KR102336723B1 - Apparatus and method for managing battery - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a battery management device capable of predicting engine startability of a battery. The battery management device according to the present invention is a device for managing a battery provided in a vehicle in which an engine is temporarily stopped while driving and supplying power for starting to the engine, and a current measurement for measuring the amount of discharge current of the battery wealth; a memory unit for storing a discharge voltage curve representing a voltage change relationship according to SOC during discharging of the battery for each of a plurality of discharge current sizes, and for storing a cranking curve representing a lowest possible start voltage according to the SOC of the battery; and selecting a corresponding discharge voltage curve in the memory unit using the size of the discharge current measured by the current measuring unit, and the amount of SOC that can be discharged using the selected discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve stored in the memory unit It may include a control unit for estimating and estimating the maximum possible start-up time based on the estimated amount of dischargeable SOC.

Description

Battery management apparatus and method {Apparatus and method for managing battery}

The present invention relates to a battery management technology, and more particularly, to a battery management technology capable of effectively predicting engine startability for a vehicle battery mounted on a vehicle to which the ISG technology is applied.

The use of batteries is rapidly spreading not only to mobile devices such as cell phones, laptop computers, smartphones, and smart pads, but also to electric vehicles (EV, HEV, PHEV) and large-capacity power storage (ESS). have. In addition, such a battery may be combined with a battery management system (BMS) that controls overall operation of the battery.

In recent vehicles, for reasons such as improvement of fuel efficiency and environmental protection, ISG (Idle Stop & Go) function has become common. This ISG function automatically stops the engine whenever the vehicle is stopped while driving and restarts the engine when starting. In order to perform this function, the starting power must be stably supplied from the battery when the engine is restarted after stopping the engine.

However, if power for starting is not sufficiently supplied from the battery when the vehicle is started after stopping, a big problem may occur. For example, the situation in which the vehicle starts after stopping may frequently occur in traffic jams or in a situation where the vehicle is waiting for a signal. Accordingly, in this case, it may cause great inconvenience to the driver and passengers, as well as cause serious traffic congestion. In addition, when the vehicle fails to start at night or in foggy conditions, due to the vehicle rushing without seeing the stopped vehicle properly, a traffic accident may occur, resulting in serious human and property damage.

In particular, in a situation in which serious traffic congestion occurs while driving on a highway or in a city, the vehicle may remain stationary for quite a long time. However, even at this time, power consumption by the vehicle electrical equipment may continue, and moreover, more power may be consumed than during driving. Therefore, this may cause a situation in which the battery voltage drops below the engine's startable voltage. In addition, when the battery is degraded, the battery capacity is lowered, and thus a situation in which the battery voltage cannot sufficiently supply power for starting the engine for restarting may occur more easily.

Accordingly, the present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and a battery management apparatus and method for predicting a time during which startability can be secured so that starting power for restarting after a vehicle is stopped can be stably supplied from a battery , and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery pack and a vehicle including the same.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may be understood by the following description, and will become more clearly understood by the examples of the present invention. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the appended claims.

A battery management device according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a device for managing a battery provided in a vehicle in which an engine is temporarily stopped in a stopped state while driving and supplying power for starting to the engine. a current measuring unit for measuring the magnitude of the discharge current; a memory unit for storing a discharge voltage curve representing a voltage change relationship according to SOC during discharging of the battery for each of a plurality of discharge current sizes, and for storing a cranking curve representing a lowest possible start voltage according to the SOC of the battery; and selecting a corresponding discharge voltage curve in the memory unit using the size of the discharge current measured by the current measuring unit, and the amount of SOC that can be discharged using the selected discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve stored in the memory unit It may include a control unit for estimating and estimating the maximum possible start-up time based on the estimated amount of dischargeable SOC.

Here, the controller may use, as the magnitude of the discharge current measured by the current measuring unit, the magnitude of the discharge current for a predetermined time prior to the time when the engine is temporarily stopped.

In addition, the controller may extract an intersection point between the selected discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve, and estimate the amount of the dischargeable SOC through the extracted intersection point.

Also, the control unit may predict the maximum start-up time using the estimated dischargeable SOC amount and the effective value of the discharge current measured by the current measurement unit.

In addition, the cranking curve stored in the memory unit may be stored by being calculated using the open circuit voltage, the maximum cranking current, and the cranking resistance measured in advance for each SOC with respect to the battery.

Also, the controller may provide the corresponding information to the driver of the vehicle using the predicted maximum possible start time.

Also, the controller may control starting the engine of the vehicle using the predicted maximum possible start time.

In addition, the battery pack according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes the battery management device according to the present invention.

In addition, the vehicle according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes the battery management device according to the present invention.

In addition, the battery management method according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a method of managing a battery provided in a vehicle in which the engine is temporarily stopped in a stopped state while driving and supplying power for starting to the engine, storing a discharge voltage curve representing a voltage change relationship according to the SOC when the battery is discharged for each of a plurality of discharge current sizes, and storing a cranking curve representing the lowest possible start voltage according to the SOC of the battery; measuring the magnitude of the discharge current of the battery; selecting a discharge voltage curve stored in the storage step using the magnitude of the discharge current measured in the current magnitude measurement step; estimating a dischargeable SOC amount using the discharge voltage curve selected in the discharge voltage curve selection step and the cranking curve stored in the storage step; and estimating the maximum start-up time of the battery based on the amount of dischargeable SOC estimated in the step of estimating the amount of dischargeable SOC.

According to one aspect of the present invention, for a vehicle equipped with an ISG function, when the engine is stopped, the time for how much the battery can maintain crankability while responding to the electric load can be quickly and accurately predicted. .

Accordingly, according to this aspect of the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent a situation in which the engine does not start when the ISG function is performed, based on the time prediction information on the engine startability of the battery.

The following drawings attached to this specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention together with the detailed description of the present invention to be described later, so that the present invention is a matter described in those drawings should not be construed as being limited to
1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a battery management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a graph schematically illustrating a discharge voltage curve stored in a memory unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a graph illustrating a form of a cranking curve stored in a memory unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram schematically showing a functional configuration of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a graph schematically illustrating a configuration in which a dischargeable SOC amount is estimated using a discharge voltage curve and a cranking curve by a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a battery management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, the terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventor should properly understand the concept of the term in order to best describe his invention. Based on the principle that it can be defined, it should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

Accordingly, the configuration shown in the embodiments and drawings described in the present specification is only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, so at the time of the present application, various It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

The battery management apparatus according to the present invention is a device for managing a vehicle battery and may be provided in a vehicle (vehicle). In particular, the vehicle to which the battery management apparatus according to the present invention is applied may be a vehicle equipped with an ISG function. Here, the ISG function is a function in which the engine is temporarily stopped in a stopped state while driving, and may be expressed in various other terms such as idle stop and go (idle stop and go) and start and stop.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a battery management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the battery management apparatus according to the present invention may include a current measurement unit 100 , a memory unit 200 , and a control unit 300 .

The current measuring unit 100 may measure the current level of the battery. One or more secondary batteries may be provided in the battery, and a charge/discharge path may be provided between the secondary battery and the battery terminal. In addition, as a charging current or a discharging current flows through the charging/discharging path, charging or discharging of the secondary battery may be performed. The current measuring unit 100 may measure the magnitude of the current flowing through the charging/discharging path. In particular, the current measuring unit 100 may measure the size of the discharge current of the battery in a state in which the battery is discharged.

Various battery current sensors known at the time of filing of the present invention may be employed in the current measuring unit 100 . For example, a sense resistor is provided on the battery charging/discharging path, and the current measuring unit 100 may measure the magnitude of the discharge current of the battery by measuring a voltage value across the sense resistor. Alternatively, the current measuring unit 100 may be implemented with a Hall sensor or the like.

As such, when the current measuring unit 100 measures the size of the discharge current of the battery, the current measuring unit 100 may transmit the measured current information to the controller 300 . Also, the current measurement unit 100 may transmit the measured current information to the memory unit 200 to be stored.

The memory unit 200 may store various types of information required for each component of the battery management apparatus according to the present invention to perform an operation.

In particular, the memory unit 200 may store the discharge voltage curve of the corresponding battery for each of a plurality of discharge current sizes. Such a discharge voltage curve will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 .

2 is a graph schematically illustrating a discharge voltage curve stored by the memory unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2 , the horizontal axis may have units of [%] as state of charge (SOC), and the vertical axis may have units of [V] as battery voltage.

Referring to FIG. 2 , it can be said that the discharge voltage curve stored in the memory unit 200 represents a voltage change relationship according to the SOC change when the battery is discharged. That is, the discharge voltage curve may be a graph representing the magnitude of the voltage change that is changed as the SOC changes during discharging of the battery.

In particular, the memory unit 200 may store such a discharge voltage curve for each of a plurality of discharge current sizes. That is, since the shape of the discharge voltage curve may vary according to the size of the discharge current of the battery, the memory unit 200 may store the corresponding discharge voltage curve for various discharge current sizes. For example, in Fig. 2, a1 represents the SOC-voltage relationship when the battery is discharged with a current size of 10A, a2 represents the SOC-voltage relationship when the battery is discharged with a current size of 20A, and a3 is It can be said that it represents the SOC-voltage relationship when the battery is discharged with a current magnitude of 30A.

The discharge voltage curve may be experimentally measured in advance and stored in the memory unit 200 . That is, a discharge voltage curve can be obtained by measuring and plotting the SOC and battery voltage during discharging for each current size while variously changing the size of the discharge current for the battery to which the battery management device according to the present invention is to be employed. . And, the discharge voltage curve obtained in this way may be stored in the memory unit 200 .

Meanwhile, although FIG. 2 shows a form having one discharge voltage curve for one current magnitude, the memory unit 200 may store a plurality of discharge voltage curves for each one current magnitude. For example, the memory unit 200 may store different discharge voltage curves for each type of battery and for each current level. In this case, the battery management apparatus according to the present invention can be easily applied to other types of batteries.

Also, the memory unit 200 may store a cranking curve of the corresponding battery. This cranking curve will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3 .

3 is a graph illustrating a form of a cranking curve stored by the memory unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the case of FIG. 3 , similarly to FIG. 2 , the horizontal axis is SOC (State Of Charge) and is configured in % units, and the vertical axis is battery voltage and is configured in V units.

Referring to FIG. 3 , it can be said that the cranking curve b stored in the memory unit 200 represents the lowest possible start voltage according to the SOC of the battery. That is, as the SOC of the battery changes, the lowest voltage of the battery capable of starting the engine may vary. The cranking curve may be a group of values indicating the lowest voltage capable of starting the engine for each SOC. Accordingly, when the battery voltage falls below the cranking curve at a specific SOC, it can be said that the engine cannot be started with the corresponding battery. For example, when the cranking curve shows 11V when the SOC is 60% for a given battery, if the voltage of the battery is less than 11V when the SOC of the battery is 60%, the battery starts the engine can be said to be impossible.

Meanwhile, although one cranking curve is illustrated in FIG. 3 , the memory unit 200 may store a plurality of cranking curves. For example, the memory unit 200 may store different cranking curves for various types of batteries. In this case, the battery management apparatus according to the present invention may have compatibility that can be easily applied to various batteries.

The memory unit 200 is not particularly limited in its type as long as it is a storage medium capable of recording and erasing information. As an example, the memory unit 200 may be a RAM, a ROM, a register, a hard disk, an optical recording medium, or a magnetic recording medium. The memory unit 200 may be configured to be accessible by other components such as the control unit 300 or the current measurement unit 100 . For example, the memory unit 200 may be connected to the control unit 300 through a data bus or the like. In addition, the memory unit 200 may store, update, erase and/or transmit a program including various control logic executed by the control unit 300 and/or data generated when the control unit 300 is executed. . The memory unit 200 may be logically divided into two or more, and may exist separately from other components such as the control unit 300 or may exist in a form included in the control unit 300 and the like.

The control unit 300 may receive information about the current magnitude of the battery measured by the current measurement unit 100 from the current measurement unit 100 . Also, the control unit 300 may access the memory unit 200 and read the discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve stored in the memory unit 200 . Also, the controller 300 may predict engine crankability of the battery based on the current measurement information of the current measurement unit 100 and the stored information of the memory unit 200 . In particular, the control unit 300 may predict in advance time information about how long the engine can be started for restarting from a stopped state can last. That is, the control unit 300 may predict information on how long it takes for the starting power to be stably supplied from the corresponding battery in a state in which the engine idling is stopped.

More specifically, the control unit 300 may select a discharge voltage curve corresponding thereto from the memory unit 200 using the magnitude of the discharge current measured by the current measurement unit 100 . For example, it is assumed that the memory unit 200 stores the discharge voltage curve in the form shown in FIG. 2 , and a1, a2, and a3 are discharge voltage curves when the discharge current is 10A, 20A, and 30A, respectively. do. At this time, if the magnitude of the discharge current measured by the current measurement unit 100 is 20A, the control unit 300 may select a2 as a corresponding discharge voltage curve among several discharge voltage curves stored in the memory unit 200 . .

In addition, the control unit 300 may estimate the amount of dischargeable SOC by using the stored discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve stored in the memory unit 200 . That is, when the memory unit 200 stores the cranking curve in the form shown in FIG. 3 , the control unit 300 uses the discharge voltage curve extracted in FIG. 2 and the cranking curve of FIG. 3 . The amount of dischargeable SOC can be estimated.

Here, it can be said that the dischargeable SOC amount means the maximum capacity that can be discharged within the range of maintaining crankability at the present time for the corresponding battery. Such a dischargeable SOC amount may have a unit of % or may have a unit of Ah. In this case, having a unit of % means that the amount of discharging SOC is expressed as a percentage of the ratio of the current discharging capacity to the battery capacity. In addition, it can be said that having a unit of Ah represents the dischargeable capacity of the current battery within the startability maintenance range. For example, if the controller 300 estimates the dischargeable SOC amount to be 10% for a battery having a capacity of 100Ah, it can be understood that the current battery has a dischargeable capacity of 10Ah.

In addition, the control unit 300 may predict the maximum start-up time based on the estimated amount of dischargeable SOC as described above. Here, the maximum startable time refers to the maximum time during which the battery can supply starting power for restarting the engine in a state in which the engine is temporarily stopped while driving, that is, in an engine idling stop state. have. For example, if the control unit 300 predicts the maximum startable time to be 10 minutes, it may be said that the engine cannot be started by the battery any more if 10 minutes more continuously elapses while the engine is stopped.

4 is a block diagram schematically showing a functional configuration of the control unit 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the control unit 300 according to the present invention may include a possible discharge amount estimating unit 310 and a cranking possible time prediction unit 320 .

The available discharge amount estimating unit 310 may select a discharge voltage curve corresponding to the current measured by the current measurement unit 100 in the memory unit 200 . Also, the possible discharge amount estimating unit 310 may estimate the dischargeable SOC amount using the selected discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve stored in the memory unit 200 . That is, the possible discharge amount estimating unit 310 may select a discharge voltage curve corresponding to the size of the actual discharge current, and estimate how much the dischargeable SOC amount is through this.

When the amount of possible discharge SOC is estimated by the amount of possible discharge estimating unit 310 , the cranking time prediction unit 320 may predict the maximum startable time based on the estimated value. That is, the cranking time prediction unit 320 may calculate how long the startability of the battery can be maintained based on the amount of dischargeable SOC.

Preferably, the controller 300 may select a discharge voltage curve corresponding thereto by using the magnitude of the discharge current emitted from the battery for a predetermined time. For example, the control unit 300 may select a similar discharge voltage curve from various discharge voltage curves stored in the memory unit 200 using the size of the discharge current of the battery measured for 5 minutes.

In particular, as the magnitude of the discharge current measured by the current measurement unit 100 , the control unit 300 may use a current value measured for a predetermined time before the moment when the engine is temporarily stopped. For example, when the engine is temporarily stopped to perform the ISG function while the vehicle is driving, the controller 300 may control the discharge current measured during a recent predetermined time from the stop time, for example, 5 minutes before the stop time. Using the size of , a corresponding discharge voltage curve can be selected.

In this case, the controller 300 may select a curve having a current value closest to the magnitude of the discharge current measured for a recent predetermined time. As a more specific example, referring to the embodiment of FIG. 2 , if the magnitude of the discharge current is 18A for the time of 5 minutes immediately before the engine stop time, the control unit 300 controls the discharge voltage of 20A in the various discharge voltage curves of FIG. 2 . b2 having the magnitude of the discharge current can be selected as the corresponding discharge voltage curve.

According to this configuration of the present invention, since a discharge voltage curve similar to that is selected using the most recent current usage information based on the engine stop time, the maximum startable time can be predicted more accurately by reflecting the latest load usage history. can

Furthermore, the controller 300 may select a discharge voltage curve corresponding thereto using the effective value (RMS) of the measured current. Since the magnitude of the discharge current of the battery supplied to the load may vary with time, using the effective value of the current as described above, it may be possible to more accurately predict the maximum possible start time.

On the other hand, in the configuration for estimating the amount of dischargeable SOC using the magnitude of the discharge current measured for a predetermined time as described above, the control unit 300 varies the time interval with respect to the magnitude of the discharge current measured for the predetermined time. Different weights can be assigned. In particular, the control unit 300 may allow the latest time interval to be given a higher weight than the past time interval.

For example, the control unit 300 assigns a weight of 1.0 to the magnitude of the discharge current measured during the time period from the engine stop time to 5 minutes before, and from 5 minutes before the engine stop time to 10 minutes before the engine stop time. A weight of 0.7 may be assigned to the magnitude of the discharge current measured during time. In addition, the control unit 300 may assign a weight of 0.5 to the magnitude of the discharge current measured from 10 minutes before to 20 minutes before the engine stop time.

According to this configuration of the present invention, the latest usage history can be most considered with respect to the power usage pattern of the battery, and the past usage history can be considered to some extent. Accordingly, in this case, it is possible to minimize the occurrence of erroneous prediction of future discharge amount usage due to the instantaneous current usage change pattern.

Also preferably, the control unit 300 may estimate the amount of dischargeable SOC by using the intersection of the discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5 .

5 is a graph schematically illustrating a configuration in which a dischargeable SOC amount is estimated using a discharge voltage curve and a cranking curve by the controller 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , three discharge voltage curves a1-a3 and one cranking curve b stored in the memory unit 200 are shown in one graph. The control unit 300 may select any one of the three discharge voltage curves and extract the intersection point of the selected discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve to estimate the amount of dischargeable SOC.

For example, if the control unit 300 selects a1 in the memory unit 200 as the corresponding discharge voltage curve, the control unit 300 may extract the intersection of the discharge voltage curve a1 and the cranking curve b. In Fig. 5, this intersection is denoted by c1. In addition, the controller 300 may estimate the amount of dischargeable SOC through the difference between the current SOC value and the horizontal axis (x-axis) value of the c1 intersection point extracted as above. In FIG. 5 , since the value of the horizontal axis of the intersection point c1 is d1 , the control unit 300 may extract the dischargeable SOC amount as (current SOC−d1)% at this time. Furthermore, since d1 corresponds to about 30% in FIG. 5 , the controller 300 may estimate that, for example, if the current SOC is 55%, the dischargeable SOC amount is 25%.

As another example, if the controller 300 selects a2 as the discharge voltage curve, the controller 300 may estimate the dischargeable SOC amount using c2 that is the intersection of the a2 discharge voltage curve and the b cranking curve. That is, the control unit 300 may estimate d2%, which is the horizontal axis value of c2, as the dischargeable SOC amount. Since d2 in the drawing corresponds to approximately 41%, the controller 300 may estimate that, for example, if the current SOC is 55%, the dischargeable SOC amount is 14%.

As another example, if the controller 300 selects a3 as the discharge voltage curve, the controller 300 may estimate the amount of dischargeable SOC using c3, which is the intersection point of the a3 discharge voltage curve and the b cranking curve. . That is, the control unit 300 may estimate d3%, which is the horizontal axis value of c3, as the dischargeable SOC amount. Since d3 in the drawing corresponds to approximately 55%, the controller 300 may estimate that, for example, if the current SOC is 55%, the amount of dischargeable SOC is 0%.

Also preferably, the control unit 300 may predict the maximum start-up time by using the estimated value of the dischargeable SOC amount and the effective value of the discharge current. That is, the effective value may be determined by the current measuring unit 100 measuring the magnitude of the discharge current, and the controller 300 may estimate the amount of dischargeable SOC through the effective value of the discharge current. In addition, the control unit 300 may predict for how long the crankability of the battery for the engine, that is, the startable capability, will be maintained by using the effective value of the discharge current and the estimated value of the dischargeable SOC amount.

In particular, the control unit 300 converts the amount of the dischargeable SOC into the dischargeable capacity, and then divides the converted dischargeable capacity by the discharge current, that is, the effective value of the discharge current, thereby predicting the maximum start-up time. Here, the dischargeable capacity may be calculated by multiplying the maximum capacity of the battery by the ratio of the dischargeable SOC amount. For example, if the maximum chargeable capacity of the battery at the present time is 100Ah and the dischargeable SOC amount is 30%, the dischargeable capacity of the battery may be calculated as follows.

Dischargeable capacity = 100×0.3 = 30 Ah

That is, it can be said that the dischargeable capacity of the battery is 30 Ah.

When the dischargeable capacity of the battery is calculated as described above, the maximum startable time of the battery may be estimated at the current time by dividing the calculated dischargeable capacity by the effective value of the discharge current.

For example, when the dischargeable capacity of the battery is 30 Ah and the effective value of the discharge current is 20A, the maximum startable time of the battery may be calculated as follows.

Maximum startable time = 30/20 = 1.5 h

Based on the calculation result, the controller 300 may predict that the startability of the battery will last for 1.5 hours at the current time.

On the other hand, the lowest possible start voltage stored in the memory unit 200 as a cranking curve is to be calculated using the open circuit voltage (OCV), the maximum cranking current, and the cranking resistance measured in advance for each SOC for the corresponding battery. can That is, with respect to the battery to which the battery management apparatus according to the present invention is applied, for each SOC, the open circuit voltage, the cranking maximum current, and the cranking resistance are experimentally measured in advance, and the measured result is a value corresponding to each SOC. may be stored in the memory unit 200 as Here, the cranking maximum current means a maximum current required for engine cranking, and the cranking resistance may be a resistance generated during engine cranking. In addition, the memory unit 200 may store the corresponding open circuit voltage, cranking maximum current and cranking resistance every 1% or 5% within a predetermined SOC, for example, 0-100%.

Representatively, the lowest possible start voltage may be calculated through the following calculation and stored in the memory unit 200 .

Lowest Startable Voltage = Open Circuit Voltage - (Cranking Maximum Current) × (Cranking Resistance)

Also preferably, the control unit 300 may provide response information to the driver using the predicted maximum possible start time. That is, as described above, in the case of the battery management apparatus according to the present invention, the controller 300 may predict a time for when the engine startability of the battery can be guaranteed, and the predicted time information is provided to the driver. can be provided.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 4 , the control unit 300 may further include an information providing unit 330 . Here, the information providing unit 330 may provide the predicted time information to the user when the startable maximum time is predicted by the cranking possible time prediction unit 320 . In this case, the information providing unit 330 of the control unit 300 may include a display such as an LCD on the vehicle side, a device such as a lamp, or a speaker, or may use a device already mounted on the vehicle.

For example, the information providing unit 330 of the control unit 300 may provide information that the engine startability of the battery is sufficient at the present time or information that the engine startability of the battery is insufficient to the user through an LCD or the like. More specifically, the information providing unit 330 of the control unit 300 may directly provide the vehicle driver with time information regarding how long the engine startability of the battery can be maintained.

According to this configuration of the present invention, since the driver can know in advance the time for which the startability of the battery can be maintained, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the engine cannot be started by the battery.

Also, when the maximum startable time of the battery is predicted, the controller 300 may store the predicted time information in the memory unit 200 . In this case, the control unit 300 may use the value stored in the memory unit 200 to more quickly and concisely calculate the maximum start-up time of the battery at a later time point. Also, in this case, through the value stored in the memory unit 200 , the vehicle mechanic may obtain information on the usage history of the battery and use it for battery or vehicle management.

Also preferably, the control unit 300 may control starting the engine of the vehicle using the maximum possible start time. In this case, the control unit 300 may further include a start-up control unit 340 as shown in FIG. 4 . That is, when the maximum startable time of the battery is predicted, the start control unit 340 of the controller 300 may control the start of the battery through the predicted time information.

For example, if the maximum startable time of the battery is predicted to be 20 minutes by the cranking time prediction unit 320 of the control unit 300 , the start control unit 340 of the control unit 300 determines that 20 minutes have elapsed. , for example, when the vehicle engine is not started when 18 minutes have elapsed, the vehicle may be started automatically even if the vehicle is not in a situation to start. In this case, the start-up control unit 340 of the control unit 300 may transmit a signal for turning on the engine to the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of the vehicle, or may directly start the engine without going through the ECU.

Also, the controller 300 may predict the engine startability of the battery by reflecting the time after the time when the engine is stopped while driving the vehicle. That is, the current measuring unit 100 may measure the amount of discharge current of the battery even after the engine is idle-stopped. And, in this case, the control unit 300 selects a discharge voltage curve corresponding to the size of the discharge current of the battery measured for a predetermined time after the time when the engine is stopped, compares it with the cranking curve and obtains a difference from the current SOC By doing so, the amount of SOC that can be discharged can be estimated.

For example, if the engine is still maintained in a stopped state when about 10 minutes have elapsed since the time when the engine was stopped, the controller 300 corresponds to the discharge current measured for a predetermined time, for example, 5 minutes. A discharge voltage curve can be selected. As a more specific example, if the effective value of the discharge current flowing during this time is measured to be 20A, the controller 300 may select a3 as the corresponding discharge voltage curve in the configuration of FIG. 5 . In addition, the controller 300 may predict the maximum start-up time by using the intersection point c3 of the discharge voltage curve a3 and the cranking curve b.

According to this configuration of the present invention, even if the maximum startable time of the battery is predicted through the amount of the discharge current before the time when the engine is stopped, if the size of the discharge current after the time when the engine is stopped changes, the predicted value of the maximum startable time can be changed For example, in the configuration of FIG. 5 , even if the discharge voltage curve is selected as a2 through the size of the discharge current before the time when the engine is stopped, the discharge voltage curve is changed to a3 through the size of the discharge current after the time when the engine is stopped can be Accordingly, in this case, the maximum startable time predicted through the a2 discharge voltage curve may be changed to the maximum startable time predicted through the a3 discharge voltage curve. Therefore, not only before the engine is stopped, but also the battery usage pattern or battery usage after the engine is stopped may be considered, so that the prediction of the maximum startable time may be more accurate.

Also, the controller 300 may receive a turn-on signal and a turn-off signal of each vehicle electrical component in an engine idle stop state, that is, in a state in which the engine is stopped while the vehicle is driving. In addition, the control unit 300 may change the predicted value of the maximum startable time through the turn-on signal and turn-off signal of each of the vehicle electrical components. In this case, the turn-on signal and turn-off signal of each vehicle electrical component may be directly or indirectly transmitted from the ECU of the vehicle or each electrical component to the controller 300 .

For example, in the engine idle stop state, the controller 300 may receive a turn-on signal of a predetermined electric device, such as a vehicle DMB, from the ECU of the vehicle. In addition, the control unit 300 may reduce the maximum start-up time of the battery in consideration of the increase in power consumption of the battery due to the turn-on of the DMB.

For example, the memory unit 200 may store the size of the corresponding discharge current for each electric device mounted on the vehicle. For example, the memory unit 200 may store in advance the size of the discharge current corresponding to each of the electric devices such as a display, a DMB, a radio, an electric seat, a heating wire, a headlamp, and a navigation system.

In this case, when a turn-on signal of a predetermined electrical device is received, the controller 300 may read the magnitude of the discharge current corresponding to the turned-on electrical device from the memory unit 200 . In addition, the controller 300 may add the magnitude of the read discharge current and the magnitude of the current measured at the previous point in the idle stop state, and select a discharge voltage curve corresponding thereto again. For example, if the size of the discharge current measured for the previous 5 minutes is 10A when the engine is stopped, and the size of the discharge current corresponding to the electrical equipment turned on after the time when the engine is stopped is 10A, the control unit 300 may consider 20A, which is the sum of the respective discharge currents, as the size of the discharge current, and select a discharge voltage curve corresponding thereto in the memory unit 200 .

As another example, the memory unit 200 may store in advance a correction value for the maximum startable time corresponding to each electric device mounted on the vehicle. In this case, when a turn-on signal of a predetermined electrical device is received, the controller 300 may read a time correction value corresponding to the turned-on electrical device from the memory unit 200 . And, the control unit 300 may change the predicted value of the maximum possible start-up time through this time correction value.

For example, the memory unit 200 may store the time correction value for navigation as 1 minute per 5 minutes. This could mean that for every 5 minutes of navigation used, the estimate of the maximum startable time is reduced by 1 minute. Therefore, if the navigation is used for 20 minutes after the engine is idle-stopped, even if the predicted maximum startable time at the time the engine is idle is 40 minutes, due to the subsequent navigation use, the controller 300 The maximum start-up time can be shortened by 4 minutes.

Conversely, when the turn-off signal of each electric device is received, the controller 300 may subtract the size or time correction value of the discharge current from the existing discharge current size or the predicted time.

According to this configuration of the present invention, after the engine is idle-stop, the maximum startable time is adaptively adjusted according to the use of each electric device, so that it is possible to more accurately predict the maximum startable time, so that the startability of the battery is improved can be kept stable.

In addition, the control unit 300 may cause at least some of the vehicle electrical equipment to be turned off by using the predicted maximum possible start time. That is, when the maximum startable time is predicted, the control unit 300 may turn off a predetermined electric device at a predetermined time before reaching the maximum time. For example, when the maximum startable time is predicted to be 10 minutes, the controller 300 may turn off the DMB and the radio after 5 minutes have elapsed from the time when the engine idle is stopped.

According to this configuration of the present invention, by turning off at least some of the electrical equipment, the engine startable time is increased, and the user can easily grasp the corresponding information.

In particular, the control unit 300 may sequentially turn off the vehicle electrical components through the predicted maximum possible start time. For example, when the maximum startable time is predicted to be 10 minutes, the control unit 300 causes the DMB to be turned off when 2 minutes have elapsed from the time when the engine idle is stopped, and the radio is turned off when 4 minutes have elapsed. , it is possible to turn off the heating wire after 6 minutes. According to this structure, engine startability can be ensured more effectively. In this configuration, the control unit 300 may directly control the turn-off of the vehicle electrical components or transmit a corresponding signal to the ECU so that the vehicle electrical components are turned off.

Meanwhile, the control unit 300 may receive a selection of a turn-off target from the driver in a configuration for turning off the vehicle electrical components through the maximum startable time. For example, the control unit 300 may provide the vehicle electrical component list information to be turned-off to the driver through a display device or a speaker, etc., and may receive vehicle electrical component selection information from the driver through a display device or a voice recognition device. have. Then, the controller 300 may turn off the vehicle electrical equipment selected by the driver. According to this configuration, by turning off the most unnecessary electronic components from the driver's point of view first, engine startability can be expanded while minimizing the driver's discomfort.

The control unit 300 selectively selects a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), another chipset, a logic circuit, a register, a communication modem, a data processing device, etc. known in the art to execute the various control logics described above. may include Also, when the control logic is implemented in software, the controller 300 may be implemented as a set of program modules. In this case, the program module may be stored in the memory and executed by the processor. The memory may be internal or external to the processor, and may be coupled to the processor by various well-known means. In addition, the memory may be included in the memory unit 200 of the present application. In addition, the memory is a generic term for devices in which information is stored regardless of the type of device, and does not refer to a specific memory device.

The control unit 300 may be a battery management system (BMS) that can be electrically coupled to a battery or a control element included in the battery management system.

The battery management system may mean a system called BMS in the technical field to which the present application belongs, but any system that performs at least one function described in the present application from a functional point of view is the category of the battery management system. can be included in

At least one or more of the various control logics of the control unit 300 are combined, and the combined control logics may be written in a computer-readable code system and recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The type of the recording medium is not particularly limited as long as it can be accessed by a processor included in the computer. As an example, the recording medium includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a ROM, a RAM, a register, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a hard disk, a floppy disk, and an optical data recording device. In addition, the code system may be modulated into a carrier signal and included in a communication carrier at a specific time, and may be distributed and stored and executed in computers connected to a network. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the combined control logics can be easily inferred by programmers in the art to which the present application pertains.

The battery management apparatus according to the present invention may be applied to the battery pack itself. Accordingly, the battery pack according to the present invention may include the above-described battery management device. Further, in the battery pack according to the present invention, in addition to the battery management device, a cell assembly in which a plurality of secondary batteries are connected in series or in parallel, battery electronic components such as fuses, bus bars, and relays, and a pack case for accommodating them in an internal space and the like may be further included.

Also, the battery management apparatus according to the present invention may be applied to a vehicle. Accordingly, the vehicle according to the present invention may include the above-described battery management device. In this case, the battery management device may be provided inside the battery pack or may be provided outside the battery pack, that is, in the vehicle itself. In particular, in the battery management apparatus according to the present invention, the ISG function can be stably performed by more accurately and efficiently predicting engine startability by the battery in a state in which the vehicle is idle and stopped.

6 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a battery management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6 , the subject performing each step may be referred to as each component of the above-described battery management apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the battery management method according to the present invention is a method of managing a battery provided in a vehicle in which the engine is temporarily stopped in a stopped state while driving and supplying power for starting to the engine.

According to the battery management method according to the present invention, first, when the battery is discharged, a discharge voltage curve representing a voltage change relationship according to the SOC is stored in the memory unit 200 for a plurality of discharge current sizes, and the lowest possible start-up according to the SOC of the battery A cranking curve representing the voltage is stored in the memory unit 200 (S110).

Next, when the size of the discharge current of the battery is measured (S120), a corresponding discharge voltage curve is selected from the discharge voltage curves stored in the step S110 by using the size of the measured discharge current (S130).

Next, the amount of dischargeable SOC is estimated using the discharge voltage curve selected in step S130 and the cranking curve stored in step S110 ( S140 ).

Then, the maximum startable time of the battery is predicted based on the amount of dischargeable SOC estimated in step S140 (S150).

In particular, in step S120 , the measured discharge current may be a discharge current for a predetermined time before the engine is temporarily stopped.

In addition, in step S140, the intersection point of the discharge voltage curve selected in step S130 and the cranking curve stored in step S110 may be extracted, and the amount of dischargeable SOC may be estimated through the extracted intersection point.

In addition, in step S150, the maximum possible start-up time may be predicted using the amount of dischargeable SOC estimated in step S140 and the effective value of the discharge current measured in step S120.

In addition, in the step S110, the stored maximum startable voltage may be a value previously calculated for each SOC of the battery and calculated in advance using the open circuit voltage, the cranking maximum current, and the cranking resistance.

Also, in the battery management method according to the present invention, after the step S150, the corresponding information may be provided to the driver using the maximum possible start time predicted in the step S150.

In addition, the battery management method according to the present invention, after the step S150, may further include the step of controlling the engine start of the vehicle using the maximum possible start time predicted in the step S150.

Meanwhile, in describing various embodiments of the present application, components named 'units' or 'units' should be understood as functionally distinct elements rather than physically separated elements. Accordingly, each component may be selectively integrated with other components, or each component may be divided into sub-components for efficient execution of control logic(s). However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that even if the components are integrated or divided, if the same function can be recognized, the integrated or divided components should also be interpreted as being within the scope of the present application.

As described above, although the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the technical idea of the present invention and the following by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Of course, various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of equivalents of the claims to be described.

100: current measuring unit
200: memory unit
300: control unit
310: possible discharge amount estimation unit, 320: cranking possible time prediction unit, 330: information providing unit, 340: start control unit

Claims (10)

An apparatus for managing a battery provided in a vehicle in which an engine is temporarily stopped while driving and supplying power for starting to the engine, the device comprising:
a current measuring unit for measuring the amount of discharge current of the battery;
a memory unit for storing a discharge voltage curve indicating a voltage change relationship according to a change in SOC during discharging of the battery corresponding to each of a plurality of discharge current sizes, and storing a cranking curve indicating a minimum startable voltage according to the SOC of the battery; and
A discharge voltage curve corresponding to the magnitude of the discharge current measured by the current measuring unit is selected from among the various discharge voltage curves stored in the memory unit, and the intersection of the selected discharge voltage curve and the cranking curve stored in the memory unit is extracted A control unit that estimates the amount of dischargeable SOC through the extracted intersection point and predicts the maximum possible start-up time based on the estimated amount of dischargeable SOC
Battery management device comprising a. According to claim 1,
The control unit, as the size of the discharge current measured by the current measuring unit, the battery management apparatus, characterized in that using the discharge current for a predetermined time before the engine is temporarily stopped based on the size of the battery management device. delete According to claim 1,
The control unit, the battery management apparatus, characterized in that for predicting the maximum possible start-up time using the estimated amount of the dischargeable SOC and the effective value of the discharge current measured by the current measurement unit. According to claim 1,
The cranking curve stored in the memory unit is calculated and stored using the open circuit voltage, the cranking maximum current, and the cranking resistance, which are previously measured for each SOC with respect to the battery. According to claim 1,
The control unit, the battery management device, characterized in that providing the corresponding information to the driver of the vehicle by using the predicted maximum possible start time. According to claim 1,
The control unit, battery management apparatus, characterized in that for controlling the engine start of the vehicle by using the predicted maximum possible start time. A battery pack comprising the battery management device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 4 to 7. A vehicle comprising the battery management device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 4 to 7. A method of managing a battery provided in a vehicle in which an engine is temporarily stopped while driving and supplying power for starting to the engine, the method comprising:
storing a discharge voltage curve indicating a voltage change relationship according to a change in SOC during discharging of the battery corresponding to each of a plurality of discharge current sizes, and storing a cranking curve indicating a minimum startable voltage according to the SOC of the battery;
measuring the magnitude of the discharge current of the battery;
selecting a discharge voltage curve corresponding to the magnitude of the discharge current measured in the current magnitude measurement step from among several discharge voltage curves stored in the storage step;
extracting an intersection point between the discharge voltage curve selected in the discharge voltage curve selection step and the cranking curve stored in the storage step, and estimating the amount of dischargeable SOC through the extracted intersection point; and
Predicting the maximum start-up time of the battery based on the amount of dischargeable SOC estimated in the step of estimating the amount of dischargeable SOC
Battery management method comprising a.

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