Patent Description:
Recently, as the demand for portable electronic products such as notebook computers, video cameras, and mobile phones is rapidly increasing and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, and the like is being regularized, studies on high performance secondary batteries capable of repeated charge and discharge have been actively conducted.

Currently available secondary batteries include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickelhydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium secondary batteries. Of these, lithium secondary batteries have almost no memory effect as compared with nickel-based secondary batteries, and are thus free for charge and discharge and have a very low selfdischarge rate and a high energy density. Due to these advantages, lithium secondary batteries have attracted attention.

A battery pack applied to an electric vehicle or the like typically includes a plurality of battery modules and a plurality of slave battery management units connected in series and/or in parallel. Each of the slave battery management units monitors and controls the state of the battery module to be managed. Recently, as large-capacity and high-output battery packs are required, the number of battery modules included in the battery pack is also increasing. In order to efficiently manage each battery module included in the battery pack, a multi-slave structure is disclosed. The multi-slave structure includes a plurality of slave battery management units installed in each battery module and a master battery management unit that controls the plurality of slave battery management units as a whole.

In a battery pack having a multi-slave structure, in order for a master battery management unit to collect state information of a plurality of battery modules from a plurality of slave battery management units and transmit a control command for the plurality of battery modules to the plurality of slave battery management units, each slave battery management unit must be assigned an ID indicating a physical or electrical position of a battery module to be managed.

Patent Literature <NUM> discloses a technique for sequentially assigning IDs to a plurality of slave battery management units. Patent Literature <NUM> proposes a method of assigning an ID in a state in which a master battery management unit is connected to each slave battery management unit by wire. However, in the ID assigning method according to Patent Literature <NUM>, since it is assumed that the master battery management unit is connected to each slave battery management unit by wire, there are concerns such as disconnection of electric wires and space restriction is great. In addition, in order to set the IDs in the order of hardware positions of the respective slave battery management units, a process of measuring a potential difference by the batteries managed by each slave battery management unit must be preceded.

In addition, a method by which the master battery management unit assigns identification information to a plurality of slave battery management units in a wireless scheme may be considered. In order to assign identification information in a wireless scheme, the master battery management unit must precede a process of checking to which one of the plurality of battery modules included in the battery pack each slave battery management unit is electrically connected. However, even if each slave battery management unit wirelessly transmits, to the master battery management unit, module information (for example, potential, voltage, temperature, or the like) of the battery module to which the slave battery management unit is connected, it is difficult for the master battery management unit to determine by which of the plurality of slave battery management units each module information is transmitted.

(Patent Literature <NUM>) International Patent Application No. <CIT>.

The present disclosure is designed to solve the problems of the related art, and therefore the present disclosure is directed to providing an apparatus for assigning identification information to a plurality of slave battery management units (BMUs) mounted on a battery pack by using a wireless signal before the manufacturing of the battery pack is completed.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure for achieving the above objects are as follows.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for assigning identification information to a plurality of slave battery management units electrically connected one-to-one to a plurality of battery modules mounted on a base plate of a battery pack as defined in the attached set of claims.

The apparatus includes: a casing jig configured to at least partially cover the plurality of slave battery management units together with the base plate; a wireless communication unit including a plurality of antennas disposed in a region of the casing jig facing the base plate so as to correspond one-to-one to the plurality of slave battery management units; and a controller electrically connected to the wireless communication unit. The controller is configured to select at least one of the plurality of antennas and transmit, to the wireless communication unit, a first control signal including identification information related to the at least one selected antenna. The wireless communication unit is configured to output a wireless signal indicating the identification information through an antenna associated with the identification information in response to the first control signal.

According to an embodiment, the controller may be further configured to select two or more of the plurality of antennas at the same time, or to select the plurality of antennas one by one in a predetermined order.

According to an embodiment, the wireless signal may have signal strength in a predetermined range.

According to an embodiment, the casing jig may include: a supporting member at least partially made of a metallic material and defining an overall appearance of the casing jig so that the plurality of antennas are disposed; and an electromagnetic wave absorbing member coupled to at least a part of an inner surface of the supporting member.

According to an embodiment, the controller may include a memory in which a plurality of reference positions and a plurality of pieces of identification information mapped one-to-one to the plurality of reference positions are stored. The plurality of reference positions may indicate positions at which the plurality of antennas are disposed in the casing jig, respectively.

According to an embodiment, the controller may be further configured to: select a first antenna and a second antenna among the plurality of antennas at the same time with reference to the plurality of reference positions prestored in the memory. A distance between a first reference position corresponding to the first antenna and a second reference position corresponding to the second antenna is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold distance.

The apparatus further includes a power supply unit configured to selectively supply operating power to at least one of the plurality of slave battery management units. When transmitting the first control signal, the controller is further configured to transmit, to the power supply unit, a second control signal related to the first control signal. The power supply unit is further configured to supply the operating power to the slave battery management unit corresponding to the at least one selected antenna among the plurality of slave battery management units, in response to the second control signal.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, identification information may be assigned to each of the plurality of slave BMUs mounted on a battery pack by using a wireless signal. Therefore, identification information for each of the plurality of slave BMUs may be easily assigned without separate wired connection lines.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, identification information may be assigned to each of the plurality of slave BMUs before the manufacturing of the battery pack is completed.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, and other effects not described herein may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

Therefore, it should be understood that various equivalents and alternatives can be made at the time of filing the present disclosure since the descriptions of the specification and the features shown in the drawings are no other than preferred embodiments without reflecting all the technical ideas of the present disclosure.

However, in the following descriptions and the accompanying drawings, descriptions of well-known functions or constructions will be omitted if they are considered to unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that terms including ordinals, such as first, second, etc., are used for the purpose of distinguishing one of various components from the others, and are not used to limit the components by such terms.

It should be understood that terms such as "comprise", "include", and "have", when used herein, specify the presence of stated elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. In addition, the terms "control unit" as used herein represent a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

It should be understood that when a region is referred to as being "connected to" or "coupled to" another region, it may be "directly" connected or coupled to the other region, or may be "indirectly" connected or coupled to the other region, with intervening regions being disposed therebetween.

<FIG> is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which an identification information assigning apparatus <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is separated from a base plate <NUM> of a battery pack <NUM>, <FIG> is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the identification information assigning apparatus <NUM> of <FIG> is coupled to the base plate <NUM> of the battery pack <NUM>, and <FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A' of <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, the identification information assigning apparatus <NUM> (hereinafter, referred to as an "apparatus") assigns different identification information to a plurality of slave BMUs <NUM> mounted on the battery pack <NUM> before assembly is completed. The identification information may be, for example, a unique address used for wireless communication with a master BMU (not illustrated). The battery pack <NUM> is assembled by mounting a plurality of battery modules <NUM>, the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>, and the master BMU on the base plate <NUM> and coupling a pack cover (not illustrated). The apparatus <NUM> is used to assign identification information to each of the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM> before the pack cover is coupled to the base plate <NUM>.

For the sake of understanding, it is assumed that a total of ten battery modules <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> are arranged on the base plate <NUM> in a <NUM>×<NUM> matrix form. The plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> are electrically coupled one-to-one to the plurality of battery modules <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>. Each of the slave BMUs <NUM> may be operated with operating power received from the battery module <NUM> or the apparatus <NUM> to which each of the slave BMU <NUM> is electrically connected. Each of the slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> includes at least one antenna <NUM> configured to collect wireless signals from the apparatus <NUM>.

The apparatus <NUM> may include a casing jig <NUM>, a wireless communication unit <NUM>, a controller <NUM>, and a memory <NUM>.

The casing jig <NUM> is configured to at least partially cover the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> together with the base plate <NUM>. The casing jig <NUM> may have the equal or similar appearance to the pack cover (not illustrated) can be coupled to the base plate <NUM>. It will be apparent that the shape and size of the casing jig <NUM> may be freely changed as needed.

The casing jig <NUM> basically includes a supporting member <NUM> and optionally further includes an electromagnetic wave absorbing member <NUM>. The supporting member <NUM> defines the overall appearance of the casing jig <NUM> so that a plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> included in the wireless communication unit <NUM> may be disposed. According to an embodiment, at least a portion of the supporting member <NUM> may be made of a metallic material.

For example, the supporting member <NUM> may have a substrate 111a forming the upper surface of the casing jig <NUM> and a partition wall 111b forming the side surface, and the lower portion thereof may be opened so as to have a basket shape. The opened lower portion of the casing jig <NUM> is at least partly closed by the base plate <NUM>. The plurality of battery modules <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>, the plurality of slave battery management units <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>, and the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> are accommodated in the inner space provided by the connection of the casing jig <NUM> and the base plate <NUM>.

The electromagnetic wave absorbing member <NUM> is coupled to at least a part of the inner surface of the supporting member <NUM>. The electromagnetic wave absorbing member <NUM> suppresses noise caused by electromagnetic waves generated from the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> in the internal space provided by the connection of the casing jig <NUM> and the base plate <NUM>.

The wireless communication unit <NUM> includes the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> and a wireless communication circuit <NUM>. The plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> are spaced apart from each other so as to correspond one-to-one to the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> in a region of the lower surfaces of both sides of the substrate opposite to the base plate <NUM>. That is, when (<NUM>×<NUM>) ≥ m ≥ <NUM>, the m-th antenna <NUM>-m is disposed at a specific position of the casing jig <NUM> closer to the m-th slave BMU <NUM>-m than the remaining antennas <NUM>. The m-th antenna <NUM>-m may be disposed within a reference distance from the m-th slave BMU <NUM>-m and farther than the reference distance from the remaining slave BMUs <NUM>.

The wireless communication circuit <NUM> transmits a wireless signal to at least one of the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> through at least one of the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> in response to a first control signal from the controller <NUM>. In this case, the first control signal may include antenna selection information and identification information. The antenna selection information included in the the first control signal is information for selecting the antenna <NUM>-k (k = <NUM> to <NUM>) to be used for outputting a wireless signal among the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>. The identification information included in the the first control signal is information to be assigned to the slave BMU <NUM>-k corresponding to the antenna <NUM>-k selected by the antenna selection information. The identification information included in the first control signal is modulated by the wireless communication circuit <NUM> and wirelessly transmitted through the antenna <NUM>-k indicated by the antenna selection information. The wireless signal transmitted through the antenna <NUM>-k may be received by an antenna <NUM>-k provided in the slave BMU <NUM>-k disposed at the position corresponding to the antenna <NUM>-k among the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>.

The wireless communication circuit <NUM> may perform a control so that the wireless signal output by each antenna <NUM> selected by the first control signal has signal strength in a predetermined range. The strength of the wireless signal gradually weakens while the wireless signal propagates. Therefore, when each antenna <NUM> outputs the wireless signal having the signal strength in the predetermined range, only one slave BMU <NUM> disposed within the reference distance from each antenna <NUM> may normally detect the wireless signal. For example, the signal strength of the wireless signal output from the m-th antenna <NUM>-m (m = <NUM> to <NUM>) is equal to or larger than threshold signal strength up to the reference distance from the m-th antenna <NUM>-m. However, when it exceeds the distance from the m-th antenna <NUM>-m, the signal strength of the wireless signal is smaller than the threshold signal strength, and thus only the slave BMU <NUM>-m may respond to the wireless signal output by the m-th antenna <NUM>-m. The threshold signal strength may be the minimum value of the signal strength that may be detected by each slave BMU <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> includes a memory <NUM> and a processor and is electrically connected to the wireless communication unit <NUM>. A plurality of pieces of reference position information and a plurality of pieces of identification information may be stored in the memory <NUM>. The plurality of reference positions may individually indicate positions at which the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> are disposed in the casing jig <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may select at least one of the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> at a specific time point. That is, the controller <NUM> may simultaneously select two or more of the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>, or may sequentially select the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> one by one in a predetermined order. The controller <NUM> transmits, to the wireless communication unit <NUM>, the first control signal including the antenna selection information indicating the antenna <NUM>-k selected by the controller <NUM> and the identification information related to the selected antenna <NUM>-k.

When two or more of the plurality of antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> are simultaneously selected, the controller <NUM> may refer to the plurality of reference positions prestored in the memory <NUM>. Specifically, the controller <NUM> may determine two or more reference positions that are separated from each other by a threshold distance DTH or more among the plurality of reference positions. The threshold distance may be equal to or longer than the above-described reference distance. For example, since the distance between the sixth antenna <NUM>-<NUM> and the seventh antenna <NUM>-<NUM> is shorter than the threshold distance DTH, when the controller <NUM> selects one of the sixth antenna <NUM>-<NUM> and the seventh antenna <NUM>-<NUM>, the controller <NUM> does not select the other one at the same time. On the other hand, since the distance between the sixth antenna <NUM>-<NUM> and the eighth antenna <NUM>-<NUM> is longer than the threshold distance DTH, the controller <NUM> may select the sixth antenna <NUM>-<NUM> and the eighth antenna <NUM>-<NUM> at the same time. Since the threshold distance DTH is the reference distance or more, even if two or more antennas (for example, <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) farther than the threshold distance DTH output two wireless signals at the same time, each of the slave BMUs (for example, <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) may normally receive only a wireless signal from one antenna corresponding to each of the slave BMUs <NUM>.

In order to execute various control logics, the processor included in the controller <NUM> may optionally include a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), another chipset, a logic circuit, a register, a communication modem, a data processing device, and the like, which are known to those skilled in the art. At least one of the various control logics may be combined, and the combined control logics may be written in a computer-readable code system and recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The recording medium is not particularly limited as long as the recording medium can be accessed by a processor included in a computer. For example, the recording medium includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a ROM, a RAM, a register, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a hard disk, a floppy disk, and an optical data recording device. In addition, the code system may be modulated into a carrier signal and included in a communication carrier at a particular time point, and may be stored and executed in a networked computer in a distributed fashion. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the combined control logics may be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

<FIG> is a diagram referred to in describing an identification information assigning apparatus <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For the sake of understanding, the same cross-sectional view as that in <FIG> is illustrated.

Referring to <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> is the same as those of the embodiments described above with reference to <FIG>, except that the apparatus <NUM> further includes a power supply unit <NUM>.

The power supply unit <NUM> is operatively coupled to the controller <NUM> and is connected to the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> through a plurality of power supply lines <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>. The power supply unit <NUM> is configured to selectively supply operating power to at least one of the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>. To this end, the power supply unit <NUM> is individually connected to the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> through the plurality of power supply lines <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM>.

When the first control signal is transmitted to the wireless communication unit <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may transmit, to the power supply unit <NUM>, a second control signal related to the first control signal. The second control signal includes slave selection information corresponding to the antenna selection information included in the first control signal. For example, when the antenna selection information of the first control signal is information for selecting the m-th antenna <NUM>-m, the slave selection information of the second control signal may be information for selecting the m-th slave BMU <NUM>-m.

The power supply unit <NUM> may supply operating power to the slave BMU <NUM>-k corresponding to the antenna <NUM>-k selected by the first control signal among the plurality of slave BMUs <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-<NUM> through the power supply line <NUM>-k in response to the second control signal. Since each slave BMU <NUM> selected by the second control signal activates its own antenna <NUM> by using the operating power from the power supply unit <NUM>, the slave BMU <NUM> becomes a wake-up state in which the wireless signal from the wireless communication unit <NUM> can be detected. On the other hand, since the remaining slave BMUs <NUM> not selected by the second control signal are not supplied with the operating power from the power supply unit <NUM>, the remaining slave BMUs <NUM> are remained in a sleep state in which the wireless signal from the wireless communication unit <NUM> can not be sensed.

Claim 1:
An apparatus for assigning identification information to a plurality of slave battery management units electrically connected one-to-one to a plurality of battery modules mounted on a base plate of a battery pack, wherein each of the slave battery management units activates its antenna by using an operating power, the apparatus comprising:
a casing jig configured to at least partially cover the plurality of slave battery management units together with the base plate;
a wireless communication unit including a plurality of antennas disposed in a region of the casing jig facing the base plate so as to correspond one-to-one to the plurality of slave battery management units;
a power supply unit configured to selectively supply the operating power to at least one of the plurality of slave battery management units; and
a controller electrically connected to the wireless communication unit and the power supply unit,
wherein the controller is configured to select at least one of the plurality of antennas;
transmit, to the wireless communication unit, a first control signal including identification information related to the at least one selected antenna;
transmit, to the power supply unit, a second control signal related to the first control signal when transmitting the first control signal, and
the wireless communication unit is configured to output a wireless signal indicating the identification information through an antenna associated with the identification information in response to the first control signal,
the power supply unit is further configured to supply the operating power to the slave battery management unit corresponding to at least one selected antenna among the plurality of slave battery management units, in response to the second control signal.