TW201541105A - Power supplying device and battery state detection method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A power supplying device and a battery state detection method thereof are provided, and the power supplying device includes a plurality of battery units and a micro controller. The battery units are coupled to each other and each of the battery units includes a battery cell and a switch unit. The switch unit is coupled to the battery cell and determines whether to discharge or not according to a switch state. The micro controller unit is coupled to the switch unit of each of the battery units and controls the switch state of the switch unit to detect voltage-drops of the battery units, and the micro controller unit determines whether the battery units are abnormal state or not according to the voltage-drops of the battery units.

Description

Power supply device and battery state detecting method thereof

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to a power supply device and a battery state detecting method thereof.

With the advancement of technology, portable electronic devices such as notebook computers and smart phones are also becoming more and more popular. In addition, in order to facilitate the use of the user in a non-powered environment, a rechargeable battery is usually disposed in the portable electronic device to provide power to the portable electronic device in a powerless environment. Among them, the battery of the portable electronic device is not only focused on the small-scale and high-capacity manufacturing research and development, but also the battery protection circuit that affects the battery life and the user's safety.

In general, the battery of the portable electronic device is composed of a plurality of interconnected battery cells. In detail, the battery may serially connect a plurality of battery cells to each other as at least one battery module string to supply a voltage level required for the electronic device. However, when the battery is used for a period of time, the characteristics of the individual battery cells in the battery module string tend to be deviated, and the characteristic deviation between the battery cells causes an imbalance in the voltage provided by each string of battery modules. The situation. As a result, not only will it lead to The battery does not function properly or the overall life of the battery is shortened, and may even cause safety problems in battery use.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a power supply device and a battery state detecting method thereof, which can detect the state of each battery cell to protect the battery and prolong the life of the battery.

The invention provides a power supply device comprising a plurality of battery units and a microcontroller. The battery cells are coupled to each other, and each of the battery cells includes a battery cell and a switch unit. The switch unit is coupled to the battery cell, and determines whether the battery cell is discharged according to the state of the switch. The microcontroller is coupled to the switching unit of each battery unit, controls the switching state of the switching unit to detect the voltage across the battery units, and determines whether the battery units are in an abnormal state according to the voltage across the battery units.

From another point of view, the present invention provides a battery state detecting method suitable for a power supply device. The power supply device includes a plurality of battery cells, and each of the battery cells has a battery cell, and the battery state detecting method includes the following steps. The switching states of the switching units of the respective battery cells are controlled, and the voltage across the battery cells is detected in response to the switching state of the switching cells of each of the battery cells. Whether or not these battery cells are in an abnormal state is judged based on the cross-voltage of these battery cells.

Based on the above, the present invention provides a power supply device and a battery state detecting method thereof, which detects a cross-voltage of each battery cell by controlling a switching unit of each battery cell, and determines whether the battery cell is based on the detected cross-voltage. Abnormal state, which in turn can be more Accurate battery protection and battery cell status detection.

The above described features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

10‧‧‧Power supply unit

110_1~110_6, 110_N‧‧‧ battery unit

110_1C~110_6C, 110_NC‧‧‧ battery cells

110_1Q~110_6Q, 110_NQ‧‧‧ switch unit

120‧‧‧Microcontroller

121‧‧‧Detection unit

122‧‧‧Control unit

Q1~Q6‧‧‧O crystal

V1~V3, VT‧‧‧ voltage

30‧‧‧System Management Bus

20‧‧‧Portable host

S310~S330‧‧‧ steps of the battery state detecting method according to an embodiment of the present invention

1 is a functional block diagram of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a circuit diagram of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a battery state detecting method according to an embodiment of the invention.

In general, in order to improve the safety of the battery, a battery protection circuit is usually provided inside the battery to detect whether the battery is abnormal during discharge. Wherein, the battery is composed of a plurality of battery cells connected in series and parallel. According to the present invention, a switching unit is provided for each battery cell, so that the voltage detecting chip of the battery can be detected by controlling the switching units. To the state of each battery cell. In order to clarify the content of the present invention, the following specific examples are given as examples in which the present invention can be implemented.

1 is a functional block diagram of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , in the embodiment, the power supply device 10 includes a plurality of battery cells 110_1 110 110_N and a microcontroller 120 . Battery cells 110_1~110_N are connected in series and parallel The equations are coupled to each other to provide a battery power source having a nominal voltage for other devices, where N is a positive integer. Further, in practical applications, the power supply device 10 may include a single string battery pack or a plurality of battery packs, wherein each string battery pack may include one battery unit or a plurality of parallel battery units, but the present invention is for the battery unit string. Parallel configuration is not limited.

In the present embodiment, the battery cells 110_1 110 110_N each include a battery cell thereof and a switch unit. As shown in FIG. 1, the battery unit 110_1 includes a battery cell 110_1C and a switch unit 110_1Q, the battery unit 110_2 includes a battery cell 110_2C and a switch unit 110_2Q, and so on, the battery unit 110_N includes a battery cell 110_NC and a switch unit 110_NQ. The switch units 110_1Q~110_NQ can be implemented by using a logic circuit, a switch, or a multiplexer, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

The switch unit 110_1Q is coupled to the battery cell 110_1C, and determines whether the battery cell 110_1C discharges according to the switch state of the switch unit 110_1Q. In detail, when the switching state of the switching unit 110_1Q is in an on state, the battery cell 110_1C will discharge to output the internally stored electric energy. Similarly, the switch unit 110_2Q is coupled to the battery cell 110_2C, and determines whether the battery cell 110_2C is discharged according to the switching state of the switch unit 110_2Q. The switch unit 110_NQ is coupled to the battery cell 110_NC, and determines whether the battery cell 110_NC is discharged according to the switching state of the switch unit 110_NQ.

The microcontroller 120 is implemented, for example, by a microcontroller chip and coupled to a switching unit of each battery cell. As shown in FIG. 1, the microcontrollers 120 are respectively coupled to open Off units 110_1Q~110_NQ. The microcontroller 120 controls the switching states of the switching units 110_1Q~110_NQ to detect the voltage across the battery cells 110_1~110_N, and determines whether the battery cells 110_1~110_N are in an abnormal state according to the voltage across the battery cells 110_1~110_N. Further, according to the series-parallel design of the battery cells 110_1~110_N, the microcontroller 120 can detect each of the battery cells 110_1 by controlling the switching units 110_1Q~110_NQ of the respective battery cells 110_1~110_N to be turned on or off. The crossover of ~110_N. In this way, the microcontroller 120 can detect the voltage state of each of the battery cells 110_1~110_N, and determine whether the battery cells 110_1C~110_NC have abnormality due to long-term use according to the voltage states of the battery cells 110_1~110_N. .

Moreover, when the microcontroller 120 detects that there is an abnormality in the voltage across the battery cells 110_1 110 110_N, the microcontroller 120 can interrupt the abnormal battery cell from the power supply line by controlling the switch units 110_1Q~110_NQ. Turn on to further protect the power supply device 10. For example, if the microcontroller 120 detects that the voltage across the battery unit 110_2 is abnormal, the microcontroller 120 removes the abnormal battery cell 110_2C from the overall line by cutting off the switch unit 110_2Q, thereby avoiding other normal conditions. The battery unit is affected by it and shortens the overall life of the battery.

In order to explain the present invention clearly and in detail, the power supply device has six battery cells as an example to explain how to detect the voltage across the battery unit by controlling the switch unit, but the present invention is not limited thereto. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the power supply device according to an embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment, it is assumed that the number N of battery cells is 6. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in the embodiment, the battery unit 110_1 includes a battery cell. 110_1C and the switching unit 110_1Q (here, the transistor Q1 is taken as an example). The battery unit 110_2 includes a battery cell 110_2C and a switching unit 110_2Q (here, the transistor Q2 is taken as an example). The battery unit 110_3 includes a battery cell 110_3C and a switching unit 110_3Q (here, the transistor Q3 is taken as an example). The battery unit 110_4 includes a battery cell 110_4C and a switching unit 110_4Q (here, the transistor Q4 is taken as an example). The battery unit 110_5 includes a battery cell 110_5C and a switching unit 110_5Q (here, the transistor Q5 is taken as an example). The battery unit 110_6 includes a battery cell 110_6C and a switching unit 110_6Q (here, the transistor Q6 is taken as an example). The switch unit 110_1Q~110_6Q includes an N-type transistor or a P-type transistor, which is not limited in the present invention.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the microcontroller 120 includes a detecting unit 121 and a control unit 122. The detecting unit 121 is coupled to the switching units 110_1Q~110_6Q of the battery units 110_1~110_6, and the control unit 122 is coupled to the detecting unit 121 and the switching units 110_1Q~110_6Q of the battery units 110_1~110_6. In detail, the transistors Q1 to Q6 as the switching units 110_1Q to 110_6Q each have their first end, second end, and control end. The first ends of the transistors Q1 to Q6 are respectively coupled to the corresponding battery cells 110_1C~110_6C, and the second ends of the transistors Q1~Q6 are respectively coupled to the detecting unit 121, and the control ends of the respective transistors Q1~Q6 The control unit 122 is coupled to each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first end of the transistor Q1 is coupled to the battery cell 110_1C, the second end of the transistor Q1 is coupled to the measuring unit 121, and the control end of the transistor Q1 is coupled to the control unit 122. The first end of the transistor Q2 is coupled to the battery cell 110_2C, the second end of the transistor Q2 is coupled to the measuring unit 121, and the control end of the transistor Q2 is coupled to the control unit 122. The first end of the transistor Q6 is coupled to the battery cell 110_6C, the second end of the transistor Q6 is coupled to the measuring unit 121, and the control end of the transistor Q6 is coupled to the control unit 122.

Therefore, the control unit 122 controls the transistors Q1 ～ Q6 of the battery cells 110_1 110 110_6 to be turned off or on, and causes the detecting unit 121 to detect the battery cells 110_1 in response to the switching states of the transistors Q1 ～ Q6 of the battery cells 110_1 110 110_6. The crossover of ~110_6. Wherein, for the difference of the series-parallel manner of the battery unit, the control unit can control the switching unit by the control mode corresponding to the series-parallel manner to detect the cross-pressure of each battery unit. For example, in the series-parallel manner of the battery cells 110_1 110 110_6 shown in FIG. 2, the battery cells 110_1 and the battery cells 110_2 are mutually connected in parallel to form a first parallel battery pack, and the battery cells 110_3 and the battery cells 110_4 are connected in parallel to form a second battery. Parallel battery packs, battery unit 110_5 and battery unit 110_6 are connected in parallel to each other to form a third parallel battery pack. The first parallel battery pack, the second parallel battery pack, and the third parallel battery pack are connected in series to each other to provide a total output voltage VT at the output end.

When all the transistors Q1~Q6 are in an on state, the detecting unit 121 can detect the cross-pressure of the first parallel battery pack, the second parallel battery pack, and the third parallel battery pack, respectively. In detail, when all the transistors Q1 ～ Q6 are in the on state, the detecting unit 121 can detect the cross voltage V1 of the first parallel battery pack composed of the battery unit 110_1 and the battery unit 110_2, and detect The unit 121 can detect the voltage across the second parallel battery pack composed of the battery unit 110_3 and the battery unit 110_4, and the detecting unit 121 can detect the third parallel battery pack composed of the battery unit 110_1 and the battery unit 110_2. The cross pressure V3.

The control unit 122 determines the first parallel battery pack, the second parallel battery pack, and the third parallel battery pack according to whether the voltage across the first parallel battery pack, the second parallel battery pack, and the third parallel battery pack is within a safe voltage range. Whether it is an abnormal battery pack. This safe voltage range will be designed according to the actual application conditions, and the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the safe voltage range can be a voltage range that is 0.5 volts out of phase with the battery pack under normal conditions. In this embodiment, if the voltages provided by the first parallel battery pack, the second parallel battery pack, and the third parallel battery pack in the normal state are 4.2 volts, once the detecting unit 121 detects any battery pack The supplied voltage V1~V3 is lower than 3.7 volts, which means that the battery pack having a voltage across 3.7 volts is an abnormal battery pack, and also represents a situation in which the battery unit is abnormal or damaged.

Thus, the control unit 122 will control the switching state of the battery cells in the abnormal battery pack to cause the detecting unit 121 to detect the voltage across the battery cells in the abnormal battery pack. For example, if the detecting unit detects that the voltage across the V2 is not within the safe voltage range, it represents that the second parallel group is the second parallel group of the abnormal battery pack, and constitutes the battery unit 110_3 in the second parallel group. Or an abnormality occurs in the battery unit 110_4. Therefore, the control unit 122 can sequentially cut off the transistor Q3 to detect the voltage across the battery unit 110_4, and cut off the transistor Q4 to detect the voltage across the battery unit 110_3.

Further, the control unit 122 can determine whether the voltage across the battery unit 110_4 meets the preset voltage when the transistor Q3 is turned off, and can determine whether the voltage across the battery unit 110_3 meets the preset voltage when the transistor Q4 is turned off. If the voltage across the battery unit 110_3 or the battery unit 110_4 does not meet the preset voltage, the control unit 122 determines The fixed battery unit 110_3 or the battery unit 110_4 is in an abnormal state, and outputs a cutoff control signal to turn off the battery unit 110_3 of the abnormal state or the transistor Q3 or the transistor Q4 of the battery unit 110_4 to turn off the battery unit 110_3 in an abnormal state. Or the battery unit 110_4 is excluded from the power supply line.

In detail, in the embodiment, the control terminals of the transistors Q1 - Q6 are coupled to the control unit 122 and receive the cutoff control signal. When the control unit 122 detects that one of the battery cells 110_1 110 110_6 is abnormal, the control unit 122 will output a cutoff control signal to the transistor of the battery unit that is in an abnormal state, and cause the transistor of the abnormal battery unit to be turned off by the cutoff control signal. For example, when the control unit 122 determines that the battery unit 110_3 is in an abnormal state, it can output a voltage level (for example, logic 0) to the transistor Q3 as the switching unit 110_3Q, so that the control terminal of the transistor Q3 receives the cutoff control signal. cutoff. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can change the detailed structure of each switching unit according to the implementation mode of the voltage level to achieve the purpose of manipulating the various switching units, which is not limited by the present invention.

It is worth mentioning that, in this embodiment, the power supply device 10 can be connected to the portable host 20 through a system management bus (SMBus), and the portable host 12 is, for example, a smart phone or a personal digital assistant. The present invention is not limited to a handheld game machine, a digital camera, a tablet computer or a notebook computer. Therefore, when the control unit 122 detects that any battery pack is an abnormal battery pack, the control unit 122 can notify the portable host 20 through the system management bus 30 that the power supply device 10 is about to stop supplying power to detect the cross voltage of the single battery unit. The portable host 20 can be executed, for example, to inform the user to perform a shutdown operation, etc., to avoid The electric device 10 causes the portable main unit 20 to be damaged due to a sudden power failure in order to detect the voltage state of the battery cells.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a battery state detecting method according to an embodiment of the invention. In the present embodiment, the battery state detecting method is applicable to, for example, the power supply device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the battery state detecting method includes the following steps. First, the switching states of the switching units of the respective battery cells are controlled, and the cross-pressure of the battery cells is detected in response to the switching state of the switching cells of each of the battery cells (step S310).

In this embodiment, step S310 can be implemented in steps S311 to S313. First, the voltage across a plurality of battery packs composed of these battery cells is detected (step S311). Whether or not these battery packs are abnormal abnormal battery packs is determined according to whether or not the voltage across the battery packs is within the safe voltage range (step S312). Thereafter, the switching state of the switching unit of the battery unit in the abnormal battery pack is controlled, and the voltage across the battery cells in the abnormal battery pack is detected (step S313).

Next, it is judged whether or not these battery cells are in an abnormal state in accordance with the voltage across the battery cells (step S330). In step S330, it can be determined whether the battery unit is in an abnormal state by determining whether the voltage across the battery unit meets the preset voltage. If the cross-voltage of the battery unit does not meet the preset voltage, it is determined that the battery unit is in an abnormal state. It is worth mentioning that when it is determined that the battery unit is in an abnormal state, the outputting of the cut-off control signal turns off the switching unit of the battery unit in an abnormal state to further protect other battery cells in the power supply device. Furthermore, the details of the above steps S310, S311, S312, S313, and S330 can be referred to the embodiment of FIG. 1 and FIG. No longer.

In summary, the power supply device and the battery state detecting method thereof of the present invention can detect the voltage across each battery cell by controlling the switching units of the respective battery cells, thereby detecting the state of each battery cell. In addition, the power supply device of the present invention can remove the abnormally generated battery cells from the battery module string of the power supply device by turning off the switching unit of the battery unit in an abnormal state. In this way, the power supply device not only can accurately detect the abnormal battery cells, but also remove the abnormal battery cells and supply power normally, thereby ensuring the safety of the battery and the safety of use.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some changes and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10‧‧‧Power supply unit

110_1, 110_2, 110_N‧‧‧ battery unit

110_1C, 110_2C, 110_NC‧‧‧ battery cells

110_1Q, 110_2Q, 110_NQ‧‧‧ switch unit

120‧‧‧Microcontroller

Claims (10)

A power supply device includes: a plurality of battery units, the battery units are coupled to each other, and each of the battery units includes: a battery cell; and a switch unit coupled to the battery cell, the battery is determined according to a switch state Whether the cell is discharged or not; and a microcontroller, coupled to the switch unit of each of the battery cells, controlling the switch state of the switch unit to detect the cross-voltage of the battery cells, and according to the batteries The voltage across the cells determines whether the battery cells are in an abnormal state. The power supply device of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller comprises: a detecting unit coupled to the switch unit of each of the battery units, a control unit coupled to the detecting unit, and each a switching unit of the battery unit, the control unit controls the switching unit of each of the battery units to be turned off or turned on, so that the detecting unit reacts to the switching state of the switching unit of each of the battery units Detecting the cross-pressure of the battery cells. The power supply device of claim 2, wherein the battery cells form a plurality of battery packs in parallel and/or in series, and the detecting unit respectively detects the voltage across the battery packs, and the control unit is configured according to Whether the voltage across the battery pack is within a safe voltage range to determine whether the battery pack is an abnormal battery pack, and the control unit controls the switch state of the battery cells in the abnormal battery pack The detecting unit detects a cross voltage of the battery cells in the abnormal battery pack. The power supply device of claim 2, wherein the control unit determines whether the voltage across the battery cells meets a predetermined voltage, wherein if the voltage across the battery cells does not meet the preset voltage, The control unit determines that the battery cells are in the abnormal state, and outputs a cutoff control signal to turn off the switch unit of the battery cells in the abnormal state. The power supply device of claim 2, wherein the switch unit has a first end, a second end, and a control end, the first end of which is coupled to the battery cell, and the second end of the switch unit is coupled to the detecting unit, The control terminal is coupled to the control unit and receives the cutoff control signal, wherein the switch unit is turned off in response to the cutoff control signal. The power supply device of claim 1, wherein the switch unit comprises an N-type transistor or a P-type transistor. A battery state detecting method is applicable to a power supply device, wherein the power supply device includes a plurality of battery cells, and each of the battery cells has a battery cell, and the battery state detecting method includes: controlling the battery cells a switching state of a switching unit, and detecting a cross-voltage of the battery cells in response to the switching state of the switching unit of each of the battery cells; and determining the battery cells according to the voltage across the battery cells Whether it is an abnormal state. The battery state detecting method according to claim 7, wherein the switching state of the switching unit of the battery cells is controlled, and is reflected in each of the The step of detecting the voltage across the battery cells of the switch unit of the battery unit includes: detecting a voltage across a plurality of battery packs composed of the battery units; and determining a voltage across the battery packs Whether it is located in a safe voltage range to determine whether the battery pack is abnormal or not; and controlling the switch state of the switch unit of the battery cells in the abnormal battery pack, and detecting the abnormal battery pack The cross-pressure of the battery cells. The battery state detecting method according to claim 7, wherein the step of determining whether the battery cells are in the abnormal state according to the voltage across the battery cells comprises: determining whether the voltage across the battery cells meets a The preset voltage, if not, determines that the battery cells are in the abnormal state. The battery state detecting method according to claim 7, further comprising: when determining that the battery cells are in the abnormal state, outputting a cutoff control signal to be the switch of the battery cells in the abnormal state The unit is cut off.