US-12618909-B2 - Determination system, vehicle, and determination method

US12618909B2US 12618909 B2US12618909 B2US 12618909B2US-12618909-B2

Abstract

A battery ECU is a system that determines a battery assembly that stores power used for running a vehicle and that is mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state, the system comprising: a processor; a memory that stores a genuine product characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of a genuine product, the temperature change characteristic being a characteristic of an index which changes with temperature of the battery assembly and when not being charged or discharged; and a sensor that acquires a determination target characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of the index of the battery assembly after replacement mounted on the vehicle when not being charged or discharged. The processor compares the determination target characteristic acquired by the sensor with the genuine product characteristic stored in the memory, and determines whether the battery assembly mounted on the vehicle is the genuine product from a comparison result.

Inventors

Shohei Matsuoka

Assignees

TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231025
Priority Date: 20221212

Claims (8)

1 . A determination system for a secondary battery that stores power used for running a vehicle, the secondary battery being mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state, the determination system comprising: a processor; a storage device that stores a genuine product characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of a genuine product, the temperature change characteristic of the genuine product being a characteristic of an index, which is a binding load applied to a restraining member bundling cells of a genuine product secondary battery and which changes with temperature of the genuine product secondary battery when not being charged or discharged; and a characteristic acquisition unit that acquires a determination target characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of an index of the secondary battery after replacement and when the secondary battery is mounted on the vehicle and is not being charged or discharged, wherein the secondary battery is configured as a battery pack including a plurality of cells, and the index of the secondary battery is a binding load applied to a restraining member bundling the plurality of cells of the secondary battery and which changes with temperature of the secondary battery when not being charged or discharged, wherein the processor compares the determination target characteristic acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic stored in the storage device, and determines whether the secondary battery mounted on the vehicle is the genuine product or not from a comparison result.
2 . The determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the index of the secondary battery also includes open circuit voltage of the secondary battery.
3 . The determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the binding load is a binding load at a predetermined open circuit voltage.
4 . The determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the index of the secondary battery is open circuit voltage of the secondary battery and the binding load at which the plurality of cells are bound, and the processor compares a determination target characteristic of open circuit voltage acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic to determine whether or not a first difference between the determination target characteristic of the open circuit voltage and the genuine product characteristic is equal to or greater than a first threshold, when determined that the first difference is equal to or greater than the first threshold, determines that the secondary battery is not the genuine product, when determined that the first difference is less than the first threshold, compares a determination target characteristic of the binding load acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic to determine whether or not a second difference between the determination target characteristic of the binding load and the genuine product characteristic is equal to or greater than a second threshold, when determined that the second difference is equal to or greater than the second threshold, determines that the secondary battery is not the genuine product, and when determined that the second difference is less than the second threshold, determines that the secondary battery is the genuine product.
5 . The determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the index of the secondary battery is open circuit voltage of the secondary battery and the binding load at which the plurality of cells are bound, and the processor when a representative temperature value at which a determination target characteristic of open circuit voltage is acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit is within a first temperature range, compares the determination target characteristic of the open circuit voltage acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic to determine whether or not a first difference therebetween is equal to or greater than a first threshold, when a representative temperature value at which a determination target characteristic of the binding load is acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit is within a second temperature range that is different from the first temperature range, compares the determination target characteristic of the binding load acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic to determine whether or not a second difference therebetween is equal to or greater than a second threshold, when determined that the first difference is equal to or greater than the first threshold or that the second difference is equal to or greater than the second threshold, determines that the secondary battery is not the genuine product, and when determined that the first difference is less than the first threshold or that the second difference is less than the second threshold, determines that the secondary battery is the genuine product.
6 . The determination system according to claim 1 , wherein the storage device stores information that can identify a graph indicating a relationship between a value of the index and temperature of the genuine product secondary battery as the genuine product characteristic, and the processor compares a value of the index of the secondary battery at each of a plurality of changed temperatures acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the graph.
7 . A vehicle on which a determination system for a secondary battery is mounted, wherein; the secondary battery stores power used for running the vehicle and the secondary battery is mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state, the determination system comprises: a processor; a storage device that stores a genuine product characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of a genuine product, the temperature change characteristic of the genuine product being a characteristic of an index, which is a binding load applied to a restraining member bundling cells of a genuine product secondary battery and which changes with temperature of the genuine product secondary battery when not being charged or discharged; and a characteristic acquisition unit that acquires a determination target characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of an index of the secondary battery after replacement and when the secondary battery is mounted on the vehicle and is not being charged or discharged, the secondary battery is configured as a battery pack including a plurality of cells, and the index of the secondary battery is a binding load applied to a restraining member bundling the plurality of cells of the secondary battery and which changes with temperature of the secondary battery when not being charged or discharged, and the processor compares the determination target characteristic acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic stored in the storage device, and determines whether the secondary battery mounted on the vehicle is the genuine product or not from a comparison result.
8 . A determination method using a determination system for a secondary battery that stores power used for running a vehicle, the secondary battery being mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state, the determination method comprising: reading, from a storage device, a genuine product characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of an index which is a binding load applied to a retraining member bundling a plurality of cells of a genuine product secondary battery and which changes with temperature of the genuine product secondary battery and when not being charged or discharged; and acquiring, while a replacement secondary battery is mounted on the vehicle and is not being charged or discharged, a determination target characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of an index of the replacement secondary battery, wherein the replacement secondary battery is a battery pack including a plurality of cells, and the index of the replacement secondary battery is a binding load applied to a restraining member bundling the plurality of cells of the replacement secondary battery and which changes with temperature of the replacement secondary battery when not being charged or discharged; comparing the determination target characteristic with the genuine product characteristic; and determining whether the replacement secondary battery mounted on the vehicle is the genuine product or not from a comparison result.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This nonprovisional application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-197650 filed on Dec. 12, 2022 with the Japan Patent Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND Field This disclosure relates to a determination system, a vehicle, and a determination method, and in particular to a determination system for a secondary battery that stores power used for running a vehicle and that is mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state, a vehicle on which the determination system for a secondary battery is mounted, and a determination method using the determination system for a secondary battery that stores power used for running a vehicle and that is mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state. Description of the Background Art Conventionally, in order to provide a semiconductor device capable of accurately detecting a battery cell that is a non-genuine product, there has been a technique that counts the number of cycles of charging and discharging of a battery cell, measures the charging rate and internal resistance of the battery cell, normalizes the internal resistance based on the number of cycles, temperature, and the charging rate to calculate the internal resistance at the time of shipping of the battery cell, and performs a process of determining whether the battery cell is a non-genuine product based on the internal resistance at the time of shipping (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2019-114437). SUMMARY In Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2019-114437, a genuine product is distinguished based on the internal resistance measured at the time of charging. For this reason, even if the materials forming a battery cell are different, when a battery cell having the same internal resistance is installed, the battery cell can be erroneously determined as a genuine product. This disclosure has been made to solve such a problem, and aims to provide a determination system, a vehicle, and a determination method that are capable of determining whether a secondary battery is a genuine product or not even without charging or discharging it. A determination system according to this disclosure is a determination system for a secondary battery that stores power used for running a vehicle and that is mounted on the vehicle in a replaceable state, the determination system comprising: a processor; a storage device that stores a genuine product characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of a genuine product, the temperature change characteristic being a characteristic of an index which changes with temperature of the secondary battery and when not being charged or discharged; and a characteristic acquisition unit that acquires a determination target characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of the index of the secondary battery after replacement mounted on the vehicle when not being charged or discharged. The processor compares the determination target characteristic acquired by the characteristic acquisition unit with the genuine product characteristic stored in the storage device, and determines whether the secondary battery mounted on the vehicle is the genuine product or not from a comparison result. According to such a configuration, the acquired determination target characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of the index of the secondary battery after replacement mounted on the vehicle when not being charged or discharged is compared with the stored genuine product characteristic that is a temperature change characteristic of a genuine product, the temperature change characteristic being a characteristic of the index which changes with the temperature of the secondary battery and when not being charged or discharged to determine whether the secondary battery mounted on the vehicle is the genuine product or not from a comparison result. As a result, it is possible to provide a determination system capable of determining whether a secondary battery is a genuine product or not even without charging or discharging it. The index may be open circuit voltage of the secondary battery. According to such a configuration, even without charging or discharging a secondary battery, it can be determined whether it is a genuine product or not using open circuit voltage of the secondary battery. The secondary battery may be configured to include a plurality of cells, and the index may be a binding load at which the plurality of cells are bound. According to such a configuration, even without charging or discharging a secondary battery, it can be determined whether it is a genuine product or not using a binding load at which a plurality of cells of the secondary battery are bound. Furthermore, the binding load may be a binding load at a predetermined open circuit voltage. According to such a configuration, even without charging or discharging a secondary battery, it can be determined whe