Abstract:
A battery balance circuit is adapted to balance battery voltages among a plurality of battery cells. The battery balance circuit is enabled to perform a battery balance process when the battery cells are charged, and is disabled when one of the batter cells is fully charged or the battery cells are un-charged.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 101118222, filled May 22, 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a battery balance circuit, and more particularly relates to a battery balance circuit which can balance battery voltages of battery cells when the battery cells are in a charge state. 
     (2) Description of the Prior Art 
     As portable electronic products are developed rapidly, the demand for rechargeable batteries becomes increasingly larger. Rechargeable batteries include a conventional Ni—Ca battery, a Ni—H battery, and a Li-ion battery as well as the recently developed Li-polymer battery. The voltage provided by a different type of rechargeable battery varies, and the required operating voltages of the portable electronic products are also different. Therefore, battery manufacturers usually connect several batteries in series to form a battery module for providing a voltage to meet the operating voltage requirement of portable electronic product. 
     However, the electric power storage capacities of batteries in a battery module are different, and the actual use of electric power storage capacity of the battery module is determined by the battery with the lowest electric power storage capacity. In addition to the variation of factory default electric power storage capacity of each battery in a battery module, a battery also self-discharges electric power when not being in use. Since each battery self-discharges electric power at a different rate, an unbalanced electric power storage capacity will occur among the batteries, and the usable capacity of the battery module is reduced as the operation time of the battery increases, and the operation efficiency of the battery module becomes lower, and the operation time of the battery module from fully charged to empty becomes shorter. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a conventional battery balance circuit. A battery module comprises two battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  connected in series. A charge circuit  40  is coupled to the battery module for providing a charge current Ich to charge the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . A protection circuit  20  is coupled to the battery module, and determines states of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . The protection circuit  20  controls a charge/discharge switch  25  in response to the states of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . When any one of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  is fully charged, the protection circuit  20  generates a fully-charged protection signal CO to cut off the charge/discharge switch  25 , so as to stop charging the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . When any one of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  is over-discharged, the protection circuit  20  generates an over-discharged protection signal DO to cut off the charge/discharge switch  25 , so as to stop discharging the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . A charge judgment circuit  30  is coupled to the charge/discharge switch  25 , and detects a voltage difference between two terminals of the charge/discharge switch  25 . Accordingly, the charge judgment circuit  30  determines whether the battery module is in a charge state. If yes, the charge judgment circuit  30  generates a balance enable signal CBEN. A balance circuit  10  is coupled to the battery module, and is activated when receiving the balance enable signal CBEN. Then, the balance circuit  10  detects a voltage difference between the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 , and accordingly determines whether to execute a voltage balance process. If the balance circuit  10  determines the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  in the battery module are in an unbalance state, the balance circuit  10  performs the voltage balance process to reduce the voltage difference between the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . 
       FIG. 2  is a charge current waveform of a conventional battery. In general, the charge current is substantially decreased with time, regardless of the charging mode for the batter. The charge judgment circuit  30  determines whether the battery module is in a charge state according to a voltage drop across the charge/discharge switch  25  when the charge current Ich flows therethrough. Consequently; and when the charge current Ich is lower than a detectable threshold OPTH, the charge judgment circuit  30  determines that the battery module is not in a charge state and thus stops generating the balance enable signal CBEN. At this time, the balance circuit  10  also stops the voltage balance process. As shown in  FIG. 2 , a time period of the charge current Ich being higher than the detectable threshold OPTH is short. Therefore, the voltage balance process executed by the balance circuit  10  lasts a short period, and the balance effect is unobvious. Besides, the determination of the charge judgment circuit  30  is interfered by influences, such as noises and offset voltages thereof. Thus, the size of the detectable threshold OPTH has to be sufficient large against the influence, and so the detectable threshold OPTH is hard to be decreased. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     in view of the poor balance effect for batteries, the present invention determines an end time of the voltage balance process by detecting the batteries being fully charged or/and variations of battery voltages. Therefore, the present invention significantly prolongs the operating time of the voltage balance process to achieve a good balance effect. 
     For the aforementioned objects, a battery balance circuit, adapted to balance battery voltages of a plurality of battery cells connected in series, is provided in the present invention. The battery balance circuit comprises a balance circuit, a protection circuit, a charge judgment circuit, and a balance enable circuit. The balance circuit determines whether to execute a voltage balance process according to the battery voltages of the plurality of battery cells or voltage differences among the battery voltages for reducing the voltage differences. The protection circuit generates a protection signal to cut off a charge/discharge switch when it is determined that one of the plurality of battery cells is fully charged according to the battery voltages. The charge judgment circuit is coupled to the plurality of battery cells and generates a balance enable signal when it is determined that the plurality of battery cells is in a charge state. The balance enable circuit is coupled to the balance circuit, the protection circuit and the charge judgment circuit. The balance enable circuit activates the balance circuit when receiving the balance enable signal, and inactivates the balance circuit when receiving the protection signal. 
     A battery balance circuit, adapted to balance battery voltages of a plurality of battery cells, is also provided in the present invention. The battery balance circuit comprises a balance circuit, a charge-stop judgment circuit, a charge judgment circuit, and a balance enable circuit. The balance circuit determines whether to execute a voltage balance process for reducing the voltage differences according to the battery voltages of the plurality of battery cells or voltage differences of the battery voltages. The charge-stop judgment circuit detects at least one battery voltage among the plurality of battery cells and generates a balance stop signal when it is determined that any one of the detected battery voltages is decreased. The charge judgment circuit is coupled to the plurality of battery cells and generates a balance enable signal when it is determined that the plurality of battery cells is in a charge state. The balance enable circuit is coupled to the balance circuit, the charge-stop judgment circuit and the charge judgment circuit. The balance enable circuit activates the balance circuit when receiving the balance enable signal, and inactivates the balance circuit when receiving the balance stop signal. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. In order to make the features and the advantages of the invention comprehensible, exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will now be specified with reference to its preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a conventional battery balance circuit; 
         FIG. 2  is a charge current waveform of a conventional battery: 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a battery balance circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3A  is a schematic diagram of a balance enable circuit according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is a schematic diagram of a balance enable circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3C  is a schematic diagram of a balance enable circuit according to a third embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a battery balance circuit according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a relationship diagram between a voltage across the impedance unit of the charge-top judgment circuit shown in  FIG. 4  and the charge current. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawings. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a battery balance circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The battery balance circuit comprises a balance circuit  10 , a protection circuit  20 , a charge judgment circuit  30  and a balance enable circuit  15 , for balancing battery voltages of a plurality of battery cells connected in series in a battery module. In the present embodiment, taking two battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  as an example, the balance circuit  10  is coupled to positive and negative terminals of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 , and determines whether to execute a voltage balance process for decreasing the voltage difference according to battery voltages of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  or a voltage difference between the battery voltages. For example, the balance circuit  10  determines which one has the higher voltage between the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 , determines whether the voltage difference between the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  is higher than a predetermined voltage difference, and executes the voltage balance process according to the determined result. The balance circuit  10  may optionally stop executing the voltage balance process when the voltage difference between the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  is higher than a protection voltage difference, which is higher than the predetermined voltage difference, thereby avoiding abnormal conditions of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 . In general, the voltage balance process is classified into a passive balance type and an active balance type, and both the types are applicable to the present invention. The passive balance type is to shunt a charge current provided by a charge circuit  40  with respect to a battery cell having a higher battery voltage. Thereby, a charge current for a battery cell having a lower battery voltage is greater than that for the battery cell having the higher battery voltage. The active balance type is to store an electric power from the battery cell having the higher battery voltage or from the charge circuit  40  in an inductor or a capacitor, and to transmit the stored electric power into the battery cell having the lower battery voltage. 
     When the protection circuit  20  determines that any one of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  is fully charged according to the battery voltages of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 , the protection circuit  20  generates a protection signal CO to cut off a charge/discharge switch  25 . In the present embodiment, the protection signal CO is used to control an N-type MOSFET, and thus the protection signal CO being generated means that the protection signal is at a low level; on the other hand, the protection signal CO being stopped means that the protection signal is at a high level. In general, the charge/discharge switch  25  is cut oft to stop charging the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  for preventing the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  from being damaged due to overcharging. The charge judgment circuit  30  is coupled to the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 , and generates a balance enable signal CBEN when it is determined that the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  are in a charge state. The charge judgment circuit  30  may be an operational amplifier, which has two detection terminals. One detection terminal is coupled to one end of the charge/discharge switch  25  which is connected to the battery cell BAT 2 , and the other detection terminal is coupled to the other end of the charge/discharge switch  25 . Thereby, the charge judgment circuit  30  determines whether the charge current flowing through the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  is greater than a predetermined current according to a voltage across the charge/discharge switch  25 . If yes, the charge judgment circuit  30  generates the balance enable signal CBEN. Alternatively, a resistor may be coupled to the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2 , and the charge judgment circuit  30  detects a voltage across the resistor. A resistance value of the resistor is preferably smaller so as to decrease power consumption of the resistor when the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  are charged/discharged. The balance enable circuit  15  is coupled to the balance circuit  10 , the protection circuit  20  and the charge judgment circuit  30 . The balance enable circuit  15  generates an enable signal EN to activate the balance circuit  10  when receiving the balance enable signal CBEN, and stops generating the enable signal EN to inactivate the balance circuit  10  when receiving the protection signal CO. 
     As mentioned above, the present invention determines a start time of the battery balance process in response to the detected result of the charge current, and determines an end time of the battery balance process in response to the detected result of battery cell being fully-charged. There is a large ratio of a time period of the charge current of the battery cells being small to the entire charging time period. Therefore, the present invention can significantly prolong the operating time of the voltage balance process to achieve a good balance effect, and to reduce a cycle time for reaching a complete battery balance. 
       FIG. 3A  is a schematic diagram of a balance enable circuit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The balance enable circuit comprises a silicon controlled rectifier SCR. Also referring to  FIG. 3 , a gate of silicon controlled rectifier SCR is coupled to the charge judgment circuit  30  for receiving the balance enable signal CBEN. An anode of the silicon controlled rectifier SCR is coupled to the protection circuit  20  for receiving the protection signal CO. A cathode of the silicon controlled rectifier SCR is coupled to the balance circuit  10  for generating the enable signal EN to activate the balance circuit  10 . During the period in which the protection circuit  20  stops generating the protection signal CO the protection signal CO being a high level signal), the charge judgment circuit  30  generates the balance enable signal CBEN, and the silicon controlled rectifier SCR is triggered to generate the enable signal EN so as to activate the balance circuit  10 . The silicon controlled rectifier SCR stops generating the enable signal EN to inactivate the balance circuit  10  only when the protection circuit  20  generates the protection signal CO (i.e., the protection signal CO is a low level signal). 
       FIG. 3B  is a schematic diagram of a balance enable circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The balance enable circuit comprises a PNP bipolar junction transistor BJT 1  and a NPN bipolar junction transistor BJT 2 . Also referring to  FIG. 3 , an emitter of the PNP bipolar junction transistor BJT 1  is coupled to the protection circuit  20  for receiving the protection signal CO. A collector of the PNP bipolar junction transistor BJT 1  is coupled to the charge judgment circuit  30  and a base of the NPN bipolar junction transistor BJT 2  for receiving the balance enable signal CREN. A base of the PNP bipolar junction transistor BJT 1  is coupled to a collector of the NPN bipolar junction transistor BJT 2 . An emitter of the NPN bipolar junction transistor BJT 2  is coupled to the balance circuit  10 , and is grounded through a resistor R 2 . For preventing the balance enable circuit from erroneously judging noises as the balance enable signal CBEN, a resistor R 1  and a capacitor C 1  may be coupled to the base of the NPN bipolar junction transistor BJT 2  to filter the noises. During that the period in which the protection circuit  20  stops generating the protection signal CO (i.e., the protection signal CO being a high level signal), the charge judgment circuit  30  generates the balance enable signal CBEN, and the balance enable circuit is triggered to generate the enable signal EN to activate the balance circuit  10 . At this time, the PNP bipolar junction transistor BJT 1  and the NPN bipolar junction transistor BJT 2  keep being turned on so as to generate the enable signal EN even when the charge judgment circuit  30  stops generating the balance enable signal CBEN. The balance enable circuit stops generating the enable signal EN to inactivate the balance circuit  10  only when the protection circuit  20  generates the protection signal CO (i.e., the protection signal CO is a low level signal). 
       FIG. 3C  is a schematic diagram of a balance enable circuit according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The balance enable circuit comprises a P-type MOSFET M 1  and an N-type MOSFET M 2 . Also referring to  FIG. 3 , a source of the P-type MOSFET M 1  is coupled to the protection circuit  20  for receiving the protection signal CO. A drain of the P-type MOSFET M 1  is coupled to the charge judgment circuit  30  and a gate of the N-type MOSFET M 2  for receiving the balance enable signal CBEN. A gate of the P-type MOSFET M 1  is coupled to a drain of the N-type MOSFET M 2  and a negative end of a diode D, and a positive end of the diode D is coupled to the balance circuit  10  and one end of a resistor R 4 . The other end of the resistor R 4  is coupled to a voltage source VDD. A source of the N-type MOSFET M 2  is grounded. A resistor R 3  and a capacitor C 2  are coupled to the gate of the N-type MOSFET M 2  for filtering the noises. During, that the period in which the protection circuit  20  stops generating the protection signal CO (i.e., the protection signal CO being a high level signal), the charge judgment circuit  30  generates the balance enable signal CBEN, and the balance enable circuit is triggered to generate the enable signal EN with a low level to activate the balance circuit  10 . In the present embodiment, the balance circuit  10  is activated by the enable signal EN with a low level, and is inactivated by the enable signal EN with high level. At this time, the P-type MOSFET M 1  and the N-type MOSFET M 2  keep being, turned on to generate the enable signal EN with a low level even when the charge judgment circuit  30  stops generating the balance enable signal CBEN. The balance enable circuit stops generating the enable signal EN (i.e., the enable signal EN being a high level signal) to inactivate the balance circuit  10  only when the protection circuit  20  generates the protection signal CO (i.e., the protection signal CO is a low level signal). 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a battery balance circuit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the battery balance circuit shown in  FIG. 3 , the main difference is the determination of the end time of the battery voltage balance process. In the present embodiment, a charge-stop judgment circuit is used to determine whether a battery voltage of the battery module is decreased. If yes, the charge-stop judgment generates a balance stop signal TS. The charge-stop judgment circuit comprises a judgment circuit  35  and a filter circuit. The filter circuit is coupled to two terminal of the battery module, and has an impedance unit R and a capacitive unit C connected in series. Each of the battery cells BAT 1  and BAT 2  has an internal resistance, and thus the detected battery voltages in a charge state are higher the detected battery voltages in an uncharged state and a discharge state. Also referring to  FIG. 5 , which is a relationship diagram between a voltage Yr across the impedance unit R of the charge-stop judgment circuit shown in  FIG. 4  and the charge current Ich. Since a voltage across the capacitive unit C is almost equal to the voltage of the battery module in the charge state, the voltage Vr across the impedance unit R is almost zero. However, when a size of the current flowing through the battery module is changed, such as in a stopping charge state or being transferred into a discharge state, all the battery voltages of the battery cells in the battery module are decreased. The voltage across the capacitive unit C can immediately responses to the change in voltage, which reflects in the voltage across the impedance unit R, and thus the voltage Vr will suddenly be increased. The judgment circuit  35  may comprise an operational amplifier, which determines whether the voltage Vr of the impedance unit R is higher than a predetermined voltage. If yes, the judgment circuit  35  generates the balance stop signal TS. Of course, in addition to the two terminals of the battery module, the charge-stop judgment circuit may be coupled to two terminals of at least one battery cell in the battery module, thereby determining the change in voltage due to the change of the charge current. 
     The balance enable circuit  15  comprises an OR gate  14  and a SR flip-flop  16 . The charge judgment circuit  30  is coupled to a set end S of the SR flip-flop  16 , an output end of the OR gate  14  is coupled to a reset end R of the SR flip-flop  16 , and an output end Q of the SR flip-flop  16  is coupled to the balance circuit  10 . When the charge judgment circuit  30  generates the balance enable signal CBEN when detecting, the charge current, the balance enable circuit  15  generates the enable signal EN to activate the balance circuit  10 . When the judgment circuit  35  generates the balance stop signal TS or the protection circuit  20  generates the protection signal CO which is inverted to input into the OR gate  14 , the balance enable circuit  15  stops generating the enable signal EN to inactivate the balance circuit  10 . Hence, the balance circuit  10  of the present invention stops executing the battery voltage balance process even when the battery module is momentarily charged and not fully changed, thereby avoid continuing to execute the battery voltage balance process and consuming the energy of the battery module due to the operation of the balance circuit  10 . 
     Besides, in some application, the charge circuit  40  provides an insufficient charge voltage for charging the battery module, such as a car generator or a motorcycle generator. Consequently, the protection circuit  20  may not be triggered to generate the protection signal CO. In these applications, the balance enable circuit  15  shown in  FIG. 4  may determine the end time of the battery voltage balance process only by the balance stop signal TS. That is, the OR gate  14  is omitted and the balance stop signal TS is directly inputted to the reset end R of the SR flip-flop  16 . The balance enable circuit  15  inactivates the balance circuit  10  when receiving the balance stop signal TS. 
     In summary, the battery balance circuit of the present invention determines the end time of the battery voltage balance process in response to that the battery module is fully charged and/or the battery voltage of the battery cell is changed. Compared with the conventional determination of detecting charge current, the present invention can significantly prolongs the operating time of the voltage balance process to achieve a good balance effect. 
     While the preferred embodiment, of the present invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.