WO2006075740A1

WO2006075740A1 - Method and apparatus for judging conformity of lead storage battery

Info

Publication number: WO2006075740A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/300447
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenji Kadoya; Takahiro Hori; Yasufumi Fukao
Original assignee: Gs Yuasa Corporation
Priority date: 2005-01-17
Filing date: 2006-01-16
Publication date: 2006-07-20
Also published as: JPWO2006075740A1; JP4893312B2

Abstract

A method for judging conformity of a lead storage battery is characterized in that the method is provided with a temporary charging step wherein the lead storage battery is charged with a constant current; a judging step wherein a terminal voltage of the lead storage battery is measured within 10 seconds after starting the charging with the constant current and whether the terminal voltage reaches a prescribed voltage or not is judged; and a discriminating step wherein the lead storage battery reaching the prescribed voltage is discriminated nonconforming.

Description

Specification

Quality determination method and quality determination device for lead acid battery

Technical field

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a method for determining the quality of a lead-acid battery and a device that performs a quality determination of a lead-acid battery. Moreover, this invention relates to the apparatus which charges the lead storage battery determined to be usable by the method.

Background art

[0002] When lead-acid batteries deteriorate, they cannot be used gradually. The causes include sulfation phenomenon, active material deterioration, overdischarge, and internal short circuit. The sulfation phenomenon is a phenomenon in which lead sulfate with low conductivity is deposited on the electrode plate. If this phenomenon occurs, the internal impedance of the lead storage battery increases and the lead storage battery cannot be used. In addition, when the active material deteriorates, the active material cannot contribute to the electrochemical reaction, so that the lead-acid battery cannot be used. Also, if the discharge becomes too deep and overdischarge occurs, the voltage will not recover sufficiently even if the battery is charged after that, so that the lead-acid battery cannot be used. In addition, if an internal short circuit occurs between the electrodes in the lead-acid battery, the voltage of the lead-acid battery will drop, making it impossible to use.

[0003] It is often necessary to determine whether a lead-acid battery is a good product, or whether it has resulted in a defective product due to such a cause. Such determination is called pass / fail determination. There are various types of judgment methods. A typical example is shown below.

[0004] The first method is a method for determining pass / fail by discharging a lead-acid battery at a high rate and checking whether the voltage and the discharge current are sufficiently large. Conventionally, development of a method, a device, a charger, and the like for determining the quality by discharging a lead-acid battery at a high rate before or after charging has been advanced.

[0005] The second method is a method in which the lead storage battery is charged with a constant current or a constant voltage, and the quality is determined based on the behavior of the charging voltage or the charging current at that time. In this case, the charging current is generally supplied for several tens of hours, and when it is short, it takes several minutes. [0006] The third method is a method of judging pass / fail by examining the specific gravity and the like of the electrolytic solution. However, this method is applied only to an open type lead acid battery. This is because the sealed lead-acid battery cannot know the specific gravity of the electrolyte, which is information inside the battery. As a result, this third method cannot be applied to all lead-acid batteries.

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0007] Since lead-acid batteries can only be discharged after being charged, in order to make a pass / fail judgment with high-rate discharge, it is necessary to charge at least sufficiently. As a result, it is only when the lead storage battery to be determined is almost fully charged by chance that the above-mentioned first method can be used to determine pass / fail immediately. In most cases, the decision was made only after the lead-acid battery was actually charged. Therefore, the first method described above has a problem that it takes a considerably long time to obtain a result by pass / fail judgment.

[0008] Next, the above-described second method is a method in which the lead storage battery is charged with a constant current or a constant voltage (diagnostic charge) and is determined based on the behavior of the charging voltage or the charging current at that time. Even if it is charged, it needs to be charged for several tens of hours and several hours. If charging is not performed for this amount of time, it cannot be judged good or bad. Therefore, there was a problem when the result of pass / fail judgment was needed immediately. The lead-acid battery is determined to be a non-defective product by the lead-acid battery pass / fail judgment method, which is the second method, and the lead-acid battery has to be charged / discharged once or twice after being determined to be non-defective. However, some lead-acid batteries could be charged and discharged soon after that. In other words, there was a problem that the determination as a non-defective product by the above-mentioned second method was not necessarily accurate!

[0009] As a result of the study by the inventors of the present application, the present inventors have found that such a lead storage battery that can be charged / discharged once or twice, but cannot be charged / discharged immediately thereafter. In common, they found that a mild sulfation phenomenon occurred. In other words, it was clarified that the second method, the pass / fail judgment method, was able to detect lead-acid batteries that produced a mild sulfation phenomenon!

[0010] In addition, as a result of the research by the inventors of the present application, a mild sulfation is determined by conventional quality determination. The fact that the phenomenon was overlooked was clearly due to the long diagnostic charging time for charging lead-acid batteries. In other words, when a lead storage battery with a mild sulfation phenomenon is charged, the voltage suddenly rises immediately after the charging current is passed and then drops, and thereafter, the same behavior as a good lead storage battery is exhibited. For this reason, if a conventional method of performing a diagnostic charge for several tens of hours and making a power pass / fail judgment is used, a mild sulfation phenomenon would be overlooked.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems based on such knowledge. In other words, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to judge the quality of a lead storage battery in a very short time. An object of the present invention is to provide an accurate pass / fail judgment result by detecting a lead storage battery in which a mild sulfation phenomenon has occurred, as a defective product.

Means for solving the problem

[0012] The present invention relates to a method for determining the quality of a lead storage battery, wherein the method includes a temporary charging step in which the lead storage battery is charged with a constant current, and the lead storage battery is charged within 10 seconds after the charging starts with the constant current. A determination step in which the terminal voltage of the storage battery is measured and it is determined whether or not the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined voltage; and a selection step in which the lead storage battery that has reached the predetermined voltage is selected as defective. It is characterized by. In addition, the lead-acid battery has a single cell, and the predetermined voltage is 2.67 V or more and 3. OOV or less per unit cell. Furthermore, it is characterized in that the magnitude of the constant current in the temporary charging process is 0.03 CA or more and 0.10 CA or less.

[0013] According to the present invention, the lead storage battery is charged with a constant current (temporary charging process), and the charging is started and the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery reaches a predetermined level within a short period of time, for example, about 3 seconds. It is determined whether the pressure is reached. When the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined voltage, the lead storage battery is selected as defective. Time required for judgment and selection In this example, it takes about 3 seconds. Therefore, it is possible to judge the quality of lead-acid batteries in an extremely short time compared to the conventional method.

[0014] The "predetermined voltage" described in the claims of the present application is any one value included in a voltage range of 2.67V or more 3. OOV or less converted per unit cell of a lead storage battery. In The Currently, the widely used lead-acid battery for automobiles is composed of six single cells connected in series (rated voltage: 12V). Therefore, when converted to the overall voltage of such a lead-acid battery for automobiles, “2.67 V or more and 3.00 V or less per single cell” means “the charging voltage of the entire lead-acid battery in which single cells are connected in series (charging This means that the terminal voltage inside is between 16V and 18V.

[0015] According to the present invention, a lead storage battery in which a mild sulfation phenomenon occurs can also be detected. When a charging current is passed through a lead storage battery in which a sulfation phenomenon occurs, the charging voltage (terminal voltage during charging) suddenly increases, but thereafter the charging voltage drops. This is probably because part of the lead sulfate becomes soluble with slow charging and the internal impedance decreases. The subsequent charging voltage behaves in the same manner as a good lead-acid battery. Therefore, as in the present invention, if it is determined whether or not the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined voltage within a short time of about 3 seconds after charging is started, such voltage behavior is detected. The And the lead acid battery which has produced the mild sulfation phenomenon is detected, and it can be determined that the lead acid battery is defective.

[0016] In this case, the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery may be measured before or after the start of charging in the temporary charging process, or may be measured after a lapse of time from the start of charging. Good.

[0017] After charging (preliminary charging) with constant current is started, the time until the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery is measured and it is determined whether or not the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined voltage is: Any number of seconds may be used as long as it is 10 seconds or less. For example, the lead storage battery can be determined by the present invention even for 1 second. However, considering the accuracy of the power source (device that flows current) in the state of the art at the time of filing of the present application and the basic application of the present application, the time is preferably 0.5 seconds or more. On the other hand, if the time becomes longer than 10 seconds, a lead-acid battery that is good and accidentally charged can reach a predetermined voltage. In that case, the lead-acid battery, which is essentially a good product, will be selected as defective. Therefore, the time is required to be 10 seconds or less.

[0018] The rated capacity of the lead storage battery in the present application is determined as follows. In other words, for lead-acid batteries of the same type as the lead-acid battery type that is the subject of the pass / fail judgment, The time required to discharge until the terminal voltage of the lead-acid battery becomes 1.7VZ single cell is 4. 75-5. Find the discharge current that will be 25 hours (this discharge is 5 hour rate discharge), The value obtained by multiplying the magnitude of this discharge current by 5 is the rated capacity C (unit: Ah). And “0.10 CA as the magnitude of the constant current” means that the value obtained by multiplying the value of this rated capacity C by 0.10 is taken as the magnitude of the current. Specifically, the 46B24L type lead-acid battery for automobiles specified in JIS D 5301 has a rated capacity C force of 36 Ah, so 0.10 CA is 3.6 A.

[0019] Note that the invention of the present application can also employ the following configuration.

(1) In the device of the present invention, the terminal voltage of the lead battery is measured when the charging means is charged with a constant current, and it is determined whether the terminal voltage is within a predetermined voltage range. You may have a means for judging when charging.

[0020] According to this, since it is determined whether or not the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery is within a predetermined voltage range even when the main charge is performed, it was overlooked when the temporary charging means was charging. Lead-acid battery failures can be found during the main charge.

[0021] (2) In the device of the present invention, the determination unit at the time of charging measures the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery a plurality of times or at all times, and the measured terminal voltage is a predetermined voltage over time. Let's make it judge whether the force changes within the range.

[0022] According to this, when the charging means is charging, it is determined whether the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery changes within a predetermined voltage range as time elapses. As the process proceeds, it is checked whether the change in the terminal voltage is normal. Therefore, the failure of the lead storage battery that is overlooked when the temporary charging means is charging can be detected early and reliably during charging by the charging means. Whether or not the terminal voltage of the lead-acid battery has changed within the specified voltage range over time is determined by detecting how the terminal voltage changes. Therefore, the terminal voltage differential value, the terminal voltage difference value measured at different times, the terminal voltage differential value (double differential), or the difference value between the terminal voltage differences are detected. Used for.

[0023] (3) In the method of the present invention, the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery is measured before charging in the temporary charging step, and the measured terminal voltage does not reach the second predetermined voltage. Case In addition, a charging stop process may be provided without performing the charging in the temporary charging process. In the apparatus of the present invention, the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery is measured before the temporary charging means is charged, and if the measured terminal voltage does not reach the second predetermined voltage, the temporary charging means Even if you don't charge the battery, make sure you have a charging stop.

[0024] According to this, the voltage of the lead storage battery cannot be measured when the lead storage battery is firmly connected to the device for judging pass / fail or when the positive electrode and the negative electrode are connected in reverse. It is possible to prevent a situation in which temporary charging is performed in the state and the lead storage battery is judged to be defective. Also, if the voltage of a properly connected lead storage battery is extremely low, it can be determined that the lead storage battery is defective without actually charging. Therefore, defects in lead storage batteries are discovered in advance.

[0025] (4) In the device of the present invention, during the charging by the charging means, the charging is temporarily interrupted, the lead storage battery is connected to a predetermined resistor and discharged, and the terminal voltage and discharge current of the lead storage battery are discharged. It is also possible to provide discharge determination means for measuring whether or not the measured terminal voltage and discharge current are within a predetermined range.

[0026] According to this, since it becomes possible to make a determination by discharging when the charging means is charged, a failure of the lead storage battery can be reliably detected.

[0027] (5) In the method of the present invention, when the determination step or the main charge determination step determines that the terminal voltage is not within the predetermined voltage range, the step of notifying the operator, to another device A step of notifying and a step of automatically stopping the temporary charging may be included. In the device of the present invention, when the judging means or the main charging time judging means judges that the terminal voltage is not within the predetermined voltage range, means for notifying the operator, means for notifying other equipment, temporary charging There may be a means to automatically stop /.

[0028] (6) In the method of the present invention, in the determination step, it may be determined whether or not it reaches another predetermined voltage lower than the predetermined voltage. In the apparatus of the present invention, the determination means may determine whether or not another predetermined voltage lower than the predetermined voltage is reached.

[0029] This other predetermined voltage is set to a voltage that is not reached when the lead-acid battery is over-discharged! /, Or when the lead-acid battery is in an internal short-circuit condition. Lead storage It will be determined that the pond is in these states. And it becomes possible to determine the defective lead storage battery which fell into such a state.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a device for judging pass / fail.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a block diagram for explaining functions of an apparatus for judging pass / fail.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a device for judging pass / fail.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a flowchart for explaining details of the pre-charging process in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a time chart showing changes in charging voltage and charging current when a normal lead-acid battery is charged.

Explanation of symbols

[0031] 11 is a temporary charging circuit, 12 is a main charging circuit, 12A is a constant current charging circuit, 12b is a constant voltage charging circuit, 13 is a switching circuit, 14 is a control unit, 17 is a timer, 18 is a terminal voltage measuring circuit, 19 is a voltage comparison unit, 20 is a voltage difference calculation unit, and 21 is a voltage difference comparison unit.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0033] An apparatus in which the method of the present invention is implemented or a circuit configuration of the apparatus of the present invention will be described based on an external view of the apparatus in FIG. 1 and a functional block diagram in FIG.

[0034] (1) Outline of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention

This apparatus includes a temporary charging circuit 11 and a main charging circuit 12 as shown in FIG. The charging circuit 12 includes a constant current charging circuit 12A and a constant voltage charging circuit 12b. The temporary charging circuit 11 is a charging circuit that performs constant current charging of 0.5 A at a maximum voltage of 20V. The constant current charging circuit 12A is a charging circuit that performs constant current charging of 3A at a maximum voltage of 14.5V, and the constant voltage charging circuit 12b is a charging circuit that performs constant voltage charging of 14.5V. As described above, the maximum voltage is 14.5V because the lead storage battery that is the target of the pass / fail judgment by this device. This is because the pond has six single cells and its rated voltage is 12V.

The temporary charging circuit 11, the constant current charging circuit 12A, and the constant voltage charging circuit 12b are connected to the charging terminal 1 shown in FIG. RU

[0036] The controller 14 of the charger controls the charging operation of the temporary charging circuit 11, the constant current charging circuit 12A, and the constant voltage charging circuit 12b. Further, the control unit 14 of the charger controls the switching circuit 13 to connect any one of the temporary charging circuit 11, the constant current charging circuit 12A, and the constant voltage charging circuit 12b to the charging terminal 1, Alternatively, control is performed so that the misaligned circuit is not connected.

A display unit 15 and an operation unit 16 are connected to the control unit 14. The display unit 15 includes the power lamp 3, the charging lamp 5, and the NG lamp 6 shown in FIG. The operation unit 16 includes the power switch 2 and the start switch 4 shown in FIG. In addition, a timer 17 is connected to the control unit 14. The timer 17 is a circuit for notifying completion of timing when the designated time elapses when the control unit 14 designates the timing time and instructs to start timing.

A terminal voltage measurement circuit 18 is also connected to the charging terminal 1. The terminal voltage measurement circuit 18 is a circuit that converts the terminal voltage of the lead-acid battery connected to the charging terminal 1 (this terminal voltage is also referred to as “charging voltage” when charging) into a digital signal by AD conversion. It is. The terminal voltage V converted into a digital signal by the terminal voltage measurement circuit 18 is sent to the voltage comparison unit 19 and the voltage difference calculation unit 20. The voltage difference calculation unit 20 stores the terminal voltage V sent from the terminal voltage measurement circuit 18 and calculates the difference between the terminal voltage V and the terminal voltage V sent last time. The difference Δν is output, and this voltage difference Δν is sent to the voltage difference comparison unit 21.

The voltage comparison unit 19 compares whether or not the terminal voltage V sent from the terminal voltage measurement circuit 18 is within the voltage range set by the control unit 14. The voltage difference comparison unit 21 compares whether or not the voltage difference ΔV sent from the voltage difference calculation unit 20 is within the voltage difference range set by the control unit 14. The comparison results of the voltage comparison unit 19 and the voltage difference comparison unit 21 are sent to the control unit 14. The voltage range and voltage difference range set by the control unit 14 are composed of an upper limit value and a lower limit value. The upper limit value and lower limit value may be constant values regardless of the passage of time, or may change with the passage of time, as will be described later. However, the upper limit By setting either one of the value and the lower limit to positive or negative infinity, either the upper limit value or the lower limit value can be substantially omitted.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining the function of the charger, and does not necessarily correspond to actual hardware. For example, the temporary charging circuit 11, the main charging circuit 12, and the switching circuit 13 may be configured by switching a part of one charging circuit or switching settings. For example, when the control unit 14 is configured by a microcomputer, the voltage comparison unit 19, the voltage difference calculation unit 20, and the voltage difference comparison unit 21 may be configured to be configured as part of the program. it can. Furthermore, for determining the passage of time by the timer 17, the completion of the time measurement may be notified by an interrupt using the interval 'timer, or a timer circuit that performs only the time measurement may be controlled by the controller 14. Please refer to them from time to time.

[0041] (2) Operation of an apparatus in which the method of the present invention is used

The operation when a lead-acid battery (rated voltage: 12V) is charged using the charger with the above configuration will be described. This description is based on the flowcharts of FIGS.

[0042] (2— 1) Pre-charging treatment

In this embodiment, the pre-charging process was performed before the temporary charging described later in (2-2) was started. As a result, the lead-acid battery is connected or the lead-acid battery is severely defective. However, the pre-charging process described in (2-1) is not necessarily required in the present invention.

[0043] The worker connects the connector part of the charging clip to the charging terminal 1, attaches the clip part to the positive and negative terminals of the lead-acid battery, and turns on the power switch 2. As a result, the power source of the charger is turned on and the control unit 14 starts to operate, and the pre-charging process as shown in the first step (hereinafter referred to as “S”) 1 in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is executed.

In the pre-charging process, as shown in FIG. 4, the power lamp 3 is turned on (S21), and the terminal voltage V (open voltage) of the connected lead storage battery is measured by the terminal voltage measuring circuit 18 ( S22). Then, the voltage comparison unit 19 determines whether the terminal voltage V is greater than or equal to the predetermined voltage VI (S23). When the power does not reach the predetermined voltage VI, the power lamp 3 is turned off (S24), the power supply of the charger is turned off (S25), and all the processes are completed. The predetermined voltage VI is applied to the lead-acid battery. The voltage should be sufficiently lower than the terminal voltage V obtained when there is some abnormality such as an internal short circuit. Therefore, the fact that the terminal voltage V does not reach the predetermined voltage VI means that the connection of the lead storage battery by the charging clip is incomplete, or that the positive electrode and the negative electrode are reversely connected. Become. For this reason, when the power lamp 3 is turned off, the operator is required to reconnect the lead storage battery. If the connection is still complete, the charging clip should be checked for breaks and other causes.

[0045] When the voltage comparing unit 19 when the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery is equal to or higher than the predetermined voltage VI is determined, the charger waits until the ON and enables receives an operation start switch 4 (S26) ₀ When the operator turns on the start switch 4, the terminal voltage V (open voltage) of the lead storage battery is again measured by the terminal voltage measuring circuit 18 (S27). Note that the measurement result of S22 can be used for the measurement of the terminal voltage V of S27.

[0046] Then, the voltage comparison unit 19 determines whether or not the measured terminal voltage V is equal to or higher than the predetermined voltage V2 (S28), and if the power does not reach the predetermined voltage V2, the NG lamp 6 is turned on. In both cases (S29), all processing is terminated. The predetermined voltage V2 is a predetermined voltage that is much higher than the predetermined voltage VI, but is sufficiently low as the terminal voltage V of a normal and recoverable lead-acid battery. Therefore, the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery is not less than the predetermined voltage VI, but has reached the predetermined voltage V2, which means that the lead storage battery cannot be recovered due to overdischarge or internal short circuit. Therefore, the operator can know that it is useless even if the lead storage battery is charged by turning on the NG lamp 6. Therefore, if the lead acid battery is severely defective, the charger can detect this defect before starting charging. However, if it is determined in the process of S28 that the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery is equal to or higher than the predetermined voltage V2, this pre-charging process is terminated normally and the charging process after S2 in FIG. 3 is executed.

[0047] In the pre-charging process, if the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery is only slightly lower than the predetermined voltage V2 even if it is equal to or higher than the predetermined voltage VI, the NG lamp 6 is turned on. You may make it perform the charge process after S2 of FIG. In this case, the worker can know in advance that charging is started while the NG lamp 6 is lit, so that the lead storage battery is likely to be judged defective during charging. [0048] (2—2) Temporary charging, judgment and sorting

In the temporary charging, the temporary charging circuit 11 operates, the switching circuit 13 switches to the temporary charging circuit 11, and the charging lamp 5 is lit. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, provisional charging starts (S2).

In the charger described in the present embodiment, the charging performed by the temporary charging unit is a constant current charging of 0.5 A. The charging voltage is limited to a maximum of 20V.

[0050] After the charging by the temporary charging means was started, the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery was measured by the terminal voltage measuring circuit 18 within 10 seconds by the timer 17 (S3). Whether or not the terminal voltage V is within the voltage range R1 is determined by the voltage comparison unit 19 (S4). If the voltage is within the voltage range R1, the S3 and S4 Repeat the process (S5). Here, it corresponds to the “predetermined voltage” described in the voltage power range obtained by converting the upper limit value of the voltage range R1 per unit cell.

[0051] If the terminal voltage V reaches the upper limit value of the voltage range R1 in S4, it is considered that a lead-acid battery has undergone a surfacing phenomenon. This is because when the sulfation phenomenon occurs, the internal impedance of the lead-acid battery increases. As mentioned above, this lead-acid battery power is a “bad” battery that can be used once or twice thereafter, but cannot be used immediately thereafter.

[0052] On the other hand, if the terminal voltage V does not reach the lower limit value of the voltage range R1 in S4, the terminal voltage V does not rise sufficiently even if the battery is actually charged due to overdischarge or internal short circuit. ,it is conceivable that. Such a lead acid battery is "bad".

As described above, when the terminal voltage V is outside the range of the voltage range R1, the NG lamp 6 is turned on (S16), the charging lamp 5 is turned off, and all the processes are completed. As a result, defective lead-acid batteries can be selected with high probability at an early stage within 10 seconds after starting the start switch 4 (that is, within 10 seconds from the start of temporary charging). Whether or not a lead-acid battery that has been selected as defective in this way has actually become defective depends on the disassembly of the lead-acid battery (investigation of whether or not a sulfation phenomenon has occurred) and the subsequent charge and discharge. This was done by investigating behavior. As a result, it was clarified that the lead-acid batteries selected as defective are defective due to the fact that a sulfation phenomenon actually occurs. That is, an accurate pass / fail judgment result was obtained. [0054] Further, the pass / fail judgment was made in the same manner by shortening the time of 10 seconds to 5 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, and 1 second. Even in this way, it was possible to select pass / fail as in the case of 10 seconds. Then, whether or not the lead storage battery selected as defective is actually defective was verified by examining the disassembly investigation and the charge / discharge behavior. As a result, it was found that the lead-acid batteries selected as defective are actually defective. From the above results, it is clear that accurate pass / fail judgment results can be obtained even if the time of 10 seconds is shortened.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the terminal voltage V is always measured and determined by S3 to S5 during the temporary charging, but the measurement is performed at regular intervals during the charging by the temporary charging means. Judgment may be made, and each may be executed at a preset time. However, if a sulfation phenomenon occurs in the lead-acid battery, the terminal voltage V after the start of temporary charging suddenly rises, but part of the lead sulfate becomes soluble with charging and the internal impedance decreases. The terminal voltage V returns to the voltage range R1 due to a temporary drop. For this reason, if the terminal voltage V is measured and judged only once during temporary charging, there is a risk of overlooking the abnormality caused by this sulfuration. Therefore, it is desirable to measure and judge the terminal voltage V multiple times or constantly.

[0056] (2-3) Charging

The operation after 10 seconds have passed in S5 and the selection has been made will be explained.

The constant current charging circuit 12A of the main charging circuit 12 operates, the switching circuit 13 switches to the constant current charging circuit 12A, and the constant current charging of the main charging is started (S6).

In the charger described in the present embodiment, the constant current charging of the main charging is a constant current charging by 3 A and is performed for a maximum of 6 hours by the timer 17 timing. During constant current charging, it is determined whether 6 hours have elapsed since the start of constant current charging (S7), and then the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery is measured by the terminal voltage measuring circuit 18 ( S8), whether or not the terminal voltage V is within the voltage range R2 is determined by the voltage comparator 19 (S9).

[0059] If the terminal voltage V is within the voltage range R2, the voltage difference calculation unit 20 calculates the voltage difference Δν of the difference between the terminal voltage V measured in the previous S8 and the terminal voltage V measured this time. The current terminal voltage V is stored instead of the previous terminal voltage V (S 10), and this voltage difference ΔΥ The voltage difference comparison unit 21 determines whether or not the pressure difference is within the range R3 (Sl l). If the voltage difference Δν is within the voltage difference range R3, the voltage comparison unit 19 determines whether or not the terminal voltage V is 14.5 V or higher (S 12) until the terminal voltage V reaches 14.5 V or higher. Repeat the process from S7 to S12. When this “14.5 V or more” is converted per unit cell, it becomes “2.417 V or more”.

[0060] The constant current charging of the main charging in S12 described above is limited until the terminal voltage V increases to 14.5V. The terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery used in the present embodiment further increases. Then, there is a risk of sudden overcharge. In addition, the constant current charge of the main charge is limited to 6 hours in the above S7 because the lead voltage which does not reach the terminal voltage V force of 14.5V even after 6 hours have elapsed since the start of charging. The storage battery has the ability to determine that a non-recoverable failure has occurred due to a slight internal short circuit. Accordingly, when it is determined that 6 hours have passed in the process of S7, the NG lamp 6 is turned on (S16), the charge lamp 5 is turned off and all the processes are ended.

[0061] Even when it is determined in S9 that the terminal voltage V is outside the voltage range R2, the NG lamp 6 is turned on (S16), the charging lamp 5 is turned off, and all the processes are completed. If the terminal voltage V exceeds the upper limit of the voltage range R2, it is considered that the terminal voltage V has risen abnormally due to the force impedance or deterioration that has been missed during temporary charging due to the high internal impedance of the battery. . Also, the fact that the terminal voltage V does not reach the lower limit of the voltage range R2 is considered to be because the terminal voltage V does not rise sufficiently even if charging is performed due to the occurrence of overdischarge or internal short circuit. Therefore, the fact that the terminal voltage V is outside this voltage range R2 is an irrecoverable defect, so the NG lamp 6 is turned on to notify the operator of the defect and stop charging. As a result, even after starting constant-current charging for main charging, there is a high possibility that defects in lead-acid batteries can be selected early. During constant current charging of this main charging, as shown in Fig. 5, the terminal voltage V of a normal lead-acid battery rises from a voltage equal to or higher than the predetermined voltage V2 to 14.5V, so this voltage range R2 is By changing the value with the passage of time, in particular by raising the lower limit value with the passage of time, it becomes possible to more reliably sort out defects due to the occurrence of overdischarge or internal short circuit.

[0062] If it is determined in S11 that the voltage difference ΔΥ is outside the voltage difference range R3, 6 is turned on (S16), the charging lamp 5 is turned off and all the processes are terminated. Since the voltage difference Δν is the difference between the previous and current terminal voltage V, it indicates the rate of increase of this terminal voltage V. When this voltage difference Δν is calculated for the first time in S10, the terminal voltage V measured last time is stored in the memory, so that the terminal voltage V last measured in S3 may be used as the previous value. However, the dummy terminal voltage V within the voltage difference range R3 may be prepared for the previous time, and the processing of S11 may be omitted only for the first time. Constant current for main charging The terminal voltage V of a normal lead-acid battery during charging increases at the beginning and end of this constant current charging, as shown in Fig. 5. Increase rate. Therefore, by examining the rate of increase of the terminal voltage V, it is possible to more accurately determine whether or not the charging is proceeding smoothly, thereby detecting the failure of the lead storage battery even earlier. It ’s like this. In other words, the fact that the voltage difference Δν does not reach the lower limit of the voltage difference range R3 is considered that the rate of increase of the terminal voltage V does not become sufficiently high even if charging is performed due to the occurrence of an internal short circuit, etc. It can be determined that the lead storage battery is defective. However, since it is not particularly hindered that the rate of increase is not abnormal, it is usually possible to omit the upper limit value of the voltage difference range R3 by setting it to positive infinity.

[0063] It should be noted that the voltage difference range R3 can also be changed according to the elapsed time from the start of the constant current charging of the main charging, thereby obtaining a sufficiently large increase rate at the initial stage of charging, for example. It is possible to detect a failure at an early stage by detecting that it has not been performed. Even in the case of a normal lead-acid battery, the terminal voltage V may increase little during the middle of charging, or may slightly decrease. The lower limit of the difference range R3 can be set to 0 or a negative value to avoid false detection of defects.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the terminal voltage V is always measured and determined by S8 to S11 during the constant current charging of the main charging, but these are the constant current charging of the main charging. It may be executed at regular intervals during power transmission, or may be executed at predetermined times. In this flowchart, when it is determined whether the terminal voltage V of S9 is within the voltage range R2, it is also determined whether the voltage difference Δν of S11 is within the voltage difference range R3. Force These can be done individually and at different times and times. In particular, the voltage difference ΔΥ is constant or the terminal voltage measurement circuit 18 When calculating for each AD conversion sampling period, a differential value of the terminal voltage V is obtained. However, this differential value may be subject to large short-term fluctuations, so that the effects of such fluctuations are eliminated. In addition, it is better to calculate the difference in the terminal voltage V measured at a rather long time interval.

[0065] When it is determined in S12 that the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery has reached 14.5 V or more, the constant current charging circuit 12A of the main charging circuit 12 is stopped and the constant voltage charging of the main charging circuit 12 is stopped. The circuit 12b is operated and the switching circuit 13 is switched to the constant voltage charging circuit 12b to start constant voltage charging for main charging (S13). The constant voltage charge of this charge is a constant voltage charge of 14.5V, the charging current is limited to 3A at maximum, and it is performed for 2 hours at maximum by the timer 17 timing. During constant voltage charging of this main charge, whether 6 hours have passed since the start of the constant current charge of the previous main charge (S 14), and 2 hours have passed since the start of the constant voltage charge of this main charge. The power is judged (S15) and it waits for whichever time has passed. If it is determined in S 15 that 2 hours have elapsed since the start of constant voltage charging, charging of the lead storage battery has been completed normally, so the charging lamp 5 is turned off and all processing is completed. To do. If it is determined in S14 that 6 hours have elapsed since the start of constant current charging, there is a possibility that charging by constant voltage charging may be insufficient.To limit the total charging time, charge If the charging lamp 5 is turned off, all processing is terminated. Note that it is determined that 6 hours have passed in S14, which means that it takes 4 hours or more for the terminal voltage V to reach 14.5V due to the constant current charging of the main charge, and the lead storage battery In this case, warn the operator that there is a minor defect in the lead-acid battery, or treat the lead-acid battery as defective. You can also.

[0066] (2-4) Effects of the embodiment of the present invention

As described above, according to the charger of the above-described embodiment in which the present invention is implemented, the lead storage battery is temporarily charged, and the voltage behavior is investigated during a short period of time when the charging start force is short. For this reason, lead-acid batteries that have been overlooked in the past, such as lead-acid batteries that have produced a sulfation phenomenon, are accurately selected as defective. At the same time, the power of the lead storage battery is determined in a short time. As described above, the lead-acid battery is recovered by charging or replaced. Judgment whether it is necessary, can be made immediately before charging.

[0067] Further, even after the start of the main charging, when selecting whether or not the lead storage battery is defective at any time, the defect of the lead storage battery is found relatively early. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate wasteful charging time and take measures such as quickly replacing the lead storage battery.

[0068] In addition, more accurate sorting is possible by making a determination based on the voltage difference Δν as well as the terminal voltage V of the lead storage battery during the main charge.

[0069] Further, according to the quality determination method and quality determination device of the present invention, defects can be found with high probability by simply measuring the terminal voltage V of the lead-acid battery, which is cumbersome and difficult to distribute. Setup operation and installation of expensive discharge circuit are not required.

[0070] (2-5) Configuration aspects different from the above embodiment

In the above embodiment, a charger for charging a control valve type lead storage battery having a rated voltage of 12 V is described. However, any rated voltage, rated capacity, etc., can be used for lead-acid batteries, and the same can be applied to chargers that charge lead-acid batteries with multiple types of rated voltages. However, if the rated voltage is different, it is necessary to change the setting of the upper and lower limits of voltage range R1 to voltage difference range R3, so this setting operation of the rated voltage is necessary.

[0071] In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the voltage difference Δν is calculated and the failure is selected in the constant current charging of the main charging. However, in addition to this voltage difference Δν or instead of this voltage difference Δν, the difference (double differential) between the previous and current voltage difference ΔV can be calculated and the defect voltage can be selected. As long as it is used to determine whether V changes within a predetermined range as time passes, it is possible to use the terminal voltage V that has been subjected to any calculation.

[0072] In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which whether or not the predetermined time has elapsed is determined in a series of processes, for example, by referring to the time measured by the timer 17. However, when the timer 17 receives a timing complete interrupt from the timer 17, this interrupt routine will take appropriate action.

[0073] By performing the processing of S3 and S4, S8 and S9, and S8 and S10 and S11 in this harmful U penetration, these are respectively performed at a fixed time interval or a predetermined time. It's a little tricky to do. [0074] During constant current charging of the main charging, defects were selected by measuring the terminal voltage V and calculating the voltage difference Δν. However, both or one of these can be omitted.

The specific numerical values shown in the above embodiment can be arbitrarily changed according to the characteristics of the lead storage battery. For example, during constant current charging of main charge, compare with terminal voltage V at S12 14.Voltage value such as 5V, temporary charge 10 seconds, total time of main charge 6 hours, or 2 for constant voltage charge Parameters such as time can also be changed as appropriate.

In the above embodiment, when a lead storage battery is selected as defective, the NG lamp 6 is turned on to stop charging. However, the measure when this defect is selected is arbitrary. For example, lamps other than the NG lamp 6 can be turned on, displayed on the display with characters, etc., or notified to the worker by voice or the like. Furthermore, it is possible to notify a computer or the like connected to this charger. In addition, when a failure is determined, temporary charging may be automatically stopped as in the above embodiment, or an operator may manually stop charging upon notification of failure! ,.

[0077] In the above-described embodiment, the case where the defect selection is performed only by the terminal voltage V (charge voltage) of the lead storage battery has been described. However, the quality can be judged by detecting the charging current together with the terminal voltage V.

[0078] During constant current charging of the main charging, the charging can be interrupted and discharged to perform the same determination as before. In this case, the setting operation becomes cumbersome and the charger becomes expensive because a discharge circuit is provided. However, it is possible to make a reliable defect determination as long as the defects of the lead storage battery can be selected with high probability at an early stage.

[0079] This application is based on a Japanese patent application filed on January 17, 2005 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-009574), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Industrial applicability

[0080] As described above, the present invention relates to a method or apparatus for determining the quality of a lead storage battery widely used in industry such as the automobile industry. Therefore, this method or apparatus can also be used industrially.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] In the method for judging the quality of a lead-acid battery, the method comprises:

Temporary charging process in which lead acid battery is charged with constant current,

A determination step in which the terminal voltage of the lead storage battery is measured within 10 seconds after charging is started at the constant current, and it is determined whether or not the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined voltage; and

A sorting step in which the lead storage battery that has reached the predetermined voltage is sorted as defective;

[2] In the method of claim 1,

The lead storage battery includes a single cell,

The predetermined voltage is 2.67 V or more and 3. OOV or less per unit cell.

[3] In the method of claim 1,

The magnitude of the constant current in the temporary charging step is 0.03 CA or more and 0.110 CA or less.

[4] In the device for judging the quality of the lead-acid battery, the device comprises:

Temporary charging means for charging the lead storage battery with a constant current;

Measuring means for measuring the terminal voltage of the lead-acid battery within 10 seconds after starting charging at the constant current, and determining whether the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined voltage; and Sorting means to sort lead batteries that have arrived as defective

Is provided.

[5] In the device according to claim 4,

The lead storage battery includes a single cell,

The predetermined voltage is 2.67V to 3.00V per unit cell.

[6] In the device according to claim 4,

The magnitude of the constant current in the temporary charging means is 0.03 CA or more and 0.10 CA or less.

[7] The device according to any one of claims 4 and 6, wherein the device further comprises:

Main charging means for performing main charging when the determination means determines that the terminal voltage of the lead-acid battery has reached the predetermined voltage!

Is provided. The device according to claim 7,