JP2024135664A - Battery System - Google Patents

Abstract

To shorten a work time of a worker in a case where any one of a plurality of battery cell packs is exchanged.SOLUTION: A battery system 1 comprises: a plurality of battery cell packs 10 each including a plurality of battery cells 11 and a cell controller 12, which is connected to the plurality of battery cells 11, and mounted at a predetermined mounting position; and a main controller 30 which is connected to the plurality of battery cell packs 10. The main controller 30 includes: a management unit 32 for recording in an associated manner specific ID information 101, battery control information 102 and positional information 103, which is previously allocated to the mounting positions where the plurality of battery cell packs 10 are mounted, for each battery cell pack 10; a first acquisition unit 34 which acquires the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102; and a second acquisition unit 36 which acquires the ID information 101 and the positional information 103 when the plurality of battery cell packs 10 are mounted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a battery system.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a power supply device that includes multiple functional modules connected in series and a main controller connected to the multiple functional modules. The functional module includes a battery block in which battery cells are stacked, a battery state detection unit for detecting the state of the battery block, a memory unit, and a communication interface for communicating with the main controller, etc.

For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a battery information updating system in which data is sent and received between a vehicle equipped with a battery and a server. The vehicle determines the degree of deterioration of the battery based on the detection results of a battery monitoring means that detects the state of the battery, and updates the battery information stored in memory based on the determined degree of deterioration. When a battery pack including a battery is replaced, battery data linking the battery ID and battery information of the battery pack before replacement is transmitted to the server, and the battery ID of the replaced battery pack is also transmitted to the server. The server updates the battery information already stored with the battery information transmitted from the vehicle, and transmits battery data corresponding to the replaced battery ID to the vehicle.

International Publication No. 2012/053426 JP 2013-24725 A

In the power supply device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible that one of the multiple functional modules (hereinafter also referred to as a battery cell pack) may deteriorate. In that case, the deteriorated functional module is replaced with a new functional module. At this time, it is necessary to reconnect the existing functional module and the new functional module in series. Here, in order for the worker to store the connection order of the multiple reconnected functional modules in the main controller, the worker must obtain information about the connection order from a server using, for example, an external tool, which requires work time. It is preferable that such work time be as short as possible.

The present invention was made in consideration of such problems, and its purpose is to provide a battery system having multiple battery cell packs that can reduce the working time of an operator when any of the multiple battery cell packs is replaced.

The battery system disclosed herein includes a plurality of battery cell packs and a main controller. The battery cell pack includes a plurality of battery cells and a cell controller connected to the plurality of battery cells, and is attached to a predetermined attachment position. The main controller is connected to the cell controllers of the plurality of battery cell packs. The main controller includes a management unit, a first acquisition unit, and a second acquisition unit. The management unit links and records, for each battery cell pack, unique ID information, battery control information, and position information that is assigned in advance to the attachment position where the plurality of battery cell packs are attached. The first acquisition unit acquires the ID information and the battery control information. The second acquisition unit acquires the ID information and the position information when the plurality of battery cell packs are attached.

According to the battery system described above, the ID information, battery control information, and location information can be linked and managed for each battery cell pack within the battery system. Therefore, when the battery cell packs are rearranged in the battery system, the ID information, battery control information, and location information of the rearranged battery cell pack are linked within the battery system, so that the battery control information and installation location can be identified for each battery cell pack. In this way, the ID information and location information are automatically linked and managed for each battery cell pack within the battery system, so that the work time required by workers when rearranging multiple battery cell packs can be reduced.

1 is a block diagram showing a battery system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a battery cell pack. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main controller. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of information managed by a management unit. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for replacing a battery cell pack. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a battery system including a replaced battery cell pack. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a battery system according to another embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a battery system according to another embodiment.

One embodiment of the battery system disclosed herein is described below. Note that the embodiment described here is, of course, not intended to limit the present invention. Furthermore, the same reference numerals are appropriately used for components and parts that perform the same function, and duplicate descriptions are appropriately omitted.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a battery system 1 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the battery system 1 is connected to a load (not shown). The load is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a drive device such as an electric motor of a vehicle. Here, the battery system 1 is mounted, for example, on a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle, and used as a power source that supplies power to a motor that drives the vehicle. However, the battery system 1 is not limited to use in vehicles.

The battery system 1 includes a plurality of battery cell packs 10 and a main controller 30. Here, the plurality of battery cell packs 10 are connected in series to the main controller 30. In the following description, a collection of a plurality of battery cell packs 10 connected in series is referred to as a pack row 5. The number of pack rows 5 is not particularly limited, and may be one or more. The number of pack rows 5 is appropriately set according to the magnitude of the output from the battery system 1 to the load. The number of battery cell packs 10 constituting one pack row 5 is also not particularly limited, and is a predetermined number. The number of battery cell packs 10 in each pack row 5 may be the same or different. In this embodiment, there are two pack rows 5, and the first pack row 5A and the second pack row 5B are included. The number of battery cell packs 10 in one pack row 5 is three. Here, the battery cell packs 10 constituting the first pack row 5A are also referred to as the first battery cell packs 10A, and the battery cell packs 10 constituting the second pack row 5B are also referred to as the second battery cell packs 10B.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the battery cell pack 10. As shown in Figure 2, the battery cell pack 10 includes a plurality of battery cells 11 and a cell controller 12. The battery cells 11 are capable of being charged and discharged. The plurality of battery cells 11 are connected in series. The number of battery cells 11 in one battery cell pack 10 is not particularly limited and is a predetermined number. The number of battery cells 11 in each battery cell pack 10 may be the same or different. In this embodiment, a plus connector 13A and a minus connector 13B are connected to both ends of the plurality of battery cells 11 connected in series. The plus connector 13A is connected to the minus connector 13B of one battery cell pack 10 adjacent in series, and the minus connector 13B is connected to the plus connector 13A of the other battery cell pack 10 adjacent in series.

The cell controller 12 is connected to a plurality of battery cells 11. Here, the cell controller 12 is not configured by a so-called microcontroller, and does not have a so-called memory. The cell controller 12 is configured by a board, and has a so-called register. The cell controller 12 is connected to the main controller 30 (see FIG. 1) so as to be able to communicate with it. A communication interface (hereinafter also referred to as communication I/F) 14 is connected to the cell controller 12, and is connected to the main controller 30 via the communication I/F 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cell controller 12 includes a voltage measurement IC 16. The voltage measurement IC 16 measures the overall cell voltage of the multiple battery cells 11, and is configured, for example, by a sensor. A unique identifier 17 is assigned to the voltage measurement IC 16 in advance. Information related to the identifier 17 is pre-stored in the cell controller 12 (more specifically, a register). The identifier 17 identifies the voltage measurement IC 16, and is configured, for example, by a string of numbers or letters. In this embodiment, the identifier 17 is capable of identifying the battery cell pack 10.

The main controller 30 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of a microcontroller (a so-called microcomputer). The main controller 30 includes an interface (I/F) for communicating with, for example, the cell controller 12, a central processing unit (CPU) for executing the commands of a control program, a read only memory (ROM) that stores the programs executed by the CPU, a random access memory (RAM) used as a working area for expanding the programs, and a storage device such as a memory for storing the above programs and various data.

In this embodiment, a main controller 30 is provided for each pack row 5. The main controller 30 has a first main controller 30A connected to a plurality of first battery cell packs 10A in the first pack row 5A, and a second main controller 30B connected to a plurality of second battery cell packs 10B in the second pack row 5B. The first main controller 30A and the second main controller 30B are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

In this embodiment, the multiple battery cell packs 10 connected to the main controller 30 are attached at predetermined attachment positions. The attachment positions are relative to the main controller 30. Here, attachment positions P1 to P6 relative to the main controller 30 are predetermined. Each battery cell pack 10 is attached to one of the predetermined attachment positions P1 to P6.

However, if the battery system 1 continues to be used, the multiple battery cell packs 10 may deteriorate. At this time, individual differences may occur among the multiple battery cell packs 10, and the SOC (State of Charge) or SOH (State of Health) of a certain battery cell pack 10 may become lower than a predetermined threshold. In such a case, the corresponding battery cell pack 10 is replaced. For example, when replacing one battery cell pack 10, all battery cell packs 10 are once removed from the main controller 30, and after replacing the corresponding battery cell pack 10, all battery cell packs 10 are reconnected to the main controller 30. At this time, the mounting positions of the multiple battery cell packs 10 may be changed from before removal. In this embodiment, the main controller 30 automatically links each battery cell pack 10 to its mounting position and manages it even after replacing the battery cell pack 10.

3 is a block diagram of the main controller 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the main controller 30 includes a management unit 32, a first acquisition unit 34, a second acquisition unit 36, a fault diagnosis unit 38, and an equalization processing unit 39. The management unit 32, the first acquisition unit 34, the second acquisition unit 36, the fault diagnosis unit 38, and the equalization processing unit 39 may be provided in either the first main controller 30A or the second main controller 30B, or in both. The management unit 32 manages the mounting position destination for each battery cell pack 10. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information managed by the management unit 32. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the management unit 32 records unique ID information 101, battery control information 102, and position information 103 for each battery cell pack 10 in association with each other. Here, the unique ID information 101 is information that is assigned in advance to each battery cell pack 10, and the battery cell pack 10 can be identified from the ID information 101. The type of ID information 101 is not particularly limited as long as it can identify the battery cell pack 10. Here, the ID information 101 is the identifier 17 (see FIG. 2) attached to the voltage measurement IC 16 of the battery cell pack 10.

The battery control information 102 is information used when the main controller 30 or the cell controller 12 controls the charging and discharging of the multiple battery cell packs 10. The battery control information 102 is, for example, the SOC, the SOH, or the internal resistance of the battery cell packs 10. The SOH may be the SOHC or the SOHR. Here, the SOHC is the capacity maintenance rate at the current full charge capacity relative to the initial full charge capacity. The SOHR is the resistance increase rate at the current internal resistance value relative to the initial internal resistance value. The position information 103 is information assigned in advance to the mounting position at which the battery cell pack 10 is attached. In other words, the position information 103 is information regarding which mounting position of the mounting positions P1 to P6 (see FIG. 1) the battery cell pack 10 is assigned to.

The first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102 for each battery cell pack 10. Here, the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102 for each battery cell pack 10 by linking them. The source from which the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102 are acquired is not particularly limited. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, in the battery cell pack 10, the cell controller 12 stores the identifier 17 of the voltage measurement IC 16 as the ID information 101. The first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 by acquiring the identifier 17 of the voltage measurement IC 16 from the cell controller 12 of each battery cell pack 10. In addition, the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the cell voltage of the battery cell pack 10 measured by the voltage measurement IC 16 from the cell controller 12, and acquires the battery control information 102 by calculating the SOC, SOH, etc. based on the acquired cell voltage.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the main controller 30 is communicatively connected to the external tool 40 and the server 50. Here, the main controller 30 is communicatively connected to the external tool 40, and is communicatively connected to the server 50 via the external tool 40. The external tool 40 is a tool for acquiring the ID information 101 (e.g., the identifier 17 of the voltage measurement IC 16) of the battery cell pack 10. For example, the battery cell pack 10 is provided with an identification label (not shown) in which the ID information 101 (here, the identifier 17) is stored. This identification label is, for example, a barcode such as a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode, or an RFID such as an IC tag. The external tool 40 is, for example, a barcode reader capable of reading barcodes, or an RFID reader capable of reading RFID. The server 50 stores the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102 in association with each other. The battery control information 102 stored in the server 50 is the battery control information 102 (SOC, SOH, etc.) for each battery cell pack 10 before use (in other words, at the time of shipment) and the battery control information 102 (SOC, SOH, etc.) at the time of replacement. Here, the worker reads the above-mentioned identification mark of the battery cell pack 10 from which the battery control information 102 was obtained using the external tool 40. This allows the external tool 40 to obtain the ID information 101 from the read identification mark. Therefore, the first acquisition unit 34 is able to obtain the ID information 101 from the external tool 40. Furthermore, the first acquisition unit 34 is able to obtain the battery control information 102 linked to the ID information 101 from the server 50 based on the ID information 101 obtained from the external tool 40.

The second acquisition unit 36 acquires the ID information 101 and the position information 103 when multiple battery cell packs 10 are attached. Here, when the battery cell pack 10 is attached means when it is connected to the main controller 30 and placed at one of the attachment positions P1 to P6. The second acquisition unit 36 associates and stores the ID information 101 and the position information 103 for each battery cell pack 10. In this embodiment, the second acquisition unit 36 acquires the ID information 101 and the position information 103 from the cell controller 12. The second acquisition unit 36 acquires the ID information 101 by acquiring the identifier 17 of the voltage measurement IC 16 from the cell controller 12 of each battery cell pack 10. Note that the timing when the second acquisition unit 36 acquires the ID information 101 and the timing when the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102 may be the same or different.

The fault diagnosis unit 38 diagnoses whether the battery cell pack 10 connected to the main controller 30 is faulty. Here, "fault" refers to deterioration of the battery cell pack 10. Here, the fault diagnosis unit 38 determines that a battery cell pack 10 is faulty when the SOC difference or SOH difference between multiple battery cell packs 10 is greater than a predetermined reference difference. The fault diagnosis unit 38 determines that the battery cell pack 10 is degraded and faulty when the SOH of the battery cell pack 10 is less than a predetermined fault threshold. In this way, a battery cell pack 10 determined by the fault diagnosis unit 38 to be faulty (e.g., deteriorated) should be replaced.

The equalization processing unit 39 executes an equalization process to equalize the battery capacities of the multiple battery cell packs 10. Here, the equalization processing unit 39 incorporates an equalization circuit (not shown) for equalizing the battery capacities of the multiple battery cell packs 10 according to a predetermined target value. The equalization circuit may be configured, for example, as a closed circuit in which a resistor is connected to the battery cell pack 10, and the opening and closing of the closed circuit is controlled by a switch. When the battery cell pack 10 is short-circuited to the resistor, the power of the battery cell pack 10 is consumed and the battery capacity decreases. In the equalization process, for example, the battery capacity of the battery cell pack 10 with the smallest battery capacity among the battery cell packs 10 may be set as the target value for equalization. The battery capacities of the multiple battery cell packs 10 are equalized by such an equalization process.

Next, the procedure for replacing the battery cell pack 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 5. Here, the battery cell pack 10e, one of the multiple battery cell packs 10a to 10f in FIG. 1, has deteriorated, and the procedure for replacing the battery cell pack 10e with the battery cell pack 10x in FIG. 6 will be described.

First, in step S101 in FIG. 5, a charge/discharge process is performed on the newly replaced battery cell pack 10x. Here, a charge/discharge process is performed on the battery cell pack 10x so that the battery cell pack 10x has a predetermined replacement SOC when it is replaced with the battery cell pack 10x.

Next, in step S103 in FIG. 5, the worker replaces the battery cell pack 10e (see FIG. 1) with the battery cell pack 10x (see FIG. 6). Here, first, the multiple battery cell packs 10a-10f in FIG. 1 are removed from the main controller 30. After that, the worker replaces the battery cell pack 10e with the battery cell pack 10x. Next, the worker connects the battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, and 10x to the main controller 30 as shown in FIG. 6. Here, each of the battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, and 10x is placed at one of the mounting positions P1-P6. At this time, the worker does not need to worry about the connection order of the battery cell packs 10, and can freely decide at which mounting positions P1-P6 the battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, and 10x are placed. Here, the worker connects battery cell packs 10f, 10c, and 10b to the first main controller 30A, and places battery cell packs 10f, 10c, and 10b at mounting positions P1, P2, and P3, respectively. The worker also connects battery cell packs 10d, 10x, and 10a to the second main controller 30B, and places battery cell packs 10d, 10x, and 10a at mounting positions P4, P5, and P6, respectively. In this embodiment, when the battery cell packs 10 are placed at the mounting positions, position information 103 (see FIG. 4) relating to the mounting positions is stored in the main controller 30.

5, the operator connects the external tool 40 to the main controller 30 as shown in FIG. 6, and sets the main controller 30 to the cell pack replacement mode. This causes the main controller 30 to be connected to the server 50 via the external tool 40. The external tool 40 may be connected, for example, before step S101. Here, the cell pack replacement mode is a mode for the main controller 30 that is set when replacing the battery cell pack 10. By setting the main controller 30 to the cell pack replacement mode, an equalization process is performed on the multiple battery cell packs 10. There is no particular limitation on the method by which the operator sets the main controller 30 to the cell pack replacement mode. For example, the mode of the main controller 30 may be switched to the cell pack replacement mode by pressing a mode switching button arranged on the main controller 30.

Next, in step S107 of Figure 5, information on each battery cell pack 10 is acquired. Here, the first acquisition unit 34 of Figure 3 acquires the ID information 101 and battery control information 102 of the battery cell packs 10a to 10d, 10f, and 10x. In this embodiment, the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 and battery control information 102 of the battery cell packs 10a to 10d, and 10f that have not been replaced from the main controller 30. For example, the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the identifier 17 of the voltage measurement IC 16 as the ID information 101, and also acquires the cell voltage measured by the voltage measurement IC 16, calculates the SOC and the like from the cell voltage, and acquires the battery control information 102. In addition, the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 of the replaced battery cell pack 10x from the external tool 40 that reads the identification label attached to the battery cell pack 10x, and acquires the battery control information 102 of the battery cell pack 10x from the server 50 based on the acquired ID information 101.

In this embodiment, the second acquisition unit 36 in FIG. 3 acquires ID information 101 and position information 103 of the multiple battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, 10x when the multiple battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, 10x are attached. Here, the second acquisition unit 36 acquires the identifier 17 of the voltage measurement IC 16 as the ID information 101 from the cell controller 12, and also acquires position information 103, which is information regarding the attachment position of the battery cell pack 10 when it was attached.

Next, in step S109 in FIG. 5, the management unit 32 in FIG. 3 links and records the unique ID information 101, battery control information 102, and position information 103 for each battery cell pack 10. Here, the management unit 32 manages which mounting position among mounting positions P1 to P6 each battery cell pack 10 was placed in after replacement by linking it to the ID information 101.

Next, in step S111 of FIG. 5, the equalization processing unit 39 of FIG. 3 executes an equalization process to equalize the battery capacities of the multiple battery cell packs 10a to 10d, 10f, and 10x connected to the main controller 30 after replacement. This makes it possible to equalize the battery capacities of the multiple battery cell packs 10a to 10d, 10f, and 10x connected to the main controller 30 after replacement, and to reduce the SOC difference between the multiple battery cell packs 10a to 10d, 10f, and 10x. If the equalization process is not executed for the replaced battery cell packs 10a to 10d, 10f, and 10x, for example, the SOC of the replaced battery cell pack 10x is high, so that the SOC difference between the multiple battery cell packs 10a to 10d, 10f, and 10x may be larger than the reference difference. In this case, the failure diagnosis unit 38 may determine that the multiple battery cell packs 10 are faulty, even though no fault has occurred in the multiple battery cell packs 10. However, in this embodiment, the equalization process is performed in step S111, so the SOC difference between the multiple battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, and 10x can be reduced. As a result, the failure diagnosis unit 38 does not determine that the multiple battery cell packs 10a-10d, 10f, and 10x are faulty.

As described above, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the battery system 1 includes a plurality of battery cell packs 10 and a main controller 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the battery cell pack 10 includes a plurality of battery cells 11 and a cell controller 12 connected to the plurality of battery cells 11, and is attached to a predetermined attachment position. As shown in FIG. 1, the main controller 30 is connected to the cell controllers 12 of the plurality of battery cell packs 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the main controller 30 includes a management unit 32, a first acquisition unit 34, and a second acquisition unit 36. The management unit 32 links and records, for each battery cell pack 10, unique ID information 101 shown in FIG. 4, battery control information 102, and position information 103 assigned in advance to the attachment position where the plurality of battery cell packs 10 are attached. The first acquisition unit 34 acquires the ID information 101 and the battery control information 102. The second acquisition unit 36 acquires the ID information 101 and the position information 103 when the plurality of battery cell packs 10 are attached. This allows the ID information 101, battery control information 102, and location information 103 to be linked and managed for each battery cell pack 10 in the battery system 1. Therefore, when the battery cell packs 10 are rearranged in the battery system 1, the ID information 101, battery control information 102, and location information 103 of the rearranged battery cell pack 10 are linked in the battery system 1, so that the battery control information 102 and installation location can be identified for each battery cell pack 10. In this way, the ID information 101 and location information 103 are automatically linked and managed for each battery cell pack 10 in the battery system, so that the work time required by an operator when rearranging multiple battery cell packs 10 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the main controller 30 includes a fault diagnosis unit 38 (see FIG. 3) that diagnoses a fault when the SOC difference between the multiple battery cell packs 10 is greater than a predetermined reference difference. When any of the multiple battery cell packs 10 is replaced, the first acquisition unit 34 acquires the battery control information 102 of the replaced battery cell pack 10 (battery cell pack 10x in FIG. 6) via an external tool 40 (see FIG. 1) connected to a server 50 (see FIG. 1) in which the battery control information 102 of the battery cell pack 10 before use is stored. Here, the external tool 40 acquires the ID information 101 by reading the identification mark attached to the battery cell pack 10x, and acquires the battery control information 102 of the battery cell pack 10x from the server 50 based on the ID information 101. In this way, by acquiring the battery control information 102 of the replaced battery cell pack 10 from the server 50 via the external tool 40, the SOC difference between the multiple battery cell packs 10 can be reduced, preventing the fault diagnosis unit 38 from erroneously determining that a fault has occurred.

In this embodiment, the battery control information 102 is the SOC, SOH, or internal resistance of the battery cell pack 10. By acquiring the SOC, SOH (particularly SOHC, SOHR), and internal resistance as the battery control information 102, it is possible to calculate the permitted charging/discharging current and power that take into account the safety of the battery cell pack 10. Then, by performing charging/discharging processing using this permitted charging/discharging current and power, it is possible to ensure safety.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the cell controller 12 of the battery cell pack 10 has a voltage measurement IC 16 that measures the cell voltages of the multiple battery cells 11. The first acquisition unit 34 acquires the cell voltages measured by the voltage measurement IC 16 and calculates the SOC or SOH based on the cell voltages to acquire the battery control information 102. This eliminates the need for the cell controller 12 to calculate the SOC and other information in the battery control information 102, allowing the cell controller 12 to be realized with a simple configuration.

In this embodiment, the ID information 101 is an identifier 17 that is pre-assigned to the voltage measurement IC 16. This makes it possible to manage the ID information 101 using the identifier 17 that is pre-assigned to the voltage measurement IC 16, without having to assign new ID information 101 to the battery cell pack 10.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the main controller 30 has a first main controller 30A and a second main controller 30B communicatively connected to the first main controller 30A. The multiple battery cell packs 10 have a first battery cell pack 10A connected to the first main controller 30A and a second battery cell pack 10B connected to the second main controller 30B. In this way, the main controller 30 is realized by combining multiple main controllers. Therefore, by increasing or decreasing the number of main controllers constituting the main controller 30, the overall battery capacity of the battery system 1 can be easily increased or decreased.

In this embodiment, the main controller 30 is configured with a microcontroller. The cell controller 12 is not configured with a microcontroller. This allows the main controller 30, which is configured with a microcontroller, to execute complex processes, thereby enabling the cell controller 12 to be realized with a simple configuration.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a main controller 30 is provided for each pack row 5, and includes a first main controller 30A and a second main controller 30B. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the number of main controllers 30 may be one. In this case, the main controller 30 may be connected in series to a plurality of first battery cell packs 10A of the first pack row 5A, and may also be connected in series to a plurality of second battery cell packs 10B of the second pack row 5B.

Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the main controller 30 may have an integrated main controller 30C in addition to the first main controller 30A and the second main controller 30B. In this case, the integrated main controller 30C may be communicatively connected to the first main controller 30A and the second main controller 30B. The integrated main controller 30C may include the management unit 32, the first acquisition unit 34, the second acquisition unit 36, the fault diagnosis unit 38, and the equalization processing unit 39 shown in FIG. 3.

The above provides various explanations regarding the invention disclosed herein. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments given herein do not limit the present invention. Furthermore, the embodiments of the invention disclosed herein can be modified in various ways, and the components and processes mentioned herein can be omitted or combined as appropriate, unless any particular problems arise.

As described above, this specification includes the disclosures set forth in the following sections.
Item 1:
a plurality of battery cell packs each having a plurality of battery cells and a cell controller connected to the plurality of battery cells, the battery cell packs being attached to predetermined attachment positions;
a main controller connected to the cell controllers of the plurality of battery cell packs;
Equipped with
The main controller
a management unit that links and records, for each battery cell pack, unique ID information, battery control information, and position information that is assigned in advance to the mounting positions at which the plurality of battery cell packs are mounted;
a first acquisition unit that acquires the ID information and the battery control information;
a second acquisition unit that acquires the ID information and the location information when a plurality of the battery cell packs are attached;
A battery system comprising:

Item 2:
the main controller includes a failure diagnosis unit that diagnoses a failure when an SOC difference between the plurality of battery cell packs is larger than a predetermined reference difference;
2. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein, when any of the plurality of battery cell packs is replaced, the first acquisition unit acquires the battery control information of the replaced battery cell pack via an external tool connected to a server in which the battery control information of the battery cell pack before use is stored.

Item 3:
3. The battery system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the battery control information is an SOC, an SOH, or an internal resistance of the battery cell pack.

Item 4:
the cell controller of the battery cell pack has a voltage measurement IC that measures cell voltages of the plurality of battery cells;
4. The battery system according to claim 3, wherein the first acquisition unit acquires the cell voltage measured by the voltage measurement IC, and calculates the SOC or the SOH based on the cell voltage, thereby acquiring the battery control information.

Item 5:
5. The battery system according to claim 4, wherein the ID information is an identifier that is pre-assigned to the voltage measurement IC.

Clause 6:
The main controller
A first main controller;
A second main controller communicatively connected to the first main controller;
having
The plurality of battery cell packs include
a first battery cell pack connected to the first main controller;
a second battery cell pack connected to the second main controller;
6. The battery system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising:

Clause 7:
The main controller is configured by a microcontroller,
7. The battery system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the cell controller is not constituted by a microcontroller.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Battery system 10 Battery cell pack 10A First battery cell pack 10B Second battery cell pack 11 Battery cell 12 Cell controller 16 Voltage measurement IC
17 Identifier 30 Main controller 30A First main controller 30B Second main controller 32 Management section 34 First acquisition section 36 Second acquisition section 38 Fault diagnosis section 40 External tool 50 Server 101 ID information 102 Battery control information 103 Position information P1 to P6 Installation position

Claims (7)

a plurality of battery cell packs each having a plurality of battery cells and a cell controller connected to the plurality of battery cells, the battery cell packs being attached to predetermined attachment positions;
a main controller connected to the cell controllers of the plurality of battery cell packs;
Equipped with
The main controller
a management unit that links and records, for each battery cell pack, unique ID information, battery control information, and position information that is assigned in advance to the mounting positions at which the plurality of battery cell packs are mounted;
a first acquisition unit that acquires the ID information and the battery control information;
a second acquisition unit that acquires the ID information and the location information when a plurality of the battery cell packs are attached;
A battery system comprising: the main controller includes a failure diagnosis unit that diagnoses a failure when an SOC difference between the plurality of battery cell packs is larger than a predetermined reference difference;
2. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein, when any of the plurality of battery cell packs is replaced, the first acquisition unit acquires the battery control information of the replaced battery cell pack via an external tool connected to a server in which the battery control information of the battery cell pack before use is stored. The battery system of claim 1, wherein the battery control information is the SOC, SOH, or internal resistance of the battery cell pack. the cell controller of the battery cell pack has a voltage measurement IC that measures cell voltages of the plurality of battery cells;
The battery system according to claim 3 , wherein the first acquisition unit acquires the cell voltage measured by the voltage measurement IC, and calculates the SOC or the SOH based on the cell voltage, thereby acquiring the battery control information. The battery system of claim 4, wherein the ID information is an identifier that is pre-assigned to the voltage measurement IC. The main controller
A first main controller;
A second main controller communicatively connected to the first main controller;
having
The plurality of battery cell packs include
a first battery cell pack connected to the first main controller;
a second battery cell pack connected to the second main controller;
The battery system of claim 1 , comprising: The main controller is configured by a microcontroller,
7. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein the cell controller is not constituted by a microcontroller.

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