JP2011069693A - Information management system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide more proper information about a battery at the end of life. <P>SOLUTION: When it is determined that the battery 12 is at the end of life, use environment of the battery 12 (such as vehicle type, use area, use application, travel history) and use condition information (such as charge and discharge characteristics of the battery 12, total mileage Lsum, total use time Tsum) are associated with each other, and stored in a hard disk drive 54 of a management server 50 as part of a database about life information. Accordingly, database about life information is made more proper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information management system and an information management method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle diagnosis system that is executed using data transmission / reception between a service center, each vehicle registered in the center, and a dealer has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this vehicle diagnosis system, data (maintenance information data, malfunction data of parts, data for estimating part failure, maintenance data, etc.) and a driver required for calculating the degree of deterioration and consumption of the consumables of the vehicle in each vehicle. The driving behavior is detected and transmitted to the center. On the center side, function parameters for calculating the degree of deterioration and consumption of consumables and the function parameters for calculating the factor ratio that affects them are calculated. It is transmitted to the vehicle, and in each vehicle, the degree of deterioration and consumption of the consumables of the vehicle and the factor ratio thereof are calculated and displayed on the display. For example, when the diagnosis target of the consumables is a battery, the deterioration degree of the battery, the deterioration factor in consideration of the driver behavior (low charge degree, engine speed, number of times of charging, etc.) are displayed.

JP 2005-227141 A

  In such a system, as a vehicle, an electric vehicle including a driving motor and a battery that exchanges electric power with the motor, a series type or a parallel type hybrid vehicle including an engine in addition to the driving motor and the battery are used. Assuming that the performance of the battery may affect the running, it is an important issue to diagnose the state of the battery more appropriately. For this reason, it is desirable to store appropriate information in the database on the center side.

  The information management system and the information management method of the present invention are mainly intended to make the information of the battery that has reached the end of its life more appropriate.

  The information management system and information management method of the present invention employ the following means in order to achieve the above-mentioned main object.

The information management system of the present invention is
An information management system for managing life information as life battery information that is a battery that has reached the end of its life,
Information storage means for storing the lifetime information;
Information on the current battery usage environment including the current battery usage area that is mounted on or used for mounting on a vehicle that uses power from the electric motor and information on the current battery status Information acquisition means for acquiring state information;
Determination means for determining whether or not the current battery has reached the end of its life;
When the determination unit determines that the current battery has reached the end of its life, the acquired storage environment of the current battery is associated with the current state information and stored in the information storage unit as part of the life information. Storage processing means;
An information management system comprising:

  In the information management system of the present invention, the current battery use environment and the current battery state including the current battery use area which is mounted on or used in a vehicle traveling using the power from the electric motor. Current state information that is information on the current battery, determine whether or not the current battery has reached the end of its life, and if it is determined that the current battery has reached the end of its life, The current state information is associated and stored in the information storage means as part of the life information. Since the battery is likely to deteriorate depending on the usage environment such as the usage region, the current state information of the battery that has reached the end of its life depends on the usage environment. Therefore, the life information can be made more appropriate by associating the usage environment of the current battery determined to have reached the life and the current state information in association with each other as part of the life information. Here, the usage environment includes the usage and travel history in addition to the current battery usage region. The use area can be classified into, for example, a cold area, a tropical area, a humid area, a normal temperature area, and the like.

  In the information management system of the present invention, the information acquisition means is means for acquiring information including a current charge / discharge characteristic, which is a characteristic of the current battery when the current battery is charged or discharged, as the current state information. There can be. In addition to the current charge / discharge characteristics, the current state information is information including the total travel distance of the vehicle on which the current battery is mounted or mounted, the total usage time of the current battery, and the like. You can also.

  In the information management system of the present invention, the information acquisition means is arranged outside or mounted on the automobile, and the information storage means is arranged outside the automobile and is the information acquisition means. It can also be configured separately. In addition, the current battery may be a battery that has been installed in the automobile in the past and is currently removed from the automobile.

  Further, in the information management system of the present invention, the determination means determines whether or not the vehicle is in an electric travel failure state in which the vehicle cannot travel well by electric travel that uses only the power from the electric motor. It may be a means for determining whether or not the current battery has reached the end of its life depending on whether or not the battery is in a poorly charged state in which the battery cannot be charged satisfactorily.

  Alternatively, in the information management system according to the present invention, when the storage processing unit determines that the current battery has reached the end of life by the determination unit, the storage processing unit uses the acquired current battery usage environment as the use of the end-of-life battery. And a means for associating the acquired current state information of the current battery with the environment as life state information, which is information relating to the state of the life battery, and storing it in the information storage means as a part of the life information. When it is determined that the current battery has not reached the end of its life, the life information stored in the information storage means is associated with the use environment of the life battery corresponding to the use environment of the current battery. Obtaining the life state information of the life battery, the obtained life state information and the current state of the current battery Diagnostic means for the relationship between the information assessing the remaining service life of the current battery, can also be made with a.

The information management method of the present invention includes:
An information management method in an information management system for storing life information as life battery information that is a battery that has reached the end of life,
(A) Information relating to the current battery usage environment including the current battery usage area, which is mounted on or used for mounting on a vehicle traveling using the power from the electric motor, and information on the state of the current battery Current state information, and
(B) When the current battery has reached the end of its life, the information storage means stores the acquired current battery usage environment and current state information in association with each other as part of the life information;
This is the gist.

  In the information management method of the present invention, the current battery use environment and the current battery state including the current battery use region which is a battery mounted on or mounted on an automobile traveling using power from an electric motor. Current state information that is information on the current battery, determine whether or not the current battery has reached the end of its life, and if it is determined that the current battery has reached the end of its life, The current state information is associated and stored in the information storage means as part of the life information. Since the battery is likely to deteriorate depending on the usage environment such as the usage region, the current state information of the battery that has reached the end of its life depends on the usage environment. Therefore, the life information can be made more appropriate by associating the usage environment of the current battery determined to have reached the life and the current state information in association with each other as part of the life information. Here, the usage environment includes the usage and travel history in addition to the current battery usage region. The use area can be classified into, for example, a cold area, a tropical area, a humid area, a normal temperature area, and the like.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of the information management system 20 which manages the lifetime information as information regarding the lifetime battery which is a battery which reached the lifetime. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a battery 12. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the database of lifetime information. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a current state information creation processing routine executed by a terminal 30. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a life information update processing routine executed by a management server 50. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of present charging voltage variation (DELTA) Vmccu. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the behavior of 2nd charge sequence voltage Vbc2. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the behavior of 3rd charge sequence voltage Vbc3 now. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the present charging current voltage characteristic IVc. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of present discharge voltage variation (DELTA) Vmdcu. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the behavior of 2nd discharge sequence voltage Vbd2. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the behavior of 3rd discharge sequence voltage Vbd3 now. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the present discharge current voltage characteristic IVd. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a remaining life diagnosis routine executed by a terminal 30. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of lifetime charge voltage variation (DELTA) Vmcli, present charge voltage variation (DELTA) Vmccu, and new article charge voltage variation (DELTA) Vmcnew. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure with the vehicle-mounted battery 12B and the state management system 20. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of an automobile 110 and a remaining life diagnosis system 120. FIG.

  Next, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated using an Example.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a configuration of an information management system 20 that manages lifetime information as information on a lifetime battery that has reached the lifetime, as an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, first, the automobile 10 on which the battery 12 is mounted will be explained, and then the information management system 20 will be explained.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 is configured as a hybrid vehicle including an electric vehicle that travels using power from a motor 11 configured as a synchronous generator motor, for example, and an engine (not shown) in addition to the motor 11. A battery 12 for exchanging electric power with the motor 11, a vehicle-side connector 14 for connecting the battery 12 and a power device outside the vehicle, an electronic control unit 16 for controlling the entire vehicle such as management of the battery 12 and control of the motor 11 Is provided. In the case of an electric vehicle or in the case of a so-called series type hybrid vehicle, the vehicle 10 travels by motor traveling using only the power from the motor 11, and is not shown in the case of a parallel type hybrid vehicle. The hybrid vehicle traveling using the power from the engine and the power from the motor 11 and the motor traveling are switched as necessary.

  The battery 12 is formed by connecting a plurality of cells configured as a nickel hydride secondary battery or a lithium ion secondary battery in series, as illustrated in the configuration diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the battery 12 in FIG. Is an integer of 2 or more) battery modules M1 to Mk are connected in series.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the electronic control unit 16 is attached to the voltage Vb from the voltage sensor 13 a attached between the terminals of the battery 12 or between the terminals of the battery modules M <b> 1 to Mk of the battery 12. The module voltages Vm1 to Vmk from the voltage sensors S1 to Sk, the current Ib from the current sensor 13b attached to the positive terminal of the battery 12, and the like are input, and the input voltage Vb, module voltages Vm1 to Vmk, and current Ib are input. , The remaining capacity SOC calculated based on the current Ib, the usage environment of the battery 12 (for example, the type, usage area, usage, travel history, etc. of the automobile 10 on which the battery 12 is mounted), the total traveling distance Lsum of the automobile 10 The total usage time Tsum of the battery 12 and the mode in which the automobile 10 cannot run well due to motor running. In the state where the battery 12 and the power device outside the vehicle (for example, a charging device) are connected via the motor travel failure flag F1 and the vehicle-side connector 14 indicating whether or not the vehicle is in a bad travel state, An external charge failure flag F2 indicating whether or not an external charge failure state in which external charging for charging the battery 12 with electric power cannot be performed satisfactorily is stored. Here, examples of the use area include a cold area, a tropical area, a humid area, and a room temperature area. Examples of the use application include use ratios for each use such as commuting, shopping, and travel. As an example, there is an average of travel distance for one trip, an average of duration of system stop, and the like. The use area can be acquired by, for example, a car navigation system (not shown) or can be determined and acquired based on the outside air temperature, humidity, topography, etc. It can be determined and acquired from the travel time history of the automobile 10 or the travel time history of one trip. The motor running failure flag F1 is a flag that is set to a value of 1 when the motor is running poor and is set to a value of 0 when the motor running is not bad. For example, the remaining capacity SOC of the battery 12 is fully charged. The motor travel allowable distance Lmot that is assumed as the distance that the automobile 10 can travel by motor travel using the power from the fully charged battery 12 (for example, 80%, 85%, etc.) is equal to or less than the predetermined distance Lmotref. Or when the fuel consumption η of the vehicle 10 (for example, the travel distance per unit energy of the battery 12 when the vehicle 10 is an electric vehicle) is equal to or less than a predetermined fuel consumption, etc. be able to. The external charging failure flag F2 is a flag that is set to a value 1 when the external charging failure state is set and is set to a value 0 when the external charging failure state is not set. For example, the battery 12 when the external charging is performed. When the amount of change ΔSOC of the remaining capacity SOC is less than or equal to the predetermined amount of change ΔSOCref, or when the charge loss Plc when performing external charging is greater than or equal to the predetermined charge loss Plcref, etc. Can do. When the battery 12 deteriorates due to use, the automobile 10 cannot run well due to motor running or cannot perform external charging well, i.e., the motor runs poorly or the external charging fails. Conceivable. The predetermined distance Lmotref, the predetermined fuel efficiency ηref, the predetermined change amount ΔSOCref, and the predetermined charging loss Plcref are threshold values used for determining whether or not the battery 12 has deteriorated and reached the end of its life, and is based on the specifications of the battery 12 and the like. It can be determined by experiment and analysis.

  The information management system 20 is installed in an arbitrary place such as a store or a home and can communicate with the electronic control unit 16 of the automobile 10, and is installed in an arbitrary place such as the store or the home and is connected to a vehicle side connector. 14 and the device-side connector 42 are used to charge and discharge the battery 12 and can communicate with the terminal 30 and the electronic control unit 16, and the terminal via the network 22 such as the Internet. And a management server 50 capable of communicating with 30.

  The terminal 30 is configured as a general-purpose computer having a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, a hard disk drive 34, and the like, and includes a display 35, a keyboard 36, a mouse 37, and the like as input devices.

  The management server 50 is configured as a general-purpose computer having a CPU 51, a RAM 52, a ROM 53, a hard disk drive 54, and the like. The hard disk drive 54 includes a life battery usage environment (a model of a life battery mounted, a use region, a use application, a travel history, and the like) and life state information (for example, charge characteristics of the life battery, Discharge characteristics (hereinafter collectively referred to as life charge / discharge characteristics), life distance Lli that is the total travel distance of a vehicle equipped with a life battery, life time Tli that is the total use time of the life battery, and the like are associated with each other. Is stored as a database. An example of the life information database is shown in FIG. Batteries mounted on electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles have different susceptibility to deterioration depending on the environment in which they are used, including the type of vehicle, area of use, usage, and driving history. Depends on usage environment. Therefore, the life information is more appropriate by associating the use environment of the life battery (vehicle type, use area, use application, travel history, etc.) and life state information as a life information database and storing it in the hard disk drive 54. Can be. As a result, when diagnosing the remaining life of a battery that has not reached its life (hereinafter referred to as an unreachable battery) using the life state information in the life information database, the life state information corresponding to the use environment of the unreachable battery is displayed. Since it can select and use from a database, the remaining life of the unreachable battery can be diagnosed more appropriately.

  Next, the operation of the information management system 20 of the embodiment configured as described above, particularly, the operation when updating the life information database of the management server 50 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a current state information creation processing routine executed by the terminal 30 in order to create current state information that is information related to the current state of the battery 12, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a life information update processing routine executed by the management server 50 to update the service life. The routine in FIG. 4 is executed by the user in a state where the vehicle 10 is brought into a place (a store or the like) where the terminal 30 or the charging / discharging device 40 is installed and the vehicle-side connector 14 and the device-side connector 42 are connected. It is executed when an instruction is given. 5 is executed when current state information is received from the terminal 30.

  When the current state information creation processing routine is executed, the CPU 31 of the terminal 30 first uses the battery 12 (environment type, usage state, usage, travel history, etc.), total travel distance Lsum, total use. The electronic control unit 16 of the vehicle 10 is requested for vehicle information that is information of the vehicle 10 such as the time Tsum, the motor running failure flag F1, and the external charging failure flag F2 (step S100).

  When the vehicle information is received from the electronic control unit 16 (step S110), the values of the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2 are checked (step S120), and both the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2 are detected. When the value is 0, that is, when neither the motor running failure state nor the external charging failure state is determined, it is determined that the battery 12 has not reached the end of life (step S130), and this routine is terminated.

  On the other hand, when at least one of the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2 is a value 1, that is, when the motor running is bad or the external charging is bad, the battery 12 reaches the end of its life. (The battery 12 is a life battery) (step S140), the state of the battery 12 is set to a predetermined state (for example, the state where the voltage of the battery 12 is a predetermined voltage, or the minimum of the module voltages of the battery 12) An instruction to execute a preparation process for setting the battery to a predetermined voltage, the battery 12 having a predetermined remaining capacity, etc. is transmitted to the charge / discharge device 40 and the electronic control unit 16 (step S150). The charging / discharging device 40 and the electronic control unit 16 that have received this instruction perform preparation processing so that the state of the battery 12 becomes a predetermined state while communicating with each other, and when the preparation processing is completed, a preparation processing completion signal is transmitted to the terminal. 30. Here, the preparatory process is executed before the execution of the current charge / discharge characteristic acquisition process described later, because the charge characteristic and discharge characteristic of the battery 12 (hereinafter collectively referred to as the current charge / discharge characteristic) are This is because the acquisition conditions, that is, the acquisition conditions of the current charge / discharge characteristics for updating the life information database of the management server 50 are made uniform.

  When receiving the preparation process completion signal (step S160), the CPU 31 of the terminal 30 transmits an instruction to execute the current charge / discharge characteristic acquisition process for acquiring the current charge / discharge characteristics to the charge / discharge device 40 and the electronic control unit 16 (step S160). S170). The charging / discharging device 40 that has received this instruction charges or discharges the battery 12 according to a predetermined sequence, and the electronic control unit 16 that has received the instruction is the current state when the battery 12 is charged or discharged by this sequence. The charge / discharge characteristics are acquired and transmitted to the terminal 30. Specifically, in the embodiment, the charging / discharging device 40 charges the battery 12 with high power for a short time (for example, maximum allowable power that may charge the battery 12 or slightly lower power, etc.) The electronic control unit 16 executes the charging sequence in which short-time high-speed charging is performed a plurality of times, and the module voltage Vm1 of the battery 12 when the battery 12 in a predetermined state is charged by the charging sequence. The behavior of ~ Vmk is detected by the voltage sensors S1 to Sk, and the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of each module voltage (hereinafter referred to as current charging voltage variation) ΔVmccu is obtained and transmitted to the terminal 30. . An example of the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, for reference, a charging voltage variation (hereinafter referred to as a new charging voltage variation) ΔVmcnew when the battery 12 is in a new state is also indicated by a one-dot chain line. Here, it is considered that the new charge voltage variation ΔVmcnew is due to the manufacturing error of each cell or each battery module, and the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu is a manufacturing error of each cell or each battery module that takes into account the secular change due to use. It is thought that it was done.

  When receiving the current charge / discharge characteristics (step S180), the CPU 31 of the terminal 30 uses the current charge / discharge characteristics, the total travel distance Lsum, and the total usage time Tsum as the current state information that is information related to the current state of the battery 12. The status information and the environment in which the battery 12 is used (vehicle type, usage area, usage, running history, etc.) are transmitted to the management server 50 (step S190), and this routine ends.

  The creation of the current state information executed by the terminal 30 has been described above. Next, the update of the life information database executed by the management server 50 when the usage environment and the current state information of the battery 12 are received from the terminal 30 will be described using the life information update processing routine of FIG.

  When the life information update processing routine is executed, the CPU 51 of the management server 50 corresponds to the usage environment of the battery 12 (model, usage area, usage, running history, etc. of the automobile 10) received from the terminal 30 in the database. The corresponding area that is the area to be searched is searched (step S200), and if the searched corresponding area does not have life state information (life charge / discharge characteristics, life distance Lli, life time Tli) (step S210), the battery received from the terminal 30 By registering 12 current state information (current charge / discharge characteristics, total travel distance Lsum, total use time Tsum) as life state information (life charge / discharge characteristics, life distance Lli, life time Tli) in the corresponding area, The database is updated (step S220), and the reception history of the corresponding area is updated (step S220). Flop S260), and ends the present routine. In the embodiment, since the terminal 30 acquires the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu as the current charging / discharging characteristic, the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu is the charging voltage variation of the life battery as the life charging / discharging characteristic in the life state information. That is, it is registered as a lifetime charge voltage variation ΔVmcli. As described above, a battery mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is used in an environment including a vehicle type, a use region, a use application, a travel history, etc., particularly a battery use region (a cold region, a tropical region, a humid region). Therefore, the state of the battery that has reached the end of its life depends on the previous use environment. Therefore, the lifetime information database should be made more appropriate by registering the current status information in the corresponding area associated with the usage environment of the battery (such as vehicle type, usage area, usage, and driving history). Can do. As a result, when diagnosing the remaining life of the unreachable battery using the life state information in the life information database, the life state information corresponding to the use environment of the unreachable battery can be selected from the database and used. The remaining life of the reaching battery can be diagnosed more appropriately. In addition, by updating the reception history of the corresponding area, the reception frequency of the current state information and the like can be obtained for each usage environment of the life battery in the database.

  On the other hand, when there is life state information in the corresponding area (step S210), it is determined whether or not to update the life state information in the corresponding area (steps S230 and S240). In the embodiment, since the terminal 30 acquires the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu as the current charging / discharging characteristics, this determination is performed by, for example, comparing the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu with the lifetime charging voltage variation ΔVmcli in the corresponding region. When the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu is larger than the lifetime charging voltage variation ΔVmcli, the lifetime state information is updated. To be).

  When it is determined that the life state information of the corresponding area is to be updated, the current state information of the battery 12 is registered as the life state information (updating the life state information), thereby updating the life information database (step S250). If the reception history of the area is updated (step S260), this routine is terminated and it is determined not to update the life state information of the corresponding area, only the reception history of the corresponding area is updated without updating the life information database. Is updated (step S260), and this routine is terminated.

  According to the information management system 20 of the embodiment described above, when it is determined that the battery 12 has reached the end of its life, the environment in which the battery 12 is used (equipped vehicle type, area of use, usage, travel history, etc.) and usage Since the state information (charge characteristics and discharge characteristics of the battery 12, total travel distance Lsum, total use time Tsum, etc.) is associated and stored in the hard disk drive 54 of the management server 50 as a part of the life information database, the life information The database can be made more appropriate. As a result, when the remaining life of the unreached battery is diagnosed using the life information database, the remaining life of the unreached battery can be diagnosed more appropriately.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, a device using the charging voltage variation ΔVmccu or the lifetime charging voltage variation ΔVmcli as the current charging / discharging characteristics (charging characteristics and discharging characteristics) of the battery 12 and the lifetime charging / discharging characteristics of the lifetime battery, that is, the terminal 30 Then, a charging voltage variation ΔVmccu when the battery 12 in a predetermined state is charged is acquired as a battery characteristic by a charging sequence in which short-time high-speed charging is performed a plurality of times, and the management server 50 obtains the life charging voltage variation ΔVmcli in the life state. The information is stored as the life charge / discharge characteristics of the information. However, the current charge / discharge characteristics and the life charge / discharge characteristics of the life battery are not limited to this, and any information may be used. For example, as the current charging / discharging characteristics, the voltage Vb of the battery 12 when the battery 12 in the second predetermined state is charged by the second charging sequence in which short-time high-speed charging is performed a plurality of times as in the charging sequence of the embodiment. The behavior of the current second charging sequence voltage Vbc2cu or the behavior of an arbitrary cell or battery module may be acquired, or the third predetermined state may be obtained by a third charging sequence that performs high-speed charging for a longer time than short-time high-speed charging. The behavior of the current third charging sequence voltage Vbc3cu, which is the voltage Vb of the battery 12 when the battery 12 is charged, or the behavior of an arbitrary cell or battery module may be acquired, and pulse currents having different current values are obtained. 4th predetermined state by the 4th charge sequence which charges battery 12 by multiple times The current charging current voltage characteristic IVccu, which is the relationship between the current and voltage of the battery 12 when the battery 12 is charged, may be acquired, or high power for a short time (for example, the maximum permissible value that may discharge the battery) When the battery 12 in the fifth predetermined state is discharged by a first discharge sequence in which a short-time high-speed discharge, which is a discharge of the battery (hereinafter referred to as a high-speed discharge) due to electric power or a slightly lower electric power), is performed a plurality of times. The current discharge voltage variation ΔVmdcu which is the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the module voltages Vm1 to Vmk of the battery 12 may be acquired, or the second discharge sequence in which the short-time high-speed charging is performed a plurality of times. The second discharge sequence voltage Vbd2 that is the voltage Vb of the battery 12 when the battery 12 in the sixth predetermined state is discharged by The behavior of cu or the behavior of an arbitrary cell or battery module may be acquired, or when the battery 12 in the seventh predetermined state is discharged by the third discharge sequence that performs high-speed discharge for a longer time than the short-time high-speed discharge. The behavior of the current third discharge sequence voltage Vbd3cu that is the voltage Vb of the battery 12 or the behavior of an arbitrary cell or battery module may be acquired, and the battery 12 is discharged a plurality of times by pulse currents having different current values. It is also possible to acquire the current discharge current voltage characteristic IVdcu, which is the relationship between the current and voltage of the battery 12 when the battery 12 in the eighth predetermined state is discharged by the fourth discharge sequence performed over the period. An example of the behavior of the current second charging sequence voltage Vbc2cu is shown in FIG. 7, an example of the behavior of the current third charging sequence voltage Vbc3cu is shown in FIG. 8, an example of the current charging current voltage characteristic IVccu is shown in FIG. FIG. 10 shows an example of voltage variation ΔVmdcu, FIG. 11 shows an example of the current second discharge sequence voltage Vbd2cu, FIG. 12 shows an example of the current third discharge sequence voltage Vbd3cu, and an example of the current discharge current voltage characteristic IVdcu. As shown in FIG. In the example of FIGS. 7 to 13, for reference, the battery characteristics when the battery 12 is in a new state are also indicated by a one-dot chain line by replacing the letters “cu” with the letters “new”. The second predetermined state to the eighth predetermined state may be the same state as the first predetermined state or may be different states. The current charge / discharge characteristics have been described above. However, since the life state information in the life information database is updated using the current charge / discharge characteristics thus obtained, the life charge / discharge characteristics of the life state information are It can be considered similarly to the discharge characteristics.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, it is determined whether or not the battery 12 has reached the end of its life using the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2, but the motor running failure flag F1 and the external running flag It may be determined whether or not the battery 12 has reached the end of its life using only one of the poor charging flag F2, or one of the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2. Instead of both, other parameters (for example, charging efficiency or discharging efficiency of the running battery 12) may be used to determine whether or not the battery 12 has reached the end of its life.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the management server 50 updates the lifetime information database by registering the current status information as the lifetime status information when there is no lifetime status information in the corresponding area, and the lifetime status information is stored in the corresponding area. In some cases, the lifetime information database is updated by registering the current status information as the lifetime status information as necessary (updating the lifetime status information). Whether the corresponding status area has lifetime status information or not. Regardless, the current state information may be registered as life state information (life state information is updated). In this case, the latest current state information is registered (updated) as the life state information in the life information database.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the management server 50 creates a reception history for each use environment in the life information database, but creates a reception history for the entire life information database, not for each use environment. The reception history may not be created.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the mounted vehicle type, the use region, the use application, the travel history, and the like are used as the usage environment of the battery 12 and the life battery. Only a part of the usage, travel history, or the like may be used, or another parameter may be used instead of a part or all of these. For example, the life distance Lli (total travel distance Lsum) and the life time Tli (total use time Tsum) may be included in the usage environment of the battery 12 or the life battery.

  In the information management system 20 according to the embodiment, the process when the battery 12 has reached the end of its life and updates the life information database has been mainly described. However, it has been determined that the battery 12 has not reached its end of life. Sometimes, the remaining life of the battery 12 may be diagnosed using a life information database. In this modification, it is assumed that the management server 50 stores the charging characteristics and discharging characteristics (hereinafter collectively referred to as new charging / discharging characteristics) when the battery 12 is in a new state together with a life information database. explain. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of a remaining life diagnosis routine executed by the terminal 30 when it is determined in step S130 of the current state information creation processing routine of FIG. 4 that the battery 12 has not reached its life. It is. When the remaining life diagnosis routine is executed, the CPU 31 of the terminal 30 transmits the usage environment of the battery 12 in the vehicle information described above to the management server 50 (step S300). The management server 50 that has received the usage environment of the battery 12 searches the corresponding area corresponding to the usage environment of the battery 12 from the database stored in the hard disk drive 54, and stores the life state information (life charge / discharge characteristics in the searched corresponding area. , The life distance Lli, the life time Tli), the life state information and the new charge / discharge characteristics of the new battery are transmitted to the terminal 30, and if there is no life state information in the corresponding area, empty information which is information to that effect is sent. It transmits to the terminal 30. Then, when receiving data from the management server 50 (step S310), the CPU 31 of the terminal 30 determines whether the data is life state information or empty information (step S320), and the received data is empty information. In some cases, the remaining life calculation impossibility information indicating that the remaining life of the battery 12 cannot be calculated is output to the display 35 (step S380), this routine is terminated, and when the received data is the life state information, FIG. The current charge / discharge characteristics are acquired by the preparation process or the current charge / discharge characteristic acquisition process (steps S330 to S360) as well as the processes of steps S150 to S180 of the current state information creation process routine, and the acquired current charge / discharge characteristics and management Using the life state information and new charge / discharge characteristics received from the server 50, the battery 12 is The remaining life distance Rd as the distance that the vehicle 10 can travel before reaching the vehicle and the remaining life time Rt as the time until the battery 12 reaches the life are calculated and output to the display 35 (step S370). This routine is terminated. Here, the lifetime charge / discharge characteristics, the current charge / discharge characteristics, the new charge / discharge characteristics, and the lifetime charge / discharge characteristics when the above-mentioned lifetime charge voltage variation ΔVmcli, current charge voltage variation ΔVmccu, and new charge voltage variation ΔVmcnew are used, respectively. An example of the charge / discharge characteristics and new charge / discharge characteristics is shown in FIG. The new charge voltage variation ΔVmcnew is considered to be due to the manufacturing error of each cell or each battery module, and the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu and the life charge voltage variation ΔVmcli are due to the manufacturing error of each cell or each battery module over time. It is thought that the change was taken into account. In this case, using the current charging voltage variation ΔVmccu from the electronic control unit 16, the life charging voltage variation ΔVmcli, the new charging voltage variation ΔVmcnew, the life distance Lli, and the life time Tli from the management server 50, the following equation (1) The remaining life distance Rd can be calculated by the above and the remaining life time Rt can be calculated by the equation (2). When diagnosing the remaining life of the battery 12, only one of the remaining life distance Rd and the remaining life time Rt of the battery 12 may be calculated.

Rd = Lli-Lli ・ (ΔVmccu-ΔVmnew) / (ΔVmcli-ΔVmcnew) (1)
Rt = Tli-Tli ・ (ΔVmccu-ΔVmnew) / (ΔVmcli-ΔVmcnew) (2)

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, it is determined whether or not the battery 12 as a whole has reached the end of life, and when the battery 12 as a whole has reached the end of life, the use environment of the battery 12 and the current state information are associated with each other. The hard disk drive 54 stores the information as a part of the information database, but it is determined whether each cell or each module of the battery 12 has reached the end of life, not the entire battery 12, and the end of life has been reached. The cell or module usage environment determined to be associated with the current state information may be stored in the hard disk drive 54 as part of the lifetime information database. In this case, for example, by replacing a cell or module determined to have reached the end of its life with a new cell or module, it can be reconstructed as a new battery.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the current state information of the battery 12 mounted on the automobile 10 is registered or updated as the life state information in the life information database of the management server 50. In addition, current state information such as a battery that has been mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle in the past and is now removed (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle-mounted battery) may be added to the life information database. When not only the current state information of the battery mounted in the automobile but also the current state information of the vehicle-mounted battery is added to the database of the life information, the opportunity to update the database can be increased. FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the in-vehicle battery 12B and the information management system 20. In this case, when adding the current state information of the in-vehicle battery 12B to the lifetime information database, the electronic control unit 16 that stores the use environment of the in-vehicle battery 12B (use environment when mounted in a vehicle) is used. Necessary.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the charging / discharging device 40 used for charging / discharging the battery 12 is provided. However, instead of this, a charging device used for charging the battery 12 or the battery 12 is used. It is good also as a thing provided with the discharge device etc. which are used in order to discharge this. In the embodiment, the charging / discharging device 40 is provided outside the automobile 10. However, equipment mounted on the automobile 10, for example, the motor 11, an auxiliary machine (not shown), and the automobile 10 receive power from the engine and the engine. A combination of an engine and a generator in the case of having a power generator that generates power by using the power generator may function as the charge / discharge device 40.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the remaining life of the battery 12 is diagnosed by the terminal 30 outside the automobile 10. However, the electronic control unit 16 mounted on the automobile 10 may function as the terminal 30. . FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the automobile 110 and the remaining life diagnosis system 120 when the electronic control unit 16 functions as the terminal 30 and the motor 11 functions as the charge / discharge device 40.

  In the information management system 20 of the embodiment, the battery 12 mounted on the automobile 10 is assumed that k (k is an integer of 2 or more) battery modules M1 to Mk are connected in series. It is good also as what is comprised by.

  In the embodiment, the information management system 20 including the terminal 30, the management server 50, and the charging / discharging device 40 has been described. However, the terminal 30 and the management server 50 may be configured as one device, or the terminal 30 And the charging / discharging device 40 may be configured as one device, or the terminal 30, the management server 50, and the charging / discharging device 40 may be configured as one device.

  In the embodiment, the information management system 20 has been described. However, the information management system 20 may be used.

  The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems will be described. In the embodiment, the hard disk drive 54 of the management server 50 corresponds to “information storage means”, and the usage environment (the vehicle type, usage area, usage, travel history, etc. of the automobile 10) and battery from the electronic control unit 16. The terminal 30 that acquires 12 current state information (current charge / discharge characteristics, total travel distance Lsum, total use time Tsum) and the management server 50 that acquires the usage environment and current state information of the battery 12 from the terminal 30 are “information The terminal 30 that corresponds to “acquisition means” and determines whether or not the battery 12 has reached the end of its life by examining the values of the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2 corresponds to “determination means”. When it is determined that the battery 12 has reached the end of its life, the terminal transmits the usage environment and current state information of the battery 12 to the management server 50. The corresponding region corresponding to the use environment of the battery 12 from 30 registers the current status information (updates) the management server 50 to update the database of life information by corresponds to the "storage processing unit".

  Here, the “information storage means” is not limited to the hard disk drive 54 of the management server 50, and any information storage means may be used as long as it stores the life information. As the “information acquisition means”, the usage environment of the battery 12 (vehicle type, usage area, usage, travel history, etc.) and current status information of the battery 12 (current charge / discharge characteristics, total travel distance Lsum, total use time) The current battery usage environment including the current battery usage region, which is not limited to the one that obtains Tsum), but is a battery that is mounted on or is mounted on a vehicle that travels using power from an electric motor. Any information may be used as long as it is information for acquiring current state information that is information relating to the current battery state. The “determination means” is not limited to the one that determines whether or not the battery 12 has reached the end of its life by checking the values of the motor running failure flag F1 and the external charging failure flag F2. Any device can be used as long as it can determine whether or not the lifetime has been reached. As the “storage processing means”, the use environment of the battery 12 from the terminal 30 that transmits the use environment of the battery 12 and the current state information to the management server 50 when it is determined that the battery 12 has reached the end of its life. By registering (updating) the current state information in the corresponding corresponding area, it is not limited to updating the life information database, and when the determination means determines that the current battery has reached the end of life, Any information storage means may be used as long as it associates the acquired current battery usage environment and current state information and stores them in the information storage means as part of the life information.

  The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problem is the same as that of the embodiment described in the column of means for solving the problem. Therefore, the elements of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems are not limited. That is, the interpretation of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems should be made based on the description of the column, and the examples are those of the invention described in the column of means for solving the problems. It is only a specific example.

  As mentioned above, although the form for implementing this invention was demonstrated using the Example, this invention is not limited at all to such an Example, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it is with various forms. Of course, it can be implemented.

  The present invention is applicable to the automobile industry and the like.

  10, 110 Automobile, 11 Motor, 12 Battery, 13a Voltage sensor, 13b Current sensor, 14 Vehicle side connector, 16 Electronic control unit, 20, 120 Information management system, 22 Network, 30 Terminal, 31 CPU, 32 ROM, 33 RAM , 34 Hard disk drive, 35 Display, 36 Keyboard, 37 Mouse, 40 Charge / discharge device, 42 Device side connector, 50 Server, 51 CPU, 52 RAM, 53 ROM, 54 Hard disk drive, M1-Mk battery module, S1-Sk voltage Sensor.

Claims (7)

An information management system for managing life information as life battery information that is a battery that has reached the end of its life,
Information storage means for storing the lifetime information;
Information on the current battery usage environment including the current battery usage area that is mounted on or used for mounting on a vehicle that uses power from the electric motor and information on the current battery status Information acquisition means for acquiring state information;
Determination means for determining whether or not the current battery has reached the end of its life;
When the determination unit determines that the current battery has reached the end of its life, the acquired storage environment of the current battery is associated with the current state information and stored in the information storage unit as part of the life information. Storage processing means;
An information management system comprising: The information management system according to claim 1,
The information acquisition means is means for acquiring, as the current state information, information including a current charge / discharge characteristic that is a characteristic of the current battery when the current battery is charged or discharged.
Information management system. The information management system according to claim 1 or 2,
The information acquisition means is arranged outside or mounted on the automobile,
The information storage means is arranged outside the automobile and is configured separately from the information acquisition means.
Information management system. The information management system according to claim 1 or 2,
The current battery is a battery that has been installed in the automobile in the past and is currently removed from the automobile.
Information management system. An information management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
The determination means determines whether or not the vehicle is in an electric running failure state in which the vehicle is not able to run well by electric running that uses only power from the electric motor and / or the current battery cannot be charged well. Means for determining whether or not the current battery has reached the end of its life depending on whether or not it is in a defective state;
Information management system. An information management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
When the determination unit determines that the current battery has reached the end of its life, the storage processing unit sets the acquired current battery use environment as the use environment of the life battery and the acquired current battery Means for associating current state information as life state information that is information relating to the state of the life battery and storing it in the information storage means as part of the life information;
When it is determined by the determination means that the current battery has not reached the end of its life, the life information stored in the information storage means is associated with the use environment of the life battery corresponding to the use environment of the current battery. Diagnostic means for diagnosing the remaining life of the current battery from the relationship between the obtained life state information and the current state information of the current battery;
An information management system comprising: An information management method in an information management system for storing life information as life battery information that is a battery that has reached the end of life,
(A) Information relating to the current battery usage environment including the current battery usage area, which is mounted on or used for mounting on a vehicle traveling using the power from the electric motor, and information on the state of the current battery Current state information, and
(B) When the current battery has reached the end of its life, the information storage means stores the acquired current battery usage environment and current state information in association with each other as part of the life information;
Information management method.

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