  When the data transmission / reception in step S130 is completed, the ECU 33 transmits a standby signal to the i-th sensor unit in step S140. Thereby, the i-th sensor unit 20 shifts to a standby state.

  In step S150, the ECU 33 increments the variable i. Thereby, the next sensor unit 20 is selected. In step S160, the ECU 33 determines whether or not the variable i incremented in step S150 has reached N + 1.

  When i <N + 1 (NO in S160), there is a sensor unit 20 that has not completed data transmission / reception. Therefore, ECU 33 repeats the processes of steps S120 to S150. That is, steps S120 to S150 are repeated until i = N + 1.

  When i = N + 1 (when YES is determined in S160), data transmission / reception has been completed for all of the N sensor units 20. Accordingly, the ECU 33 advances the process to step S170 and transmits a standby signal to all the sensor units 20. Thereby, the process of the said period is complete | finished.

  According to the intermittent operation shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, N sensor units 20 are sequentially selected, and each sensor unit 20 is in a standby state except for a period in which the sensor units 20 are selected and perform transmission / reception. Therefore, the power consumption of each sensor unit 20 can be suppressed.

[Embodiment 3]
In the third embodiment, a modified example of the configuration of the battery monitoring system will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a battery monitoring system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 8, in the battery monitoring system according to the third embodiment, each sensor unit 20 further includes a computing device 50 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. Arithmetic device 50 has a part of the arithmetic function in ECU 33 of battery monitoring unit 30 in the first embodiment. The arithmetic device 50 is configured to realize at least a part of the function of calculating the deterioration parameter and generating the deterioration information in the corresponding battery module 11.

  Accordingly, the ECU 33 deletes the deterioration parameter calculation and deterioration information generation functions for all the battery modules 11. Thereby, since the calculation load can be distributed between the battery monitoring unit 30 and each sensor unit 20, it is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the specifications of the ECU 33 and increase the calculation speed.

  In order to monitor and manage each battery module 11, transmission / reception of data or information between the battery monitoring unit 30 and each sensor unit 20 is still necessary. Therefore, according to FIGS. 6 and 7, the transmitter / receiver 23 of each sensor unit 20 can be applied with an intermittent operation in a standby state other than the transmission / reception period, as in the second embodiment.

  In the battery monitoring system according to the third embodiment. The deterioration parameter and the deterioration information are sequentially updated based on the battery data inside each sensor unit 20. Then, the updated deterioration parameters and deterioration information are held in the storage device 25 (the storage area 29 shown in FIG. 2) as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the storage location and readout form of the deterioration information when the secondary battery 10 is reused are the same as in the first embodiment. That is, the deterioration information stored in each sensor unit 20 can be read by wireless communication via the transceiver 23.

  For example, in the configuration example of FIG. 8, the deterioration information can be read out and displayed on the display device 34 by the transmitter / receiver 32 of the battery monitoring unit 30 as in the configuration of FIG. 1.

[Modification of Embodiment 3]
It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the battery monitoring system by the modification of Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  Referring to FIG. 9, in the battery monitoring system according to the modification of the third embodiment of the present invention, the sensor unit 20 and the battery monitoring unit 30 of the second embodiment (FIG. 8) are the same as the configuration of FIG. In addition, the deterioration information is read using an information acquisition device 40 different from the battery monitoring unit 30. That is, the difference between FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 is the same as the difference between FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, and detailed description will not be repeated. That is, the information acquisition device 40 can receive the deterioration information output from the sensor unit 20 by the transmitter / receiver 42 and display the deterioration information on the display device 44.

  In this way, the battery monitoring system according to the third embodiment can also be used for degradation information even when the secondary battery 10 is disassembled after being removed from the apparatus and a large number of battery modules 11 are stored in a centralized manner. Management becomes easy.

  Note that, also in the battery monitoring system according to the third embodiment and its modification, the wireless communication quality improvement (FIG. 5) and the equalization operation described in the second embodiment can be applied to each sensor unit 20. Further, the intermittent operation according to the second embodiment can also be applied to the transmitter / receiver 23 of each sensor unit 20 as described above.

  In addition, although the battery monitoring system according to the present embodiment described above has been described as a representative example of application to a secondary battery mounted on an electric vehicle, the application of the present invention is not limited to such a case. Make sure to check for any missing points. That is, the present invention can be commonly applied to a secondary battery monitoring system configured by battery modules without particularly limiting the load of the secondary battery.

  Further, the deterioration parameters and the deterioration information are also representative examples described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, but are useful for reusing the secondary battery 10 and are updated when the secondary battery 10 is used. Any data or information should be applied. For example, the deterioration parameter described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-60384 can also be used for the deterioration information in the present invention.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  The present invention can be applied to a monitoring system for a secondary battery including a battery module.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Secondary battery, 11 Battery module, 12 Sensor, 20 Sensor unit, 21 Sensor information detection circuit, 23, 32, 42 Transceiver, 24, 31, 41 Antenna, 25 Storage device, 26 Read / write control circuit, 27 Memory (ROM), 28 memory (RAM), 29 storage area (deterioration information), 30 battery monitoring unit, 33, 43 ECU, 34, 44 display device, 40 information acquisition device, 50 arithmetic device, 102 disturbance radio wave determination unit, 104 Frequency adjustment unit, 106 transmission unit, t1, t2, tx time.

Claims (10)

A sensor unit attached to the battery module;
A battery monitoring unit for monitoring the state of the battery module during use of the battery module;
The sensor unit is
A sensor information detection circuit for obtaining a detection signal of a sensor for detecting a state value of the battery module;
A first wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the outside of the sensor unit,
The battery monitoring unit includes:
A second wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the sensor unit;
A calculation unit for sequentially obtaining deterioration information indicating a deterioration state of the battery module based on the detection signal received by the second wireless communication unit when using the battery module;
The sensor unit is
A first storage unit for storing the deterioration information;
The deterioration information received by the first wireless communication unit is written to the first storage unit, and the deterioration information read from the first storage unit is sent to the first wireless communication unit. A battery monitoring system further including a read / write control unit. A sensor unit attached to the battery module;
A battery monitoring unit for monitoring the state of the battery module during use of the battery module;
The sensor unit is
A sensor information detection circuit for obtaining a detection signal of a sensor for detecting a state value of the battery module;
When using the battery module, based on the detection signal, a calculation unit for sequentially obtaining deterioration information indicating a deterioration state of the battery module;
A first wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the outside of the sensor unit;
A first storage unit for storing the deterioration information;
Read / write control for writing the deterioration information obtained by the arithmetic unit to the first storage unit and sending the deterioration information read from the first storage unit to the first wireless communication unit Including
The battery monitoring unit includes:
A battery monitoring system including a second wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the sensor unit. In response to the read request, the battery monitoring unit instructs the sensor unit to read the deterioration information. The read / write control unit responds to the instruction from the battery monitoring unit. Read the deterioration information from the storage unit,
The first wireless communication unit transmits the deterioration information read by the read / write control unit,
The battery monitoring unit includes:
The battery monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for displaying the deterioration information received by the second wireless communication unit. An information acquisition device for acquiring information of the battery module;
The information acquisition device includes:
A third wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from the sensor unit;
A control unit for instructing the sensor unit to read the deterioration information in response to a read request;
The read / write control unit reads the deterioration information from the first storage unit in response to an instruction from the information acquisition device,
The first wireless communication unit transmits the deterioration information read by the read / write control unit,
The information acquisition device includes:
The battery monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for displaying the deterioration information received by the third wireless communication unit.   5. The battery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein operating power of the sensor unit is supplied by the battery module to which the sensor unit is attached. The operation power of the sensor unit is supplied by the battery module to which the sensor unit is attached,
The battery monitoring unit is provided in common for a plurality of the battery modules, and issues an equalization instruction to some of the battery modules in order to equalize output voltages of the plurality of battery modules. Generate
In the sensor unit corresponding to the battery module that has received the equalization instruction from the battery monitoring unit, the first wireless communication unit is configured to disable the invalid radio wave until the output voltage of the corresponding battery module decreases to a target voltage. The battery monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the battery monitoring system operates to transmit. The first wireless communication unit is
A disturbance radio wave determination unit for determining whether a disturbance radio wave exists in a communication frequency band used by the first wireless communication unit;
The frequency adjustment part for changing the transmission frequency by a said 1st radio | wireless communication part, when it determines with the said disturbance electromagnetic wave existing, The frequency adjustment part for any one of Claims 1-4 is included. Battery monitoring system. The battery monitoring unit is provided in common for the plurality of battery modules, and sequentially selects the plurality of battery modules,
Each sensor unit transmits and receives information to and from the battery monitoring unit during a period when the corresponding battery module is selected by the battery monitoring unit, while being set to a standby state during a non-selected period. The battery monitoring system according to claim 1. The battery monitoring unit is provided in common for the plurality of battery modules, and sequentially selects the plurality of battery modules,
The first wireless communication unit of each of the sensor units transmits and receives information to and from the battery monitoring unit during a period in which the corresponding battery module is selected by the battery monitoring unit, while in a non-selected period The battery monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein is set to a standby state.   The battery monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the deterioration information includes information related to an internal resistance and a capacity of the battery module.

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