EP4727393A1 - Battery unit state-of-safety monitoring - Google Patents

Battery unit state-of-safety monitoring

Info

Publication number
EP4727393A1
EP4727393A1 EP24755616.0A EP24755616A EP4727393A1 EP 4727393 A1 EP4727393 A1 EP 4727393A1 EP 24755616 A EP24755616 A EP 24755616A EP 4727393 A1 EP4727393 A1 EP 4727393A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
battery unit
generation device
aerosol generation
battery
controller
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP24755616.0A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Grzegorz Aleksander PILATOWICZ
Franck Pourrat
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
JT International SA
Original Assignee
JT International SA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by JT International SA filed Critical JT International SA
Publication of EP4727393A1 publication Critical patent/EP4727393A1/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/60—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries including safety or protection arrangements
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
    • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
    • A24F40/50—Control or monitoring
    • A24F40/53—Monitoring, e.g. fault detection
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
    • G01R31/36—Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC]
    • G01R31/385—Arrangements for measuring battery or accumulator variables
    • G01R31/387—Determining ampere-hour charge capacity or SoC
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/34—Parallel operation in networks using both storage and other DC sources, e.g. providing buffering
    • H02J7/342—The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/80—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries including monitoring or indicating arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J9/00—Circuit arrangements for emergency or stand-by power supply, e.g. for emergency lighting
    • H02J9/005—Circuit arrangements for emergency or stand-by power supply, e.g. for emergency lighting using a power saving mode
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/855—Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Emergency Management (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Secondary Cells (AREA)

Abstract

A battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device, the battery unit comprising: a first battery cell; a battery unit controller; and a second battery cell configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller; wherein the controller is configured to measure a characteristic of the first battery cell in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses of current.

Description

Battery Unit State-of-Safety Monitoring
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device. The present disclosure also relates to a method of using a battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device. The present disclosure also relates to an aerosol generation device.
Background
As the demand for aerosol generation devices increases, so does the need for improved safety in battery systems. In addition, the need for these battery systems to be manipulated and potentially replaced by a user is increased.
Current battery systems for aerosol generation systems typically may be under non- optimal conditions, such as prolonged periods of high temperature, high moisture levels or being used past their shelf life.
Because of the increasing demand for replaceable battery systems, a user is more likely to handle a battery system during removal and replacement. This poses a risk to the user because the status of the battery is unknown. That is, a user does not know how long the battery has been in storage, how long the battery has been in use and under what conditions and/or stress the battery has been placed.
It is the object of the invention to overcome or avoid at least some of the abovereferenced problems, or to provide an alternative approach.
Summary
According to the present disclosure, there is provided a battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device, a method of using a battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device and an aerosol generation device including the features as set out in the claims.
According to one aspect, there is provided a battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device, the battery unit comprising: a first battery cell; a battery unit controller; and a second battery cell configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller. The controller is configured to measure a characteristic of the first battery cell in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses of current.
The second battery cell may be configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller and the first battery cell.
By measuring a characteristic in response to a plurality of pulses of current, the present invention provides a battery unit that may self-diagnose any issues in terms of storage conditions, age, defects and problems during use, without needing the first battery cell to be constantly on to perform the monitoring, which would drain the first battery cell.
Advantageously, the battery unit may indicate if there is any internal damage that would not be visible to a user, or any issues that may impact safety within the expected lifetime. Failure of the battery may also be identified ahead of a complete breakdown, such as a thermal runaway.
More generally, the invention provides a solution that will monitor a battery unit's state of safety prior to and after installation in an aerosol generation device. These features ensure that a battery unit being inserted does not pose a safety risk.
Finally, the invention allows the state of safety of the battery unit to be continually monitored even when the battery unit is in an idle state.
For each of these advantages, the first battery cell does not need to provide electric power to perform the monitoring and so is not drained of power.
The second battery cell may be configured to deliver the plurality of pulses when the battery unit is not in the aerosol generation device.
The battery unit controller may be configured to cause the second battery cell to deliver the plurality of pulses only when the battery unit is not in the aerosol generation device.
The battery unit controller may be configured to prevent the second battery cell from delivering the plurality of pulses when the battery unit is installed in the aerosol generation device (e.g., in use). The second battery cell may be a microbattery.
Advantageously, a microbattery provides enough power to deliver pulses of current to the first battery cell but is small enough to minimise the overall size of the battery unit.
The first battery cell may be configured to provide electrical power to an aerosol generation device, in use.
Advantageously, the battery unit may have separate batteries for providing power to the aerosol generation device and for providing power to self-diagnose the state of safety of the battery unit.
The battery unit controller may comprise a memory to store the measured characteristic.
Advantageously, the measured characteristic may be stored until the battery unit is inserted into an aerosol generation device. The information stored in the memory may be transferred to the aerosol generation device to indicate to a user the state of safety of the battery unit as a result of its storage.
The characteristic may comprise a first battery cell voltage.
Advantageously, measuring the voltage may avoid false positive results, thus providing a more accurate state of safety indication. Furthermore, this feature ensures that the indication is robust.
The pulses of the current may be delivered at predetermined intervals, wherein the interval is between 30 minutes and 240 minutes.
Advantageously, the intervals may provide enough data to provide an accurate state of safety indication, while not continuously using power from the second battery cell, thus prolonging the lifetime of the battery unit.
The battery unit controller may be configured to integrate the measured first battery cell voltage values over time, to produce an integrated voltage value. Advantageously, the integrated voltage value may provide a trend in the state of the battery unit, thus providing an accurate indication of the state of the battery unit.
The characteristic may comprise the impedance of the first battery cell. The pulses of the current may be delivered at predetermined intervals, wherein the interval is between 10 seconds and 240 seconds.
Advantageously, the use of impedance of the first battery cell may allow for the early indication of a catastrophic event, such as a thermal runaway, to allow for the battery unit to be replaced before it is irreparably damaged or a danger to a user.
The measured characteristic may represent a state of safety of the battery unit. The battery unit may be configured to transfer the state of safety to said aerosol generation device for display to a user, in use.
Advantageously, a user may be informed of the state of safety of the battery unit and thus can decide to use or replace the battery unit, based on characteristics of the battery unit that a user would otherwise be unaware of.
According to one aspect, there is provided a method of using a battery unit for use in an aerosol generation device, comprising delivering, to a battery unit controller, from a second battery cell, a plurality of pulses of current, and measuring, by a battery unit controller, a characteristic of the first battery cell in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses.
The method may comprise delivering, to the battery unit controller and the first battery cell, from the second battery cell, a plurality of pulses of current.
By measuring a characteristic in response to a plurality of pulses of current, the present invention provides a battery unit that may self-diagnose any issues in terms of storage conditions, age, defects and problems during use.
Advantageously, the battery unit may indicate if there is any internal damage that would not be visible to a user, or any issues that may impact safety within the expected lifetime. Failure of the battery may also be identified ahead of a complete breakdown, such as a thermal runaway.
More generally, the invention provides a solution that will monitor a battery unit's state of safety prior to and after installation in an aerosol generation device. These features ensure that a battery unit being inserted does not pose a safety risk.
Finally, the invention allows the state of safety of the battery unit to be continually monitored even when the battery unit is in an idle state.
According to one aspect, there is provided an aerosol generation device, comprising a battery unit, the battery unit comprising: a first battery cell; a battery unit controller; and a second battery cell configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the battery unit controller. The battery unit controller is configured to measure a characteristic of the first battery cell in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses of current.
The second battery cell may be configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller and the first battery cell.
By measuring a characteristic in response to a plurality of pulses of current, the present invention provides an aerosol generation device comprising a battery unit that may selfdiagnose any issues in terms of storage conditions, age, defects and problems during use.
Advantageously, the battery unit of the aerosol generation device may indicate if there is any internal damage that would not be visible to a user, or any issues that may impact safety within the expected lifetime. Failure of the battery may also be identified ahead of a complete breakdown, such as a thermal runaway.
More generally, the invention provides a solution that will continuously monitor a battery unit's state of safety when installed in an aerosol generation device. These features ensure that a battery unit does not pose a safety risk.
The aerosol generation device may comprise a heater, wherein the first battery cell is configured to provide electrical power to the heater. Advantageously, the battery unit may have separate batteries for providing power to the heater of the aerosol generation device and for providing power to self-diagnose the state of safety of the battery unit.
The aerosol generation device may comprise a device controller configured to control the battery unit controller.
Advantageously, the device controller and the battery unit controller may be separate, such that the battery unit self-diagnostic function may be state-alone from the aerosol generation device. In addition, the battery unit may provide information to the aerosol generation device upon insertion of the battery unit into the aerosol generation device.
The measured characteristic may represent a state of safety of the battery unit. The aerosol generation device may comprise a display, wherein the display may be configured to display the state of safety of the battery unit.
Advantageously, a user may be informed of the state of safety of the battery unit and thus can decide to use or replace the battery unit, based on characteristics of the battery unit that a user would otherwise be unaware of.
The device controller may be configured to receive a state of safety of the battery unit from the battery unit controller. The device controller may be configured to determine a state of safety of the battery unit.
Further advantages, objectives and features of the present invention will be described, by way of example only, in the following description with reference to the figures. In the figures, like components in different embodiments can exhibit the same reference symbols.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Examples of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 shows a schematic view of a battery unit;
Figure 2 shows a schematic view of an aerosol generation device; Figure 3 shows a graph showing examples of the data used for calculations;
Figure 4 shows an example of a graph used to determine a state of safety;
Figure 5 shows a graph showing further examples of the data used for calculations; and Figure 6 shows a flow diagram of a method of using a batter unit for an aerosol generation device.
Detailed Description
As used herein, the term “aerosol precursor material”, “vapour precursor material” or “vaporizable material” may refer to a smokable material which may for example comprise nicotine or tobacco and a vaporising agent. The aerosol precursor material is configured to release an aerosol when heated. Tobacco may take the form of various materials such as shredded tobacco, granulated tobacco, tobacco leaf and/or reconstituted tobacco. Nicotine may be in the form of nicotine salts. Suitable aerosol precursor materials include: a polyol such as sorbitol, glycerol, and glycols like propylene glycol or triethylene glycol; a non-polyol such as monohydric alcohols, acids such as lactic acid, glycerol derivatives, esters such as triacetin, triethylene glycol diacetate, triethyl citrate, glycerin or vegetable glycerin. In some examples, the aerosol precursor material is substantially a liquid that holds or comprises one or more solid particles, such as tobacco particles extracted from tobacco materials or suspended in a solution or gel.
An aerosol generation device is configured to aerosolise an aerosol precursor material without combustion in order to facilitate delivery of an aerosol to a user. Furthermore, and as is common in the technical field, the terms “vapour” and “aerosol”, and related terms such as “vaporize”, “volatilize” and “aerosolise”, may generally be used interchangeably.
As used herein, the term “aerosol generation device” is synonymous with “aerosol generating device” or “device” and may include a device configured to heat an aerosol precursor material and deliver an aerosol to a user. The device may be portable. “Portable” may refer to the device being for use when held by a user. The device may be adapted to generate a variable amount of aerosol, which can be controlled by user input. As used herein, the term “aerosol” may include a suspension of vaporizable material as one or more of: solid particles; liquid droplets; gas. Said suspension may be in a gas including air. Aerosol herein may generally refer to/include a vapour. Aerosol may include one or more components of the vaporizable material.
Figure 1 shows a schematic view of a battery unit 100 for use in an aerosol generation device 400. The battery unit 100 may be a pouch cell or a cylindrical battery. The battery unit 100 comprises a first battery cell 200. The first battery cell 200 may act as the power supply to supply power to the aerosol generation device 400, in use. For example, the first battery cell 200 may supply power to a heater 410 of the aerosol generation device 400 (this can be seen in Figure 2). In other words, the battery unit 100 may act as the power supply to supply power to the aerosol generation device 400.
The battery unit 100 may be a removable battery unit 100. In other words, the battery unit 100 may be removable from the aerosol generation device 400. When the battery unit 100 is outside of the aerosol generation device 400, it is referred to as being in storage in this specification. When the battery unit 100 is in (i.e., inside of) the aerosol generation device 400, it is referred to as being “in use” or in the aerosol generation device 400 in this specification.
The first battery cell 200 may be configured to provide the aerosol generation device 400 with electrical energy providing a voltage in the range of 1 V and 8 V. Preferably each of the first battery cell 200 may be configured to provide the aerosol generation device 400 with electrical energy providing a voltage in the range of 3 V and 4.2 V. Most preferably, the first battery cell 200 may be configured to provide the aerosol generation device 400 with electrical energy providing a voltage of 3.7 V. Such a voltage source is particularly advantageous for a modern aerosol generation device 400 in view of rechargeability, high energy density and large capacity. The first battery cell 200 may be a lithium-ion energy unit.
The battery unit 100 comprises a second battery cell 250. The second battery cell 250 may be a microbattery. The battery unit 100 further comprises a battery unit controller 300. The controller 300 may comprise a memory 310.
The second battery cell 250 is configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller 300. In some embodiments, the second battery cell 250 may be configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller 300, and not to the first battery cell 200. In other embodiments, the second battery cell 250 may be configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the controller 300 and to the first battery cell 200. In some embodiments, the controller 300 may control the second battery cell 250 to deliver the plurality of pulses of current to the first battery cell 200.
The pulses of the current delivered by the second battery cell 250 may be delivered at predetermined intervals. When the battery unit 100 is in storage (i.e. , not in the aerosol generation device 400), the interval may be between 10 minutes and 360 minutes, preferably between 20 minutes and 300 minutes, more preferably between 30 minutes and 240 minutes, for example, between 60 minutes and 120 minutes.
The controller 300 is configured to measure a characteristic of the first battery cell 200. For example, the controller 300 may comprise one or more of a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a current sensing shunt, an impedance sensor, and an internal clock. The measurement is in response to the one or more plurality of pulses of current being delivered to the controller 300. The measurement may be in response to the one or more plurality of pulses of current being delivered to the first battery cell 200 and the controller 300. The memory 310 may store the measured characteristic. The measured characteristic may represent a state of safety of the battery unit 100. For example, the measured characteristic may indicate that the battery unit 100 is in a healthy or unhealthy state. An unhealthy state may indicate that the battery unit 100 is not fit for use or needs replacing. The battery unit 100 may be configured to transfer the state of safety to said aerosol generation device 400 for display to a user, in use. The state of safety information may be stored in the memory 310 and provided to the aerosol generation device 400 upon insertion of the battery unit 100 into the aerosol generation device 400. For example, the state of safety information may be stored in the memory 310 when the battery unit 100 is in storage.
That is, based on the determined state of safety, the controller 300 may control the battery unit 100 to provide an indication that the battery unit 100 needs replacing. The indication may be facilitated by a display (not shown) on the battery unit 100.
The state of safety information may be provided to a controller 420 of the aerosol generation device 400 for display on a display 460 (as shown in Figure 2). This is described in more detail below. When the battery unit 100 is in storage (i.e., not in the aerosol generation device 400), the measured characteristic may comprise a first battery cell voltage. Therefore, the controller 300 may measure and store several first battery cell voltage values, over time. The battery unit controller 300 may be configured to integrate the measured first battery cell voltage values over time, to produce an integrated voltage value.
In some examples, the second battery cell 250 may be configured to deliver the plurality of pulses when the battery unit 100 is not in the aerosol generation device 400. For example, prior to installation of the battery unit 100 in the aerosol generation device 400.
The battery unit controller 300 may be configured to cause the second battery cell 250 to deliver the plurality of pulses only when the battery unit 100 is not in the aerosol generation device 400. The battery unit controller 300 may be configured to prevent (e.g., disable) the second battery cell 250 from delivering the plurality of pulses when the battery unit 100 is in use (e.g., when the battery unit 100 is installed in the aerosol generation device 400).
In some examples, the battery unit 100 may be configured to detect when the battery unit 100 is and/or is not installed in the aerosol generation device 400. The battery unit 100 may comprise one or more electrical connectors configured to electrically connect the battery unit 100 to the aerosol generation device 400. The battery unit 100 may be configured to detect when the battery unit 100 is and/or is not installed in the aerosol generation device 400 via the one or more electrical connectors. If the battery unit 100 detects no electrical connection path at the electrical connector(s), the battery unit controller 300 may be configured to determine that the battery unit 100 is not installed in the aerosol generation device 400. If the battery unit 100 detects an electrical connection path at the electrical connector(s), the battery unit controller 300 may be configured to determine that the battery unit 100 is installed in the aerosol generation device 400.
Additionally, or alternatively, the battery unit controller 300 may be configured to assume that the battery unit 100 is not installed in the aerosol generation device 400. In other words, the battery unit controller 300 may comprise a default setting that the battery unit 100 is not installed in the aerosol generation device 400. The battery unit controller 300 may be configured to only determine that the battery unit 100 is installed in the aerosol generation device 400 upon receiving a signal from the controller 420 of the aerosol generation device 400.
In some examples, the device controller 420 of the aerosol generation device 400 may be configured to determine when the battery unit 100 is and/or is not installed in the aerosol generation device 400 (e.g., via one or more detectors on the aerosol generation device 400). In response to determining that the battery unit 100 is installed in the aerosol generation device 400, the device controller 420 may be configured to transmit a signal (i.e., an in use signal) to the battery unit controller 300. The battery unit controller 300 may be configured to prevent (e.g., disable) the second battery cell 250 from delivering the plurality of pulses when the battery unit 100 based on the signal. An example of the data produced when the battery unit 100 is in storage can be seen in graphs 500, 502 and 504 of Figure 3. The X-axis 550 in each of the graphs 500, 502, 504 represents time.
Looking first at the top graph 500, the y-axis 510 represents voltage. The data represents voltage measurements taken by the controller 300 of the first battery cell 200. As shown in the graph 500, the voltage reduces over time due to aging of the battery unit 100.
Now turning to the middle graph 502, the y-axis 512 represents a weighting function. The weighting function is a function applied to the measured voltage for aiding the determination of the state of safety. That is, for measured voltages below a threshold value, the weighting function is relatively low value compared with the weighting function for measured voltages above a threshold value. For example, if the measured voltage is below 3 volts, 2.9 volts, 2.8 volts, 2.7 volts, 2.6 volts or 2.5 volts, the weighting function may be relatively low. The trigger voltage for the change in weighting function value is shown as line 550. Once the measured voltage is below the threshold value represented by the line 550, the weighting function drops to the relatively low value, as shown by line 552. The weighting function is effectively a method for “attenuating” measured voltages that are below a threshold value in the overall analysis. That is to say that a measured voltage below a certain threshold is very indicative of a low state of safety and so the weighting function aims to make these results more impactful in the results. This feature also allows taking into consideration of the potential abuse of the battery unit. That is, for example, if the battery unit has been stored at a very low voltage.
Alternatively, or additionally, the weighting function may be adjusted at a particular time. That is, if it is determined that the battery unit 100 is older than a certain value, the weighting function may be reduced.
Finally, looking at the bottom graph 504, the y-axis 514 represents an integrated voltage value. The integrated voltage is calculated by integrating the measured voltage values. The integrated voltage may have the weighting function applied to it. The application of the weighting function may occur to the voltage values, prior to the integration, or to the integrated voltage values.
The resulting integrated voltage values may represent an indication of the state of safety of the battery unit 100. For example, Figure 4 shows an example of a graphical representation of the assessment of the state of safety of the battery unit 100. The x- axis 620 of the graph 600 shows accumulated time, and the y-axis 610 shows the integrated voltage value. Using a current data point that represents the integrated voltage value at a particular time, the controller 300 may determine the state of safety of the battery unit 100. For example, if the data point is in region 630, the battery unit 100 may be deemed as being in a healthy state. If the data point is in a region 640, the battery unit 100 may be deemed as being in an intermediate state (i.e. , a state in which a user may consider replacement). If the data point is in a region 650, the battery unit 100 may be deemed as being in an unhealthy state (i.e., a state in which a user must disable and/or replace the battery).
The pulses of the current delivered by the second battery cell 250 may be delivered at different predetermined intervals when the battery unit 100 is in the aerosol generation device 400. That is, the controller 300 may determine whether the battery unit 100 is currently in the aerosol generation device 400, or not.
When the battery unit 100 is in use (i.e., in the aerosol generation device 400), the interval may be between 2 seconds and 300 seconds, preferably between 5 seconds and 240 seconds, more preferably between 10 seconds and 120 seconds, for example, between 15 seconds and 60 seconds. When the battery unit 100 is in use (i.e., in the aerosol generation device 400), the measured characteristic may comprise an impedance of the first battery cell 200. Therefore, the controller 300 may measure and store several first battery cell 200 impedance values, over time. The battery unit controller 300 may be configured to integrate the measured impedance values over time, to produce an integrated impedance value. A weighting function could be applied to the measured impedance values in the same was as described above in relation to measured voltage values. That is to say that for impedance values below a certain threshold, the weighting function further reduces these values in the overall analysis.
The measured impedance may be an indicator of an increase in the temperature of the battery unit 100. For example, Figure 5 shows an example of the data produced when the battery unit 100 is in the aerosol generation device 400. The x-axis 720 of the graph 700 shows increasing temperature. The y-axis 710 shows the impedance magnitude. As shown in the graph 700, when the temperature reaches a certain threshold, the impedance 730 of the battery unit 100 gets below a certain level (line 750). After this point, the impedance starts to increase (line 760). Line 760 represents a point at which the gradient of the measured impedance is deemed to be at a critical level, thus the controller 300 would indicate that the battery unit 100 needs to be disabled and/or replaced. By using the rate of change of impedance as an indicator, failure of the battery unit 100 may be identified before a thermal runaway occurs.
The battery unit 100 may be capable of being charged. The battery unit 100 may comprise a power inlet (not shown) to connect to a power source. The power inlet of the battery unit 100 may be accessible, by a user, when the battery unit 100 is inserted in the aerosol generation device 400. In addition, or alternatively, the aerosol generation device 400 may comprise a power inlet (not shown) to connect to a power source and configured to provide power to battery unit 100 to charge it.
The battery unit 100 may comprise a housing, or body, 110, as shown in Figure 1 , to house the components making up the battery unit 100.
Figure 2 shows an example of an aerosol generation device 400. The aerosol generation device 400 comprises a battery unit 100 as described above and shown in Figure 1. The aerosol generation device 400 may be suitable for receiving a consumable article (not shown) therein. For example, the aerosol generation device 400 may include a chamber 430 in which the consumable article is received.
The aerosol generation device 400 may comprise a body 440. The body 440 may be configured to house the components of the aerosol generation device 400. For example, the body 400 may house the battery unit 100.
The aerosol generation device 400 may comprise a heater 410 configured to provide heat to aerosol precursor material within the consumable article to generate an aerosol, in use. Alternatively, the aerosol generation device 400 may comprise a plurality of heaters 410. The heater 410 is configured to receive power from the first battery cell 200 of the battery unit 100. The heater 410 is positioned so as to be in thermal contact with the aerosol precursor material of the consumable article to heat it, in use. The heater 410 may be a coil, an induction coil and susceptor arrangement, a ceramic heater, a resistive heater, a flat resistive heater, a mesh heater, a MEMS heater, a thin film heater or the like, configured to heat the aerosol precursor material of the consumable article.
The aerosol generation device 400 may comprise a cover 450. The cover 450 may be configured to enclose the components of the aerosol generation device 400. Particularly, the cover 450 may be configured to cover the chamber 430.
The aerosol generation device 400 may comprise the device controller 420. The device controller 420 may be configured to control the battery unit 100. That is, the device controller 420 may be configured to control the battery unit controller 300. The device controller 420 may be configured to receive the measured characteristic values from the controller 300. The device controller 420 may perform the calculations to determine the state of safety of the battery unit 100. The device controller 420 may be configured to determine the state of safety of the battery unit 100 when the aerosol generation device is in a lower power mode.
If the state of safety of the battery unit 100 is determined to be unhealthy (e.g., unsafe), the device controller 420 may be configured to prohibit the aerosol generation device 400 from generating aerosol. For example, the device controller 420 may be configured to prohibit the battery unit 100 from supplying power to the heater of the aerosol generation device 400.
The device controller 420 may be a charger IC, part of a charger IC and/or comprise a charger IC. The device controller 420 may be configured to function as a master device configured to control the battery unit controller 300, which may act as a slave device.
As explained above, the state of safety of the battery unit 100 may be calculated and indicated to a user. The indication may be facilitated by the display 460 of the aerosol generation device 400. The display 460 may be integral with, or located on, the body 440 of the aerosol generation device 400. The display 460 may be located on an internal component of the aerosol generation device 400 and visible to a user through an aperture, or transparent section, in the body 440. Alternatively, the display 460 may be a component of the battery unit 100.
The display 460 may be controlled by the controller 300 of the battery unit 100 and/or by a device controller 420 of the aerosol generation device 400. The controller 300 of the battery unit 100 may be configured to cause the display 460 to display the state of safety in the lower power mode. The device controller 420 of the aerosol generation device 400 may be configured to cause the display 460 to display the state of safety in the low power mode. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 300 of the battery unit 100 and/or the device controller 420 may be configured to display the state of safety in response to determining that the state of safety of the battery unit 100 is unhealthy (e.g., by displaying one or more symbols that indicate that the state of safety of the battery unit 100 is unhealthy).
The display 460 may be configured to indicate that the first battery cell 200 is in a healthy or unhealthy state (that is, the battery unit 100 is in a healthy or unhealthy state. The display 460 may be further configured to indicate that the first battery cell 200 is in an intermediate state. The display 460 may be configured to indicate that the battery unit 100 needs replacing or recharging.
The display 460 may be a light, for example, an LED, configured to be switched between states. For example, the display 460 may be configured to be switched between an on- state and an off-state. The display 460 may be configured to be switched between colours. The display 460 may be any visual, auditive or haptic feedback function. The display 460 may be a user interface (III) or a graphical user interface (GUI).
Figure 6 shows an example of a flow chart of a method 1000 of using a battery unit 100 for use in an aerosol generation device 400. The method 1000 comprises a first step 1010 of delivering, to a battery unit controller 300, from a second battery cell 250, a plurality of pulses of current. The method 1000 comprises a second step 1020 of measuring, by a battery unit controller 300, a characteristic of the first battery cell 200 in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses. In some embodiments, the first step 1010 comprises delivery, to the first battery cell 200 and the battery unit controller 300, from the second battery cell 250, a plurality of pulses of current.
The method 1000 may comprise a step 1030 of the controller 300 determining a state of safety of the battery unit 100, based on the measured characteristic. The method 1000 may comprise a step 1040 of providing the state of safety information of the battery unit 100 to an aerosol generation device 400, for display on a display 460.
Although preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims and as described above.

Claims

1 . A battery unit (100) for use in an aerosol generation device (400), the battery unit (100) comprising: a first battery cell (200); a battery unit controller (300); and a second battery cell (250) configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the battery unit controller (300); wherein the battery unit controller (300) is configured to measure a characteristic of the first battery cell (200) in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses of current.
2. The battery unit (100) according to claim 1 , wherein the second battery cell (250) is configured to deliver the plurality of pulses when the battery unit (100) is not in the aerosol generation device (400).
3. The battery unit (100) according to claim 2, wherein the battery unit controller (300) is configured to cause the second battery cell (250) to deliver the plurality of pulses only when the battery unit (100) is not in the aerosol generation device (400).
4. The battery unit (100) according to claim 3, wherein the battery unit controller (300) is configured to prevent the second battery cell (250) from delivering the plurality of pulses when the battery unit (100) is installed in the aerosol generation device (400).
5. The battery unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the second battery cell (250) is a microbattery.
6. The battery unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first battery cell (200) is configured to provide electrical power to the aerosol generation device (400), in use.
7. The battery unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the battery unit controller (300) comprises a memory (310) to store the measured characteristic.
8. The battery unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the characteristic comprises a first battery cell voltage.
9. The battery unit (100) according to claim 8, wherein the pulses of the current are delivered at predetermined intervals, wherein the interval is between 10 seconds and 240 seconds or between 30 minutes and 240 minutes.
10. The battery unit (100) according to any claim 8 or 9, wherein the battery unit controller (300) is configured to integrate the measured first battery cell voltage values over time, to produce an integrated voltage value.
11 . The battery unit (100) according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the characteristic comprises an impedance of the first battery cell (200).
12. The battery unit (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the measured characteristic represents a state of safety of the battery unit (100).
13. The battery unit (100) according to claim 12, wherein the battery unit (100) is configured to transfer the state of safety to said aerosol generation device (400) for display to a user, in use.
14. A method (1000) of using a battery unit (100) for use in an aerosol generation device (400), comprising: delivering (1010), to a battery unit controller (300), from a second battery cell (250), a plurality of pulses of current, measuring (1020), by the battery unit controller (300), a characteristic of the first battery cell (200) in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses.
15. An aerosol generation device (400) comprising: a battery unit (100), the battery unit (100) comprising: a first battery cell (200); a battery unit controller (300); and a second battery cell (250) configured to deliver a plurality of pulses of current to the battery unit controller (300); wherein the battery unit controller (300) is configured to measure a characteristic of the first battery cell (200) in response to one or more of the plurality of pulses of current.
16. The aerosol generation device (400) according to claim 15, wherein the aerosol generation device (400) comprises a device controller (420) configured to control the battery unit controller (300).
17. The aerosol generation device (400) according to claim 16, wherein the device controller (420) is configured to receive a state of safety of the battery unit (100) from the battery unit controller (300).
18. The aerosol generation device (400) according to claim 16, wherein the device controller (420) is configured to determine a state of safety of the battery unit (100).
19. The aerosol generation device (400) according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the aerosol generation device (400) comprises a display (460), wherein the display (460) is configured to display the state of safety of the battery unit (100).
EP24755616.0A 2023-08-29 2024-08-20 Battery unit state-of-safety monitoring Pending EP4727393A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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EP23194068 2023-08-29
PCT/EP2024/073352 WO2025045662A1 (en) 2023-08-29 2024-08-20 Battery unit state-of-safety monitoring

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KR20150024561A (en) * 2013-08-27 2015-03-09 삼성에스디아이 주식회사 Battery management system and driving method thereof
EP3698657B1 (en) * 2017-10-18 2023-09-20 Japan Tobacco Inc. Inhalation component generation device
CN109619681B (en) * 2018-11-14 2020-11-03 深圳市合元科技有限公司 Battery health monitoring method and device and electronic cigarette
JP6683866B1 (en) * 2019-07-17 2020-04-22 日本たばこ産業株式会社 Power source unit for aerosol inhaler, power source diagnostic method for aerosol inhaler, and power source diagnostic program for aerosol inhaler
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