Patent ID: 7583053

Claim:
A battery pack controller connected with a battery pack coupled to a motor/generator, the battery pack including a plurality of single batteries to supply electric power to the motor/generator, the battery pack controller comprising: a voltage detector having a plurality of voltage detection circuits each in electrical communication with a single battery of the plurality of single batteries to detect a voltage of the single battery; a detected voltage transmitter in electrical communication with each voltage detection circuit of voltage detector to retrieve voltages detected by the plurality of voltage detection circuits and to transmit the detected voltages; a specific battery detector configured to classify each single battery of the plurality of single batteries as a normal battery if the voltage of the single battery is above a threshold value or as a target battery if the voltage of the single battery is below a threshold value based on the transmitted voltages; and a power supply controller configured to supply electric power from the battery pack to the motor/generator during internal combustion engine startup, wherein the power supply controller is configured to retrieve voltages from each single battery of the target batteries during internal combustion engine startup using the plurality of voltage detection circuits and limit the electric power supplied to the motor/generator by the battery pack during internal combustion engine startup if any of the target batteries have voltages that are below the threshold value.