Patent Application
20230318322
Typically, when a charger charges a rechargeable battery pack such as a lithium battery pack, in addition to providing a charging voltage and current, it generally acquires the current state of the battery pack in various manners. A battery pack parameter of the battery pack is acquired commonly through 1-wire bus communication, that is, a communication port D. A voltage which the communication port D can generally withstand is a digital level. When a voltage exceeding the limit value of the digital level is loaded onto the communication port, the communication port is damaged, and the charger cannot be used continuously. For example, when the communication port D is short-circuited to the positive output terminal of the charger, a battery pack voltage higher than the limit value of the digital level exists at the port D. In addition, an instant high voltage is generated at the communication port D at the moment when the battery pack is plugged/unplugged or by static electricity in the environment, damaging components in the charger and preventing the charger from being used continuously.
A charging device includes: a housing; a power interface configured to access a power supply; and a charging interface disposed on the housing and detachably connected to a battery pack. The charging interface includes: a charging terminal configured to be connected to a charging terminal of the battery pack; a communication terminal configured to be connected to a communication terminal of the battery pack to acquire communication information of the battery pack; and a communication module receiving the communication information of the battery pack inputted via the communication terminal. The charging interface further includes a communication protection module connected between the communication terminal and the communication module and configured to isolate an interference voltage signal higher than or equal to a preset voltage value to protect the communication module.
In one example, the voltage of the interference voltage signal is higher than the supply voltage of the communication module.
In one example, the communication protection module includes: a first protection unit connected between the communication terminal and the communication module and configured to isolate a first interference voltage signal higher than or equal to a first preset voltage value to protect the communication module; and a second protection unit disposed between the first protection unit and the communication terminal to absorb a second interference voltage signal higher than or equal to a second preset voltage value to protect the communication module.
In one example, the first interference voltage signal is a continuous high-voltage signal, and the second interference voltage signal is an instant high-voltage signal.
In one example, the voltage of the first interference voltage signal is lower than the voltage of the second interference voltage signal; and the first preset voltage value is less than the second preset voltage value.
In one example, the first protection unit includes a Schottky diode.
In one example, the second protection unit includes a Transient Voltage Suppressor (TVS).
In one example, the second protection unit includes a varistor.
In one example, 1-wire bus communication is performed between the communication terminal of the charging device and the communication terminal of the battery pack.
A charging system includes a battery pack and the preceding charging device.
A charging device includes: a housing; a fan disposed in the housing; a fan motor having multiple phase windings and capable of driving the fan to rotate; a driver circuit having multiple switching elements and configured to output a switching signal to drive the fan motor to rotate; a power interface configured to access a power supply to supply a power supply voltage to the driver circuit; and a controller electrically connected to at least the driver circuit and the fan. The controller is configured to: acquire a state parameter of the fan; when the state parameter is less than or equal to a parameter threshold, control the fan to reduce a rotational speed; and control, after a preset time period, the fan to increase the rotational speed.
In one example, the controller is configured to: when a maintenance duration for which the state parameter is less than or equal to the parameter threshold is greater than or equal to a duration threshold, control the fan to reduce the rotational speed.
In one example, the state parameter of the fan includes the rotational speed or an operating current.
In one example, the reduction of the rotational speed by the fan includes the case where the fan stops rotating, the fan reduces the rotational speed to a first preset rotational speed and maintains rotation at the first preset rotational speed, or the fan reduces the rotational speed to a first preset rotational speed, maintains rotation at the first preset rotational speed for a certain time period, and then stops rotating; and the increase of the rotational speed by the fan includes the case where the fan changes from the state of stopping rotating to a rotating state or the fan increases the first preset rotational speed to a second preset rotational speed.
In one example, the charging device further includes: a charging port disposed on the housing to access a charging terminal of a battery pack and providing an interface for charging the battery pack; and a power supply conversion module connected between the charging port and the controller to convert the accessed power supply into charging electric energy to charge the battery pack.
In one example, the charging device further includes: a communication port disposed on the housing to access a communication terminal of a battery pack to acquire a battery pack parameter of the battery pack; and a charging indication module disposed on the housing to display a charging state of the battery pack.
In one example, the battery pack parameter includes the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack.
In one example, the controller is configured to: when the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack meets a first electric quantity threshold, control the charging indication module to output and display a first charging state; and when the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack meets a second electric quantity threshold, control the charging indication module to output and display a second charging state; where the first electric quantity threshold is less than the second electric quantity threshold.
A control method of a charging device is provided. The charging device includes a housing, a fan disposed in the housing, a fan motor driving the fan to rotate, a driver circuit driving the fan motor to rotate, a power interface accessing a power supply to supply power to the driver circuit, and a controller. The control method includes: acquiring the rotational speed of the fan; when a state parameter is less than or equal to a parameter threshold, controlling the fan to reduce the rotational speed; and controlling, after a preset time period, the fan to increase the rotational speed.
In one example, when a maintenance duration for which the state parameter is less than or equal to the parameter threshold is greater than or equal to a duration threshold, the fan is controlled to reduce the rotational speed.
The present application is described below in detail in conjunction with drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the examples described herein are intended to explain the present application and not to limit the present application. Additionally, it is to be noted that to facilitate description, only part, not all, of structures related to the present application are illustrated in the drawings.
Charging devices to which technical solutions of the present application are applicable may charge different types of rechargeable battery packs including, but not limited to, lithium battery packs.
Referring to
Referring to
The power interface 102 is configured to access a power supply. In this example, an alternating-current (AC) power supply may be selected as the power supply, and the power interface 102 may access alternating-current mains of 120 V or 220 V. It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the power interface 102 is connected to the power supply conversion circuit 107 so that an accessed alternating current is converted into charging electric energy suitable for charging the battery pack 200 and auxiliary electric energy for supplying power to components in the charging device 100, for example, electric energy for supplying power to the communication module 105. It is to be understood that the power supply conversion circuit 107 may include at least an AC/direct current (DC) module. In an alternative implementation, the power interface 102 may access a photovoltaic panel, and the power supply conversion circuit 107 may convert light energy into the charging electric energy suitable for charging the battery pack and the auxiliary electric energy for supplying power to the components in the charging device. It is to be understood that the power supply conversion circuit 107 may include a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) module, that is, a module converting the light energy into the electric energy. In this example, the plug of a power cord is connected to the housing 101 and used as the power interface. In an alternative implementation, the power interface 102 may be another form of interface, which is not limited herein.
The charging terminals 103 are disposed on the housing 101 and detachably connected to the charging terminals 202 of the battery pack 200. The communication terminal 104 may be configured to be adjacent to the charging terminals 103 and is detachably connected to the communication terminal 203 of the battery pack 200. In this example, as shown in
The communication module 105 is disposed in the housing 101 and configured to receive, analyze, and process communication information of the battery pack sent by the battery pack 200. In this example, 1-wire bus communication is performed between the communication terminal 104 of the charging device 100 and the communication terminal 203 of the battery pack 200.
In a specific implementation, as shown in
In this example, a node voltage at the first node 1052 is the supply voltage of the communication module 105. One end of the resistor R1 is connected to the power supply conversion circuit 107 so as to access electric energy for supplying power, and the other end of the resistor R1 is connected to the first node 1052 so as to maintain a high-voltage state at the first node 1052. That is to say, as long as a voltage signal inputted at the communication terminal 104 is not higher than the voltage at the first node, the communication terminal 104 can normally communicate. An input terminal of the first signal processing unit 1051 is connected to the first node 1052 to parse the communication information of the battery pack 200 according to the voltage state of the first node and a preset communication protocol, and the other terminal of the first signal processing unit 1051 is connected to the signal receiving terminal RX1 so that the communication information of the battery pack can be sent to the signal receiving terminal RX1. The signal receiving terminal RX1 transmits the communication information of the battery pack to the signal emission control unit 1053. The signal emission control unit 1053 is connected between the signal receiving terminal RX1 and the signal emission terminal TX1 and may generate feedback information according to the communication information of the battery pack and send the feedback information to the signal emission terminal TX1. The signal emission terminal TX1 is connected between the signal emission control unit 1053 and the first switching element S1 and may control the conduction state of the first switching element S1 according to the feedback information, thereby changing the voltage state at the first node 1052. The emitter of the first switching element S1 is grounded, the base of the first switching element S1 is connected to the signal emission terminal TX1, and the collector of the first switching element S1 is connected to the first node 1052. When the first switching element S1 is turned on, a low-voltage state is at the first node, and when the first switching element S1 is turned off, the high-voltage state is maintained at the first node, that is, the supply voltage of the communication module is maintained.
In this example, a high voltage at the first node corresponds to a high-level digital signal in the communication information and is typically denoted by the number 1, and a low voltage at the first node corresponds to a low-level digital signal in the communication information and is typically denoted by the number 0.
Accordingly, the communication module 204 in the battery pack 200 includes at least a second switching element S2, a second signal processing unit 2041, a second node 2042, a signal receiving terminal RX2, a signal emission terminal TX2, and a signal emission control unit 2043. Since internal structures of the communication module 204 in the battery pack are similar to internal structures of the communication module 105 in the charging device 100, for the process in which the communication module 204 transmits and processes a signal, reference may be made to the description of the communication module 105, and the details are not repeated here.
In this example, the first switching element S1 and the second switching element S2 may be controllable semiconductor power devices (for example, field-effect transistors (FETs), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), or insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)) or may be any other types of solid-state switches, for example, the insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or the bipolar junction transistors (BJTs).
In an example, in the process in which the charging interface of the charging device 100 is plugged into the battery pack 200 so that the battery pack is charged, the voltage at the first node 1052 of the charging device 100 always maintains a supply-voltage state, that is, the high-voltage state before the communication information is transmitted. The preceding communication information may include request information or feedback information in a communication process, such as request information of the charging device and parameter information such as a charged electric quantity fed back by the battery pack. When the charging device 100 and the battery pack 200 communicate with each other, the signal emission terminal TX1 of the charging device 100 switches the voltage at the first node between the high voltage and the low voltage by controlling the first switching element S1 to be turned off or on, thereby generating a high-level signal or a low-level signal, and the high-level signal or the low-level signal is transmitted to the communication terminal 203 of the battery pack 200 through the communication terminal 104 of the charging device 100. In addition, when the charging device 100 receives the communication information emitted by the battery pack, the first switching element S1 is always in an off state so that the high voltage is maintained at the first node 1052 and the communication link from the first node 1052 to the communication terminal 104 is unblocked and normal communication is maintained. The second switching element S2 on the side of the battery pack is turned on or off, which changes a voltage state at the second node 2042. Thus, a voltage level at the second node 2042 is changed, thereby transmitting the communication information of the battery pack to the charging device.
Specifically, during the communication between the charging device 100 and the battery pack 200, on/off states of the first switching element S1 and the second switching element S2 are shown in
It is to be understood that the first signal processing unit 1051 may restore a state parameter of the battery pack by processing the detected high-level and low-level signals, and the second signal processing unit 2041 may restore the request information or instruction information of the charging device or the like by processing the detected high-level and low-level signals.
It is to be noted that high and low levels which the communication terminal 104 of the charging device can recognize are in a limited range, and if interference exists on a communication loop or contact impedance increases, the communication is unreliable or even the communication cannot be performed. For example, the connection piece of the communication terminal 104 is short-circuited to the connection piece of the charging terminal 103, which applies a continuous high voltage (generally the charging voltage of the battery pack) to the communication port, or the charging terminal 202 of the battery pack 200 is short-circuited to the communication terminal 203 of the battery pack 200, which also indirectly causes the communication terminal 104 of the charging device 100 to receive the continuous high voltage. For example, an instant high voltage (generally a high voltage at a kilovolt level) is applied to the communication terminal 104 at the moment when the battery pack is plugged and unplugged or due to damage from foreign matter and water vapor. As shown in
The communication protection module 106 can isolate an interference voltage signal higher than or equal to a preset voltage value to protect the communication module 105, where the voltage of the interference voltage signal is higher than the supply voltage of the communication module. In this example, the supply voltage of the communication module is the node voltage at the first node 1052. That is to say, when the voltage signal inputted at the communication terminal 104 is higher than the voltage signal at the first node, the communication cannot be performed normally.
In this example, as shown in
In an example, as shown in
In an example, as shown in
It is to be noted that variations of other components or circuits with the characteristic that the first protection unit 1061 blocks the continuous high voltage also fall within the scope of the present application, and variations of other components or circuits with the characteristic that the second protection unit 1062 absorbs the instant high voltage also fall within the scope of the present application.
In an example, the battery pack 200 is plugged into the charging device 100 to be charged, and both the battery pack 200 and the charging device 100 may perform the interaction of the communication information at the same time. When the battery pack 200 and the charging device 100 communicate with each other, the conduction direction of the first protection unit 1061, that is, the diode D1, is opposite to the direction in which the communication terminal 104 transmits information to the charging device. Therefore, in this example, in order to ensure the normal communication function of the communication device, the resistor R1 is connected to the power supply conversion circuit 107 to increase the supply voltage at the first node 1052. Thus, the high voltage is maintained at the first node 1052 during the communication and the voltage at the first node 1052 is switched between the high voltage and the low voltage according to the conduction state of the first switching element S1 so that the communication information is transmitted.
In an example, as shown in
In the examples of the present application, a communication protection circuit is provided so that on the basis of ensuring the normal communication, the interference voltage signal such as the continuous high voltage or the instant high voltage is prevented from damaging the communication loop so that the safety of the charging device is improved and the stability of the communication is ensured.
Referring to
The fan 108 is disposed in the housing 101 to dissipate the heat of power devices or power loops in the charging device 100, for example, the fan 108 may dissipate the heat of the fan motor.
In this example, the fan motor 109 may be a sensorless brushless motor, for example, a three-phase brushless motor, and triangular or star-shaped connections are adopted among three-phase stator windings of the motor. The fan motor 109 provides a power source for the fan 108 to drive the fan 108 to rotate.
The driver circuit 120 is electrically connected to stator windings of the fan motor 109 and configured to transmit a current from the power interface 102 to the stator windings to rotate the fan motor 109. As an example, as shown in
To rotate the fan motor 109, the driver circuit 120 has multiple driving states. In one driving state, the stator windings of the fan motor 109 generate a magnetic field, the controller 121 outputs corresponding PWM control signals to the switch elements in the driver circuit 120 according to the position of the rotor or the back electromotive force of the motor so that the driving state of the driver circuit 120 is switched and thus the stator windings generate a changing magnetic field to drive the rotor to rotate, thereby causing the fan motor 109 to rotate, stop rotating, or perform commutation. It is to be noted that any other circuits and control manners which can drive the fan motor 109 to rotate, stop rotating, or perform the commutation are applicable to the present disclosure, and the circuit structure of the driver circuit 120 and the control of the driver circuit 120 by the controller 121 are not limited in the present disclosure.
The controller 121 is electrically connected to at least the driver circuit 121 and the fan 108. In a specific implementation, the controller 121 may acquire a state parameter of the fan 108 and monitor the relationship between the acquired parameter and a preset parameter threshold. Further, when monitoring that the state parameter is less than or equal to the parameter threshold, the controller 121 may control the fan to reduce a rotational speed, where the parameter threshold may be a rotational speed value, a voltage value, a current value, or the like indicative of a stall of the fan. The controller 121 controls the fan 108 to reduce the rotational speed, which may be understood as the following case: the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to reduce the rotational speed to a first preset rotational speed and maintain rotation at this value, the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to reduce the rotational speed to zero, that is, the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to stop rotating, or the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to reduce the rotational speed to a first preset rotational speed and maintain rotation at this value for a time period, and then controls the fan 108 to reduce its rotational speed to zero. In an example, the parameter threshold is a rotational speed threshold. Further, after a preset time period, the controller 121 controls the fan to increase the rotational speed. The controller 121 controls the fan 108 to increase the rotational speed, which may be understood as the following case: the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to change from the state of stopping rotating to a rotating state, that is, the rotational speed of the fan is increased from zero, or the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to increase the preceding first preset rotational speed to a second preset rotational speed. In the present application, the rotational speed of the fan is less than or equal to a first rotational speed threshold, which may be understood as the stall of the fan.
In an example, the controller 121 may also monitor a maintenance duration for which the state parameter of the fan is less than or equal to the parameter threshold, and when the maintenance duration is greater than or equal to a duration threshold, the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to reduce the rotational speed. That is, the fan is controlled to reduce the rotational speed after the fan stalls for a certain time. Further, after the preset time period when the rotational speed of the fan is reduced, the rotational speed of the fan may be increased again.
In an example, the preceding process may be understood as the case where when the fan 108 stalls, the controller 121 controls the fan 108 to stop rotating for a time period and then restarts the fan. It is to be understood that when the fan is restarted, the controller 121 may update the state parameter of the fan. For example, the controller 121 acquires the rotational speed of the fan again after the restart and repeats the preceding process, that is, compares whether the updated state parameter is less than or equal to the parameter threshold, and if yes, the controller 121 controls the fan to stop rotating and restarts the fan after the preset time period. That is to say, when the stall of the fan is detected, the fan may be controlled to restart intermittently. The fan is restarted intermittently so that the power supply consumption of the fan can be reduced.
For example, when monitoring that the rotational speed Vf of the fan is less than or equal to a minimum limit V0, the controller 121 determines a duration Tm for which Vf ≤ V0, and when Tm ≤ T1, the controller 121 controls the fan to stop rotating. Further, the controller 121 monitors a duration Tn for which the fan stops rotating, and when Tn > T2, the controller 121 controls the fan to rotate again, that is, restarts the fan. The preceding process may be cyclically repeated during the rotation of the fan.
In this example, as shown in
In an optional implementation, when controlling the fan 108 to reduce the rotational speed, the controller 121 may control the electric energy output capability of the power supply conversion module 107 to be reduced so that the power supply consumption of a main output loop is reduced when the fan stalls.
In this example, as shown in
In this example, the communication terminal 104 may acquire a battery pack parameter of the battery pack, for example, the current quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack 200. Further, the communication module 105 may parse the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack according to the communication protocol, and the controller 121 controls the display state of the charging indication module 122 according to the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack. For example, when the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack meets a first electric quantity threshold, the charging indication module is controlled to output and display a first charging state; and when the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack meets a second electric quantity threshold, the charging indication module is controlled to output and display a second charging state; where the first electric quantity threshold is less than the second electric quantity threshold. For example, when detecting that the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack approximates to 80%, the controller 121 controls the charging signal indicator light to flicker at a certain frequency, and when detecting that the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack approximates to a full charge, the controller 121 controls the charging signal indicator light to be always on. The manner in which the charging indication module displays the charging state is not limited herein. Two electric quantity reminders are set so that the user can independently select the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack, so as to meet the user’s requirement for making a selection from increasing the service life of the battery and ensuring current use performance, both of which cannot be obtained.
With reference to
In S101, the rotational speed of the fan is acquired.
In S102, a maintenance duration for which the rotational speed of the fan is less than or equal to a rotational speed threshold is monitored.
In S103, when the maintenance duration is greater than or equal to a duration threshold, the fan is controlled to reduce the rotational speed.
In S104, after a preset time period, the fan is controlled to increase the rotational speed.
With reference to
In S201, the quantity of electricity charged into a battery pack is acquired.
In S202, when the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack meets a first electric quantity threshold, the charging indication module is controlled to output and display a first charging state.
In S203, when the quantity of electricity charged into the battery pack meets a second electric quantity threshold, the charging indication module is controlled to output and display a second charging state.
The preceding manners may be executed by software programs written into a controller
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202011446830.9 | Dec 2020 | CN | national |
| 202011453454.6 | Dec 2020 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of International Application Number PCT/CN2021/131717, filed on Nov. 19, 2021, through which this application also claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Chinese Pat. Application No. 202011446830.9, filed on Dec. 11, 2020, and Chinese Pat. Application No. 202011453454.6, filed on Dec. 11, 2020, which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2021/131717 | Nov 2021 | WO |
| Child | 18312734 | US |
