阅读说明：本技术 过压保护电路及其控制方法和电池组 (Overvoltage protection circuit, control method thereof and battery pack ) 是由 尹皓炳 李相勋 朴载东 成昌炫 于 2015-12-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及过压保护电路及其控制方法和电池组。公开了一种能减轻额定功耗的过压保护电路及其控制方法以及电池组。为此,根据本发明的实施例的过压保护电路包括：电压测量单元,用于测量电池的电压；功率控制单元,如果在电压测量单元中测量的电池电压值等于或大于第一预定电压值,功率控制单元供电；以及截止电路单元,如果电池的电压值等于或大于高于第一电压值的第二预定电压值,截止电路单元接收从功率控制单元供给的电力并且截止对电池的充电。(The invention relates to an overvoltage protection circuit, a control method thereof and a battery pack. Disclosed are an overvoltage protection circuit capable of reducing rated power consumption, a control method thereof, and a battery pack. To this end, an overvoltage protection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a voltage measuring unit for measuring a voltage of the battery; a power control unit supplying power if the battery voltage value measured in the voltage measuring unit is equal to or greater than a first predetermined voltage value; and a cutoff circuit unit receiving the power supplied from the power control unit and cutting off charging of the battery if the voltage value of the battery is equal to or greater than a second predetermined voltage value higher than the first voltage value.)

1. An overvoltage protection circuit comprising:

a power circuit unit, the power circuit unit comprising:

a voltage measuring unit for measuring a voltage of the battery;

a power control unit supplying power to the cut-off circuit unit if the battery voltage value measured in the voltage measuring unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined first voltage value; and

the cutoff circuit unit including a voltage comparator and a cutoff unit that receives the power supplied from the power control unit and cuts off charging of the battery if the voltage value of the battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined second voltage value,

wherein the cutoff unit is constructed by a power cut-off device, is directly connected between the battery and a charger, and is a single switch in the overvoltage protection circuit.

2. The overvoltage protection circuit of claim 1, wherein the second voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

3. The overvoltage protection circuit of claim 1, wherein the voltage measurement unit and the power control unit are constructed with an integrated power circuit unit.

4. The overvoltage protection circuit of claim 3, wherein the power circuit unit is connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit.

5. The overvoltage protection circuit of claim 1, wherein the voltage comparator is configured to determine whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

6. The overvoltage protection circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cutoff circuit unit does not operate if the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value.

7. The overvoltage protection circuit of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cutoff circuit unit operates when charging the battery.

8. A battery pack, comprising:

a battery;

a power circuit unit, the power circuit unit comprising:

a voltage measuring unit for measuring a voltage of the battery;

a power control unit supplying power to the cut-off circuit unit if the battery voltage value measured in the voltage measuring unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined first voltage value; and

the cutoff circuit unit including a voltage comparator and a cutoff unit that receives the power supplied from the power control unit and cuts off charging of the battery if the voltage value of the battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined second voltage value,

wherein the cutoff unit is constructed by a power cut-off device, is directly connected between the battery and a charger, and is a single switch in the overvoltage protection circuit.

9. The battery pack according to claim 8, wherein the second voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

10. The battery pack according to claim 9, wherein the voltage measuring unit and the power control unit are constructed with an integrated power circuit unit.

11. The battery pack according to claim 10, wherein the power circuit unit is connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit.

12. The battery pack of claim 8, wherein the voltage comparator is configured to determine whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

13. The battery pack according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the cutoff circuit unit does not operate if the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value.

14. The battery pack according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the cutoff circuit unit operates when the battery is charged.

15. A method of controlling an overvoltage protection circuit, comprising:

measuring the voltage of the battery;

determining whether a battery voltage value measured in the measuring is equal to or greater than a predetermined first voltage value;

supplying power to a cut-off circuit unit including a voltage comparator and a cut-off unit when the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value;

judging whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than a preset second voltage value; and

cutting off, by the cut-off circuit unit, charging of the battery if the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value,

wherein the cutoff unit is constructed by a power cut-off device, is directly connected between the battery and a charger, and is a single switch in the overvoltage protection circuit.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein measuring and determining whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value is performed using an integrally formed power circuit unit.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the power circuit unit is connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit and performs measurement and determination of whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the determining whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value is performed by the voltage comparator in determining whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

20. The method of any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the determining of whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value and the turning off are not performed if the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the determination of whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value and the cut-off are performed when charging the battery.

Technical Field

This application claims the priority of korean patent application KR 10-2015-.

The present invention relates to an overvoltage protection circuit, a control method, and a battery pack, and more particularly, to an overvoltage protection voltage capable of reducing rated power consumption, a control method thereof, and a battery pack.

Background

Secondary batteries having electrical characteristics such as high applicability and high energy density according to product groups are generally applied to Electric Vehicles (EV), Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), energy storage systems, etc., which are driven by an electric driving source, as well as portable devices. The secondary battery receives public attention as a new energy source for improving environmental protection performance and energy efficiency because of major advantages of not generating byproducts at all and remarkably reducing fossil fuels according to energy use.

The secondary battery may be repeatedly charged and discharged by an electrochemical reaction between constituent elements including positive and negative current collectors, separators, active materials, electrolytes, and the like. A lithium polymer secondary battery widely used as an example has an operating voltage of about 3.7V to 4.2V. Therefore, a battery pack is constructed by connecting a plurality of unit secondary battery cells (cells) in series in order to obtain a high-output battery pack applied to an electric vehicle or the like.

In addition to the basic structure, the battery pack may be configured to additionally include an overvoltage protection circuit such that, by measuring the voltage of the battery pack, overvoltage charging is prevented during charging and, when an overvoltage condition occurs, charging is turned off. However, in order to cut off the charging, since it is necessary to constantly detect the voltage of the battery pack, the cut-off circuit has no other choice than normal operation, and therefore, power consumption must be large. Further, even in the case where the battery pack is not used, there is a problem in that the battery pack is rapidly discharged due to the off-circuit operation.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

The invention aims to provide an overvoltage protection circuit capable of reducing self power consumption.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to reduce the rated power consumption of the entire battery pack by reducing the power consumption of the overvoltage protection circuit.

Technical scheme

The present invention has the following configuration:

(1) an overvoltage protection circuit comprising: a voltage measuring unit for measuring a voltage of the battery; a power control unit supplying power if the battery voltage value measured in the voltage measuring unit is equal to or greater than a first predetermined voltage value; and a cutoff circuit unit that receives the power supplied from the power control unit and cuts off charging of the battery if the voltage value of the battery is equal to or greater than a second predetermined voltage value.

(2) In the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the section (1), the second voltage value may be equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

(3) In the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in section (1), the voltage measurement unit and the power control unit may be constructed with an integrated power circuit unit.

(4) In the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the section (1), the power circuit unit may be connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit.

(5) The cutoff circuit unit may be configured to include a voltage comparator to determine whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

(6) In the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in any one of the sections (1) to (5), the cutoff circuit unit may not operate if the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value.

(7) The overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the sections (1) to (5), the cutoff circuit unit can operate when the battery is charged.

(8) A battery pack, comprising: a battery; a voltage measuring unit that measures a voltage of the battery; a power control unit supplying power if the battery voltage value measured in the voltage measuring unit is equal to or greater than a first predetermined voltage value; and a cutoff circuit unit that receives the power supplied from the power control unit and cuts off charging of the battery if the voltage value of the battery is equal to or greater than a second predetermined voltage value.

(9) In the battery pack disclosed in the section (8), the second voltage value may be equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

(10) In the battery pack disclosed in the section (9), the voltage measuring unit and the power control unit may be constructed with an integrated power circuit unit.

(11) In the battery pack disclosed in the section (10), the power circuit unit may be connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit.

(12) In the battery pack disclosed in the section (8), the cutoff circuit unit may be configured to include a voltage comparator for determining whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

(13) In the battery pack disclosed in any one of the sections (8) to (12), the off circuit unit may not operate if the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value.

(14) In the battery pack disclosed in any of the sections (8) to (12), the cutoff circuit unit may operate when the battery is charged.

(15) A method of controlling an overvoltage protection circuit, comprising: measuring the voltage of the battery; determining whether the battery voltage value measured in the measurement is equal to or greater than a first predetermined voltage value; supplying power to the cut-off circuit unit when the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value; judging whether the voltage value of the battery is equal to or greater than a second preset voltage value; and cutting off, by the cut-off circuit unit, the charging of the battery if the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

(16) In the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the section (15), the second voltage value may be equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

(17) In the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the section (15), the measurement and the judgment of whether or not the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value may be performed by an integrally formed power circuit unit.

(18) In the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the section (17), the power circuit unit may be connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit and perform measurement and judgment as to whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value.

(19) In the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in the section (18), the determination of whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value may be performed by a voltage comparator in determining whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value.

(20) In the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in any one of the sections (15) to (19), the determination and cutoff of whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value may not be performed if the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value.

(21) In the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit disclosed in any one of the sections (15) to (19), when the battery is charged, the judgment and the cutoff of whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value may be performed.

Advantageous effects

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the power circuit unit does not supply power to the off circuit unit when the voltage of the battery is not greater than the predetermined voltage. Therefore, the present invention can reduce power consumption because only the power circuit unit operates when the battery pack is not used.

Furthermore, the voltage measuring unit and the power control unit may be integrally configured, thereby reducing the volume and space occupied by the voltage measuring unit and the power control unit.

Further, the present invention can reduce power consumption by detecting the voltage of the battery only in the power circuit unit when the voltage of the battery is less than a predetermined voltage, and by turning off the circuit unit when the voltage of the battery is equal to or greater than the predetermined voltage, more accurately detecting the voltage of the battery.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram of an overvoltage protection circuit according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a power circuit unit of the overvoltage protection circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram describing the operation of the power circuit unit and the off circuit unit according to the battery voltage value in the charge map of the battery.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of controlling the overvoltage protection circuit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this document, a repetitive description and a detailed description of known functions and configurations that unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted. Embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully describe the invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shapes, sizes, and the like of the elements in the drawings are expanded for the sake of clarity.

Hereinafter, the structure and operation of the overvoltage protection circuit and the battery pack according to the embodiment of the invention will be described.

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram of an overvoltage protection circuit according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a power circuit unit of the overvoltage protection circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a diagram describing the operation of the power circuit unit and the off circuit unit according to the battery voltage value in the charge map of the battery.

In fig. 1 to 3, an overvoltage protection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described, but the embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in the form of a battery pack including a battery and an overvoltage protection circuit.

Referring to fig. 1, an overvoltage protection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a power circuit unit 100 and a turn-off circuit unit 200. The overvoltage protection circuit shown in fig. 1 is shown with its constituent elements as the embodiment shown in fig. 1 according to the embodiment, and some constituent elements may be added, modified or deleted as necessary.

Referring to fig. 2 together, the power circuit unit 100 is configured to include a voltage measurement unit 110 and a power control unit 120.

The voltage measuring unit 110 measures the voltage of the battery 10. In this case, the battery 10 may be constructed of at least one battery cell (cell).

The power control unit 120 determines whether the battery voltage value measured in the voltage measurement unit 110 is equal to or greater than a first predetermined voltage value. And, if the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value, the power control unit 120 supplies power to the off circuit unit 200 as described below.

The voltage measuring unit 110 and the power control unit 120 may be integrally configured. For example, as shown in fig. 1, the voltage measurement unit 110 and the power control unit 120 may be constructed with an integrated power circuit unit 100. Further, the power circuit unit 100 may be connected between the battery 10 and the off circuit unit 200. As such, in an embodiment of the present invention, the voltage measurement unit 110 and the power control unit 120 may be integrally configured, thereby reducing the volume and space occupied by the voltage measurement unit 110 and the power control unit 120. Thus, the voltage measurement unit 110 and the power control unit 120 may share a common component or unit.

The off circuit unit 200 receives power from the power control unit 120 and determines whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than a second predetermined voltage value. Herein, the second voltage value may be a value equal to or greater than the first voltage value. Further, the cut-off circuit unit 200 cuts off the charging of the battery 10 when the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value. When the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value, the off circuit unit 200 does not operate. Further, the cutoff circuit unit 200 operates when the battery 10 is charged.

The cutoff circuit unit 200 may be configured to include a voltage comparator 210 and a cutoff unit 220. The voltage comparator 210 more accurately determines whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value. Further, the cutoff unit 220 disconnects between the battery 10 and the charger 20 when the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value. The cutoff unit 220 may be constructed with a power cut-off device (PDD).

Referring to fig. 3 together, in the charging diagram of the battery, when the charging of the battery is started, the battery passes through the second voltage value over time via the first voltage value, and reaches the maximum charging voltage. In an embodiment, when the battery reaches the maximum charging voltage, the maximum charging voltage has an adverse effect on the service life of the battery, such as overheating of the battery, and thus, the second voltage value for disconnecting the battery is formed to be close to 70% to 90% of the maximum charging voltage of the battery according to the characteristics of the battery. When the charging of the battery is started, only the power circuit unit 100 is operated and the off circuit unit 200 is not operated in the first region a where the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value. Further, in the second region B where the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value and less than the second voltage value, the power circuit unit 100 supplies power to the cut-off circuit unit 200 and the cut-off circuit unit 200 accurately measures the voltage of the battery 10. Further, when reaching the third region C where the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value, the cutoff circuit unit 200 cuts off the charging of the battery 10.

Thus, according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the voltage of the battery is not greater than the predetermined voltage, the power circuit unit does not supply power to the cutoff circuit unit. Therefore, the present invention can reduce power consumption because only the power circuit unit operates when the battery pack is not used.

Further, the voltage of the battery is detected only in the power circuit unit when the voltage of the battery is less than the predetermined voltage, and the voltage of the battery is more accurately detected by the cutoff circuit when the voltage of the battery is equal to or greater than the predetermined voltage, so that the present invention reduces power consumption.

Hereinafter, a control method of the overvoltage protection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart for describing a control method of the overvoltage protection circuit according to the embodiment of the invention.

Referring to fig. 4, in the control method of the overvoltage protection circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention, first, the voltage of the battery is measured (S110).

Further, it is determined whether the battery voltage value measured in step S110 is equal to or greater than a first predetermined voltage value (S120).

As a result of the determination of step S120, when the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the first voltage value, power is supplied to the cutoff circuit unit (S130). In this case, steps S110 to S130 are performed by the integrally formed power circuit unit. In this case, the power circuit unit may be connected between the battery and the cutoff circuit unit.

Further, the cutoff circuit unit determines whether the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than a second predetermined voltage value (S140). Herein, the second voltage value may be a value equal to or greater than the first voltage value. In this case, the cutoff circuit unit may detect the battery voltage value based on the power supplied through step S130. Further, the cutoff circuit unit may be configured to include a voltage comparator that compares the battery voltage value and the second voltage value.

As a result of the determination at step S140, when the battery voltage value is equal to or greater than the second voltage value, the charging of the battery is cut off (S150). In this case, the cutoff circuit unit may cut off the charging of the battery based on the power supplied in step S130.

Further, when the battery voltage value is less than the first voltage value, steps S140 and S150 are not performed, but are performed only when the battery is charged.

The control method of the overvoltage protection circuit according to the present invention is implemented in the form of program commands executed by various computer devices and recorded in computer readable media. The computer readable medium may include one or a combination of program commands, data files, data structures, and the like. The program commands recorded in the medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or publicly known and used by those skilled in the computer software field. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and all types of hardware devices such as ROMs, RAMs, and flash memories, which are specially configured to store and execute program commands. Examples of the program command include a high-level language code executable by a computer by using an interpreter or the like and a machine language code created by a compiler. The hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the present invention, the reverse of which is applicable.

The instructions of the present principles may be implemented as a combination of hardware and software. Further, the software may be implemented as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage unit. The application program may be loaded onto and executed by a machine comprising any suitable architecture. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), computer processors, Random Access Memory (RAM), and I/O interfaces. The different processes and functions described herein may be some microinstruction code, some application programs, or any combination thereof, which may be executed by various processing devices, including a CPU. In addition, various other peripheral devices may be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage unit and a printer.

Because some of the constituent system components and methods depicted in the accompanying drawings are preferably implemented in software, it is further understood that the actual connections between the system components or the process function blocks may differ depending upon the manner in which the principles of the present invention are programmed. Given the instructions herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate these and similar implementations or configurations of the present principles.

As described above, the configurations and methods of the above-described embodiments may not be limited to being applied to the overvoltage protection circuit and the control method thereof according to the present invention, and the battery pack, but the embodiments may be configured to be variously modified by selectively combining all or some of the respective embodiments.