Patent ID: 8350529

Claim:
A modular battery management system for controlling and monitoring a plurality of battery cells in a battery connected to a load, the system comprising: a central controlling microcontroller; and a plurality of cell balancing means and a plurality of slave sensing means, each of the cell balancing means and each of the slave sensing means being in communication with the central controlling microcontroller and operatively connected to an associated battery cell in the plurality of battery cells: wherein the cell balancing means and the slave sensing means connected to each associated battery cell are operable (a) to monitor the charging state of the associated battery cell, (b) when a maximum charging state is reached in the associated battery cell, to establish a shunt across the associated battery cell, thereby allowing a continued charging of the remaining battery cells in the plurality of battery cells, (c) when the shunt is established, to communicate to the central controlling microcontroller a message representing that the maximum charging state has been reached, and (d) during discharging of the battery, to inform the central controlling microcontroller if a minimum charging state has been reached so as to cause the central controlling microcontroller to disconnect the battery from the load in order to prevent excessive discharging of the battery cells; wherein each of said slave sensing means comprises a slave microcontroller, and the shunt across the associated battery cell is established upon a signal from the slave microcontroller to the respective cell balancing means when the slave sensing means has measured a maximum voltage across the associated battery cell; and wherein the slave microcontrollers are further operatively connected to the central controlling microcontroller via a common data bus, whereby a continuous charging of the remaining battery cells is controlled by the central controlling microcontroller.