Patent Publication Number: US-2022216719-A1

Title: Battery module and power arrangement method

Description:
This application claims the benefit of People&#39;s Republic of China application Serial No. 202110002420.3, filed Jan. 4, 2021, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates in general to a battery module, a power supply and a power arrangement method. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     The battery of the electric car currently available in the market normally includes a number of modularized battery modules. When the electric power of the battery is insufficient, the user needs to connect the battery to a high voltage grid of a charging station to charge the battery. However, when power cut occurs or when the charging station fails and cannot charge the battery but the residual power of the battery module of the battery has not yet dropped to the minimum discharging voltage, it is very likely that the electric car cannot be started or the power consuming functions of the electric car cannot be activated. Therefore, it has become a prominent task for the industries to provide an effective resolution, which cannot be found in the prior art, to resolve the above problem. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a battery module is disclosed. The battery module includes a battery unit, an energy storage element, a switch, a functional circuit and a control unit. The energy storage element is coupled to the battery unit. The switch is coupled to the energy storage element. The functional circuit is respectively coupled to the battery unit and the energy storage element. The control unit is respectively coupled to the functional circuit and the switch, configured to control the functional circuit to cause the energy storage element to be coupled to the battery unit so that the battery unit charges the energy storage unit, or configured to control the functional circuit to cause the energy storage element to be decoupled with the battery unit so that a discharge path is formed. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a power arrangement method is disclosed. The power arrangement method includes: based on controlling of a functional circuit of the battery module by a control unit of the battery module, coupling an energy storage element of the battery module to a battery unit of the battery module to cause the battery unit charges the energy storage element; and based on controlling the functional circuit by the control unit, decoupling the energy storage element with the battery unit, and controlling a switch of the battery module to be conducted to form a discharge path. 
     The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the exchange of electric power between the battery modules according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The battery module  10  includes a functional circuit CT 103 , an energy storage element (inductor, in this embodiment) L 101 , two capacitors C 101  and C 102 , a switch SW 101 , a control unit CT 104  and a battery unit BAT 101 . In this embodiment, the battery module  10  further includes a regulator circuit CT 101  and a transformer circuit CT 102 . 
     The regulator circuit CT 101  has a first input end, a second input end, a first output end and a second output end. The first input end and the second input end are coupled to a voltage source (not illustrated). The regulator circuit CT 101  can be realized by a combination of transistor, resistor, inductor and capacitor to regulate a voltage provided by the voltage source and then output the voltage via the first output end and the second output end. 
     The transformer circuit CT 102  has a first input end, a second input end, a first output end and a second output end. The first input end and the second input end are respectively coupled to the first output end and the second output end of the regulator circuit CT 101 . The transformer circuit CT 102  is used to convert the first voltage received by the first input end and the second input end into a second voltage of suitable magnitude and then output the second voltage via the first output end and the second output end. 
     The functional circuit CT 103  has a first end, a second end, a third end and a fourth end. The first end and the second end are respectively coupled to the first output end and the second output end of the transformer circuit CT 102 . Functions and operations of the functional circuit CT 103  are disclosed below. 
     A first end of the inductor L 101  is coupled to the third end of the functional circuit CT 103 . A first end of the capacitor C 101  is coupled to a second end of the inductor L 101 . A second end of the capacitor C 101  is coupled to the fourth end of the functional circuit CT 103 . A first end of the switch SW 101  is coupled to the first end of the inductor L 101 . A first end of the capacitor C 102  is coupled to a second end of the switch SW 101 . A second end of the capacitor C 102  is coupled to the second end of the capacitor C 101 . A first end of the battery unit BAT 101  is coupled to the second end of the inductor L 101 . A second end of the battery unit BAT 101  is coupled to the second end of the capacitor C 102  and is reference grounded. The battery unit BAT 101  may include one or more batteries, which can be connected in series, in parallel, or in series and parallel. The battery unit BAT 101  can perform charging and discharging. The control unit CT 104  is coupled to the regulator circuit CT 101 , the functional circuit CT 103  and the switch SW 101  (for example, all or some elements of the regulator circuit CT 101  and the functional circuit CT 103  as well as the control end of the switch SW 101 ) and is used to configure/control the regulator circuit CT 101 , the functional circuit CT 103  and the switch SW 101 . 
     In an embodiment, a power supply may include a number of battery modules  10 , a common bus and a main controller. The battery modules are connected to a common bus via a node n 101 . The main controller is coupled to the control unit of the battery modules. The battery module  10  may have a charging mode and a power exchanging mode. Under the charging mode, the first input end and the second input end of the regulator circuit CT 101  are coupled to the voltage source, the switch SW 101  is controlled by the control unit CT 104  to be not conducted, and the functional circuit CT 103  is configured by the control unit CT 104  to make the transformer circuit CT 102  coupled to the inductor L 101 . That is, under the charging mode, the voltage source can charge the battery unit BAT 101  via the regulator circuit CT 101 , the transformer circuit CT 102 , the functional circuit CT 103 , the inductor L 101  and the capacitor C 101 . Under the power exchanging mode, the main controller of the power supply determines to configure at least one of the battery modules as a provider and configure another one of the battery modules as a receiver and instructs the corresponding control unit to implement the above configuration. The operation of the power exchanging mode is transmitting the electric power to the receiver from the provider. That is, under the power exchanging mode, the battery module configured as the provider transmits the electric power of the battery unit to the battery unit of the battery module configured as the receiver. That is, the provider and the receiver would have same circuit architecture and different circuit configurations. Details of the power exchanging mode are disclosed below. 
     Under the power exchanging mode, the functional circuit CT 103  and the regulator circuit CT 101  are configured by the control unit CT 104  to make the transformer circuit CT 102  incapacitated and unable to transmit electric power to the battery unit BAT 101 . The period for which the battery module is under the power exchanging mode includes a first time interval, at least one second time interval and at least one third time interval. During the first time interval, the switch SW 101  of the provider is controlled by the control unit CT 104  of the provider to be not conducted, the switch SW 201  of the receiver is controlled by the control unit of the receiver to be intermittently conducted (such as at a first frequency) to avoid generating a surge current, the functional circuit CT 103  of the provider is further configured by the control unit of the provider to make the first end of the inductor L 101  of the provider not coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider, and the functional circuit CT 203  of the receiver is further configured by the control unit of the receiver to make the first end of the inductor L 201  of the receiver not coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. The first time interval finishes when a cross-voltage of two ends of the capacitor C 102  of the provider and a cross-voltage of two ends of the capacitor C 202  of the receiver are equivalent to a cross-voltage of two ends of the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. The purpose of the first time interval is for the capacitor C 102  of the provider to be charged such that the cross-voltage of the two ends of the capacitor C 102  can be identical to the voltage of the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. For the capacitor C 102  of the provider to be charged, the inductor L 101  of the provider must be incapacitated, such that the first end of the inductor L 101  of the provider and the second end of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider (that is, the reference ground end) are decoupled and the first end of the inductor L 201  of the receiver and the second end of the battery unit BAT 101  of the receiver (that is, the reference ground end) are decoupled, and the inductor L 101  of the provider is excluded from the circuit operations. During each second time interval, the switch SW 101  of the provider is controlled by the control unit of the provider to be not conducted, the switch SW 201  of the receiver is controlled by the control unit of the receiver to be conducted, the functional circuit CT 103  of the provider is further configured by the control unit CT 104  of the provider to make the first end of the inductor L 101  of the provider coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider, and the functional circuit CT 203  of the receiver is further configured by the control unit of the receiver to make the first end of the inductor 2101  of the receiver not coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. The purpose of the second time interval is for the electric power of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider to charge the inductor L 101  of the provider. Thus, the first end of the inductor L 101  of the provider needs to be coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider (that is, the reference ground end) to form a complete current loop. Under the second time interval, the inductor L 201  of the receiver can be incapacitated to be decoupled from the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. During each third time interval, the switch SW 101  of the provider is controlled by the control unit CT 104  of the provider to be conducted, the switch SW 201  of the receiver is controlled by the control unit of the receiver to be conducted, the functional circuit CT 103  of the provider is further configured by the control unit of the provider to make the first end of the inductor L 101  of the provider not coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider, and the functional circuit CT 203  of the receiver is further configured by the control unit of the receiver to make the first end of the inductor L 201  of the receiver not coupled to the second end of the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. The purpose of the third time interval is for the inductor L 101  of the provider to charge the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. Thus, the electric power of the battery unit BAT 101  of the provider is transmitted to the inductor L 101  of the provider, and then is further transmitted to the battery unit BAT 201  of the receiver. 
     In short, when the power supply activates the power exchanging mode, firstly the operation of the first time interval is performed, then the operation of the second time interval and the operation of the third time interval are performed alternately until the electric power of the battery unit BAT 101  of the receiver reaches a target value. The time axis of the period under the power exchanging mode is as follows: the first time interval, the second time interval, the third time interval, the second time interval, the third time interval, . . . , the second time interval, the third time interval, and the rest can be obtained by analogy. It should be noted that the length of each second time interval does not need to be the same. Similarly, the length of each third time interval does not need to be the same. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram of a battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown.  FIG. 2  shows detailed circuit design of the regulator circuit and the functional circuit of  FIG. 1 . The regulator circuit CT 101  includes transistors Q 101 ˜Q 104 , an inductor L 102  and a capacitor C 103 . A first end of the capacitor C 103  is used as the first input end of the regulator circuit CT 101 . A second end of the capacitor C 103  is used as the second input end of the regulator circuit CT 101 . A first end of the transistor Q 101  is coupled to the first end of the capacitor C 103 . A first end of the transistor Q 102  is coupled to a second end of the transistor Q 101 . A second end of the transistor Q 102  is coupled to the second end of the capacitor C 103 . A first end of the transistor Q 103  is coupled to the first end of the capacitor C 103 . A first end of the transistor Q 104  is coupled to a second end of the transistor Q 103  and is used as the second output end of the regulator circuit CT 101 . A second end of the transistor Q 104  is coupled to the second end of the capacitor C 103 . A first end of the inductor L 102  is coupled to the second end of the transistor Q 101 . A second end of the inductor L 102  is used as the first output end of the regulator circuit CT 101 . 
     The functional circuit CT 103  includes a number of transistors Q 105 -Q 108 . A first end of the transistor Q 105  is used as the third end of the functional circuit CT 103 . A first end of the transistor Q 106  is coupled to a second end of the transistor Q 105  and is used as the first end of the functional circuit CT 103 . A first end of the transistor Q 107  is coupled to the first end of the transistor Q 105 . A first end of the transistor Q 108  is coupled to a second end of the transistor Q 107  and is used as the second end of the functional circuit CT 103 . A second end of the transistor Q 108  is coupled to a second end of the transistor Q 106  and is used as the fourth end of the functional circuit CT 103 . 
     It should be noted that for the accompanying drawings to be simplified, the details of coupling each of the transistors Q 101 ˜Q 108  and a control end of the switch SW 101  to a control unit CT 104  (not illustrated in  FIG. 2 ) are omitted in  FIG. 2 . That is, each of the transistors Q 101 ˜Q 108  and the switch SW 101  are controlled by the control unit CT 104  to be conducted or are not conducted. 
     For the present invention to be clearly understood, the operations of the battery module configured as the provider and the operations of the battery module configured as the receiver under the power exchanging mode are disclosed below with an accompanying drawing  FIG. 3 . 
     In the example of  FIG. 3 , the battery module  10  is configured as the provider, the battery module  20  is configured as the receiver, and a node n 101  of the battery module  10  and a node n 201  of the battery module  20  are connected to a common bus. It should be noted that for the accompanying drawings to be simplified, some elements are omitted. To be more precisely, the regulator circuit and the transformer circuit do not participate in the operations under the power exchanging mode and therefor are omitted. Besides, since the transistor and the switch of each of the battery modules are controlled by corresponding control units as disclosed above, the descriptions thereof are omitted. 
     During the period when the power exchanging mode is activated, since the regulator circuit CT 101  and the transformer circuit CT 102  do not participate in the operation, the transistors Q 106 , Q 108 , Q 206 , and Q 208  remain to be conducted, such that the first output end and the second output end of the transformer circuit CT 102  are coupled to the reference ground and become decoupled from the inductor L 101 . That is, the regulator circuit CT 101  and the transformer circuit CT 102  are excluded from the circuit operation of the power exchanging mode. That is, regardless of whether the time is the first time interval, the second time interval or the third time interval, the transistors Q 106 , Q 108 , Q 206 , and Q 208  are all conducted. During the first time interval, the transistors Q 105 , Q 107 , Q 205 , and Q 207  are not conducted, the switch SW 101  is not conducted, and the switch SW 201  is conducted at a first frequency. During the second time interval, the transistors Q 105  and Q 107  are conducted, the transistors Q 205  and Q 207  are not conducted, the switch SW 101  is not conducted, and the switch SW 201  is conducted. During the third time interval, the switches SW 101  and SW 201  are conducted but the transistors Q 105 , Q 107 , Q 205 , and Q 207  are not conducted. 
     Through the above arrangement, the battery unit BAT 101  of the battery module  10  can transmit electric power to the battery unit BAT 201  of the battery module  20 . 
     The battery module of the present invention can be used in the power supply of an electric car. The power supply may include a number of battery modules of the present invention. The battery modules can be connected to a common bus via the nodes (n 101  and n 201 ). When the power supply cannot be connected to an external voltage source (such as a power grid of a charging station) to perform charging, the power supply can use a main controller, which instructs the control unit of at least one of the battery modules to enter a power exchanging mode and configure the corresponding control unit as a provider and at the same time instructs the control unit of another one of the battery modules to enter the power exchanging mode and configure the corresponding control unit as a receiver. The battery unit of the provider can transmit electric power to the battery unit of the receiver. 
     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.