Patent ID: 7609030

Claim:
A capacity adjustment apparatus for a battery pack constituted by connecting a plurality of cells in series, comprising: a plurality of capacity adjustment devices that discharge cells with voltages higher than a predetermined voltage; and a switching device that switches connection modes in each of which the plurality of cells and the plurality of capacity adjustment devices are connected in a different, non-fixed connection manner, wherein the switching device is capable of changing a connection correspondence relationship between any one of the plurality of capacity adjustment devices and any one of the plurality of cells, wherein each capacity of the cells constituting the battery pack is adjusted by each of the capacity adjustment devices, a number of the capacity adjustment devices being equal with a number of the cells, and wherein each of the plurality of capacity adjustment devices discharges a different one of the plurality of cells depending upon which of the connection modes is selected by way of the switching device, so that any one of the plurality of capacity adjustment devices can be selected to discharge any one of the plurality of cells as a target cell to be discharged.