JPWO2013024541A1 - Battery monitoring device and battery control device provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a battery monitoring apparatus for controlling a cell group in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in series, the first unit for measuring a voltage between terminals of the unit cells, and balancing discharge of the unit cells. A second unit to perform, and a plurality of voltage detection lines for connecting the first unit and each of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the unit cell for measuring the voltage between the terminals of the unit cell, Each voltage detection line is provided with a first resistor, and a balancing line branched from each voltage detection line is connected to the second unit on the unit cell side of the first resistor. The balancing line is provided with a second resistor, and the second unit is connected between the balancing line connected to the positive electrode of the unit cell and the balancing line connected to the negative electrode, Comprising a balancing switch for balancing discharge of the battery cells for each of the single-battery cells.

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery monitoring device and a battery control device including the same.

  In a hybrid vehicle (HEV) or the like, an assembled battery configured by connecting a large number of single battery cells of a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery in series is used in order to ensure a desired high voltage. In such a battery pack, single battery cells are managed using a control IC (cell controller IC) that manages and controls the charge / discharge state of each single battery cell (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, secondary batteries such as lithium ion batteries may cause problems such as increased heat generation unless they are charged and discharged within an appropriate SOC range. For this reason, in a power storage device using a lithium ion battery, the voltage of each unit cell (lithium ion battery cell or the like) constituting the assembled battery is measured, and the level of charge (SOC) of each unit cell is equalized. A cell controller IC is used that performs cell balancing by discharging the stored charge of a single cell to equalize the SOC of each single cell.

  Also, if there is variation in the SOC of each unit cell, the charging operation time capacity is determined by the unit cell having a high SOC, and the discharge operation time capacity is determined by a unit cell having a low SOC. Capacity is reduced. In addition, the unit cell that has deteriorated and has a reduced capacity has its SOC rising faster than other unit cells due to charging. However, when charging is performed in a state where the SOC is high, the deterioration is further accelerated. Since the life of the battery group is determined by the deteriorated single battery, the variation in SOC between the single batteries also shortens the life of the battery group.

  In such cell balancing, balancing discharge of other single battery cells is performed so as to match the single battery cell having the lowest SOC in the assembled battery. Conventionally, the discharge time is controlled by the average SOC of all the unit cells, and this SOC is obtained from the voltage between terminals measured for each unit cell. This inter-terminal voltage cannot be obtained accurately during balancing discharge. Therefore, in order to make the state of charge of all single battery cells uniform, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, the average SOC is calculated from the voltage between terminals of all single battery cells every predetermined time, and based on this. The operation is performed such that the SOC of all the single battery cells converges by repeating the discharge a plurality of times.

  In recent years, the capacity of secondary batteries has increased. For example, in plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV), electric vehicles (EV), etc., single battery cells having a capacity several times that of conventional batteries are used. Since a large amount of current is discharged when aligning the SOC of such a large capacity secondary battery, a method for aligning the SOC at high speed is required.

JP 2010-228523 A JP 2001-309750 A

  In a conventional battery control device that manages and controls the charge / discharge state of a single battery cell such as a lithium battery, it takes time to align the charge state (SOC) of all the single battery cells of the assembled battery.

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery monitoring device for controlling a cell group in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in series, the first control unit for measuring a voltage between terminals of the unit cells. A plurality of second control units that perform balancing discharge of the unit cells, and a plurality of units that connect each of the positive and negative electrodes of the unit cells and the first control unit for measuring the voltage between the terminals of the unit cells. Voltage detection lines, each voltage detection line is provided with a first resistor, and the second control unit has a balancing branched from each voltage detection line on the unit cell side of the first resistance. The balancing line is provided with a second resistor, and the second control unit is a single unit connected between the balancing line connected to the positive electrode of the battery cell and the balancing line connected to the negative electrode. Battery cell Comprising a balancing switch for lancing discharge every single cell.
(2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the battery monitoring device of the first aspect, a plurality of cell groups are provided, and the first control unit and the second control unit are provided in each of the plurality of cell groups. Correspondingly provided, the battery monitoring device has a first communication path for transmitting a start signal for starting a plurality of first control units from the host control device, and a start for starting a plurality of second control units. A second communication path for transmitting a signal from the host controller, a third communication path for transmitting and receiving data between the plurality of first control units and the host controller, and a synchronization signal A fourth communication path for transmitting / receiving data between the plurality of second control units and the host control apparatus, and a sixth communication path for transmitting / receiving a synchronization signal It is preferable to provide
(3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, the battery monitoring device of the second aspect, and the host control device connected to the first to sixth communication paths of the second aspect via an insulating element. It is a battery control apparatus provided.
(4) According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the battery control device of the third aspect, the battery control device controls the first control unit to measure the voltage across the terminals of one unit cell. And controlling the second control unit to measure the voltage across the terminals of the balancing switch that performs the balancing discharge of the single battery cell in synchronization with the balancing discharge of the single battery cell. From the measurement result of the voltage between the terminals, the measurement result of the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch by the second control unit, and the resistance value of the second resistor, the host control device can calculate the balancing current of the unit cell. preferable.
(5) According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the battery control device of the fourth aspect, the battery control device is based on a balancing current calculation unit that calculates a balancing current and a balancing current calculated by the balancing current calculation unit. It is preferable to have an SOC calculation unit that calculates the state of charge (SOC) of the single battery cell.
(6) According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the battery control device according to the fifth aspect, the battery control device preferably executes the calculation by the balancing current calculation unit and the calculation by the SOC calculation unit in real time.
(7) According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in the battery control device according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, the battery control device prevents the two adjacent balancing switches from being simultaneously turned on. It is preferable to perform balancing discharge of a plurality of single battery cells.
(8) According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery monitoring apparatus for controlling a cell group in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in series, wherein the first inter-terminal voltage of the plurality of unit cells is measured. And a balancing switch that short-circuits the positive and negative terminals of each of the plurality of unit cells, and the balancing switch is closed to perform a balancing discharge on each of the plurality of unit cells. A unit, a plurality of voltage detection lines and a plurality of cell voltage input resistors for measuring a voltage between terminals of each of the plurality of unit cells by the first control unit, and balancing discharge for each of the plurality of unit cells A plurality of balancing lines and a plurality of balancing resistors for performing in the second control unit are provided.
(9) According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in the battery monitoring device of the eighth aspect, balancing is performed so that the balancing discharge current when performing the balancing discharge in the second control unit does not pass through the cell voltage input resistance. It is preferable that a line, a balancing resistor, a voltage detection line, and a cell voltage input resistor are respectively disposed.
(10) According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, in the battery monitoring apparatus according to the eighth or ninth aspect, the inter-terminal voltage measurement and balancing discharge control respectively performed in the first control unit and the second control unit are It is preferable to perform it synchronously with respect to the target single battery cell.
(11) According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the battery monitoring device according to the tenth aspect preferably further includes a third control unit for synchronizing.

  According to the present invention, the balancing current can be always accurately detected. Therefore, it is not necessary to alternately repeat the measurement of the voltage between the terminals of each single battery cell and the discharge operation in order to make the SOC of all the single battery cells uniform, and the SOC can be made in a short time.

It is an example of a structure of the drive system of the electric vehicle provided with the electrical storage apparatus incorporating the battery control apparatus containing the battery monitoring apparatus by this invention. The battery controller shown in FIG. 1 is a configuration example of a drive system for an electric vehicle that further includes a circuit that detects a total voltage of the battery system. In the battery control device including a plurality of cell controller IC pairs including one main cell controller IC and one sub cell controller IC shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, between the main cell controllers, between the sub cell controllers, and the main It is a figure explaining the communication path between a cell controller, a subcell controller, and a microcomputer. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the functional sharing of a set of main cell controller IC and sub cell controller IC that controls one cell group shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2; It is the schematic for demonstrating the structure of main cell controller IC among main cell controller IC and subcell controller IC which have a common internal structure. It is a figure which shows the outline of the internal structure of the logic part shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the error at the time of calculating SOC from OCV using the example of an OCV-SOC conversion curve which is the characteristic of a lithium ion battery, and this conversion curve. It is a schematic flowchart explaining the balancing discharge operation and balancing current calculation of the single battery cell in the battery control device including the battery monitoring device according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the embodiments described below, a power storage device equipped with a battery control device including a battery monitoring device (cell controller) according to the present invention is used as a hybrid vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV), an electric vehicle (EV), or the like. It is an example at the time of applying with respect to the electrical storage apparatus provided with the battery system used for this vehicle.
Note that the present invention is not limited to HEV, PHEV, and EV, and can be widely applied to various power storage devices mounted on a vehicle including an electric drive device such as a railway vehicle.
Although the HEV is not a pure electric vehicle, the present invention can be widely applied to electric vehicles including the HEV. Therefore, the electric vehicle in the following description includes a hybrid vehicle.

In the embodiment of the present invention described below, a lithium ion battery having a voltage in the range of 3.0 to 4.2 V (average output voltage: 3.6 V) is assumed as a power storage / discharge device serving as a minimum unit of control. However, any other device that can store and discharge electricity that restricts use when the SOC (State of Charge) is too high (overcharge) or too low (overdischarge) can be used. Here, they are collectively referred to as a single battery or a single battery cell.
In the embodiments described below, a plurality of single battery cells (generally several to a dozen or more) connected in series are called cell groups, and a plurality of cell groups connected in series are battery modules. Call it. Further, a plurality of cell groups or battery modules connected in series or in series and parallel are referred to as a battery system. A cell group, a battery module, and a battery system are collectively referred to as an assembled battery. A cell controller IC that detects the cell voltage of each single battery cell and monitors the battery state while performing a balancing operation or the like is provided for each cell group.

<First Embodiment>
First, an example in which a power storage device equipped with a battery control device including a battery monitoring device according to the present invention is applied to an electric drive system for an electric vehicle such as HEV, PHEV, and EV will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Power storage device 100 is connected to inverter 800 through relays 700 and 710, and inverter 800 is connected to motor 900. When the vehicle starts and accelerates, discharge power is supplied from the power storage device 100 to the motor 900 through the inverter 800. When the vehicle is stopped or decelerated, the regenerative power from the motor 900 is charged to the power storage device 100 through the inverter 800. Here, the inverter 800 includes an inverter circuit including a plurality of semiconductor switching elements, a gate driving circuit for the semiconductor switching elements, and a motor controller that generates a pulse signal for PWM control of the gate driving circuit. It is omitted in 1 and 2.

  The power storage device 100 mainly includes a cell group 102 including a plurality of lithium ion single battery cells 101, a battery system 104 in which the plurality of cell groups 102 are connected in series, and a voltage between terminals of each single battery cell 101. A cell controller (battery monitoring device) 200 including a plurality of cell controller IC pairs 300, each of which includes a main cell controller IC 301 that detects a battery cell and a sub cell controller IC 302 that mainly performs a balancing discharge operation of each unit cell 101, and the operation of the cell controller 200 And a battery controller 500 that determines the state of each single battery cell.

  The battery controller 500 communicates with a plurality of main cell controller ICs 301 and sub cell controller ICs 302 via an insulating element group 400 (details will be described later), and controls these main / sub cell controller ICs 301 and 302. As described above, the cell controller IC pair 300 is provided for each cell group 102. A voltage detection line between the battery system 104 and the cell controller 200 is connected to the cell controller 200 by a connector (not shown).

The battery controller 500 includes a current detection circuit 502 connected to a current sensor 503 that detects a charge / discharge current flowing in the battery system 104, communication between the cell controller 200, the inverter 800, and a host vehicle controller (not shown). And a microcomputer 504 that controls the entire system 500. In addition, a total voltage measurement circuit 801 that measures the total voltage of the battery system 104 is provided inside the inverter 800.
That is, the cell controller 200 functions as a battery monitoring device that detects a voltage between terminals of each single battery cell and monitors the state of each single battery cell, and is connected to the cell controller 200 through a communication path. A battery control device 600 including a battery controller 500 manages the state of the battery system and controls the state of charge of each unit cell.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which the total voltage detection circuit 501 is also installed in the battery controller 500. As will be described later, as long as the total voltage of the battery system 104 can be measured, the total voltage detection circuit 501 may not be provided in the battery controller 500 as shown in FIG.

After the power storage device 100 is activated, the following operation (explained only briefly) is performed.
The battery controller 500 transmits a command to perform OCV (open circuit voltage) measurement of all single battery cells monitored by the main cell controller 301 of the cell controller 200 via the insulating element group 400. The measured OCV data of each single battery cell is transmitted from the cell controller 200 to the battery controller 500 via the insulating element group 400 in units of cell groups. The battery controller 500 converts the received OCV of each single battery cell into SOC using the relationship between the OCV and SOC already measured and converted into data (for example, the OCV-SOC curve in FIG. 4). Calculate the SOC deviation. A single battery cell having a SOC deviation larger than a predetermined value is subject to balancing discharge. The OCV measurement is performed with all the balancing switches 222 (see FIG. 4) turned off and is normally performed by the main cell controller 301, but can also be performed by the subcell controller 302.

Next, the battery controller 500 issues a command for performing a balancing discharge of the unit cell subject to the balancing discharge for a predetermined short time, and a voltage VBS between terminals of the balancing switch that performs the balancing discharge at the same time (of the balancing switch BS1). A command for measuring the inter-terminal voltage is denoted as VBS1) is transmitted to the subcell controller IC302. Further, almost simultaneously with the transmission of these commands to the sub cell controller IC 302, the measurement of the inter-terminal voltage VC _BS of the single battery cell that performs balancing discharge to the main cell controller 301 (the inter-terminal voltage of the cell 1 is denoted as VC1 _BS ). A command is sent. A measured value VC _BS (measured by the main cell controller IC 301) of the single battery cell when the balancing discharge is performed for a predetermined short time, and a measured value of the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch that discharges the single battery cell. The VBS (measured by the subcell controller IC 302) is transmitted to the battery controller 500 as in the case of the above-described OCV measurement. Details of the VC _BS and VBS measurement will be described later.

Based on the OCV and the VC _BS and VBS, the time until the SOC deviation of the unit cell subject to balancing discharge becomes zero is calculated, and the balancing switch in the sub-cell controller IC 302 is operated for this time. A command for performing the control operation to turn on is sent from the battery controller 500 to the cell controller 200, and balancing discharge of the balancing target single battery cell is performed.

Based on the voltage between terminals of the single battery cell during balancing discharge (VC _BS ) and the voltage between terminals of the balancing switch (VBS), as shown in the calculation method of balancing current of the single battery cell (described later), VC _BS and VBS can be measured even when inverter 800 is connected to power storage device 100 as a load. Also based on the measured value of VC _BS and VBS at this time, so that each single-battery cells are not over-discharged, it is possible to finely control the balancing discharge.

  After the maximum dischargeable current and the maximum chargeable current of the battery system 104 are calculated (the calculation method is omitted) from the OCV of each single battery cell measured as described above, the vehicle controller (not shown) or the host controller (not shown) ) Turns on relay 700 and relay 710, power storage device 100 is connected to inverter 800 and motor 900, and inverter 800 receives a charge / discharge command from the vehicle controller, and inverter 800 operates to drive motor 900. At the same time, charge / discharge operation of power storage device 100 is performed.

  The battery controller 500 measures the charge / discharge current and the total voltage at regular intervals from when the power storage device 100 starts charging / discharging with the relay 700 and the relay 710 turned on. From the obtained total voltage and charge / discharge current values, the battery controller 500 calculates the state of charge (SOC) of the assembled battery and the internal resistance (DCR) of the battery in real time (the calculation method is omitted). Furthermore, the current or power that can be charged / discharged by the battery system 104 is calculated in real time from these values and transmitted to the inverter 800, and the inverter 800 controls the charge / discharge current or power within the range. Although detailed description is omitted, the total voltage is not directly measured by the battery controller 500, but the total voltage value is obtained from the measured voltage of each unit cell in the cell controller 200.

FIG. 3 shows a communication connection example between the main cell controller ICs 301 a to 301 d and sub cell controller ICs 302 a to 302 d in the cell controller (battery monitoring device) 200 and the microcomputer 504 in the battery controller 500. The microcomputer 504 includes an activation signal output port for outputting an activation signal for activating the main cell controller ICs 301a to 301d or the sub cell controller ICs 302a to 302d in the cell controller 200, and an input / output port SDAT for transmitting and receiving commands and data. And a clock signal output port SCLK for transmission / reception of commands and data and synchronous control of operations in the main cell controller IC 301 or the sub cell controller IC 302. As shown in FIG. 3, the SDAT output port, the SCLK output port, and the activation signal output port are provided separately for the main cell controller and the sub cell controller, respectively. These output ports are configured in exactly the same way for the main cell controller and the sub cell controller.
Here, it is assumed that serial communication is used for the transmission / reception paths of the synchronous clock, command, and data.

  In the example of FIG. 3, a battery module 103 in which two cell groups 102 in which a plurality of single battery cells are connected in series is connected in series is arranged above and below a service disconnect switch (hereinafter referred to as SD-SW) 105. ing. Note that the number of cell groups constituting the battery module 103 is not limited to two, and may be three or more. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, the battery system 104 is composed of, for example, 96 single battery cells. As illustrated in FIG. 4, when each cell group includes 12 single battery cells, four cell groups are connected in series above and below the SD-SW 105.

  Corresponding to the cell groups 102a to 102d shown in FIG. 3, cell controller IC pairs 300a to 300d are provided, respectively. Here, the lowermost cell controller IC pair 300a in FIG. 3 is the uppermost cell controller IC pair that first receives a signal from the microcomputer 504. The uppermost cell controller IC 300d in FIG. 3 may be configured as the uppermost cell controller IC pair.

  Hereinafter, when simply referred to as the cell controller IC pair or the cell controller IC pair 300, the cell controller IC pairs 300a to 300d are not particularly limited. Similarly, when the main cell controller IC or the sub cell controller IC is simply referred to, the main cell controller ICs 301a to 301d and the sub cell controller ICs 302a to 302d are not particularly limited, respectively. Similarly, the cell groups 102a to 102d are called cell groups or cell groups 102 unless they are particularly limited. Furthermore, when simply referred to as a cell controller IC, the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC are collectively referred to.

  The service disconnect switch (SD-SW) 105 is a switch often used in a high-voltage assembled battery. By opening this SD-SW 105 during maintenance and inspection, the current path of the assembled battery is interrupted, The purpose is to prevent electric shock. If the SD-SW 105 is opened, the series connection of the batteries is interrupted. Therefore, even if a human touches the uppermost terminal and the lowermost terminal of the assembled battery, a high voltage is not applied to the human body. Can be prevented.

  The communication path of the main cell controller IC 301 and the communication path of the sub cell controller IC 302 are configured separately, but have exactly the same configuration. In the following description of the communication path, the communication path of the main cell controller IC 301 will be described, but the configuration of the communication path of the sub cell controller IC 302 is the same. For convenience of illustration, in FIG. 3, the main cell controller IC 301 and its communication path are shown larger than the sub cell controller IC 302.

In the command and data signal communication line, the command and data signal are transmitted from the transmission / reception port SDAT of the microcomputer 504 to the communication terminal SDAT1 of the uppermost main cell controller IC 301a through the high-speed insulating element 401 and the capacitor 403. The activation signal output port is connected to the activation signal input terminal WU_Rx of the cell controller IC 301a through the low-speed insulating element 402. In the communication line of the clock signal for synchronization, the clock signal is transmitted from the SCLK output port to the communication terminal SCLK1 of the main cell controller IC 301a through the high speed insulating element 402 and the capacitor 403. The uppermost main cell controller IC 301a has a communication terminal SDAT2 connected to the communication terminal SDAT1 of the subordinate main cell controller IC 301b by a capacitor coupling, and a communication terminal SCLK2 to a communication terminal SCLK1 of the main cell controller IC 301b. Connected. In addition, the activation output terminal WU_Tx of the main cell controller IC 301a is connected to the activation signal input terminal WU_Rx of the subordinate main cell controller IC 301b.
These high-speed insulating element 401, low-speed insulating element 402, and capacitor 403 are used in a communication path between the microcomputer 504 and the uppermost main cell controller IC 301a and between the uppermost subcell controller IC 302a. Insulating elements are collectively referred to as an insulating element group 400 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

  Note that a common high-speed isolation element 401 is used for the command and data signal communication line and the clock communication line. This assumes that a high-speed isolation element having two channels is used. Because. Therefore, separate high-speed isolation elements may be provided for the command and data signal communication lines and the clock communication line. A capacitor is used to insulate a communication path for command and data signals and a communication path for clock signals between the two main cell controllers 301 or the two sub cell controller ICs 302. It may be used.

  The uppermost main cell controller IC 301 c of the main cell controller IC connected to the upper battery module 103 of the service disconnect switch (SD-SW) 105 and the main cell controller IC connected to the lower battery module 103. Communication with the lowest main cell controller IC 301b needs to be insulated. This is because the voltage between the terminals of the battery module 103 increases because the number of unit cells connected in series to the upper and lower battery modules 103 is large. For this reason, the high-speed insulating element 401 is inserted into the communication line for command and data signals and the communication line for clock signals. If these communication lines are directly connected, the assembled battery is connected in series through the connection, and even if the SD-SW 105 is disconnected, the assembled battery is connected in series, so that the energization of the assembled battery cannot be cut off. Therefore, there is a possibility that an operator may receive an electric shock. Note that the activation signal is also output from the activation signal output port of the microcomputer 504 to the main cell controller IC 301c on the upper side (lower side) of the SD-SW 105 in FIG.

(Starting the cell controller)
When starting the cell controller 200, the microcomputer 504 outputs a start signal, and the main cell controller IC 301a, the sub cell controller IC 302a, the main cell controller IC 301c, and the sub cell controller IC 302c receive the start signal through the low-speed insulating element 402 and start up. Is done. The activated main cell controller IC and sub cell controller IC output activation signals to the main cell controller IC and sub cell controller IC in the next stage, respectively. In this way, all the cell controller IC pairs 300 are activated in order.

  The activation command (activation signal) for the main cell controller IC and the activation command for the sub cell controller IC are transmitted almost simultaneously from the battery controller 500 to the uppermost main cell controller ICs 301a and 301c and the uppermost sub cell controller ICs 302a and 302c. That is, the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC are activated almost simultaneously.

  As the low-speed insulating element 402, an insulating element such as a photocoupler that can also transmit a DC signal is used. The activation signal from the microcomputer 504 to the main cell controller IC 301a, sub cell controller IC 302a, main cell controller IC 301c, and sub cell controller IC 302c is a DC signal or a pulse signal having a relatively wide time width. This is because noise and voltage fluctuations are likely to occur when the power storage device 100 is started, so that this influence is removed. Signals for starting the next main cell controller IC 301 or sub cell controller IC 302 from the main cell controller IC 301a and sub cell controller IC 302a, or 301c and 302c, which are started first, are performed by a short pulse or an AC pulse signal.

  After the activation of the cell controller 200, the microcomputer 504 transmits a command signal and data (data packet) to the respective communication terminals SDAT1 of the main cell controller IC 301a and the sub cell controller IC 302a through the high-speed insulating element 401. The main cell controller IC 301a or the sub cell controller IC 302a receives the command signal and the data packet, respectively, and transmits them to the next main cell controller IC 301b or the sub cell controller IC 302b from the communication terminal SDAT2. In this way, all the main cell controller ICs 301a to 301d receive the command signal and data, and operate according to the command signal and data.

As described above, the microcomputer 504 and the plurality of main cell controller ICs 301, and the microcomputer 504 and the plurality of subcell controller ICs 302 are connected in a so-called daisy chain form through bidirectional communication paths.
A data packet transmitted from the microcomputer 504 to the main cell controller IC 301a or the sub cell controller IC 302 is read back to the microcomputer 504 via a bidirectional communication path, and the data packet is processed by the target main cell controller IC 301 or the sub cell controller IC 302. It is confirmed whether it was read.
Whether all the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 are activated by the activation signal from the microcomputer 504 is determined based on the state of each main cell controller IC 301 and sub cell controller IC 302 as a data packet from the bidirectional communication path. It is transmitted to the microcomputer 504 and it is confirmed whether or not these have been normally activated.

In the battery monitoring apparatus (cell controller) 200 according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication path between the main cell controller IC 301 and the communication path between the sub cell controller ICs are different paths. This is to perform communication from the main cell controller IC to the sub cell controller IC at high speed.
It is possible to connect all the main cell controller ICs 301 and all the sub cell controller ICs 302 with the same communication path. However, since the communication path becomes longer by that amount, the battery controller up to the last main cell controller IC 301 or the last sub cell controller IC 302 It takes time to receive commands and data from 500.
In addition, when the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC described below are operated in synchronization, the communication path between the main cell controller IC 301 and the communication path between the sub cell controller ICs are synchronized with each other. It is easy to take.

(Acquisition of battery cell status data)
The microcomputer 504 obtains the voltage between terminals (referred to as cell voltage) of the single battery cells of the cell groups 102a to 102d and state data such as an overdischarge or overcharge state as follows. Each of the main cell controller ICs 301a to 301d adds data to the data packet and transmits the data packet to the SDAT1 of the next main cell controller IC from the communication terminal SDAT2. The data packet to which the state data of all the unit cells managed by the main cell controller IC 301 is added is a data packet including a command signal transmitted by the microcomputer 504, and is transmitted by the microcomputer 504 via the bidirectional communication path. Receive.

4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing an outline of the internal configuration of the cell controller IC. FIG. 4 shows an outline of the cell controller IC pair 300, and FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration of the main cell controller IC 301 in some detail. The internal configuration of the subcell controller IC 302 is exactly the same as that of the main cell controller IC.
FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration of the logic unit 213 provided in the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC.

  Here, the cell group 102 includes 12 single battery cells 101 (referred to as cells 1 to 12). The cell group 102 and the main cell controller IC 301 that controls the cell group 102 are connected to voltage detection CV terminals (CV1 to 13 terminals) via voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13 that detect the voltage of each unit cell. It is connected. A protective capacitor Cterm is provided between two adjacent voltage detection lines at a portion close to the cell group 102 in the voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13 on the cell controller 200 side. This is to pass through noise entering the cell controller 200 from the cell group side or the inverter 800 side connected to the battery system 104, and is a so-called ESD countermeasure capacitor.

  Both ends of each unit cell, that is, the positive terminal and the negative terminal are connected to the CV terminal via the cell voltage input resistor Rcv 202, and the cell voltage input capacitor Cin 203 is connected between each CV terminal and the adjacent CV terminal. It is connected. The cell voltage input resistor Rcv 202 and the cell voltage input capacitor Cin 203 constitute an RC filter to suppress noise mainly including a ripple voltage superimposed on the cell voltage due to the operation of the inverter 800.

Further, the balancing connection lines BL1 to 13 branched from the voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13 in the cell controller 200 are connected to the subcell controller IC302. These balancing connection lines BL1 to 13 are provided with balancing resistors (Rb) 201 for balancing discharge, and voltage terminals at both ends of each unit cell are connected to balancing terminals (BS terminals) CBS1 through the balancing resistors (Rb) 201. To. Each BS terminal is connected to a balancing terminal capacitor Cb204 between adjacent BS terminals. As in the case of the main cell controller IC 301 described above, the balancing resistor 201 and the balancing terminal capacitor 204 constitute an RC filter to suppress noise mainly including a ripple voltage superimposed on the cell voltage due to the operation of the inverter 800. doing.
The BS terminals (CBS1 to 13) of the subcell controller IC 302 are equivalent to the CV terminals (CV1 to 13) for voltage detection of the main cell controller IC301. However, as described above, the main function of the subcell controller is the cell group. Since it is performing the balancing discharge of each unit cell 102, it is set as another name here.
In the above description, the cell voltage input resistor 202 is named Rcv and the balancing resistor 201 is named Rb. However, in the following description, the resistance values are also assumed to be Rcv and Rb.

A balancing switch (BS) 222 that supplies a balancing current is connected inside the subcell controller IC 302. When the balancing switch BS222 is turned on, the balancing current of the cell flows through the balancing resistor 201.
A balancing switch (BS) 222 is similarly provided inside the main cell controller IC 301. The balancing switch of the main cell controller IC 301 is mainly used for detecting disconnection of the voltage detection line, but will not be described in detail here.

  As described above, in the battery monitoring apparatus according to the present embodiment, the BS terminal for balancing discharge and the CV terminal for measuring the voltage between terminals are provided in separate cell controller ICs as dedicated terminals, respectively. It has been. The balancing discharge circuit composed of the balancing resistor Rb201 and the balancing switch BS222 of the sub cell controller IC302 is connected to the voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13 via the balancing connection lines BL1 to 13 on the unit cell side of the cell voltage input resistor Rcv202. It is connected to the. Thereby, since the balancing current does not flow through the cell voltage input resistance Rcv 202, the voltage between terminals can be accurately measured by the main cell controller IC301. In a normal state in which the voltage detection line is not disconnected, the balancing resistor Rb201 and the balancing terminal capacitor Cb204 of the balancing discharge circuit and the balancing switch 222 of the subcell controller IC302 are turned on / off in each unit cell of the main cell controller IC301. Does not affect the voltage measurement between terminals. Conventionally, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-228523, voltage measurement between terminals of each single battery cell and balancing discharge are performed by one cell controller IC, and one circuit for balancing discharge is used. Since the part is common to the circuit for measuring the voltage between terminals (voltage detection line and cell voltage input resistance), the voltage between the terminals is lowered when balancing discharge is performed. Accordingly, accurate voltage measurement between terminals has been performed with the balancing discharge stopped.

  The CV terminal or BS terminal is connected to the input terminal (Min terminal, Min1 to Min13) of the multiplexer 210 inside the cell controller IC. The multiplexer 210 selects each cell and outputs the positive potential and the negative potential, and is controlled by the output from the multiplexer input selection register 245 of the logic unit 213. The output of the multiplexer 210 is converted into a voltage between terminals of each single battery cell through the differential amplifier 211, and the voltage is converted into a digital value by the AD converter 212. The operation of the AD converter 212 is controlled by the logic unit 213, and the output of the AD converter 212 is processed by the logic unit 213. That is, voltage measurement is performed by the differential amplifier 211 and the AD converter 212.

The AD converter 212 is a high-speed AD converter such as a successive approximation type. By using such a high-speed AD converter, diagnosis of a multiplexer, which will be described later, can be performed at high speed.
If a high-speed AD converter has a noise component in the signal, it will be detected and AD converted. Therefore, an RC filter is configured by providing a cell voltage input resistor Rcv202 and a cell voltage input capacitor Cin203 on each of the voltage detection lines connected to the CV terminal of the main cell controller IC301 for measuring the voltage between the terminals of the unit cell. After the noise is removed, the signal is input to the AD converter 212 via the multiplexer 210 and the differential amplifier 211.

FIG. 6 shows an outline of the configuration of the logic unit 213. Here, the configuration will be briefly described. In the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302, the logic unit 213 has the same configuration and function. Hereinafter, the main cell controller IC 301 will be described as an example.
A detection voltage signal from the AD converter 212 is input to the logic unit 213. The output of the AD converter 212 is, as described above, the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell selected by the multiplexer 210 or the voltage between the two voltage detection lines connected to the input terminals Min1 to Min13. Stored in the result register 244.

  The voltage between terminals of each single battery cell stored in the voltage measurement result register 244 and the disconnection detection result or diagnosis result stored in the diagnosis result register 243 are transmitted from the main cell controller IC 301 via the communication line as described above. It is transmitted to the host controller (battery controller 500).

The logic unit 213 includes a register that controls various switches provided in the main cell controller IC 301.
The multiplexer input selection register 245 stores data for switching the multiplexer 245 to select an input. The balancing switch control register 247 stores data for controlling on / off of the balancing switch 222 provided for each cell. As described above, when performing balancing discharge of each single battery cell, the balancing switch of the sub cell controller IC 302 is used. The balancing switch of the main cell controller IC 301 is used when performing disconnection diagnosis of the voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13. However, the balancing switch is turned off except for the normal operation of the main cell controller IC 301 such as voltage measurement between terminals of the unit cells. ing.

  The operation power for the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 is supplied from the respective Vcc terminals (see FIG. 5). Since the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 have exactly the same configuration, only the main cell controller IC 301 is shown as a representative in FIG. The Vcc terminal is connected to the power supply unit 226 in the main cell controller IC 301, and an internal regulator (not shown) supplies the power supply VDD including the logic unit. The power supply VDD also supplies power to a circuit operating at Vdd outside the main cell controller IC 301, but this is omitted. The power supply unit 226 has a startup signal detection circuit (not shown) that starts up based on the output of the startup signal detection unit 216. When the startup signal is received from the upper main cell controller IC 301 or the microcomputer 504 via the insulating element 402, In addition to supplying power to the regulator, startup and POR (power-on reset) operations are performed. When the main cell controller IC 301 is activated, the activation signal output unit 217 is operated by the output from the logic unit 213, and the activation signal is output to the lower-level main cell controller IC 301.

A capacitor is connected to the activation signal output unit 217 outside the cell controller IC 301. This capacitor performs a charge pump operation, and is for generating a voltage higher than the power supply Vcc of the main cell controller IC 301 by a set voltage. By the charge pump operation of the activation signal output unit 217, an activation signal (DC voltage) based on a potential higher by Vcc of the main cell controller IC can be transmitted to the next (lower) main cell controller IC301.
The circuit for performing the charge pump operation is also used in common for a second data input / output unit 221 and a second clock input / output unit 221 to be described later. It is about the same as the potential reference of the IC.

  The Vcc terminal is always connected to the activation signal detection unit 216, and power is supplied only to the activation signal detection unit 216 even when the entire operation of the main cell controller IC 301 is stopped. However, since the power is supplied from the battery (cell group 102) when the cell controller IC is in an operation stopped state, the activation signal detection unit 216 has a circuit configuration that reduces the current consumption as much as possible (details are omitted).

Communication between the microcomputer 504 and the main cell controller IC 301 and communication between the microcomputer 504 and the sub cell controller IC 302 are performed by bidirectional communication. This bidirectional communication is performed in accordance with, for example, the specification of the I2C bus.
The clock signal for synchronization is transmitted from the clock signal output port SCLK of the microcomputer 504 to the uppermost main cell controller IC 301a and the uppermost subcell controller IC 302a. Further, as described above, the lower clock signal is transmitted through the daisy chain signal path. The data is transmitted to the main cell controller IC 301a and the sub cell controller IC 302a.
In each main cell controller IC 301 or each sub cell controller IC 302, the first clock input / output unit 219 receives this clock signal from the SCLK 1 terminal and sends it to the logic unit 213. The logic unit 213 further transmits this clock signal from the second clock input / output unit 221 to the subordinate main cell controller IC 301 or sub cell controller IC 302 via the SCLK2 terminal.
Since the transmission of the clock signal is bidirectional communication, when transmitting a clock from the main cell controller IC 301 or the sub cell controller IC 302 to the microcomputer 504, the clock transmission is performed in the reverse path.

Transmission of commands and data signals (data packets) is also performed by bidirectional communication. The command and data signal (data packet) transmitted from the microcomputer 504 are performed in the same manner as the transmission of the clock signal. The first data input / output unit 218 receives the data packet via the SDAT1 terminal and sends it to the logic unit 213. Further, this data packet is sent from the second data input / output unit via the SDAT2 terminal to the subordinate main cell controller IC 301 or It is transmitted to the subcell controller IC 302.
Similarly to the clock transmission, when data is transmitted from the main cell controller IC 301 or the sub cell controller IC 302 to the microcomputer 504, the data transmission is performed through the reverse path.

  In the main cell controller IC 301, based on the command and data signal transmitted from the microcomputer 504, the voltage between terminals of each single battery cell is measured and various diagnoses (overcharge, overdischarge, disconnection diagnosis of the voltage detection line, etc.) Is executed. The state data of each unit cell is transmitted from each main cell controller IC 301 to the upper main cell controller IC 301 via the first data input / output unit 218 and the SDAT1 terminal. In the upper main cell controller IC 301, the SDAT 2 The second data input / output unit 220 receives this data via the terminal. In this way, the state data of each single battery cell is finally transmitted from the highest-level main cell controller IC 301 to the microcomputer 504.

  The second clock input / output unit and the second data input / output unit incorporate a charge pump circuit (not shown) as in the case of the activation signal output unit 216, and the main cell controller IC 301 and the subordinate main cell controller. The potential of the IC or the potential of the sub cell controller IC 302 and the sub cell controller IC 302 of this lower level are matched, and a capacitor for low frequency noise countermeasures is also inserted between the two cell controller ICs 301 and between the two sub cell controller ICs 302. Thus, signal transmission with good quality is possible.

  The subcell controller IC 302 performs balancing discharge of each single battery cell based on the command and data signal transmitted from the microcomputer 504, and during the balancing discharge, that is, in a state where each balancing switch 222 is turned on. The voltage between terminals of each balancing switch is measured. The measurement data of the voltage across the terminals of the balancing switch is transmitted from each subcell controller IC 302 to the upper subcell controller IC 302 via the first data input / output unit 218 and the SDAT1 terminal. In the upper subcell controller IC302, the SDAT2 terminal is connected. The second data input / output unit 220 receives this data through the network. In this way, the measurement data of the voltage between the terminals of each balancing switch is finally transmitted from the uppermost subcell controller IC 301 to the microcomputer 504.

  Although not described in detail, each of the first clock input / output unit 219 and the second clock input / output unit 221 includes a clock reception circuit and a clock transmission circuit (not shown), and transmission and reception of a synchronization clock are performed. It is performed by serial communication with one data communication line. Each of the first data input / output unit 218 and the second data input / output unit is provided with a data reception circuit and a data transmission circuit (not shown), and data transmission and reception are performed by one data communication line. It is done by serial communication. The data format in this serial communication may conform to the specification of I2C communication as described above, for example, or may conform to the specification of other serial communication.

1 to 4, the main cell controller IC 301 shown on the upper side in the figure is a lower main cell controller IC 301, and the main cell controller IC 301 shown on the lower side is an upper main cell controller IC 301. Similarly, the sub cell controller IC 302 shown on the upper side in the figure is a lower sub cell controller IC 302, and the sub cell controller IC 302 shown on the lower side is an upper sub cell controller IC 301. As shown in FIG. 3, in the example of the battery control device according to the present invention, the command and data from the microcomputer 504 are first transmitted to the main cell controller IC 301 or the sub cell controller IC 302 shown in the lower side in the figure. This is because the upper and lower levels of the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC are set based on the order in the communication path. Since the circuit configuration may be such that the main cell cell controller IC or the sub cell controller IC shown first in the figure receives a command from the microcomputer 504, the upper and lower levels of the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC are illustrated. It is not limited to the state of being.
Also, reference numbers 102a to 102d of each cell group in FIG. 3 are set according to the upper / lower relationship of the main cell controller IC and the sub cell controller IC shown here, and the lowermost cell group in FIG. 102a.
However, regarding the single battery cells in each cell group, the upper single battery cell in the figure is the upper single battery cell because the upper single battery cell in the figure has a high potential.

(Calculation method of balancing discharge current and balancing discharge time)
As already described, in the battery control device according to the present invention, two cell controller ICs having the same configuration, that is, the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 301 are used for one cell group (see FIG. 4). Hereinafter, the balancing discharge current and the calculation method of the balancing discharge current in the battery control apparatus according to the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, the electric vehicle is simply referred to as a vehicle.

(Measurement of open-circuit voltage (OCV) between terminals of a single battery cell in the main cell controller IC301)
First, the main cell controller IC 301 sends a command for measuring the voltage (OCV) between the terminals of the unit cells from the battery controller when the electric vehicle such as HEV, PHEV, EV or the like is activated (at the time of key-on). The voltage between the terminals of each single battery cell in a state where the load (inverter 800) is not connected to the power storage device 100 as described below, that is, the open circuit voltage VC _OCV between the terminals of each single battery cell (cell 1) Is measured as VC1 _OCV ).

The positive and negative terminal potentials of the individual battery cells of the cell group 102 are input to the main cell controller IC 301 via the voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13 and the voltage detection CV terminals (CV1 to 13 terminals). The multiplexer 210 sequentially selects the cells 1 to 12 for the potentials of two adjacent voltage detection lines, that is, the potentials of the positive and negative terminals of one single battery cell, and inputs them to the differential amplifier 211. The differential amplifier 211 inputs the difference between the positive and negative terminal potentials of the single battery cell to the AD converter 212 as the inter-terminal voltage of the single battery cell. The AD converter 212 converts the input inter-terminal voltage of the single battery cell into a digital value and inputs the digital value to the logic unit 213. The logic unit 213 converts the measured inter-terminal voltage (OCV) of the cells 1 to 12 into a digital value. Is stored in the voltage measurement result register 244. The inter-terminal voltages (OCV) VC1 _{OCV to} VC12 _OCV of the unit cells of the cells 1 to 12 stored in the voltage measurement result register 244 are transmitted to the battery controller 500 via the communication path.

The microcomputer 504 of the battery controller 500 receives the data of the open circuit voltages VC1 _{OCV to} VC12 _OCV between the terminals 1 to 12 of the cell group 102, and the relationship between the OCV and the SOC already measured and converted into data (for example, FIG. 7 OCV-SOC conversion curve), the received OCV of each single battery cell is converted to SOC.

Further, the order of the SOCs of the cells 1 to 12 is ranked, the command for performing balancing discharge of the single battery cells other than the single battery cell having the smallest SOC, and the voltage across the terminals of the balancing switch that performs this balancing discharge A command to measure VBS is transmitted to the subcell controller IC302.
At the same time, when the smallest single-battery cells other than the single-battery cells of the SOC is performing balancing discharge, a command for measuring the terminal voltage VC _BS of these single-battery cells in the main cell controller IC301 Send.

The short-time balancing discharge and VBS measurement by the sub cell controller IC 302 and the VC _BS measurement by the main cell controller IC 301 are performed almost simultaneously in one single battery cell. That is, these operations for each single battery cell are executed almost synchronously between the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302.
The operation of the sub cell controller IC 302 and the operation of the main cell controller IC 301 are synchronized with each other by a synchronization clock and a data packet transmitted from the microcomputer 504, respectively.

If the SOC of the single battery cell with the smallest SOC is sufficiently large and there is no possibility of overdischarge even if short-time balancing discharge is performed, balancing discharge of all the single battery cells is performed at the same time. A command for measuring the voltage between terminals (VC _BS ) of each unit cell and the voltage between terminals (VBS) of each balancing switch may be transmitted to the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302. If the discharge of the single battery cell is not advanced, overdischarge will not occur even if balancing discharge is performed for a short time. When the electric vehicle is started (when the key is turned on), the state is almost the same as described above. Therefore, when the key is turned on, all the single cells may be subjected to short-time balancing discharge.

  The voltage measurement between the terminals of the balancing switch in the subcell controller IC 302 and the measurement between the terminals of the single battery cell in the main cell controller, which will be described below, are performed following the OCV measurement of the single battery cell. Measurement is possible even when 800 is connected as a load, that is, during normal operation other than when the vehicle is started.

(Measurement of voltage (VBS) between terminals of balancing switch in subcell controller IC302)
The subcell controller IC 302 is connected to the single battery cells of the cells 1 to 12 via the voltage detection lines SL1 to SL13, the balancing connection lines BL1 to BL13, and the balancing terminals (BS terminals) CBS1 to CBS13. When the subcell controller IC 302 receives the balancing discharge command from the battery controller 500 via the communication path, the subcell controller IC 302 turns on the balancing switch (222) BS1-12 specified by the balancing discharge command and Balancing discharge of the corresponding unit cell is performed. At the same time, the potential of the positive and negative terminals of the balancing switch that is turned on is selected by the multiplexer 210 and input to the differential amplifier 211. The differential amplifier 211 inputs the difference between the positive and negative terminal potentials of the balancing switch to the AD converter 212 as a voltage (VBS) between the terminals of the balancing switch. The AD converter 212 converts the input voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch into a digital value and inputs the digital value to the logic unit 213. The logic unit 213 measures the measured voltage (VBS) between the terminals of the balancing switch as a digital value. Store in the result register 244.
The voltage (VBS) between terminals of the balancing switch stored in the voltage measurement result register 244 is transmitted to the battery controller 500 via the communication path.

(Measurement of voltage (VC) between terminals of a single cell in the main cell controller IC301)
The main cell controller IC 301 receives a command for measuring a voltage between terminals (VC _BS ) during balancing discharge of the single battery cell from the battery controller 500 almost simultaneously with a balancing discharge command from the battery controller 500 to the sub cell controller IC 302. To do. Therefore, the command data includes command data that synchronizes the balancing discharge by the sub cell controller IC 302 and the main cell controller IC 301 (for example, bit data indicating whether or not to synchronize).

In synchronization with the balancing discharge of the unit cell in the sub cell controller IC 302, the potential of the positive / negative terminal of the corresponding unit cell is selected by the multiplexer 210 of the main cell controller IC 301 and input to the differential amplifier 211. The differential amplifier 211 inputs the difference between the positive and negative terminal potentials of the single battery cell to the AD converter 212 as the inter-terminal voltage (VC _BS ) of the single battery cell. The AD converter 212 converts the input inter-terminal voltage of the balancing switch into a digital value, and inputs the digital value to the logic unit 213. The logic unit 213 converts the measured inter-terminal voltage (VC _BS ) of the single battery cell into a digital value. Stored in the voltage measurement result register 244. Note that the measurement of the voltage between the terminals of the unit cell is performed in a state where the balancing switch 222 of the main cell controller IC 301 is off.
Terminal voltage VC _BS balancing switches the voltage measuring results stored in the register 244 is transmitted to the battery controller 500 through the communication path.

In the power storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the voltage detection CV terminals (CV1 to 13) for measuring the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cells are provided in the main cell controller IC301, and BS terminals (CBS1 to CBS1) that perform balancing discharge are provided. 13) is provided in the subcell controller IC302. As described above, the CV terminal and the BS terminal are provided independently, and the balancing discharge current flows through the balancing resistor Rb201 and the balancing switch 222, and does not flow through the cell voltage input resistor Rcv202. Therefore, the balancing discharge is connected to the main cell via the CV terminal. The measurement of the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell input to the controller IC 301 is not affected. In the following description, VC _BS is simply referred to as VC.

  Note that the measurement of the balancing discharge and the voltage between terminals of the balancing switch in the sub cell controller IC 302 and the measurement of the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell in the main cell controller IC 301 are performed in synchronization with each single battery cell. At that time, the discharge of other single battery cells, the measurement of the voltage between terminals, and the measurement of the voltage between terminals of other balancing switches are not performed. However, after the balancing discharge current of each battery cell is calculated by the battery controller 500 using the above-described voltage (VBS) between the terminals of the balancing switch and the voltage VC between the terminals of the single battery cell, HEV, PHEV, EV Even during normal operation of an electric vehicle such as when the power storage device 100 and the inverter 800 are connected, a state in which a plurality of balancing switches are turned on and a balancing discharge of a plurality of single battery cells is performed Thus, the voltage between terminals of each unit cell or the voltage between terminals of each balancing switch can be measured, and the balancing discharge current Ib of each unit cell can be obtained each time.

(Calculation of balancing discharge current of each battery cell)
As described above, the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch 222 measured by the subcell controller 302 and the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell measured by the main cell controller IC 301 when each single battery cell 101 is performing balancing discharge are as follows. Then, the data is transmitted to the battery controller 500 via the communication path, and the microcomputer 504 calculates the balancing discharge current of each single battery cell.

Between the voltage (VC) between terminals of this single battery cell when one single battery cell 101 of the cell group 102 is balancing discharge, and the voltage VBS between terminals of the balancing switch 222 of the sub cell controller IC 302, the following There is a relationship such as equation (1).
VBS = VC * R _BS / (2 * Rb + R _BS ). . . (1)
Here, Rb is a known balancing resistor 201 (see FIG. 3), and the resistance value is also indicated by Rb. R _BS is the on-resistance value of the balancing switch 222.

Since the balancing resistor 201 (Rb) is an external resistor of the subcell controller IC, a resistor with high accuracy and little variation can be used. However, since the on-resistance R _BS of the balancing switch 222 is a switch in the cell controller IC, some variation occurs depending on the semiconductor manufacturing process. This resistance value R _BS is obtained by the following equation (2) obtained by _modifying the above equation (1).
R _BS = 2 * Rb * VBS / (VC−VBS). . . (2)

Since balancing discharge current Ib of the single cells is Ib = VBS _{/ R BS,}
Ib = (VC−VBS) / (2 * Rb). . . (3)
Or
Ib = VC * (1-R _BS / (2 * Rb + R _BS )) / (2 * Rb)
= VC / (2 * Rb + R _BS ). . . (4)
It is expressed as

  Strictly speaking, an actually measured resistance value may be used as the resistance value Rb of the balancing resistor 201. In addition, a more accurate balancing discharge current can be obtained by correcting the temperature change of the resistance value Rb of the balancing resistor 201. In this case, a temperature sensor (not shown) is provided in the vicinity of the balancing resistor, and an output from this sensor is transmitted from the temperature detection circuit (not shown) of the subcell controller IC 302 to the battery controller 500, for example.

  Therefore, as is apparent from the equation (3), when the electric vehicle is activated, the voltage VC between the terminals of the single battery cell, the voltage between the terminals (VBS) of the balancing switch, and the resistance of the balancing resistor 201 when performing the short-time balancing discharge are obtained. Based on the value Rb, it is possible to calculate a balancing current when balancing discharge is performed when the vehicle is started.

(Effect of temperature on balancing current calculation)
However, for example, when the vehicle is started and the load such as the inverter 800 is not connected to the power storage device 100 and the balancing discharge is performed, the voltage between the terminals of each unit cell is the above-described unit cell. It is obtained by subtracting the voltage drop due to the internal resistance of each single battery cell from the OCV of the cell. Further, in a state where a load such as the inverter 800 is connected, the inter-terminal voltage (VC) of each single battery cell also varies corresponding to the variation of the load. In addition, noise is also mixed in the inter-terminal voltage (VC) at this time. In addition, the temperature of the power storage device differs between when the vehicle is started and during normal operation.
Here, in order to facilitate the following description, the balancing discharge current Ib and the voltage VC between the terminals of the single battery cell when the circuit of each single battery cell and the battery monitoring device at the time of starting the vehicle is at a constant temperature. (R) is added to the balancing switch terminal voltage VBS, the balancing resistor Rb, and the balancing switch on-resistance _RBS , respectively, and is expressed as follows.
Ib (R) = (VC (R) −VBS (R)) / (2 * Rb (R)). . . (5)
Or
Ib (R) = VC (R) / (2 * Rb (R) + R _BS (R)). . . (6)

Thereafter, the inverter 800 is connected to the power storage device 100, and the balancing current Ib, the battery cell terminal voltage VC, the balancing switch terminal voltage VBS, the balancing resistor Rb, the balancing when the vehicle is operating normally. each switch on-resistance R _BS with a (N) expressed as follows.
Ib (N) = (VC (N) −VBS (N)) / (2 * Rb (N)). . . (7)
Or
Ib (N) = VC (N) / (2 * Rb (N) + R _BS (N)). . . (8)
The reason why the balancing resistance Rb and the on-resistance R _BS of the balancing switch are distinguished from each other by adding (N) is that the temperature around these resistances varies depending on the state of the vehicle. When the temperature change of the power storage device including these resistors can be ignored, the above equations (5) and (7), (6) and (8) are completely equivalent.

As apparent from the above equations (6) and (8), it can be seen that the balancing current of each single battery cell is simply proportional to the voltage between the terminals. That is, when coefficients F1 and F2 that take into account the temperature change of each resistor are used,
Ib (N) = Ib (R) * (VC (N) −VBS (N))
/ (VC (R) -VBS (R)) * F1. . . (9)
F1 = Rb (N) / Rb (R). . . (10)
Or
Ib (N) = Ib (R) * (VC (N) / VC (R)) * F2. . . (11)
F2 = (2 * Rb (R) + R _BS (R)) / (2 * Rb (N) + R _BS (N)). . . (12)
It is expressed as The coefficients F1 and F2 can be calculated using a table in advance based on the temperature characteristics of the balancing resistor 201 and the balancing switch 222, but the temperature inside the cell controller IC can be accurately measured. Necessary and temperature correction data and calculations are required.

Here, as the balancing resistor Rb201, one having high accuracy and a very small temperature coefficient can be used.
Ib (N) = Ib (R) * (VC (N) −VBS (N)) / (VC (R) −VBS (R)). . . (13)
Can be expressed as
Or, since Rb (R) = Rb (N) = Rb, the expressions (5) and (7) are equivalent, so the distinction between (R) and (N) is omitted,
Ib = (VC−VBS) / (2 * Rb). . . (14)
And can.
Equation (14) indicates that the balancing current can be calculated using a known balancing resistance value by measuring the voltage (VC) between the terminals of the single battery cell and the voltage (VBS) between the terminals of the balancing switch. In addition, since the ON resistance of the balancing switch composed of a MOSFET or the like is not included, it is not necessary to directly correct the ON resistance variation or temperature change of the balancing switch, and the balancing current can be accurately calculated.

  On the other hand, when Equations (11) and F2 (Equation (12)) are used, it is necessary to consider the temperature change of the on-resistance of the balancing switch 222. For example, a MOSFET is used for the balancing switch 222 and usually has a positive temperature characteristic. There is also a variation in resistance value between balancing switches incorporated in one cell controller IC. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately calculate the balancing current using the equations (11) and (12).

  As is clear from the above description, by measuring the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell when the balancing switch 222 is on and the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch 222 corresponding to this single battery cell, It is possible to calculate a balancing current that does not require temperature change correction of on-resistance. Therefore, the balancing current can be calculated in real time by measuring the inter-terminal voltage VC of the unit cell and the inter-terminal voltage VBS of the balancing switch 222 in real time.

It is necessary to simultaneously measure the inter-terminal voltage (VC) of the single battery cell and the inter-terminal voltage (VBS) of the balancing switch 222 corresponding thereto. This is because the inter-terminal voltage (VC) of the single battery cell changes the charge / discharge current of the battery system in accordance with the change of the load such as the inverter.
As apparent from the equation (1), when the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell varies, the voltage VBS between the terminals of the balancing switch 222 also varies in proportion to this. Accordingly, when the inter-terminal voltage VC of the single battery cell and the inter-terminal voltage (VBS) of the balancing switch 222 are measured at different timings in the formula (5), (7), or (14), balancing is performed. The current _IBS is not calculated correctly.
If the balancing current having an error is used, the SOC of the single battery cell is not correctly calculated (see the following description). Such SOC calculation errors are integrated, which may cause overdischarge in some cases.

(Balancing discharge time and balancing discharge control of each battery cell)
First, the initial SOC is obtained based on the OCV-SOC conversion curve of FIG. 7 using the OCV measured when the electric vehicle such as HEV, PHEV, EV is started. As an example, the case of a single battery cell will be described.
The initial value of the SOC of the single battery cell is assumed to be SOC0. When the charge / discharge current between battery system 104 and inverter 800 when power storage device 100 and inverter 800 are connected is I, and the balancing discharge current is Ib, the SOC of this single battery cell is expressed as follows.
SOC = SOC0−∫I (t) dt−∫Ib (t) dt. . . (15)
Note that ∫I indicates an integrated value of the charging / discharging current I (t), and ∫Ib indicates an integrated value of the balancing discharge current Ib (t). (T) shows that it fluctuates with time. Since I (t) is a charge / discharge current, when the battery system is charged, I (t) is a negative value and the SOC increases. As described above, the balancing discharge current slightly varies in accordance with the change in the voltage between the terminals of each unit cell. The balancing discharge is performed on the single battery cells in which the SOCs of all the single battery cells are obtained and the SOC variation ΔSOC (> 0) is larger than the predetermined threshold value ΔSOCth (> 0). The SOC of each single battery cell is managed by the battery controller 500 and the cell controller 200.

According to one embodiment of the power storage device equipped with the battery control device including the battery monitoring device according to the present invention, the balancing discharge current Ib for correcting the variation in the SOC of each single battery cell is accurately obtained as described above, Variations can be eliminated in a short time. That is, balancing discharge is
ΔSOC−∫Ib (t) dt = 0. . . (16)
Until the balance switch 222 is turned on.
In fact,
ΔSOC−∫Ib (t) dt ≦ 0. . . (17)
At that point, the balancing discharge is stopped immediately.
In one embodiment of the power storage device using the battery monitoring device according to the present invention, it is possible to perform almost such balancing discharge. However, the conventional balancing discharge cannot obtain an accurate balancing current. Such control was not performed.

(Balanced discharge time and balancing discharge control of each conventional battery cell)
For ease of understanding, assuming that the balancing current is a certain current value Ib, the balancing discharge time t is
ΔSOC−Ib · t = 0. . . (18)
It can ask for.
However, the actual balancing current Ib (t) changes due to fluctuations in the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell. Conventionally, the balancing current is calculated only by the voltage between the terminals and the balancing resistance, and the on-resistance of the balancing switch is not taken into consideration. As described above, the capacity of recent secondary battery cells is increasing, and it is required to increase the balancing discharge current accordingly. For this reason, the balancing resistance tends to be used with a small value. If the balancing current is not calculated in consideration of the on-resistance of the balancing switch, an excessive balancing current may flow in some cases, resulting in an overdischarge state.

Further, the average value of the inter-terminal closed circuit voltage (CCV) at the time of load connection changes in the same manner as the OCV-SOC curve of FIG. 7 corresponding to the SOC.
The exact SOC of the single battery cell is obtained, for example, at a steep portion (A in the figure) of the OCV-SOC conversion curve of FIG. However, in the part where the slope of this curve is gentle (B in the figure), an accurate SOC cannot be obtained from the OCV. The two curves C and D shown at the bottom of FIG. 7 show the SOC conversion error when the OCV measurement error is 15 mV and 10 mV, respectively.
That is, an accurate SOC cannot be calculated in the portion B of the OCV-SOC conversion curve. Conventionally, ΔSOC−Ib · t of the equation (18) was calculated using the SOC variation ΔSOC calculated in the portion A. However, since Ib was not accurately obtained, there was a possibility of overdischarge. It was.

  As a method for efficiently performing balancing discharge while preventing such overdischarge due to balancing discharge, balancing discharge is performed little by little at regular intervals as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-309750. A method for converging the variation of battery cells has been performed.

When the balancing switch 222 is turned on, the current flowing in the balancing discharge open circuit is obtained by using a balancing discharge circuit of a conventional battery monitoring device (see, for example, FIGS. 18 and 19 of JP 2010-228523 A). The voltage between the terminals of the unit cell when the is off and the voltage between the terminals when the balancing switch is on (in this case, the voltage between the terminals of the unit cell corresponding to the sum of the balancing resistance and the on-resistance of the balancing switch) The balancing current can be calculated from the divided voltage) in the same manner as described above. In this case, the calculation formula is slightly different from the above formulas (1) to (14), but the description is omitted.
However, in the configuration of the conventional battery monitoring device, either the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell and the voltage between the terminals when the balancing switch 222 corresponding to this single battery cell is on will be measured separately, These cannot be measured simultaneously. Therefore, the balancing current is not calculated correctly, and the SOC is not calculated correctly. Furthermore, conventionally, since the capacity of the single battery cell was small, the balancing discharge current was not large, and the on-resistance of the balancing switch having a resistance value smaller than the cell voltage input resistance and the balancing resistance was not considered.

(Balanced discharge current calculation and balancing discharge control flow)
FIG. 8 shows an outline of a flow of calculation of balancing discharge current and control of balancing discharge in each battery cell in an embodiment of a power storage device equipped with the battery control device including the battery monitoring device according to the present invention described above. Is shown. Note that the central portion of FIG. 8 describes the processing in the microcomputer 504. The battery controller 500 includes circuits (not shown) other than the microcomputer, and the battery control device 600 includes circuits (not shown) other than the battery controller 500 and the cell controller 200. Therefore, the battery control apparatus actually performs many other operations other than those included in this flow. The flow shown in FIG. 8 shows only the portions related to the present invention and shows them together. For example, diagnosis of internal circuit operation of each single battery cell and the cell controller IC itself or disconnection diagnosis of the voltage detection line is not included in this flow. Moreover, although OCV measurement and CCV measurement of each single battery cell included in this flow are used in addition to the balancing discharge current calculation described above, the description is omitted here.

  When a vehicle such as a hybrid vehicle is started, the cell controller 200 including a plurality of main cell controller ICs 301 and sub cell controller ICs 302 is activated. This activation is performed by the activation signal described above. However, in the following description, this is omitted, and only balancing current calculation and balancing discharge control in a state where the cell controller is activated will be described. Note that the relay 700 and the relay 710 are turned off when the vehicle such as a hybrid vehicle is started, and the relay 700 and the relay 710 are turned off for various measurements and diagnostic operations including cell controller activation and OCV measurement. Done in state. In the middle of the flow shown in FIG. 8, relay 700 and relay 710 are turned on, power storage device 100 and inverter 800 are connected, and DC power of battery system 100 is converted into three-phase AC power by inverter 800 and motor 900. And the vehicle is driven.

  When a hybrid vehicle drive system using an embodiment of a power storage device equipped with a battery control device according to the present invention is started (key-on), balancing discharge current calculation and balancing discharge control by the battery control device according to the present invention is performed in step S1. Operation starts.

In step S <b> 2, the microcomputer 504 generates a command for measuring the OCV (open circuit voltage) of all unit cells of the battery system 104. The measurement of the voltage (OCV) between the terminals of each single battery cell in the open circuit state is such that the battery system 104 is not connected to the inverter 800 as a load, that is, the relay 700 and the relay 710 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) are off ( And the balancing switch 222 of the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 are all turned off.
The command for turning off each balancing switch is a command different from the command for measuring the voltage between terminals of each unit cell, but the balancing switch is always turned off in the measurement of OCV. That is, since the OCV measurement command and the balancing switch-off command are always generated together, this is simplified in FIG.

An OCV measurement command from the microcomputer is transmitted to the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 via the communication path, and the following processes are performed in synchronization in the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302.
(Main cell controller IC301)
・ All balancing switches off (step S2M1)
-Voltage measurement between each battery cell terminal (step S2M2)
(Subcell controller IC 302)
・ All balancing switches off (step S2S)
When the vehicle is started, all the balancing switches 222 are normally started in an off state, so that the operations in steps S2M1 and S2S can be omitted.

The balancing switch 222 of the main cell controller IC 301 is always off in the operation of the battery control device described here. In step S2M1, these balancing switches are turned off and shown only once. In the actual operation of the battery control device, many operations other than those shown in FIG. 8 are executed. For example, in the disconnection diagnosis of the voltage detection line, the plurality of balancing switches 222 of the main cell controller are combined on / off. This description is omitted.
In step S2M2, the measurement data of the inter-terminal voltage (in this case, OCV) of each unit cell measured by the main cell controller IC 301 is transmitted to the microcomputer 504 through the communication path as described above, and in step S3. The SOC of each single battery cell is calculated. Although this SOC is calculated using the OCV-SOC relationship as shown in FIG. 7, it is desirable to use the portion A of the OCV-SOC conversion curve as described above.

  In step S4, the SOC deviation ΔSOC is calculated for each single battery cell from the SOC of each single battery cell calculated in step S3. At this time, the order of the SOC size is also calculated. The balancing discharge is usually performed from the one having a large SOC, but this description is omitted below.

  In step S5, it is determined whether or not there is a single battery cell to be balanced discharge. The balancing discharge is performed on the SOC having a deviation ΔSOC larger than a predetermined threshold value ΔSOCth. If there is no single battery cell having an SOC with a deviation larger than ΔSOCth, the process ends in step S18.

  If there is a single battery cell to be balanced discharge target, a list of single battery cells to be balanced is created in step S6. Further, in step S7, each target total balancing discharge current amount (∫Ib (t) dt in the formulas (14) to (16) or Ib · t in the formula (17)) is obtained in the unit cell to be balanced discharge. Calculated. For example, when the target total balancing discharge current amount is set using Equation (15), the SOC deviation ΔSOC becomes the target total balancing discharge current amount. Alternatively, for example, ΔSOC−ΔSOCth may be set as the target total balancing discharge current amount. The ΔSOCth and the target total balancing discharge current amount can be set in various ways, and this description is omitted here.

  The balancing discharge command for the balancing discharge target unit cell in step S8 and the CCV measurement command for the balancing discharge target unit cell in step S9 are generated almost simultaneously. The first balancing discharge executed by these commands is to measure the voltage between the terminals of each unit cell or the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch 222. Therefore, only the time required for these, that is, the short-time balancing discharge. Is done.

  Based on the balancing discharge command in step S8, the balancing switch is turned on for a predetermined short time in the subcell controller IC 302 to perform balancing discharge (step S8S).

  Further, the voltage between the terminals of the on-state balancing switch 222 is measured in the state where the balancing discharge is being performed (step S9S). Therefore, the voltage measurement between the terminals of the balancing switch 222 and the operation of turning on the balancing switch 222 are performed in synchronization. The commands for the balancing discharge (step S8S) to the subcell controller IC 302 and the measurement of the voltage across the terminals of the balancing switch 222 (step S9S) may be transmitted in one data packet.

  In synchronization with the operations of steps S8S and S9S in the subcell controller IC302, the main cell controller IC301 measures the voltage across the terminals of the single battery cell in step S9M. In addition, operation | movement of step S8S, S9S, and S9M is performed in synchronization with respect to each single battery cell of balancing discharge object.

  The measurement data of the voltage measurement between the terminals of the balancing discharge target unit cell in the main cell controller IC301 (step S9M) and the measurement data of the voltage measurement between the balancing switch terminals in the subcell controller IC302 (step S9S) follow the communication path described above. Via the microcomputer 504. In step S10, as described above, the balancing discharge current Ib is calculated for each unit cell for balancing discharge according to the equation (3).

In step S11, the balancing discharge schedule of the balancing discharge target single battery cell is set. An initial value Ib0 of the balancing discharge current Ib calculated in step S10 is calculated. Assuming that the initial value Ib0 is kept constant, an approximate balancing discharge time t0 can be calculated using Equation (18). That is,
t0 = ΔSOC / Ib0. . . (19)
It becomes.
The voltage between the terminals of the unit cell varies with the load of the inverter 800. As the battery system is charged / discharged, the average terminal voltage also varies with time. Therefore, the discharge time calculated by the equation (19) is used as a guide only, and the actual balancing discharge is controlled in finer time steps.

  Normally, the resistance value Rb of the balancing resistor 201 is set to a value that eliminates the variation in SOC when balancing discharge is continuously performed for several hours or more, taking into account ΔSOCth, the ON resistance of the balancing switch, and the variation thereof. The Further, in a battery system composed of a plurality of single battery cells, the short-term change in output voltage due to the inverter load is about 20% in pp, and the voltage change in the amplitude of pp is several tens of millimeters even when it is particularly fast. More than a second. Further, even if continuous discharge is performed with an inverter load or the like, it is designed so that it takes several tens of minutes to decrease from the allowable maximum SOC value of each single battery cell and the entire battery system to the allowable minimum value. Charge / discharge control is normally performed using such a battery system so that the SOC becomes 50% or more, for example. Therefore, the balancing discharge time is controlled by turning on the balancing switch for a long time. In addition, the measurement of the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell and the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch for this control is repeatedly performed in real time in about milliseconds, so that accurate balancing current calculation and accurate SOC calculation using this can be performed. It becomes possible. The specific control of the balancing switch on-time and the measurement interval of the voltage between the terminals of the single cell and the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch differ depending on the specifications of the single battery cell, the battery system, and the load specifications. The detailed explanation is omitted.

  In an example of a very simple balancing discharge schedule, for example, when the time when the balancing switches are turned on reaches about half of the balancing discharge time t0 obtained from the initial value Ib0 of the balancing current, a fine time interval is set. The on / off control may be performed with the. The measurement of the voltage between the terminals of each single battery cell and the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch can be performed in real time in about the control cycle of the microcomputer, and the SOC of each single battery cell is also accurately calculated in real time. The balancing switch may be turned on / off while referring to the SOC calculation result in real time.

However, when setting the balancing discharge schedule, the scheduling is set so that the balancing discharge of two adjacent unit cells, that is, the two adjacent balancing switches are not simultaneously turned on. As can be seen from FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, when two adjacent balancing switches are simultaneously turned on, balancing discharge is performed at a voltage equivalent to two unit cells, so the amount of heat generated by the balancing switch increases. Because. Therefore, if two adjacent balancing switches are not turned on, balancing discharge may be performed by simultaneously turning on a plurality of balancing switches. When a plurality of cell groups are connected in series, even when two unit cells belonging to different cell groups are connected adjacent to each other in terms of circuit, that is, the highest level of one cell group When a single battery cell and the lowest single battery cell of the lower cell group adjacent to this cell group are adjacent to each other in terms of circuit, the balancing switch corresponding to these two single battery cells is scheduled not to be turned on simultaneously. There is a need to.
If there is no problem of heat generation, the balancing discharge may be performed by turning on two adjacent balancing switches. However, the balancing discharge is performed considering that the balancing current is a value corresponding to two unit cells. Is possible.

  In step S12, a balancing discharge command for the unit cell for balancing discharge is generated. Based on this command, the subcell controller 302 starts balancing discharge of the single unit cell to be balanced discharge (step S12S).

Further, in the state where the balancing discharge is being performed, a command for performing CCV measurement of the single battery cell which is performing the balancing discharge is generated in the microcomputer 504 in step S13.
Based on this CCV measurement command, the main cell controller IC 301 measures the voltage across the terminals of the single battery cell that is performing balancing discharge (step S13M). In synchronization with this, the sub-cell controller IC 302 measures the voltage across the terminals of the balancing switch 222 in the on state (step S13S).

As described above, in order to accurately calculate the SOC of the single battery cell, the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell and the voltage between the terminals of the balancing switch 222 are measured in the smallest possible steps. desirable. For example, it is desirable to perform in real time for each control cycle of the microcomputer 504. However, when the fluctuation of the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell is moderate according to the driving state of the vehicle, it may be performed at a long time interval.
In addition, in calculation of SOC of each single battery cell, as shown by Formula (15), the charging / discharging current of the battery system is also integrated. The charge / discharge current of this battery system is detected by the current sensor 503 and the charge / discharge current detection circuit shown in FIGS. This charge / discharge current is detected in real time for each control cycle of the microcomputer 504. For the detection of the charging / discharging current of the battery system, the calculation of the SOC value obtained by integrating the charging / discharging current, and the battery control (connection / disconnection, stoppage, etc. of the battery system) based on the SOC value, the illustration and explanation are as follows. Omitted.

  In the right side of steps S12S and S13S in FIG. 8 (synchronization processing), the balancing discharge may be performed by continuously turning on the balancing switch, and in this on state, the CCV of the single cell in step S13. This is because the operations of step S13M and step S13S are performed in synchronization only when a measurement command is generated.

  The measurement data of the terminal cell voltage measurement (step S13M) of the balancing discharge target unit cell in the main cell controller IC301 and the measurement data of the balancing switch terminal voltage measurement (step S13S) in the subcell controller IC302 are transmitted through the communication path described above. Via the microcomputer 504. In step S14, as described in step S10 above, the balancing discharge current Ib is calculated for each balancing discharge target single cell by the equation (3), and this balancing discharge current is integrated to obtain the total balancing discharge current. Is calculated.

In step S15, the balancing discharge time is calculated based on the difference between the calculated total balancing discharge current and ΔSOC, and the balancing discharge current Ib, the time for turning on the balancing switch is recalculated, and the balancing discharge target Reset the balancing discharge schedule of single cells.
Further, since the balancing discharge is completed for the single battery cell whose total balancing discharge current is equal to or greater than ΔSOC, a command to turn off the balancing switch 222 of the single battery cell is transmitted to the subcell controller IC302. Based on this command, in step S15S, the subcell controller IC 302 turns off the balancing switch 222 and stops balancing discharge.

  In step S16, it is confirmed whether or not the single battery cell targeted for balancing discharge still remains in step S15. If there is no unit cell for balancing discharge, the process proceeds to step S18, and balancing discharge is completed. Moreover, if the single battery cell of balancing discharge remains, the balancing discharge of the single battery cell of balancing discharge is continued.

  In step S17, if there is a change (decrease) in the unit cells to be balanced, the list of unit cells to be balanced discharge is changed in consideration of this, and the operations in step S13 and subsequent steps are performed based on this list. repeat.

In the operation flow of FIG. 8, the OCV measurement (steps S <b> 2, S <b> 2 </ b> S, S <b> 2 </ b> M <b> 1, S <b> 2 </ b> M <b> 2) of each single battery cell is performed in a state where a load such as an inverter is not connected to the battery system 104. That is, for example, it is desirable to carry out at the time of starting the electric vehicle.
Step S3 and subsequent steps can be performed in a state where a load such as an inverter is connected to the battery system 104. However, since the approximate balancing discharge time is calculated (step S11) based on the measurement result in the first CCV measurement (S8, S9, S8S, S9S, S9M) during the balancing discharge, the first CCV measurement is For example, it is desirable that the operation be performed in a state where the vehicle is stabilized to some extent, for example, when the electric vehicle is started.

  In the example shown in the description of the above embodiment, the battery system 104 has been described as being configured by connecting the cell groups 102 in series. The battery system 104 may be configured by connecting a plurality of cell groups in series or parallel.

  In the above description, the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 have been described as being provided in a one-to-one relationship with the cell group 102. However, a single cell controller IC pair 300 can control a plurality of cell groups. In addition, one cell group can be controlled by a plurality of cell controller IC pairs 300.

  The number of single battery cells constituting the cell group can be variously modified depending on the specifications of the battery module or battery system including a plurality of cell groups. Moreover, the specifications of such various battery systems are set in accordance with the power specifications required for electric vehicles such as HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs on which the battery systems are mounted.

  In the battery control device according to the present invention, for example, the configuration and function of the cell controller 200 described above can be applied to battery systems having such various configurations. As described above, the battery control apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to battery systems having various configurations and to electric vehicles having various specifications.

In the above description, the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 have been described as cell controllers having the same specifications. However, the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302 only need to be able to execute the operations described above. The specifications may not be the same.
In particular, in the embodiment of the battery control device according to the present invention described above, the balancing switch of the main cell controller IC 301 is used in an off state except that it is used for a diagnostic operation. This diagnosis operation can also be performed by the balancing switch of the subcell controller IC 302. Therefore, in performing the operation of the battery control device described above, the balancing switch of the main cell controller IC 301 may not be provided.
However, since it is important to confirm the safety of the vehicle for surely performing the diagnostic operation or the like, it is possible to improve the safety of the vehicle by maintaining the same function in both the main cell controller IC301 and the subcell controller IC302. it can.

  In the above description, the command, data signal, and clock signal are transmitted between the main cell controller IC 301 and the sub cell controller IC 302, and between the battery controller 500 and the uppermost main cell controller IC and the uppermost subcell controller. Although it has been described that the communication is performed in the one-way communication, it is obvious that the communication can be performed in the one-way communication as disclosed in JP 2010-228523 A.

  The above description is an example of embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Those skilled in the art can implement various modifications without impairing the features of the present invention. Therefore, other forms conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (11)

A battery monitoring device for controlling a cell group in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in series,
A first control unit for measuring a voltage between terminals of the unit cell;
A second control unit that performs balancing discharge of the unit cells;
A plurality of voltage detection lines for connecting the first control unit and each of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the single battery cell for measuring the voltage between the terminals of the single battery cell;
Each voltage detection line is provided with a first resistor,
A balancing line branched from each of the voltage detection lines is connected to the second control unit on the unit cell side from the first resistance,
The balancing line is provided with a second resistor,
The second control unit includes a balancing switch connected between a balancing line connected to the positive electrode of the single battery cell and a balancing line connected to the negative electrode for performing balancing discharge of the single battery cell. Battery monitoring device provided for each. The battery monitoring device according to claim 1,
A plurality of the cell groups are provided,
The first control unit and the second control unit are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of cell groups,
The battery monitoring device includes:
A first communication path for transmitting a start signal for starting a plurality of the first control units from the host controller and a start signal for starting a plurality of the second control units are transmitted from the host controller. A second communication path for
A third communication path for transmitting and receiving data between a plurality of the first control units and the host control apparatus; a fourth communication path for transmitting and receiving a synchronization signal;
A battery monitoring apparatus comprising: a fifth communication path for transmitting / receiving data between a plurality of the second control units and the host control apparatus; and a sixth communication path for transmitting / receiving a synchronization signal. The battery monitoring device according to claim 2;
A battery control device comprising the first to sixth communication paths and the host control device connected via an insulating element. The battery control device according to claim 3, wherein
The controller is
Controlling the first control unit to measure the voltage across the terminals of one unit cell,
The second control unit is controlled to measure the voltage across the terminals of the balancing switch that performs balancing discharge of the one single battery cell in synchronization with the balancing discharge of the one single battery cell,
From the measurement result of the inter-terminal voltage of the one unit cell, the measurement result of the inter-terminal voltage of the balancing switch by the second control unit, and the resistance value of the second resistor, the host control device A battery control device for calculating a balancing current of one single battery cell. The battery control device according to claim 4, wherein
The battery control device includes a balancing current calculation unit that calculates the balancing current;
A battery control apparatus comprising: an SOC calculation unit that calculates a state of charge (SOC) of the one single battery cell based on the balancing current calculated by the balancing current calculation unit. The battery control device according to claim 5,
The battery control device is a battery control device that executes a calculation by the balancing current calculation unit and a calculation by the SOC calculation unit in real time. The battery control device according to any one of claims 4 to 6,
The battery control device includes:
A battery control device that performs balancing discharge of the plurality of unit cells so that two adjacent balancing switches are not turned on simultaneously. A battery monitoring device for controlling a cell group in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in series,
A first control unit for measuring a voltage between terminals of each of the plurality of unit cells;
A second control unit having a balancing switch for short-circuiting positive and negative terminals of each of the plurality of unit cells, and closing the balancing switch to perform balancing discharge for each of the plurality of unit cells; ,
A plurality of voltage detection lines and a plurality of cell voltage input resistors for measuring the voltage between the terminals of the plurality of unit cells by the first control unit;
A battery monitoring apparatus comprising a plurality of balancing lines and a plurality of balancing resistors for performing balancing discharge for each of the plurality of single battery cells by the second control unit. The battery monitoring device of claim 8,
The balancing line, the balancing resistor, the voltage detection line, and the cell voltage input resistor are respectively arranged so that a balancing discharge current when performing the balancing discharge in the second control unit does not pass through the cell voltage input resistor. Battery monitoring device. The battery monitoring device according to claim 8 or 9,
The battery monitoring device that performs inter-terminal voltage measurement and balancing discharge control respectively performed by the first control unit and the second control unit in synchronization with a target single battery cell. The battery monitoring device of claim 10,
The battery monitoring apparatus which further has the 3rd control unit which takes the said synchronization.

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