Nissan Motor Company Limited

Wakihara, Masataka

Yuji Tanjo

Hideaki Horie

Takaaki Abe

Toyoaki Nakagawa

Mikio Kawai

Ken Iwai

Takanori Itoh

Masataka Wakihara

A battery set and a method for producing electric power output are disclosed as including a plurality of groups (A, B) of series-connected battery cells, wherein each group produces a voltage of x &lsqb;V&rsqb; in a normal state and a voltage of y &lsqb;V&rsqb; in an overcharged state and wherein each group includes more than y/(y&minus;x) pieces and less than 400/x pieces of battery cells ( ) which are connected in series, and the plurality of groups of the series-connected battery cells are connected in parallel. Preferably, the battery set includes plural groups of more than four pieces of LiMn O type lithium ion battery cells which are connected in series, with the plural groups being connected in parallel.

Battery set and method for producing electric power output

A cell which has become inactive is detected in a multi-cell battery (,) comprising plural cells (C,). An inactivity detecting circuit comprising a signal generator (D,) and a diode (D,) connected in series, is connected in parallel with the cell (C,) When the cell becomes inactive, the signal generator (D,) emits a signal to indicate the state of the cell. Hence, it is possible to economically detect loss of cell activity.

Battery inactivation detection device

This invention relates to a lithium ion multi-cell battery (15) wherein plural lithium ion cells (C.sub.n) are arranged in series. Each cell comprises a positive electrode of manganese/spinal oxide and a negative electrode. A first Zener diode (Z.sub.n 1) and first resistor (R.sub.n 1) are connected in series between the electrodes. By setting the Zener voltage (VZ1) of the first Zener diode (Z.sub.n 1) equal to the cell voltage VL of the responding cell (C.sub.n) when positive electrode crystal phase transport stars in that cell (C.sub.n), the charge amount of each cell is made uniform.

Charge controlling device and method for multi-cell battery, and

A state of charge indicator of a lithium ion battery computes a state of charge (SOC) corresponding to a cell open circuit voltage from a SOC-cell open circuit voltage characteristic map, and displays the SOC on a display device. Herein, the SOC-cell open circuit voltage characteristics are obtained by defining the battery charge amount when the open circuit voltage of the cell is 3.9 V as SOC=100%, and defining the battery charge amount when the open circuit voltage of the cell is 3.5 V as SOC=100%. By defining SOC=100% and SOC=0% in this way, the SOC can be correctly computed and displayed even if the battery has deteriorated.

State of charge indicator

An inductor (L), capacitor (C) and alternator (OSC) are connected in series to the positive and negative poles of a battery (15). The temperature of the battery (15) is increased by causing the alternator (OSC) to generate an alternating current having the resonance frequency of the inductor (L) and capacitor (C). The alternating current is consumed by the internal resistance of the battery (15) due to the resonance of the inductor (L) and capacitor (C), and the temperature of the battery (15) therefore rises due to the heat thereby generated in the battery. In this way, the temperature of the battery (15) can be effectively increased with minimum power consumption.

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Kanagawa-ken, Japan

Yuji Tanjo