US-12620817-B2 - Medical device with improved battery storage system

US12620817B2US 12620817 B2US12620817 B2US 12620817B2US-12620817-B2

Abstract

A medical device includes an electric battery storage system including a plurality of battery modules; module fixtures, wherein the battery modules are in the module fixtures, an arrangement of the battery modules in the module fixtures provide a power-related interconnection of the battery modules, the module fixtures are divided into a plurality of basic fixtures and at least one additional fixture; and an equalizing arrangement assigned to the battery storage system, the equalizing arrangement being configured to equalize a low-loss equalization of a basic charge level and an additional charge level between battery modules in the basic fixtures and having a uniform basic charge level and a battery module in the additional fixture and having an additional charge level, and the equalizing arrangement is not configured to cause a uniform basic charge level within the battery modules in the basic fixtures.

Inventors

Michael Wimmer
Josef Deuringer
Karsten Kruschat
Andreas Boehme
Jonas Geyer-Ramsteck

Assignees

Siemens Healthineers Ag

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20250311
Priority Date: 20240313

Claims (15)

1 . A medical device comprising: an electric battery storage system including a plurality of battery modules; module fixtures, wherein the plurality of battery modules are in the module fixtures, an arrangement of the plurality of battery modules in the module fixtures provide a power-related interconnection of the plurality of battery modules, and the module fixtures are divided into a plurality of basic fixtures and at least one additional fixture; and an equalizing arrangement assigned to the electric battery storage system, the equalizing arrangement being configured to equalize a low-loss equalization of a basic charge level and an additional charge level between battery modules in the plurality of basic fixtures and a battery module in the additional fixture, each of the battery modules in the plurality of basic fixtures having a uniform basic charge level and the battery module in the additional fixture having an additional charge level, and the equalizing arrangement not being configured to cause the uniform basic charge level within the battery modules in the basic fixtures.
2 . The medical device of claim 1 , further comprising: a battery management system, wherein the plurality of battery modules are connected to the battery management system by a data-related interconnection such that the plurality of battery modules are configured to transmit their respective charge level to the battery management system, and the basic fixtures are assigned a basic charging device spanning the basic fixtures and via which the uniform basic charge level of the battery modules in the basic fixtures is changeable without influencing the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture.
3 . The medical device of claim 2 , wherein in order to adjust the uniform basic charge level of the battery modules in the basic fixtures to the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture during an ongoing operation of the medical device, the battery modules in the basic fixtures are discharged or electrical energy is supplied to the battery modules in the basic fixtures in a same manner as if no battery module were in the additional fixture, and in an emergency operation of the medical device and in order to adapt the uniform basic charge level of the battery modules in the basic fixtures to the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture, discharging of the battery modules in the basic fixtures is carried out in the same manner as if no battery module were in the additional fixture.
4 . The medical device of claim 2 , wherein the additional fixture is proprietarily assigned an additional charging device, the additional charging device is configured to change the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture without influencing the uniform basic charge level of the battery modules in the basic fixtures.
5 . The medical device of claim 1 , further comprising: a battery management system, wherein the plurality of battery modules in the module fixtures are connected by a data-related interconnection to the battery management system such that the plurality of battery modules in the module fixtures are configured to transmit their respective charge level to the battery management system, and the additional fixture is proprietarily assigned an additional charging device, the additional charging device is configure to change the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture without influencing the uniform basic charge level of the battery modules in the basic fixtures.
6 . The medical device of claim 1 , further comprising: an active balancing circuit assigned to the electric battery storage system, the active balancing circuit configured to transfer charge with low loss between all of the battery modules in the basic fixtures and the battery module in the additional fixture, and such that a change in the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture is distributed evenly across the battery modules in the basic fixtures.
7 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein during at least one of an ongoing operation or an emergency operation of the medical device, the medical device is configured to draw electrical energy from the battery modules in the basic fixtures for operating the medical device and not from the battery module in the additional fixture.
8 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein during at least one of an ongoing operation or an emergency operation of the medical device, the medical device is configured to draw electrical energy from the battery modules in the basic fixtures and from the battery module in the additional fixture.
9 . The medical device of claim 1 , further comprising: a switching facility assigned to the electric battery storage system, the electric battery storage system is configured to dynamically adjust whether electrical energy is drawn exclusively from the battery modules in the basic fixtures or is drawn both from the battery modules in the basic fixtures and from the battery module in the additional fixture during at least one of an ongoing operation or an emergency operation of the medical device.
10 . The medical device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of, the electric battery storage system is configured to at least one of support or enable an ongoing operation of the medical device, or the electric battery storage system is configured to enable an emergency operation of the medical device as long as a number of basic fixtures in which no battery module is arranged or in which the battery module in a respective basic fixture is bridged does not exceed a limit number above 0.
11 . The medical device of claim 3 , wherein the additional fixture is proprietarily assigned an additional charging device, the additional charging device is configured to change the additional charge level of the battery module in the additional fixture without influencing the uniform basic charge level of the battery modules in the basic fixtures.
12 . The medical device of claim 2 , wherein during at least one of an ongoing operation or an emergency operation of the medical device, the medical device is configured to draw electrical energy from the battery modules in the basic fixtures for operating the medical device and not from the battery module in the additional fixture.
13 . The medical device of claim 2 , wherein during at least one of an ongoing operation or an emergency operation of the medical device, the medical device is configured to draw electrical energy from the battery modules in the basic fixtures and from the battery module in the additional fixture.
14 . The medical device of claim 2 , further comprising: a switching facility assigned to the electric battery storage system, the electric battery storage system is configured to dynamically adjust whether electrical energy is drawn exclusively from the battery modules in the basic fixtures or is drawn both from the battery modules in the basic fixtures and from the battery module in the additional fixture during at least one of an ongoing operation or an emergency operation of the medical device.
15 . The medical device of claim 2 , wherein at least one of, the electric battery storage system is configured to at least one of support or enable an ongoing operation of the medical device, or the electric battery storage system is configured to enable an emergency operation of the medical device as long as a number of basic fixtures in which no battery module is arranged or in which the battery module in a respective basic fixture is bridged does not exceed a limit number above 0.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to German Patent Application No. 10 2024 202 352.3, filed Mar. 13, 2024, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD One or more example embodiments is based on a medical device with an improved battery storage system. RELATED ART A typical example of a medical device is an X-ray system. Such a system is customarily fed from a supply network. During ongoing operation, however, its power consumption fluctuates significantly. During phases with high power consumption (power phases), the battery storage system can therefore supply energy to the medical device, which is fed back to the battery storage system from the supply network during phases with low power consumption (power pauses). This allows the power consumption from the supply network to be evened out and the maximum power consumption from the supply network to be reduced or even significantly reduced. If need be, autarkic operation of a mobile medical device independently of the mains supply is also possible. Depending on the situation, the battery storage system may therefore be essential for the ongoing operation of the medical device. If it is essential, only the battery storage system enables the ongoing operation of the medical device. If it is not essential, the battery storage system supports ongoing operation, for example by reducing the maximum power consumption from the supply network. Alternatively or in addition, the battery storage system can enable the ongoing operation or emergency operation of the medical device for a limited time in the event of failure of the supply network. The extent to which ongoing operation or emergency operation is enabled is determined by the energy requirement of the medical device and the design of the energy storage system. In the prior art, the battery storage system customarily consists of a plurality of battery modules which are connected in parallel and in series as required in order to meet the requirements of the respective system. Often the individual battery modules are designed in such a way that handling of the individual battery modules by service technicians who are not specifically qualified is also permitted in the legal sense. As a result, such persons may also replace modules. When the battery storage system is installed for the first time, all of the battery modules customarily have the same charge level. During subsequent operation, all of the modules continue to have the same charge level as a rule. However, the charge level can be any value between a minimum value and a maximum value—in an extreme case between 0% (=fully discharged) and 100% (=fully charged). If an individual battery module fails or otherwise no longer meets the required specification, in some cases the entire battery storage system is replaced and disposed of. This is disadvantageous because, as a rule, the other battery modules still work properly. Excessive costs are therefore incurred. Resources are also consumed unnecessarily. From the basic approach, it is known and also readily conceivable to replace only a single battery module. Here the problem arises, however, that the newly installed battery module may have a different charge level from the battery modules already in the device. For example, due to applicable hazardous goods guidelines, newly manufactured battery modules are usually stored and transported with a maximum charge level of approx. 30%. However, the charge level of the battery modules already in the device may have a different value, possibly even a significantly different value. However, in order to be able to operate the medical device to its full extent, all of the battery modules must have (at least essentially) the same charge level. Passive balancing circuits are known in the prior art. Such balancing circuits are used in the prior art inside the respective battery modules in order to equalize the charge levels between the individual battery cells of a respective battery module. It is conceivable to also use such passive balancing circuits for balancing the charge levels of the battery modules. However, this is disadvantageous. Firstly, such equalization of the charge levels requires a considerable amount of time, as a rule several hours. Furthermore, the charge levels in passive balancing circuits are equalized by balancing charge differences through current flow via resistors, so that the energy is converted into heat and thus losses occur. Furthermore, active balancing circuits are also known in the prior art. Such balancing circuits are also used in the prior art to equalize charge levels. It is conceivable to also use such active balancing circuits for balancing the charge level of the battery modules. Due to the relatively large number of battery modules, however, a high number of active balancing circuits would be required. This solution is therefore not