Apparatus and method for monitoring component breakdown of battery system

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for monitoring a breakdown of a battery system component are provided to more accurately determine whether a cooling fan for cooling a battery of an environment-friendly vehicle or a part related to the cooling fan fails. The method for monitoring a breakdown of a battery system component compulsorily driving, by a controller, the cooling fan and measuring the current temperature of the battery when the battery management system fails to receive a pulse width modulation PWM signal that represents an operation state of the cooling fan and a feedback signal (PFM) of the cooling fan from a cooling fan controller.

Claims

1. An apparatus for monitoring a breakdown of a battery system component, comprising: a battery management system; and a cooling fan controller configured to receive a command signal of the battery management system to operate a cooling fan, wherein the controller is configured to: compulsorily drive the cooling fan when the battery management system fails to receive a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal that represents a cooling fan feedback signal from the cooling fan controller; operate a sensor to measure a temperature difference of a battery before and after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven; determine a failure of the battery management system when the temperature difference of the battery measured by the battery temperature measuring unit is a reference temperature or greater; and determine a failure of the cooling fan when the temperature difference is less than the reference temperature.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cooling fan controller is further configured to: inform a driver of the determined failure of the cooling fan or the battery management system.

3. A method of monitoring a breakdown of a battery system component, the method comprising: compulsorily driving, by a controller, a cooling fan when a battery management system fails to receive a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal that represents a cooling feedback signal from a cooling fan controller; measuring, by the controller, a temperature difference of a battery before and after the compulsory driving of the cooling fan; determining, by the controller, a failure of the battery management system when the temperature difference of the battery is a reference temperature or greater; and determining, by the controller, a failure of the cooling fan when the temperature difference is less than the reference temperature.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein in compulsorily driving the cooling fan, the cooling fan is driven at a maximum stage or sequentially driven at from a first stage to the maximum stage.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein in measuring the temperature difference of the battery, a temperature of the battery is measured before the cooling fan is compulsorily driven, and a temperature of the battery is measured after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven after a lapse of about 3 to 10 minutes.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising: informing, by the controller, a driver of the determined failure of the cooling fan or the battery management system.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions executed by a controller, the computer readable medium comprising: program instructions that operate a controller to compulsorily drive a cooling fan when a battery management system fails to receive a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal that represents a cooling feedback signal from a cooling fan controller; program instructions that operate a sensor to measure a temperature difference of a battery before and after the compulsory driving of the cooling fan; program instructions that operate the controller to determine a failure of the battery management system when the temperature difference of the battery is a reference temperature or greater; and program instructions that operate the controller to determine a failure of the cooling fan when the temperature difference is less than the reference temperature.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein in compulsorily driving the cooling fan, the cooling fan is driven at a maximum stage or sequentially driven at from a first stage to the maximum stage.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein in measuring the temperature difference of the battery, a temperature of the battery is measured before the cooling fan is compulsorily driven, and a temperature of the battery is measured after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven after a lapse of about 3 to 10 minutes.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7, further comprising: program instructions that operate the controller to output an alarm to a driver of the determined failure of the cooling fan or the battery management system.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other features of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof illustrated the accompanying drawings which are given hereinafter by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is an exemplary flowchart showing a method of monitoring a breakdown of a cooling fan of a battery system according to the related art;

(3) FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing an apparatus for monitoring a breakdown of a component of a battery system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

(4) FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart showing a method of monitoring a breakdown of a component of a battery system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

(5) It should be understood that the accompanying drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various exemplary features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g., fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles.

(7) Although exemplary embodiment is described as using a plurality of units to perform the exemplary process, it is understood that the exemplary processes may also be performed by one or plurality of modules. Additionally, it is understood that the term controller/control unit refers to a hardware device that includes a memory and a processor. The memory is configured to store the modules and the processor is specifically configured to execute said modules to perform one or more processes which are described further below.

(8) Furthermore, control logic of the present invention may be embodied as non-transitory computer readable media on a computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, controller/control unit or the like. Examples of the computer readable mediums include, but are not limited to, ROM, RAM, compact disc (CD)-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, flash drives, smart cards and optical data storage devices. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed in network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable media is stored and executed in a distributed fashion, e.g., by a telematics server or a Controller Area Network (CAN).

(9) The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

(10) Unless specifically stated or obvious from context, as used herein, the term “about” is understood as within a range of normal tolerance in the art, for example within 2 standard deviations of the mean. “About” can be understood as within 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.05%, or 0.01% of the stated value. Unless otherwise clear from the context, all numerical values provided herein are modified by the term “about.”

(11) Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As described above, a high-voltage battery operating as a power source of a driving motor, a cooling fan that radiates heat generated by the battery and cooling the battery, and a battery management system that operates the cooling fan and the battery are mounted within an environment-friendly vehicle. The main point of the present invention is that whether a cooling fan or a battery management system fails may be more accurately determined when the battery management system fails to receive a PWM signal that represents an operation state of the cooling fan.

(12) FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing an apparatus for monitoring a breakdown of a component of a battery system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the apparatus includes a cooling fan controller 12 and a battery management system 10. The battery management system 10 may include a controller configured to operate a cooling fan 14, a compulsory cooling fan driving unit 20, a battery temperature measuring unit 22, a breakdown determining unit 24, and an alarm unit 26. As shown in FIG. 2, a stage of the cooling fan 14 for cooling a battery may be adjusted under the operation of a cooling fan controller 12 that may be configured to receive a command signal of a battery management system 10. As a feedback signal according to an operation of the cooling fan 14, a cooling fan feedback signal (PFM) including a current operation stage and an operation speed of the cooling fan, that is, a PWM signal may be transmitted from the cooling fan controller 12 to the battery management system 10.

(13) A compulsory cooling fan driving unit 20 for compulsorily driving the cooling fan 14 when the battery management system 10 fails to receive a PWM signal that represents a cooling fan feedback signal (PFM) from a cooling fan controller 12 may be disposed within the battery management system 10 or as a separate control part and may be connected to the battery management system 10 to exchange signals. Accordingly, when the battery management system 10 fails to receive a PWM signal that represents a cooling fan feedback signal (PFM) regarding a current operation stage of the cooling fan 14 from the cooling fan controller 12, the cooling fan 14 may be compulsorily driven by applying a current to the cooling fan 14. Although the cooling fan 14 may be sequentially driven from state 1 up to a maximum stage (e.g., stage 9) during compulsorily driving of the cooling fan 14, the cooling fan 14 may be compulsorily driven directly to the maximum stage (e.g., stage 9) to more promptly cool the battery.

(14) Then, a battery temperature measuring unit 22 may be configured to measure a temperature of the battery before and after the cooling fan 14 is compulsorily driven. The battery temperature measuring unit 22 may be configured to measure a battery temperature that is different before and after the cooling fan 14 is compulsorily driven by the compulsory cooling fan driving unit 20. Additionally, the battery temperature measuring unit 22 may be configured to measure a temperature of the battery before the cooling fan is compulsorily driven, measure a temperature of the battery after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven after lapse of about 3 to 10 minutes, and transmit the temperature of the battery to a breakdown determining unit 24.

(15) Furthermore, the breakdown determining unit 14 may be configured to calculate a temperature difference of the battery measured by the battery temperature measuring unit 22 before and after the compulsory cooling of the cooling fan to determine a breakdown of the cooling fan or the battery management system. The breakdown determining unit 24 may be disposed within the battery management system 10 or as a separate control part, and may be connected to the battery management system 10 to exchange signals. Thus, the breakdown determining unit 24 may be configured to calculate a temperature difference of the battery before and after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven, and when the temperature difference is a reference value or greater, the breakdown determining unit 24 may be configured to determine that the cooling fan 14 is in a normal state (e.g., no failure) and the battery management system 10 has failed.

(16) In other words, since a temperature difference of the battery before and after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven means that the battery is cooled by cool air generated by the cooling fan, the cooling fan may be determined to be in a normal state. Further, since the battery management system fails to receive a PWM signal that represents a feedback signal (PFM) from the cooling fan controller may mean that the battery management system may be experiencing a failure.

(17) Moreover, the breakdown determining unit 24 may be configured to calculate a temperature difference of the battery before and after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven, and when the temperature difference is a reference value or less, the battery management system 10 may be determined to be in a normal state and the cooling fan 14 may simultaneously be determined to have failed. In other words, even when the battery management system fails to receive a PWM signal that represents a feedback signal (PFM) from the cooling fan controller, a breakdown of the cooling fan may be determined as the operation of cooling the battery by the cooling fan is regarded as not being smoothly performed when the temperature difference of the battery before and after the cooling fan is compulsorily driven.

(18) Additionally, the apparatus of the present invention may further include an alarm unit 26 configured to inform a driver of a breakdown of the cooling fan or the battery management system determined by the breakdown determining unit 24. An example of the alarm unit may be an alarm lamp disposed at a cluster of the vehicle. Thus, in response to determining that the cooling fan or the battery management system has failed, the driver may be more accurately informed in regards to the failure of the cooling fan and the battery management system.