Patent Description:
Recently, battery pack-related technologies have been developed with the development of electric vehicle and energy storage technology. Particularly, technologies for detecting the states of battery packs have been developed to charge, discharge, and manage the battery packs.

Because these technologies are implemented by dedicated equipment arranged in separate facilities, there is an inconvenience of having to disconnect a battery pack from an apparatus such as an electric vehicle or an energy storage and then transfer the battery pack to a separate facility (e.g., a service center) to analyze the cause of abnormality thereof in order to diagnose the battery pack, thus causing incidental limitations such as an increase in the service cost and an increase in the battery unavailability period. <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT> all make disclosures related to battery diagnostic systems.

Provided is a battery pack diagnosing device and method that may allow a user to more quickly and easily detect the state of a battery pack at a location where the battery pack is installed and/or used.

Also, provided is a battery pack diagnosing device and method that may allow a user to more quickly and easily detect the state of a battery pack at a location where the battery pack is installed and/or used and to take an immediate action on the battery pack according to the detected state.

Also, provided is a battery pack diagnosing device and method that may perform a more in-depth diagnosis on a battery pack at a location thereof.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a battery pack diagnosing device according to claim <NUM>. According to a second aspect, there is provided a battery pack diagnosing method using such a device according to claim <NUM>. Details of embodiments are provided in the dependent claims. According to embodiments, a battery pack diagnosing method includes: generating a wake-up signal of a battery pack based on a user input and transmitting the wake-up signal to the battery pack; establishing a communication connection according to a first communication method with the battery pack turned on based on the wake-up signal; receiving state information of the battery pack through the established communication connection; and transmitting the received state information to a user terminal according to a second communication method.

The battery pack may include a switch for controlling an operation of the battery pack, and the switch may be turned on by the wake-up signal to turn on the battery pack.

The receiving of the state information may include receiving a signal by which the battery pack broadcasts the state information.

The battery pack diagnosing method may further include, after the transmitting of the received state information to the user terminal: receiving at least one of a control signal of the battery pack and a detailed information request signal of the battery pack from the user terminal according to the second communication method; when the received signal is the control signal of the battery pack, transmitting the control signal to the battery pack; and when the received signal is the detailed information request signal of the battery pack, receiving the detailed information from the battery pack in response to the request and transmitting the received detailed information to the user terminal.

According to embodiments, a battery pack diagnosing device mediating signal communication between a battery pack and a user terminal includes: a first connection terminal electrically connected to at least one of the battery pack and an apparatus equipped with the battery pack; a first switch for changing a communication mode with the apparatus connected to the first connection terminal based on a user input; a second switch for applying power to the battery pack diagnosing device based on a user input; a second connection terminal for supplying power to the battery pack diagnosing device; a communication unit for exchanging signals with the user terminal; a third switch for acquiring a user input for transmitting a wake-up signal to the battery pack; and a controller electrically connected to the first switch, the second switch, the third switch, the first connection terminal, the second connection terminal, and the communication unit.

The controller may generate the wake-up signal based on a user input to the third switch and transmit the generated wake-up signal to the battery pack through the first connection terminal, and establish a communication connection according to a first communication method with the battery pack turned on based on the wake-up signal and receive state information of the battery pack through the established communication connection.

The battery pack diagnosing device may further include a display unit displaying at least one of an operation state of the battery pack diagnosing device, a communication state according to a first communication method with the battery pack, a communication state according to a second communication method with the user terminal, and state information of the battery pack.

The controller may transmit the received state information of the battery pack to the user terminal through the communication unit according to a second communication method.

The controller may receive at least one of a control signal of the battery pack and a detailed information request signal of the battery pack from the user terminal through the communication unit.

The controller, when the received signal is the control signal of the battery pack, may transmit the control signal to the battery pack through the first connection terminal, receive an operation result according to the control signal from the battery pack through the first connection terminal, and transmit the received operation result to the user terminal through the communication unit according to the second communication method.

The controller, when the received signal is the detailed information request signal of the battery pack, may receive the detailed information from the battery pack through the first connection terminal in response to the request and transmit the received detailed information to the user terminal through the communication unit according to the second communication method.

The battery pack diagnosing device may further include a memory storing at least one of an operation state of the battery pack diagnosing device, a communication state according to a first communication method with the battery pack, a communication state according to a second communication method with the user terminal, and state information of the battery pack.

The state information of the battery pack may include state information of a battery management system (BMS) of the battery pack.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, it may be possible to implement a battery pack diagnosing device and method that may allow a user to more quickly and easily detect the state of a battery pack at a location where the battery pack is installed and/or used.

Also, it may be possible to implement a battery pack diagnosing device and method that may allow a user to more quickly and easily detect the state of a battery pack at a location where the battery pack is installed and/or used and to take an immediate action on the battery pack according to the detected state.

Also, it may be possible to implement a battery pack diagnosing device and method that may perform a more in-depth diagnosis on a battery pack at a location thereof.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a battery pack diagnosing method includes: generating a wake-up signal of a battery pack based on a user input and transmitting the wake-up signal to the battery pack; establishing a communication connection according to a first communication method with the battery pack turned on based on the wake-up signal; receiving state information of the battery pack through the established communication connection; and transmitting the received state information to a user terminal according to a second communication method.

The advantages and features of the present disclosure and the accomplishing methods thereof will become apparent from the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The embodiments described below are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. In the following description of the present disclosure, certain detailed descriptions of the related art will be omitted when it is deemed that they may unnecessarily obscure the subject matters of the present disclosure.

Although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements or components, these elements or components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element or component from another element or component.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. It will be understood that terms such as "comprise", "include", and "have", when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof. Although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements or components, these elements or components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element or component from another element or component.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in the following description, like reference numerals will be used to denote like elements and redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted for conciseness.

<FIG> and <FIG> illustrate a configuration of a battery pack (<NUM>) diagnosing system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

First, referring to <FIG>, a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the disclosure may be directly connected to a battery pack <NUM>. In this case, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and the battery pack <NUM> may be electrically connected by a cable connecting both to each other. Depending on the configuration of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and the battery pack <NUM>, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and the battery pack <NUM> may be connected by a wireless communication method. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may exchange data with (or transmit/receive data to/from) a user terminal <NUM>. In this case, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> may be connected to the user terminal <NUM> according to various wired or wireless communication methods.

Next, referring to <FIG>, a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to another embodiment of the present disclosure may be connected to an apparatus <NUM> mounted with a battery pack <NUM>. In other words, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to another embodiment of the present disclosure may be indirectly connected to the battery pack <NUM> through the apparatus <NUM>. In this case, depending on the configuration of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and the apparatus <NUM>, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and the apparatus <NUM> may be connected according to a wired communication method or may be connected according to a wireless communication method. Also, as in the above example, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> may be connected to the user terminal <NUM> according to various wired or wireless communication methods.

Meanwhile, in the present disclosure, the apparatus <NUM> may refer to various devices mounted with the battery pack <NUM>. For example, the apparatus <NUM> may be a vehicle mounted with the battery pack <NUM> as illustrated and may be any one of an electric vehicle, a cart, an electric bicycle, an electric scooter, and a two-wheeled vehicle. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

<FIG> illustrates a configuration of a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive state information of the battery pack <NUM> from the battery pack <NUM> and transmit the same to the user terminal <NUM> or may receive a control signal of the battery pack <NUM> from the user terminal <NUM> and transmit the same to the battery pack <NUM>. For this, the battery pack <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a communication unit <NUM>, a controller <NUM>, a first connection terminal <NUM>, a second connection terminal <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a first switch <NUM>, a second switch <NUM>, a third switch <NUM>, and a display unit <NUM>.

First, the communication unit <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may establish a communication connection between the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and another device and exchange data through the established communication connection. For example, the communication unit <NUM> may establish a communication connection according to a second communication method with the user terminal <NUM> described above and exchange data with the user terminal <NUM>. In this case, the data may include state information of the battery pack <NUM> and a control signal of the battery pack <NUM>.

Meanwhile, the "second communication method" may refer to various communication methods as described above. For example, when the user terminal <NUM> and the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> are connected by a wireless communication method, the second communication method may be any one of a Bluetooth communication method, a Wi-Fi communication method, a Zigbee communication method, and an NFC communication method. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the communication unit <NUM> may establish a communication connection according to a first communication method with the battery pack <NUM> and exchange data between the battery pack <NUM> and the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> through the established communication connection. In this case, the "first communication method" may refer to various communication methods like the second communication method described above. For example, the first communication method may be any one of a controller area network (CAN) communication method, an RS485 communication method, an RS232 communication method, and an RS422 communication method. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be electrically connected to the communication unit <NUM>, the first connection terminal <NUM>, the second connection terminal <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the first switch <NUM>, the second switch <NUM>, the third switch <NUM>, and the display unit <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may perform various operations such as initiation of communication with the battery pack <NUM> and/or the user terminal <NUM>, data transmission/reception (or communication), data calculation (or operation), data processing, and data display. For example, the controller <NUM> may generate a wake-up signal based on a user input to the third switch <NUM>, which will be described below, and transmit the generated wake-up signal to the battery pack <NUM> through the first connection terminal <NUM>. A detailed description of the operation of the controller <NUM> will be given below.

The controller <NUM> may include any type of device such as a processor that may process data. Here, the "processor" may refer to, for example, a data processing device that is embedded in hardware and has a physically structured circuit to perform a function represented by the commands or code in a program. As an example, the data processing device embedded in hardware may include any processing device such as a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), a processor core, a multiprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA); however, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The first connection terminal <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be electrically connected to at least one of the battery pack <NUM> and the apparatus <NUM> equipped with the battery pack <NUM>. In other words, the first connection terminal <NUM> may be a terminal to which a communication cable with at least one of the battery pack <NUM> and the apparatus <NUM> is connected. In this case, the type of the first connection terminal <NUM> may be determined according to the communication method between the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and another device. For example, when the first communication method is a CAN communication method as in the example described above, the first connection terminal <NUM> may be a terminal to which a CAN communication cable is connected.

The first switch <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may change the communication mode between the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and another device connected to the first connection terminal <NUM> based on a user input. As described above, the first connection terminal <NUM> may be electrically connected to at least one of the battery pack <NUM> and the apparatus <NUM> equipped with the battery pack <NUM>. Thus, a tool for switching the communication mode, such as the first switch <NUM>, may be required to prepare for the connection of both devices having different communication modes to one connection terminal (e.g., the first connection terminal <NUM>).

For example, when the first communication method is a CAN communication method as in the above example, the first switch <NUM> may change the communication mode by connecting and/or disconnecting a termination resistor for a high-speed CAN mode between a CAN H line and a CAN L line. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the first switch <NUM> may include any one of a toggle switch, a selector switch, a push button switch, a slide switch, and a tumbler switch. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The second switch <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may apply power to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> based on a user input. In other words, the second switch <NUM> may be a power switch of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>.

The battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include an internal battery (not illustrated). The internal battery (not illustrated) may receive power from an external power supply through the second connection terminal <NUM> described below, store the power, and then supply the power when the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> operates. Thus, the second switch <NUM> may supply or block the power from the internal battery to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> based on a user input.

The second switch <NUM> may include any one of a toggle switch, a selector switch, a push button switch, a slide switch, and a tumbler switch. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The second connection terminal <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be connected to an external power supply for supplying power to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>. When the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> is driven by an internal battery (not illustrated) as described above, the second connection terminal <NUM> may supply power to the internal battery (not illustrated). Also, unlike this, when the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> does not include an internal battery (not illustrated), the second connection terminal <NUM> may directly supply power to each component of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The third switch <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may acquire a user input for transmitting a wake-up signal to the battery pack <NUM> connected to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>.

In this case, the "wake-up signal" may be a signal for operating the battery pack <NUM> and may be a signal for turning on the battery pack <NUM>. When the battery pack <NUM> is in an idle state, because an internal switch (relay) of the battery pack <NUM> is turned off, the control signal may be transmitted to the battery pack <NUM> or the state information may be received from the battery pack <NUM>.

Thus, in order to diagnose the battery pack <NUM>, that is, to exchange signals with the battery pack <NUM>, it may be necessary to turn on the internal switch (relay). The third switch <NUM> may turn on the battery pack <NUM> by transmitting a wake-up signal to the battery pack <NUM> based on a user input, to enable diagnosis by the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>.

The third switch <NUM> may include any one of a toggle switch, a selector switch, a push button switch, a slide switch, and a tumbler switch. However, this is merely an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The display unit <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may display at least one of an operation state of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>, a communication state according to the first communication method with the battery pack <NUM>, a communication state according to the second communication method with the user terminal <NUM>, and state information of the battery pack <NUM>.

In this case, the display unit <NUM> may include a display unit for displaying the above information in letters or figures. In this case, the display unit may include any one of a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an organic light emitting diode (OLED).

Meanwhile, the display unit <NUM> may include a display unit for displaying the above information by color or the flashing frequency. In this case, the display unit may include, for example, a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The information displayed by the display unit <NUM> may be generated by the controller <NUM> according to the operation state of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> or may be acquired by the controller <NUM> from the battery pack <NUM> or the user terminal <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may store at least one of an operation state of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>, a communication state according to the first communication method with the battery pack <NUM>, a communication state according to the second communication method with the user terminal <NUM>, and state information of the battery pack <NUM>. The information stored in the memory <NUM> may be used to detect a failure history of the battery pack <NUM> later.

Meanwhile, in addition to the above information, the memory <NUM> may temporarily or permanently store data, instructions, programs, program code, or a combination thereof processed by the controller <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may include magnetic storage media or flash storage media; however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> may include a first connection terminal <NUM> electrically connected to at least one of the battery pack <NUM> and the apparatus <NUM> equipped with the battery pack <NUM>, a first switch <NUM> for changing a communication mode with another device connected to the first connection terminal <NUM> based on a user input, a second switch <NUM> for applying power to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> based on a user input, a second connection terminal <NUM> connected to an external power supply for supplying power to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>, a third switch <NUM> for acquiring a user input for transmitting a wake-up signal to the battery pack <NUM> connected to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>, a display unit <NUM> for displaying various information, and other switches <NUM>.

Meanwhile, although not illustrated in the drawings, the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> may further include a communication unit <NUM>, a controller <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and an internal battery (not illustrated) in addition to the above components; however, because the respective components have already been described in detail with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted for conciseness.

Hereinafter, with reference to <FIG>, the operation of the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> will be described focusing on the operation of the controller <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a process of receiving state information from a battery pack <NUM> by a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may generate a wake-up signal of the battery pack <NUM> based on a user input to the third switch <NUM> (operation S51), and generate the wake-up signal and transmit the generated wake-up signal to the battery pack <NUM> (operation S52). As described above, when the battery pack <NUM> is in an idle state, because the internal switch (relay) of the battery pack <NUM> is turned off, the control signal may be transmitted to the battery pack <NUM> or the state information may be received from the battery pack <NUM>. Thus, in order to diagnose the battery pack <NUM>, that is, to exchange signals with the battery pack <NUM>, it may be necessary to turn on the internal switch (relay).

In the related art, when the battery pack <NUM> fails, the battery pack <NUM> may have to be transferred to a separate facility in order to wake up and diagnose the battery pack <NUM>. The transfer of the battery may cause secondary limitations such as an increase in the service cost and an increase in the unavailability period of the apparatus <NUM> mounted with the battery pack <NUM>.

The present disclosure may solve the above limitations caused by the transfer of the battery pack <NUM>, by performing the wake-up and diagnosis of the battery pack <NUM> through the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> and/or the user terminal <NUM> when the battery pack <NUM> fails.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may establish a communication connection according to the first communication method with the battery pack <NUM> turned on based on the wake-up signal (operation S53). ln the present disclosure, "establishing a communication connection" between two devices may mean assigning identification information to both devices on a network and recognizing the devices mutually. In other words, establishing the communication connection may mean various operations performed as a premise for exchanging signals between both devices. For example, when the first communication method is a CAN communication method, establishing the communication connection may mean performing initialization for CAN communication.

Subsequently, the controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive state information of the battery pack <NUM> from the battery pack <NUM> through the communication connection established in operation S53 (operation S54).

When the communication connection is established, the battery pack <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may broadcast its own state information through the established communication connection. In other words, the battery pack <NUM> may transmit its own state information to another device on the network without a particular request. As such, the controller <NUM> may identify the battery state information by receiving the broadcasted signal.

Meanwhile, the state information of the battery pack <NUM> may include state information of a battery management system (BMS) in the battery pack <NUM>. Thus, the state information of the battery pack <NUM> may include the voltage, current, charge level, number of cells, identification information, and temperature of the battery pack <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may transmit the state information received from the battery pack <NUM> to the user terminal <NUM> according to the second communication method (operation S55). Also, the controller <NUM> may display the received state information on the display unit <NUM> or store the same in the memory <NUM>.

Accordingly, the present disclosure may enable the user to more quickly and easily detect the state of the battery pack <NUM> at a location where the battery pack <NUM> is installed and/or used.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a process of transmitting a control signal of a battery pack <NUM>, received from a user terminal <NUM>, to the battery pack <NUM> by a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive a control signal of the battery pack <NUM> from the user terminal <NUM> through the communication unit <NUM> (operation S61). In this case, the control signal may be a signal for managing the battery pack <NUM> and may be, for example, an initialization signal of the battery pack <NUM>, an error code (message) deletion signal of the battery pack <NUM>, and a firmware upgrade signal of the battery pack <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may transmit the received control signal to the battery pack <NUM> through the first connection terminal <NUM> (operation S62). Upon receiving the control signal, the battery pack <NUM> may perform an operation corresponding to the control signal (operation S63) or, when the performance of the operation is impossible, may generate a message indicating the impossibility thereof.

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive an operation result according to the control signal of the battery pack <NUM> from the battery pack <NUM> (operation S64) and transmit the received operation result to the user terminal <NUM> through the communication unit <NUM> (operation S65).

Accordingly, the present disclosure may enable the user to more quickly and easily detect the state of the battery pack <NUM> at a location where the battery pack <NUM> is installed and/or used and to take an immediate action on the battery pack <NUM> according to the detected state.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a process of transmitting a detailed information request signal of a battery pack <NUM>, received from a user terminal <NUM>, to the battery pack <NUM> by a battery pack diagnosing device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

It has been described above that the battery pack <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may broadcast its own state information through the established communication connection. In this case, the broadcasted state information may not include all the information of the battery pack <NUM>. Thus, when the user needs more detailed state information that is not included in the broadcasted state information, the detailed state information may be received from the battery pack <NUM> through a separate request.

For this, the controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive a detailed information request signal from the user terminal <NUM> through the communication unit <NUM> (operation S66).

The controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may transmit the received detailed information request signal to the battery pack <NUM> through the first connection terminal <NUM> (operation S67). Upon receiving the detailed information request signal, the battery pack <NUM> may transmit the detailed information to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>. In other words, the controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive the detailed information from the battery pack <NUM> (operation S68) and transmit the received detailed information to the user terminal <NUM> through the communication unit <NUM> (operation S69).

Accordingly, the present disclosure may enable a more in-depth diagnosis on the battery pack <NUM> at a location thereof.

<FIG> illustrates an example of screens <NUM> and <NUM> where state information of a battery pack <NUM> is displayed on a user terminal <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the screen <NUM> may include a region <NUM> in which basic information of the battery pack <NUM> is displayed and a region <NUM> in which a button is displayed to identify more detailed information of the battery pack <NUM> or to perform control of the battery pack <NUM>.

As illustrated, connection information of the battery pack <NUM>, identification information of the battery pack <NUM>, the voltage of the battery pack <NUM>, the number of warning messages of the battery pack <NUM>, and/or the like may be displayed in the region <NUM> in which the basic information is displayed. The basic information may be information included in a signal broadcasted by the battery pack <NUM> as described above.

Meanwhile, when the user presses a button <NUM> to identify more detailed information of the battery pack <NUM>, detailed information of the battery pack <NUM> may be further displayed as in the screen <NUM>. The detailed information may be information included in a signal broadcasted by the battery pack <NUM> or may be information additionally acquired according to the process illustrated in <FIG>.

<NUM> illustrates an example of screens <NUM> and <NUM> where state information of a battery pack <NUM> is displayed in a chat window on a user terminal <NUM>.

As described above, the controller <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive the state information of the battery pack <NUM> from the battery pack <NUM> and transmit the received state information to the user terminal <NUM> through the communication unit <NUM>. In this case, the user terminal <NUM> may display the state of the battery pack <NUM> in a chat format as illustrated in FIG.

For example, the user terminal <NUM> may display a state of the battery pack <NUM> and a solution corresponding to the state in the form of speech bubbles <NUM> and <NUM> based on the received state information as in the screen <NUM>. Accordingly, the present disclosure may provide information about diagnosis and action of the battery pack <NUM> to the user through a more familiar interface.

Meanwhile, the user terminal <NUM> may further provide a button <NUM> to enable chat with an expert about the state of the battery pack <NUM>. When the user performs an input on the button <NUM>, a chat window like the screen <NUM> may be displayed. In this case, a chat partner may be a person corresponding to a provider of a technical support service for the battery pack <NUM>.

The user may transmit the state information of the battery pack <NUM>, received from the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>, through the chat window like the screen <NUM>. Also, the chat partner (e.g., the person corresponding to the provider of the technical support service described above) may transmit a suitable action command for the battery pack <NUM> through the chat window. In other words, the user terminal <NUM> may generate a control signal of the battery pack <NUM>, a detailed information request signal of the battery pack <NUM>, and/or the like based on the input of the conversation partner on the chat window and transmit the same to the battery pack diagnosing device <NUM>.

Accordingly, the present disclosure may enable real-time consultation with the expert about the battery pack <NUM> at a remote location and may enable the battery pack <NUM> to operate by reflecting a suitable action of the expert.

Claim 1:
A battery pack diagnosing device (<NUM>)mediating signal communication between a battery pack and a user terminal,
the battery pack diagnosing device comprising:
a first connection terminal (<NUM>) electrically connected to at least one of the battery pack and an apparatus equipped with the battery pack;
a first switch (<NUM>)for changing a communication mode with the apparatus connected to the first connection terminal based on a user input;
a second switch (<NUM>) for applying power to the battery pack diagnosing device based on a user input;
a second connection terminal (<NUM>) for supplying power to the battery pack diagnosing device;
a communication unit (<NUM>) for exchanging signals with the user terminal;
a third switch (<NUM>) for acquiring a user input for transmitting a wake-up signal to the battery pack; and
a controller (<NUM>) electrically connected to the first switch, the second switch, the third switch, the first connection terminal, the second connection terminal, and the communication unit,
wherein the controller is configured to generate the wake-up signal based on a user input to the third switch and to transmit the generated wake-up signal to the battery pack through the first connection terminal, and to establish a communication connection according to a first communication method with the battery pack turned on based on the wake-up signal and to receive state information of the battery pack through the established communication connection.