US-20260128393-A1 - BATTERY BALANCING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE SAME

US20260128393A1US 20260128393 A1US20260128393 A1US 20260128393A1US-20260128393-A1

Abstract

A battery balancing apparatus and a method therefor are provided. The battery balancing apparatus includes a battery including battery cells, and a processor to set the battery cells to channels including a first channel and a second channel, and perform a balancing operation for the battery cells included in the second channel while sensing voltages of the battery cells included in the first channel.

Inventors

Mi Ri Park
Yeong Geun YEO

Assignees

HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20250722
Priority Date: 20241104

Claims (10)

1 . A battery balancing apparatus, comprising: a battery including a plurality of battery cells; and a processor configured to: set the plurality of battery cells to a plurality of channels including a first channel and a second channel; and perform a balancing operation for the battery cells included in the second channel while sensing voltages of the battery cells included in the first channel.
2 . The battery balancing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: set a battery cell with a voltage difference equal to or greater than a certain value from an adjacent battery cell as a balancing target among the battery cells included in the second channel based on a pre-measured voltage; and perform a balancing operation on the balancing target.
3 . The battery balancing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of channels further includes a third channel, and wherein, in response to the voltage sensing for the first channel and the balancing operation for the second channel being completed, the processor is further configured to: set the third channel; and control voltage sensing for the battery cells included in the third channel.
4 . The battery balancing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to set a battery cell located at a boundary point between the first channel and the second channel to the third channel.
5 . The battery balancing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the balancing operation to not be performed in another channel while voltage sensing for the third channel is performed.
6 . The battery balancing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of channels further includes a fourth channel and a fifth channel, and wherein, in response to the voltage sensing for the third channel being completed, the processor is further configured to: set the fourth channel and the fifth channel by adding the battery cells included in the third channel to the first and second channels or by excluding the battery cells included in the third channel from the first and second channels; perform a balancing operation on the battery cells included in the fourth channel; and sense the voltages of the battery cells included in the fifth channel.
7 . A processor-implemented method of balancing a battery, the method comprising: setting, by a processor, a plurality of battery cells included in a battery to a plurality of channels including a first channel and a second channel; requesting, by the processor, a voltage sensing operation for the battery cells included in the first channel; and performing, by the processor, a balancing operation for the battery cells included in the second channel while the voltage sensing operation for the first channel is performed.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein in the performing of the balancing operation, the processor is configured to: set a battery cell with a voltage difference equal to or greater than a certain value from an adjacent battery cell as a balancing target among the battery cells included in the second channel, based on a pre-measured voltage; and perform a balancing operation on the balancing target.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of channels further includes a third channel, the third channel including a battery cell located at a boundary point between the first channel and the second channel among the plurality of battery cells, and wherein, in response to the voltage sensing for the first channel and the balancing operation for the second channel being completed, the method further comprises: controlling, by the processor, voltage sensing for the battery cells included in the third channel; and controlling, by the processor, the balancing operation to not be performed in another channel while the voltage sensing for the third channel is performed.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of channels further includes a fourth channel and a fifth channel, and wherein the method further comprises: setting, by the processor, the fourth channel and the fifth channel by adding the battery cells included in the third channel to the first channel and the second channel or by excluding the battery cells included in the third channel from the first channel and the second channel in response to the voltage sensing for the third channel is completed; performing, by the processor, a balancing operation on the battery cells included in the fourth channel; and controlling, by the processor, to sense voltages of the battery cells included in the fifth channel during the balancing operation for the fourth channel is performed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0154341 filed on Nov. 4, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND 1. Field Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a battery balancing apparatus that controls balancing operation of a battery cell and method thereof. 2. Description of the Related Art As electric vehicle-related technologies are developed, the required battery voltage is increasing, and thus the number of battery packs is also increasing. Accordingly, the importance of battery balancing technologies for preventing overcharging and adjusting deviations between cells is gradually increasing. Balancing of battery cells is to reduce difference between battery cells while preventing overcharging of the battery cells. In the balancing operation, when the balancing operation is not performed for sufficient time, balancing between battery cells may not be completed, so the battery is repeatedly charged and discharged without resolving the voltage difference. When such a state persists, thermal runaway may occur in the battery. When a thermal runaway phenomenon occurs, not only a fire may occur in the electric vehicle, but also the life of a driver may be threatened. The balancing operation is sequentially performed based on the sensed voltage after first performing a sensing operation for sensing a voltage of the battery cell. In this case, because balancing of the battery cells takes a predetermined time, the cell balancing may not be completed until the start is turned off. Accordingly, the balancing operation may be continuously performed even when the electric vehicle is in a parking state. For example, when sensing N channels, a total of N×1 channel conversion time is taken, during which balancing is not performed. In addition, balancing is not performed even when diagnosing the battery cell. For this reason, the battery may not have enough time to complete the balancing. When the sufficient balancing time is not ensured, the battery may continue to be overcharged, a deviation between cells may increase, and a life of the battery cell may be shortened. The background technology of the present disclosure is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-2667738 (entitled “BALANCING METHOD AND APPARATUS OF BATTERY”). SUMMARY Various embodiments are directed to a battery balancing apparatus and method for simultaneously performing voltage sensing and balancing of battery cells to secure balancing time. In a general aspect, a battery balancing apparatus, includes: a battery including a plurality of battery cells; and a processor configured to set the plurality of battery cells to a plurality of channels including a first channel and a second channel, and perform a balancing operation for the battery cells included in the second channel while sensing voltages of the battery cells included in the first channel. The processor may be further configured to set a battery cell with a voltage difference equal to or greater than a certain value from an adjacent battery cell as a balancing target among the battery cells included in the second channel based on a pre-measured voltage, and perform a balancing operation on the balancing target. The plurality of channels may further include a third channel, wherein, in response to the voltage sensing for the first channel and the balancing operation for the second channel being completed, the processor may be further configured to set the third channel, and control voltage sensing for the battery cells included in the third channel. The processor may further be configured to set a battery cell located at a boundary point between the first channel and the second channel to the third channel. The processor may be further configured to control the balancing operation to not be performed in another channel while voltage sensing for the third channel is performed. The plurality of channels may further include a fourth channel and a fifth channel, wherein, in response to the voltage sensing for the third channel being completed, the processor may be further configured to set the fourth channel and the fifth channel by adding the battery cells included in the third channel to the first and second channels or by excluding the battery cells included in the third channel from the first and second channels, perform a balancing operation on the battery cells included in the fourth channel, and sense the voltages of the battery cells included in the fifth channel. In another general aspect, a processor-implemented method of balancing a battery, includes: setting, by a processor, a plurality of battery cells included in a battery to a plurality of channels including a first channel and a second channel; requesting, by the processor, a voltage sensing opera