US 12,113,383 B2
Charging system, charging method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for terminating of charge based on decreaser battery voltage
Masaki Ikeda, Mie (JP); Tatsuya Miwa, Mie (JP); and Yu Ota, Mie (JP)
Assigned to PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD., Osaka (JP)
Filed by Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd., Osaka (JP)
Filed on Mar. 31, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/218,502.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-064787 (JP), filed on Mar. 31, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0305820 A1, Sep. 30, 2021
Int. Cl. H02J 7/00 (2006.01); H01M 10/44 (2006.01)
CPC H02J 7/0024 (2013.01) [H02J 7/00036 (2020.01); H02J 7/00302 (2020.01); H02J 7/0047 (2013.01); H02J 7/0071 (2020.01); H02J 7/00711 (2020.01); H02J 7/00712 (2020.01); H02J 7/00714 (2020.01); H02J 7/007182 (2020.01); H01M 10/441 (2013.01); H02J 7/0013 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A charging system configured to charge a battery pack including one or more battery cells, the charging system comprising:
an acquirer configured to acquire, as an acquisition voltage, a voltage between terminals or a cell voltage of each of the one or more battery cells in the battery pack which is being charged, and
a controller configured to, when the voltage between the terminals or the cell voltage reaches a target voltage, cause a first charging mode allowing fast charging to transition to a second charging mode in which a charge current is lower than in the first charging mode, wherein:
the controller is configured to stop charging operation when the acquisition voltage acquired by the acquirer decreases and an aspect of a decrease in the acquisition voltage satisfies a predetermined condition in the second charging mode,
the controller is configured to determine the predetermined condition based on a predetermined reference voltage value,
the controller is configured to determine the predetermined reference voltage value based on the acquisition voltage acquired by the acquirer in a predetermined time period, and
the predetermined time period starts at a timing at which the first charging mode is caused to transition to the second charging mode.
 
14. A charging method for charging a battery pack including one or more battery cells, the charging method comprising:
an acquisition step of acquiring, as an acquisition voltage, a voltage between terminals or a cell voltage of each of the one or more battery cells in the battery pack which is being charged,
a transition step of, when the voltage between the terminals or the cell voltage reaches a target voltage, cause a first charging mode allowing fast charging to transition to a second charging mode in which a charge current is lower than in the first charging mode, and
a stopping step of stopping charging operation when the acquisition voltage acquired in the acquisition step decreases and an aspect of a decrease in the acquisition voltage satisfies a predetermined condition in the second charging mode,
a restart step of executing a determining process of determining a presence or absence of an abnormality in the battery pack after a lapse of a predetermined time since the charging operation is stopped, and restarting the charging operation when the absence of the abnormality is determined in the determining process, wherein:
in the determining process, determining that the abnormality is absent when the voltage value of the acquisition voltage acquired by the acquirer after the lapse of the predetermined time is larger than or equal to a prescribed reference voltage value,
the prescribed reference voltage value is determined based on the acquisition voltage acquired by the acquirer within a prescribed time period during a reference value determining process performed prior to the determination process, and
the prescribed time period is a time period while the charging operation is temporarily stopped in the second charging mode.