Patent Application
20210408806
Embodiments described herein relate to multi-bay power supplies.
Multi-bay battery or battery pack systems (i.e., a multi-bay power supply) can include multiple batteries or multiple battery packs. However, unlike singular battery packs, there is no guarantee that the separate batteries included in the multi-bay battery system or packs in a battery pack system are the same age, capacity, or charge status. Accordingly, during operation of a multi-bay power supply, current drawn from each of the multiple batteries or battery packs may result in imbalances between charge levels of the different batteries or battery packs. Large imbalances between charge levels may result in reduced runtime of the multi-bay power supply.
Multi-bay power supplies described herein include a plurality of energy storage devices, a power output configured to provide power from the plurality of energy storage devices to a peripheral device, and a controller including an electronic processor. The controller is configured to determine which energy storage device of the plurality of energy storage devices has a highest state of charge, provide power to the peripheral device by discharging the energy storage device having the highest state of charge for a first configurable amount of time, and determine whether any energy storage devices in the plurality of energy storage devices have a state of charge that is within a tolerance of the highest state of charge. The controller is further configured to provide power to the peripheral device by discharging the energy storage device having the highest state of charge and any energy storage devices in the plurality of energy storage devices having a state of charge that is within the tolerance of the highest state of charge.
Methods described herein provide for discharging a multi-bay power supply. The multi-bay battery supply includes a plurality of energy storage devices, a power output configured to provide power from the plurality of energy storage devices to a peripheral device, and a controller including an electronic processor. The methods include determining, using the controller, which energy storage device in the plurality of energy storage devices has a highest state of charge, activating, using the controller, the energy storage device having the highest state of charge to enable power flow from the energy storage device having the highest state of charge to the peripheral device, and discharging, using the controller, the energy storage device having the highest state of charge for a first configurable amount of time. The methods further include determining, using the controller, whether any energy storage devices in the plurality of energy storage devices have a state of charge that is within a tolerance of the highest state of charge, activating, using the controller, any energy storage devices in the plurality of energy storage devices having a state of charge that is within the tolerance of the highest state of charge to enable power flow from the energy storage devices having states of charge within the acceptable tolerance to the peripheral device, and discharging, using the controller, the energy storage devices having the highest state of charge and the energy storage devices having states of charge within the acceptable tolerance for a second configurable amount of time.
Methods described herein provide for charging a multi-bay power supply. The multi-bay power supply includes a plurality of energy storage devices, a power input configured to provide power from an external power source to the plurality of energy storage devices, and a controller including an electronic processor. The methods include determining, using the controller, which energy storage device in the plurality of energy storage device has a lowest state of charge, activating, using the controller, the energy storage device having the lowest state of charge to enable power flow from the external power source to the energy storage device having the lowest state of charge, and charging, using the controller, the energy storage device having the lowest state of charge for a first configurable amount of time. The methods further include determining, using the controller, whether any energy storage devices in the plurality of energy storage devices have a state of charge that is within a tolerance of the lowest state of charge, activating, using the controller, any energy storage devices in the plurality of energy storage devices having a state of charge that is within the tolerance of the lowest state of charge to enable power flow from the external power source to the energy storage devices having states of charge within the acceptable tolerance, and charging, using the controller, the energy storage device having the lowest state of charge and the energy storage devices having states of charge within the acceptable tolerance for a second configurable amount of time.
Before any embodiments are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limited in their application to the details of the configuration and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are capable of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof are meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings.
In addition, it should be understood that embodiments may include hardware, software, and electronic components or modules that, for purposes of discussion, may be illustrated and described as if the majority of the components were implemented solely in hardware. However, one of ordinary skill in the art, and based on a reading of this detailed description, would recognize that, in at least one embodiment, the electronic-based aspects may be implemented in software (e.g., stored on non-transitory computer-readable medium) executable by one or more processing units, such as a microprocessor and/or application specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”). As such, it should be noted that a plurality of hardware and software based devices, as well as a plurality of different structural components, may be utilized to implement the embodiments. For example, “servers,” “computing devices,” “controllers,” “processors,” etc., described in the specification can include one or more processing units, one or more computer-readable medium modules, one or more input/output interfaces, and various connections (e.g., a system bus) connecting the components.
Relative terminology, such as, for example, “about,” “approximately,” “substantially,” etc., used in connection with a quantity or condition would be understood by those of ordinary skill to be inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., the term includes at least the degree of error associated with the measurement accuracy, tolerances [e.g., manufacturing, assembly, use, etc.] associated with the particular value, etc.). Such terminology should also be considered as disclosing the range defined by the absolute values of the two endpoints. For example, the expression “from about 2 to about 4” also discloses the range “from 2 to 4”. The relative terminology may refer to plus or minus a percentage (e.g., 1%, 5%, 10%, or more) of an indicated value.
Functionality described herein as being performed by one component may be performed by multiple components in a distributed manner. Likewise, functionality performed by multiple components may be consolidated and performed by a single component. Similarly, a component described as performing particular functionality may also perform additional functionality not described herein. For example, a device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way is configured in at least that way but may also be configured in ways that are not explicitly listed.
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
The housing 115 of the illustrated multi-bay battery pack system 100 includes a top 116, a bottom 118, a front 120, a rear 122, and opposite sides 124, 126. A frame 130 is connected to the housing 115. A handle 132 is connected to portions of the frame 130, and the handle 132 may include elastomeric material to improve gripping, comfort of a user during movement of the multi-bay battery pack system 100, etc. Rubber feet may be fixed on the bottom 118 of the housing 115 (e.g., covering the corners), on the frame 130, etc. The feet provide a non-slip, non-scratch surface when the multi-bay battery pack system 100 is placed on a surface, such as a floor at a work site.
The display 210 is configured to indicate a state of the multi-bay battery pack system 100 to a user. The display 210 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), a light-emitting diode (“LED”) display, an organic LED (“OLED”) display, an electroluminescent display (“ELD”), a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (“SED”), a field emission display (“FED”), a thin-film transistor (“TFT”) LCD, etc. In the illustrated embodiment, the display 210 includes a fuel gauge 212, an over-temperature indicator 213, and an overload indicator 214. The fuel gauge 212 is configured to display a state of charge of the one or more battery packs 105 connected to the multi-bay battery pack system 100. The over-temperature indicator 213 is activated when a temperature of the multi-bay battery pack system 100 or batteries 105 exceed a predetermined temperature threshold. The overload indicator 214 is activated when a load output of the multi-bay battery pack system 100 exceeds a predetermined load threshold. In some embodiments, the display 210 includes more or fewer indicators than the illustrated embodiment.
In the illustrated embodiment, the power input panel 215 includes multiple electrical connection interfaces, such as, but not limited to, AC inlet 216, USB-C port 217, and USB-A port 218. In some embodiments, the power input panel 215 includes additional electrical connection interfaces that are not illustrated in
The power output panel 220 includes one more power outlets. In the illustrated embodiment, the power output panel 220 includes a plurality of AC power outlets 221, a DC connection jack 222, and a USB-A port 223. It should be understood that number of power outlets included in power output panel 220 is not limited to the power outlets illustrated in
The rechargeable battery pack 305 includes one or more cells arranged in cell strings, each having a number of battery cells (e.g., five battery cells) connected in series, parallel, or a series-parallel combination to provide a desired output discharge voltage (e.g., a nominal voltage [e.g., 12 V, 18 V, 20 V, 24 V, 40 V, 60 V, 80 V, 120 V, etc.] and current capacity). The rechargeable battery packs 305 may include a number of cell strings connected in parallel (e.g., two cell strings “5S2P”, three cell strings “5S3P”, etc.). In other embodiments, other combinations (series, parallel, combination series-parallel configurations) of battery cells are also possible.
Each battery cell may have a nominal voltage between 1 V and 5 V and a nominal capacity between about 1 Ah and about 5 Ah or more (e.g., up to about 9 Ah). The battery cells may be any rechargeable battery cell chemistry type, such as, for example Lithium (“Li”), Lithium-ion (“Li-ion”), other Lithium-based chemistry, Nickel-Cadmium (“NiCd”), Nickel-metal Hydride (“NiMH)”, etc.
In the illustrated example, the top portion 420 includes a power button 425, a display 430, a power input panel 435, and a power output panel 440. The power button 425 may be implemented as a pushbutton, a two-way switch, a touch button, etc. The power button 425 is used to control power output and can be activated to turn the multi-bay battery system 400 ON or OFF. When the power button 425 is used to turn ON the multi-bay battery system 400, power output through the power output panel 440 and the display 430 are enabled. When the power button 425 is used to turn OFF the multi-bay battery system 400, power output through the power output panel 440 and the display 430 is disabled. However, power input through the power input panel 435 is still enabled.
The display 430 is configured to indicate a state of the multi-bay battery system 400 to a user. In the illustrated embodiment, the display 430 includes three indicators that are configured to display a state of the batteries 105 disposed within the multi-bay battery system 400. The display 430 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), a light-emitting diode (“LED”) display, an organic LED (“OLED”) display, an electroluminescent display (“ELD”), a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (“SED”), a field emission display (“FED”), a thin-film transistor (“TFT”) LCD, etc. In some embodiments, the display 430 includes more or fewer indicators than the illustrated embodiment.
In the illustrated embodiment, the power input panel 435 includes a USB-C port. In some embodiments, the power input panel 435 includes multiple electrical connection interfaces, such as, but not limited to, AC inlets and USB-A ports. The power input panel 435 is configured to receive power from an external power source. In some embodiments, the external power source may be a DC power source, for example, a photovoltaic cell (e.g., a solar panel), or the power source may be an AC power source, for example, a conventional wall outlet. The power received by power input panel 435 is used to charge the batteries 105 that are electrically connected to the respective battery bays disposed within the multi-bay battery system 400.
In the illustrated embodiment, the power output panel 440 includes a DC connection jack and a USB-A port. In some embodiments of the multi-bay battery system 400, the power output panel 440 may include more or fewer power outlets than the power outlets included in the illustrated embodiment of multi-bay battery system 400. The power output panel 440 is configured to provide power from the batteries to one or more peripheral devices. For example, the DC connection jack may be used provide power to one or more heated articles of clothing, such as a heated jacket. The one or more peripheral devices may also include a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a portable music player, a power tool, a power tool battery pack, a power tool battery pack charger, or the like. The peripheral devices may also be configured to receive DC power from the USB-C port included in the power input panel 435.
The controller 600 is additionally electrically and/or communicatively connected to a network communications module 605, a plurality of sensors 610, a plurality of switching elements 705, and charging circuitry 710. The network communications module 605 is connected to a network 615 to enable the controller 600 to communicate with peripheral devices in the network, such as a smartphone or a server. The sensors 610 include, for example, one or more voltage sensors, one or more current sensors, one or more temperature sensors, etc. Each of the sensors 610 generates one or more output signals that are provided to the controller 600 for processing and evaluation.
The controller 600 includes combinations of hardware and software that are operable to, among other things, control the operation of the multi-bay battery pack system 100, communicate over the network 615, receive input from a user via the user interface 200, provide information to a user via the display 210, etc. For example, the controller 600 includes, among other things, a processing unit 620 (e.g., a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an electronic processor, an electronic controller, or another suitable programmable device), a memory 625, input units 630, and output units 635. The processing unit 620 includes, among other things, a control unit 640, an arithmetic logic unit (“ALU”) 645, and a plurality of registers 650 (shown as a group of registers in
The memory 625 is a non-transitory computer readable medium and includes, for example, a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area and the data storage area can include combinations of different types of memory, such as a read only memory (“ROM”), a random access memory (“RAM”) (e.g., dynamic RAM [“DRAM”], synchronous DRAM [“SDRAM”], etc.), electrically-erasable programmable ROM (“EEPROM”), flash memory, a hard disk, an SD card, or other suitable magnetic, optical, physical, or electronic memory devices. The processing unit 620 is connected to the memory 625 and is configured to execute software instructions that are capable of being stored in a RAM of the memory 625 (e.g., during execution), a ROM of the memory 625 (e.g., on a generally permanent basis), or another non-transitory computer readable medium such as another memory or a disc. Software included in the implementation of the multi-bay battery pack system 100 and controller 600 can be stored in the memory 625 of the controller 600. The software includes, for example, firmware, one or more applications, program data, filters, rules, one or more program modules, and other executable instructions. The controller 600 is configured to retrieve from the memory 625 and execute, among other things, instructions related to the control processes and methods described herein. In other embodiments, the controller 600 includes additional, fewer, or different components.
The battery packs 105A-105N are illustrated as being selectively connected in parallel between either the charging circuitry 710 and/or converter circuitry 715 and ground. In particular, an individual battery pack 105 is electrically connected to the charging circuitry 710 and/or converter circuitry 715 by a respective switching element 705. The controller 600 is configured to electrically connect/disconnect an individual battery pack 105 to the charging circuitry 710 and/or converter circuitry 715 by controlling the respective switching element 705 that is connected to the individual battery pack 105. Although illustrated as being electrically connected in parallel, the battery packs 105A-105N may be electrically connected in series, in parallel, and/or a combination thereof.
The combined power output of one or more of the battery packs 105A-105N is provided by the converter circuitry 715 to the power output panel 220 for powering the one or more peripheral devices. The converter circuitry 715 may include an inverter for converting DC voltage supplied by one or more of the battery packs 105A-105N to AC voltage for powering peripheral devices connected to AC outlets of the power output panel 220. For example, if the battery packs 105A-105N are implemented as rechargeable battery packs 305, the inverter converts the battery pack voltage to a 120V AC voltage (e.g., conventional AC power provided by a wall outlet). The inverted 120V AC voltage is provided to one or more peripheral devices connected to the AC power outlets 221 of power output panel 220. The converter circuitry 715 may additionally include DC-DC converters that buck and/or boost the DC voltage provided by one or more of the battery packs 105A-105N to the one or more peripheral devices electrically connected to power output panel 220.
As further shown in
The multi-bay power supply is configured to operate in a discharging mode and a charging mode. Although it should be understood that both multi-bay battery pack system 100 and multi-bay battery system 400 are configured to operate in the above mentioned modes of operation, the modes of operation will be described with respect to the components included in multi-bay battery pack system 100 for illustrative purposes. During operation of the multi-bay battery pack system 100, the controller 600 reads the voltage value, or state of charge (SOC), of each of the battery packs 105A-105N connected to the multi-bay battery pack system 100. The sensed voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N are, for example, stored in the plurality of registers 650 included in processing unit 620 of controller 600. In some embodiments, the voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N are stored in the RAM of memory 625. The voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N may be updated in a continuous, or periodic, manner. For example, the controller 600 is configured to read an updated voltage value of battery pack 105A at a selectable or configurable sampling rate, such as 1 Hz.
When operating in a discharging mode of operation, the controller 600 is configured to selectively provide power from one or more battery packs 105A-105N to one or more peripheral devices connected to the power output panel 220. For example, while operating in a discharging mode of operation, two or more of the battery packs 105A-105N may be discharged in series or in parallel to provide power to a power tool (e.g., a circular saw) that is electrically connected to power output panel 220. Discharging two or more of the battery pack 105A-105N in series or in parallel enables a large amount of power to be provided to the power tool for an extended period of time. In some embodiments, the peripheral device is a power tool that is not electrically connected to the power output panel. In such embodiments, the power tool is configured to directly receive two or more battery packs 105. The power tool includes a controller having an electronic processor that is configured to discharge the two or more battery packs 105 in parallel using the balanced discharging processes described below.
During the discharging mode of operation, the controller 600 determines which of the battery packs 105A-105N has the highest state of charge and provides power from the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge to the one or more peripheral devices for a configurable amount of time. For example, if the battery packs 105A-105C are rechargeable battery packs 305 having respective voltages of 18V, 17.8V, and 17.5V, battery pack 105A has the highest state of charge. Accordingly, the controller 600 turns on switching element 705A, while keeping switching elements 705B and 705C off, to enable power to be delivered from battery pack 105A to the one or more peripheral devices. In some embodiments, the configurable amount of time is a user configurable amount, such as 0.5 seconds. In some embodiments, the configurable amount of time is a function of the states of charge of battery packs 105A-105N.
After the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge is discharged for the configurable amount of time, the controller 600 reads updated state of charge values for each of the battery packs 105A-105N. Based on the updated state of charge values, the controller 600 determines whether any battery packs 105A-105N have a state of charge that is within an acceptable threshold or tolerance of the highest state of charge. When determining whether any battery packs 105A-105N have a state of charge that is within the acceptable tolerance of the highest state of charge, the controller 600 is configured to calculate differences between the voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N and the voltage level of the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge. In some embodiments, when determining whether any battery packs 105A-105N have a state of charge that is within the acceptable tolerance of the highest state of charge, the controller 600 is configured to calculate differences between the state of charge percentages of battery packs 105A-105N and the state of charge percentage of the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge.
The calculated voltage differences are compared to the acceptable tolerance. The acceptable tolerance is an amount by which the state of charge of a particular battery pack 105A-105N can differ from the highest state of charge without being operated in a different manner than the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge. The acceptable tolerance is a configurable value that may be stored in memory 625 of controller 600. In some embodiments, the acceptable tolerance is a scalar voltage value, such 0.5 volts. In other embodiments, the acceptable tolerance is a configurable percentage value. For example, the acceptable tolerance is a percentage difference between voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N and the voltage value of the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge, such as 1%. In another example, the acceptable tolerance may be a configurable percentage value, such as 1%, of the highest state of charge. In such an example, any battery packs 105A-105N that have a state of charge that is within 1% of the highest state of charge are within the acceptable tolerance.
The controller 600 is configured to activate any battery packs 105A-105N that have a voltage level within the acceptable tolerance of the highest state of charge by turning on the corresponding switching elements 705A-705N. Thus, any battery packs 105A-105N that have a state of charge within the acceptable tolerance, including the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge, are discharged to provide power to peripheral devices connected to power output panel 220. The respective switching elements 705A-705N of any battery packs 105A-105N that do not have states of charge within the acceptable tolerance are kept off. Therefore, the battery packs 105A-105N that have states of charge outside of the acceptable tolerance are not discharged to provide power to the one or more peripheral devices.
The battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge and battery packs 105A-105N that have a state of charge within the acceptable tolerance are discharged for a second configurable amount of time. The second configurable amount of time may be the same as or different from the amount of time for which the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge was discharged by itself. After the second configurable amount of time passes, the controller 600 reads updated state of charge values for each of the battery packs 105A-105N. The above described balanced discharge process may be repeated for as long as the multi-bay battery pack system 100 operates in the discharging mode of operation. Additionally or alternatively, the above described balanced discharge process may be repeated until the battery packs 105A-105N are no longer capable of providing power to the one or more peripheral devices connected to the output panel 220.
With reference to the example provided above in which the voltage levels of battery packs 105A-105C are 18V, 17.8V, and 17.5V respectively, the controller 600 determined that battery pack 105A has the highest state of charge. Accordingly, the controller 600 turned on switching element 705A, while keeping switching elements 705B and 705C off, to provide power from battery pack 105A to the one or more peripheral devices for the configurable amount of time. After battery pack 105A is discharged for the configurable amount of time (for example, 0.5 seconds), the controller 600 reads updated voltage values of battery packs 105A-105C to determine whether battery pack 105B or 105C has a state of charge that is within an acceptable tolerance of the state of charge of battery pack 105A.
For exemplary purposes, it will be assumed that the acceptable tolerance is equal to 0.3V, and the voltage of battery pack 105A dropped to 17.9V after being discharged for the configurable amount of time. Accordingly, the controller 600 determines that the voltage of battery pack 105B, 17.8V, is within the acceptable tolerance. The controller 600 further determines that the voltage of battery pack 105C, 17.5V, is not within the acceptable tolerance. Accordingly, the controller 600 turns on switching element 705B such that battery packs 105A and 105B are discharged for the second configurable amount of time to provide power to the one or more peripheral devices. For exemplary purposes, if it is assumed that the voltages of battery packs 105A and 105B each drop by 0.3V when being discharged for the second configurable amount of time, the controller 600 will determine that the update voltage values of battery packs 105A-105C are 17.6V, 17.5V, and 17.5V respectively. Therefore, during the next cycle of the balanced discharge process, the controller 600 will turn on switching element 705C. Accordingly, battery packs 105A-105C will be simultaneously discharged for the second configurable amount of time to provide power to the one or more peripheral devices.
Although the above example is provided with respect to a multi-bay battery pack system 100 that includes three battery packs 105A-105C, the controller 600 may perform the balanced discharge process for the multi-bay battery pack system 100 having any number of battery packs 105A-105N. In addition, even though the acceptable tolerance is described above as being a scalar voltage value of 0.3V, the acceptable tolerance may be any scalar voltage value that is desired. Furthermore, the acceptable tolerance may be a percentage of the highest state of charge or voltage level. For example, the acceptable tolerance may be equal to 3% of the highest state of charge or voltage value. Therefore, if the battery pack 105 having the highest state of charge has a voltage level of 18V, batteries having a voltage of 17.46V or greater are within the acceptable tolerance.
When operating in a charging mode of operation, the controller 600 is, for example, configured to selectively provide power from one or more external power sources connected to the power input panel 215 to a plurality of battery packs 105A-105N connected to the multi-bay battery pack system 100. For example, the multi-bay battery pack system 100 may be used as a charger bank for charging battery packs 105A-105N with a single charging circuit 710.
During the charging mode of operation, the controller 600 determines which of the battery packs 105A-105N has the lowest state of charge and provides power from the one or more external power sources to the lowest state of charge battery pack 105 for a configurable amount of time. For example, if the battery packs 105A-105C are rechargeable battery packs 305 having respective voltages of 18V, 17.8V, and 17.5V, battery pack 105C has the lowest state of charge. Accordingly, the controller 600 turns on switching element 705C, while keeping switching elements 705A and 705B off, to enable power to be delivered from the one or more external power sources to the lowest state of charge battery pack 105C. In some embodiments, the configurable amount of time is a user configurable amount, such as 0.5 seconds. In some embodiments, the configurable amount of time is a function of the states of charge of battery packs 105A-105N.
After the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge is charged for the configurable amount of time, the controller 600 reads updated state of charge values for each of the battery packs 105A-105N. Based on the updated state of charge values, the controller 600 determines whether any battery packs 105A-105N have a state of charge that is within an acceptable tolerance of the lowest state of charge. When determining whether any battery packs 105A-105N have a state of charge that is within the acceptable tolerance of the lowest state of charge, the controller 600 is configured to calculate differences between the voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N and the voltage level of the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge. In some embodiments, when determining whether any battery packs 105A-105N have a state of charge that is within the acceptable tolerance of the lowest state of charge, the controller 600 is configured to calculate differences between the voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N and the voltage level of the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge.
The calculated voltage differences are compared to the acceptable tolerance. The acceptable tolerance is an amount by which the state of charge of a particular battery pack 105A-105N can differ from the lowest state of charge without being operated in a different manner than the lowest state of charge battery pack 105. The acceptable tolerance is a configurable value that may be stored in memory 625 of controller 600. In some embodiments, the acceptable tolerance is a scalar voltage value, such 0.5 volts. In other embodiments, the acceptable tolerance is a configurable percentage value. For example, the acceptable tolerance is a percentage difference between voltage values of battery packs 105A-105N and the voltage value of the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge, such as 1%. In another example, the acceptable tolerance may be a configurable percentage value, such as 1%, of the lowest state of charge. In such an example, any battery packs 105A-105N that have a state of charge that is within 1% of the lowest state of charge are within the acceptable tolerance.
The controller 600 is configured to activate any battery packs 105A-105N that have a voltage level within the acceptable tolerance of the lowest state of charge by turning on the corresponding switching elements 705A-705N. Thus, any battery packs 105A-105N that have a state of charge within the acceptable tolerance, including the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge, are charged by the one or more external power sources connected to power input panel 215. The respective switching elements 705A-705N of any battery packs 105A-105N that do not have states of charge within the acceptable tolerance are kept off. Therefore, the battery packs 105A-105N that have states of charge outside of the acceptable tolerance are not provided charging power from the one or more external power sources.
The battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge and battery packs 105A-105N that have a state of charge within the acceptable tolerance are simultaneously charged for a second configurable amount of time. The second configurable amount of time may be the same as or different from the amount of time for which the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge was charged by itself. After the configurable amount of time passes, the controller 600 reads updated state of charge values for each of the battery packs 105A-105N. The above described balanced charge process may be repeated for as long as the multi-bay battery pack system 100 operates in the charging mode of operation. Alternatively, or in addition, the above described balanced charge process may be repeated until the battery packs 105A-105N are charge to full capacity.
With reference to the example provided above in which the voltage levels of battery packs 105A-105C are 18V, 17.8V, and 17.5V respectively, the controller 600 determined that battery pack 105C has the lowest state of charge. Accordingly, the controller 600 turned on switching element 705C, while keeping switching elements 705A and 705B off, to provide power from the one or more external power sources to battery pack 105C for the configurable amount of time. After battery pack 105C is charged for the configurable amount of time (for example, 0.5 seconds), the controller 600 reads updated voltage values of battery packs 105A-105C to determine whether battery pack 105A or 105B has a state of charge that is within an acceptable tolerance of the state of charge of battery pack 105C.
For illustrative purposes, it will be assumed that the acceptable tolerance is equal to 0.3V, and the voltage of battery pack 105C increased to 17.6V after being charged for the configurable amount of time. Accordingly, the controller 600 determines that the voltage of battery pack 105B, 17.8V, is within the acceptable tolerance. The controller 600 further determines that the voltage of battery pack 105A, 18V, is not within the acceptable tolerance. The controller 600 turns on switching element 705B such that battery packs 105B and 105C are charged by the one or more external power sources for the second configurable amount of time (for example, 1 minute). For exemplary purposes, if it is assumed that the voltages of battery packs 105B and 105C each increase by 0.3V when being charged for the configurable amount of time, the controller 600 will determine that the updated voltage values of battery packs 105A-105C are 18V, 18.1V, and 17.9V respectively. Therefore, during the next cycle of the balanced charge process, the controller 600 will turn on switching element 705A. Accordingly, battery packs 105A-105C will be simultaneously charged from power provided by the one or more external power sources.
Although the above example is provided with respect to a multi-bay battery pack system 100 that includes three battery packs 105A-105C, the controller 600 may perform the balanced discharge process for a multi-bay battery pack system 100 having any number of battery packs 105A-105N. In addition, even though the acceptable tolerance is described above as being a scalar voltage value of 0.3V, the acceptable tolerance may be any scalar voltage value that is desired. Furthermore, persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the acceptable tolerance may be a percentage of the highest state of charge or voltage level. For example, the acceptable tolerance may be equal to 1% of the lowest state of charge or voltage value. Therefore, if the battery pack 105 having the lowest state of charge has a voltage level of 17.5V, battery packs having a voltage of 17.65V or less are within the acceptable tolerance.
As shown in
The multi-bay power supply 1000 also includes an ideal diode controller 1010. The ideal diode controller 1010 is a hardware-based controller that includes, for example, logic circuits (e.g., potentially including AND gates, OR gates, NAND gates, operational amplifiers, etc.), configured to implement the software-based balanced charging and discharging methods described above. For example, the logic circuits of ideal diode controller 1010 include voltage comparators that are configured to determine relative differences between the states of charge of battery packs 105A-105N. As shown in
As shown in
Similar to the multi-bay battery pack system 100 described above, the multi-bay power supply 1000 is configured to operate in a discharging mode and a charging mode. When operating in a discharging mode of operation, the logic circuits within ideal diode controller 1010 are configured to selectively turn on ideal diodes 1005A-1005N such that power is provided from one or more battery packs 105A-105N to one or more peripheral devices connected to the power output panel 220. In particular, with the use of hardware-based logic circuits, ideal diode controller 1010 of the multi-bay power supply 1000 is operable to perform the balanced discharging methods performed by controller 600 and described above. When operating in a charging mode of operation, the logic circuits within ideal diode controller 1010 are configured to selectively turn on ideal diodes 1005A-1005N such that power is provided from one or more external power sources connected to the power input panel 215 to the plurality of battery packs 105A-105N connected to the multi-bay power supply 1000. In particular, with the use of hardware-based logic circuits, ideal diode controller 1010 of the multi-bay power supply 1000 is operable to perform the balanced charging methods performed by controller 600 and described above. In some embodiments, the ideal diode controller 1010 can be replaced with the controller 600 described above. In such embodiments, the controller 600 is configured to control the ideal diodes 1005A-1005N during balanced charging and discharging operations.
Thus, embodiments described herein provide, among other things, a multi-bay power supply that includes balanced battery discharging and charging. Various features and advantages are set forth in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/043,858, filed Jun. 25, 2020, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63043858 | Jun 2020 | US |
