IP Library Granted Patent US 12,344,122
Granted Patent B2
US 12,344,122 · App. 18/179,794 · Granted Jul 1, 2025

Low-voltage battery charging system and method

Inventors: Tianzhu Song (Shanghai, CN); Jian Sun (Shanghai, CN); Hui Wang (Shanghai, CN); Lulu Yang (Shanghai, CN)
Assignee: Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technologies Co., Ltd.
B60L58/14B60L53/20B60L2210/10B60L2240/547
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,344,122
App. No.
18/179,794
Granted
Jul 1, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

This application relates to the technical field of electric vehicles, and in particular, to charging systems and methods. An example charging system includes: a low-voltage battery capable of supplying power to a low-voltage electrical device of a vehicle; a power battery module; a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter capable of receiving a voltage supplied by the power battery module in response to at least that a positive relay and a negative relay of the power battery module are closed, and converting the voltage into a charging voltage of the low-voltage battery to charge the low-voltage battery; and a DC-DC controller electrically connected to the low-voltage battery and capable of monitoring a voltage of the low-voltage battery in response to at least that the vehicle is in a dormant state.

Claims (51)

1. A charging system, configured in a vehicle, wherein the charging system comprises:

a low-voltage battery capable of supplying power to a low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle;

a power battery module comprising a plurality of power batteries connected in series;

a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter capable of receiving a voltage supplied by the power battery module in response to at least that a positive relay and a negative relay of the power battery module are closed, and converting the voltage into a charging voltage of the low-voltage battery to charge the low-voltage battery, wherein the power battery module and the DC-DC converter are housed in a same high-voltage protective enclosure; and

a DC-DC controller electrically connected to the low-voltage battery and capable of monitoring a voltage of the low-voltage battery in response to at least that the vehicle is in a dormant state, wherein:

the DC-DC controller is communicatively connected to a battery management system (BMS) of the vehicle, to wake up the BMS in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than a first threshold and to cause the BMS to close the positive relay and the negative relay, wherein a first power battery in the plurality of power batteries is configured to supply power to the low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than a third threshold;

the DC-DC controller is communicatively connected to a vehicle control unit of the vehicle, to wake up the vehicle control unit in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than the first threshold;

the vehicle control unit is configured to: monitor a state of the vehicle, and in response to at least that the state of the vehicle meets a high-voltage power-on condition, send a high-voltage power-on instruction to the BMS;

the BMS closes the positive relay and the negative relay in response to the high-voltage power-on instruction;

the high-voltage power-on condition is that the DC-DC converter is not faulty, the power battery module is not faulty, and a state of charge (SOC) of the power battery module is higher than a second threshold; and

the DC-DC controller is electrically connected to the DC-DC converter to monitor whether the DC-DC converter becomes faulty.

2. The charging system according to claim 1 , wherein the power battery module is composed of the plurality of power batteries connected in series.

3. The charging system according to claim 2 , wherein the first power battery is composed of K batteries in the plurality of power batteries connected in series, and a maximum output voltage of the first power battery is less than or equal to a maximum withstand voltage of the low-voltage electrical device, wherein K≥1, and K is an integer.

4. The charging system according to claim 3 , wherein an electrical switch is disposed between the first power battery and the low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle, wherein in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than the first threshold, the electrical switch is closed to cause the first power battery to supply power to the low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle.

5. The charging system according to claim 4 , wherein the DC-DC controller is further configured to: in response to at least that the low-voltage battery is charged, monitor the voltage of the low-voltage battery, to monitor whether a fault occurs in charging of the low-voltage battery.

6. The charging system according to claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of power batteries is a lithium-ion battery comprising lithium-ion battery cells connected in series.

7. The charging system according to claim 1 , wherein the DC-DC controller is configured to: in response to at least that the low-voltage battery is charged, send charging stop information to the BMS.

8. The charging system according to claim 7 , wherein the BMS is configured to: in response to the charging stop information, open the positive relay and the negative relay.

9. A vehicle, comprising a charging system, wherein the charging system comprises:

a low-voltage battery capable of supplying power to a low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle;

a power battery module comprising a plurality of power batteries connected in series;

a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter capable of receiving a voltage supplied by the power battery module in response to at least that a positive relay and a negative relay of the power battery module are closed, and converting the voltage into a charging voltage of the low-voltage battery to charge the low-voltage battery, wherein the power battery module and the DC-DC converter are housed in a same high-voltage protective enclosure; and

a DC-DC controller electrically connected to the low-voltage battery and capable of monitoring a voltage of the low-voltage battery in response to at least that the vehicle is in a dormant state, wherein:

the DC-DC controller is communicatively connected to a battery management system (BMS) of the vehicle, to wake up the BMS in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than a first threshold and to cause the BMS to close the positive relay and the negative relay, wherein a first power battery in the plurality of power batteries is configured to supply power to the low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than a third threshold;

the DC-DC controller is communicatively connected to a vehicle control unit of the vehicle, to wake up the vehicle control unit in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than the first threshold;

the vehicle control unit is configured to: monitor a state of the vehicle, and in response to at least that the state of the vehicle meets a high-voltage power-on condition, send a high-voltage power-on instruction to the BMS;

the BMS closes the positive relay and the negative relay in response to the high-voltage power-on instruction;

the high-voltage power-on condition is that the DC-DC converter is not faulty, the power battery module is not faulty, and a state of charge (SOC) of the power battery module is higher than a second threshold; and

the DC-DC controller is electrically connected to the DC-DC converter to monitor whether the DC-DC converter becomes faulty.

10. A method for low voltage battery charging, applied to a charging system in a vehicle, wherein the charging system comprises a low-voltage battery, a power battery module comprising a plurality of power batteries connected in series, a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter, and a DC-DC controller; and the method comprises:

monitoring, by the DC-DC controller, a voltage of the low-voltage battery in response to at least that the vehicle is in a dormant state;

waking up, by the DC-DC controller, a battery management system (BMS) of the vehicle in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than a first threshold to cause the BMS to close a positive relay and a negative relay of the power battery module, and the power battery module charges the low-voltage battery via the DC-DC converter, wherein the power battery module and the DC-DC converter are housed in a same high-voltage protective enclosure;

controlling, by the DC-DC controller, a first power battery in the plurality of power batteries to supply power to a low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than a third threshold;

waking up, by the DC-DC controller, a vehicle control unit of the vehicle to cause the vehicle control unit to send a high-voltage power-on instruction to the BMS in response to at least that the vehicle meets a high-voltage power-on condition, wherein the high-voltage power-on condition is that the DC-DC converter is not faulty, the power battery module is not faulty, and a state of charge (SOC) of the power battery module is higher than a second threshold;

closing, by the BMS, the positive relay and the negative relay in response to the high-voltage power-on instruction;

monitoring, by the DC-DC controller, the SOC of the low-voltage battery in response to at least that the low-voltage battery is in a charging state; and

in response to at least that the SOC of the low-voltage battery is greater than or equal to a preset charging stop threshold, sending, by the DC-DC controller, charging stop information to the BMS to cause the BMS to open the positive relay and the negative relay.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein

the power battery module is composed of the plurality of power batteries connected in series; and

the first power battery is composed of K batteries in the plurality of power batteries connected in series, and a maximum output voltage of the first power battery is less than or equal to a maximum withstand voltage of the low-voltage electrical device, wherein K≥1, and K is an integer; and the third threshold is lower than the first threshold.

12. The vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the power battery module is composed of the plurality of power batteries connected in series.

13. The vehicle according to claim 12 , wherein the first power battery is composed of K batteries in the plurality of power batteries connected in series, and a maximum output voltage of the first power battery is less than or equal to a maximum withstand voltage of the low-voltage electrical device, wherein K≥1, and K is an integer.

14. The vehicle according to claim 13 , wherein an electrical switch is disposed between the first power battery and the low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle, wherein in response to at least that the voltage of the low-voltage battery is lower than the first threshold, the electrical switch is closed to cause the first power battery to supply power to the low-voltage electrical device of the vehicle.

15. The vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein one of the plurality of power batteries is a lithium-ion battery comprising lithium-ion battery cells connected in series.

16. The vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the DC-DC controller is configured to: in response to at least that the low-voltage battery is charged, send charging stop information to the BMS.

17. The vehicle according to claim 16 , wherein the BMS is configured to: in response to the charging stop information, open the positive relay and the negative relay.

18. The method according to claim 10 , wherein one of the plurality of power batteries is a lithium-ion battery comprising lithium-ion battery cells connected in series.

19. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

sending, by the DC-DC controller, charging stop information to the BMS in response to at least that the low-voltage battery is charged.

20. The method according to claim 19 , further comprising:

opening, by the BMS, the positive relay and the negative relay in response to the charging stop information.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 28, 2026
From: SHENZHEN YINWANG INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
To: YINWANG INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 075492/0796 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 12, 2024
From: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
To: SHENZHEN YINWANG INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 069336/0082 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 2, 2023
From: SONG, TIANZHU; SUN, JIAN; WANG, HUI; YANG, LULU
To: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 063844/0441 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTCN2020114005 · Sep 8, 2020
Related Publication 20230202343A1 · Jun 29, 2023
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Cited By (1)
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