IP Library Granted Patent US 12,485,800
Granted Patent B2
US 12,485,800 · App. 18/303,584 · Granted Dec 2, 2025

Traction battery heating circuit, system, and control method, and electric device

Inventors: Xiaojian Huang (Ningde, CN); Zhimin Dan (Ningde, CN); Jinfeng Gao (Ningde, CN); Jin Huang (Ningde, CN)
Assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited
B60L58/27B60L1/02B60L50/51B60L53/22B60L58/12B60L58/25H01M10/615H01M10/625H01M10/63H02M7/537B60L2210/40B60L2240/545H01M2220/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,485,800
App. No.
18/303,584
Granted
Dec 2, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A traction battery heating circuit, system, and control method, and an electric device are provided. In some embodiments, the traction battery heating circuit includes: a power supply module, including at least one battery group; an inverter module, connected to the power supply module and including an M-phase leg circuit, where the leg circuit is connected in parallel to the battery group, and M is an even multiple of three; a driving module, including a motor having M windings, where the M windings are respectively connected to M phase legs of the leg circuit in one-to-one correspondence; and a control module, connected to the leg circuit, configured to control upper legs of at least three phase legs in the leg circuit and lower legs of the same number of phase legs in remaining legs to be turned on.

Claims (43)

1 . A traction battery heating circuit, comprising:

a power supply module, comprising at least one battery group;

an inverter module, connected to the power supply module and comprising an M-phase leg circuit, wherein the leg circuit is connected in parallel to the battery group, and M is an even multiple of three;

a driving module, comprising a motor having M windings, wherein the M windings are respectively connected to M phase legs of the leg circuit in one-to-one correspondence; and

a control module, connected to the leg circuit, wherein the control module is configured to control upper legs of at least three phase legs in the leg circuit and lower legs of the same number of phase legs in remaining phase legs to be turned on and control the lower legs of the at least three phase legs and upper legs of the remaining phase legs to be turned off, so that the power supply module, the inverter module, and the driving module form a charge loop, the control module is configured to, at a preset frequency, alternately switch to turn on the lower legs of the at least three phase legs and the upper legs of the remaining phase legs and turn off the upper legs of the at least three phase legs and the lower legs of the remaining phase legs, so that the power supply module, the inverter module, and the driving module form a discharge loop, whereby the charge loop and the discharge loop are alternately switched.

2 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the motor comprises a six-phase symmetric motor.

3 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein in the charge loop or the discharge loop, a spatial phase difference among three windings respectively connected to the three phase upper legs turned on is 120°, and a spatial phase difference among three windings respectively connected to the lower legs turned on is 120°.

4 . A traction battery heating system, comprising a heating control unit and the traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the heating control unit is configured to send instructions to the traction battery heating circuit to control the traction battery heating circuit to form charge loop and discharge loop that are alternately switched.

5 . An electric device, comprising the traction battery heating system according to claim 4 .

6 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the inverter module is implemented by a leg circuit of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).

7 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein a capacitor is connected in parallel with the power supply module and is configured to stabilize voltage and filter noise waves during alternation of the charge loop and the discharge loop.

8 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein when the motor is a six-phase symmetric motor, the three windings associated with the turned on upper legs are mutually separated by 120°, and the three windings associated with the turned on lower legs are mutually separated by 120°, and a resultant magnetic field of currents flowing into the M windings is controlled to be 0-0.5 T, such that the motor does not operate.

9 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the preset frequency is set such that two adjacent enabling signals are sent to different legs to alternately switch the charge loop and the discharge loop.

10 . The traction battery heating circuit according to claim 1 , wherein in the discharge loop, a direct current flows from a positive terminal of the battery group to a negative terminal of the battery group; and in the charge loop, a direct current from the negative terminal of the battery group to the positive terminal of the battery group.

11 . A traction battery heating control method, applied by a traction battery heating circuit, wherein the traction battery heating circuit comprises a power supply module, an inverter module, a driving module, and a control module,

wherein the power supply comprises at least one battery group,

the inverter module is connected to the power supply module and comprises an M-phase leg circuit, wherein the M-phased leg circuit is connected in parallel to the battery group, and M is an even multiple of three,

the driving module comprises a motor having M windings, wherein the M windings are respectively connected to M phase legs of the leg circuit in one-to-one correspondence,

the control module is connected to the leg circuit,

wherein the traction battery heating control method comprises:

sending, by the control module, an enabling signal to the inverter module, the enabling signal comprising a first enabling signal and a second enabling signal at a preset frequency, wherein

the first enabling signal controls upper legs of at least three phase legs in the M-phase leg circuit and lower legs of the same number of phase legs in remaining legs of the M-phase leg circuit to be turned on and controls the lower legs of the at least three phase legs and upper legs of the remaining phase legs to be turned off, so that the power supply module, the inverter module, and the driving module of the battery heating circuit form a charge loop,

the second enabling signal controls the lower legs of the at least three phase legs and the upper legs of the remaining phase legs to be turned on and controls the upper legs of the at least three phase legs and the lower legs of the remaining phase legs to be turned off to form a discharge loop, whereby the charge loop and the discharge loop are alternately switched.

12 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 11 , wherein the enabling signal is a heating signal, the first enabling signal is a first heating signal, and the second enabling signal is a second heating signal.

13 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 12 , wherein a motor of the driving module comprises a six-phase symmetric motor;

the first heating signal turns on upper legs of three phase legs in a six-phase leg circuit and lower legs of the other three phase legs, so that the power supply module, the inverter module, and the driving module of the battery heating circuit form the charge loop;

the second heating signal turns on lower legs of the three phase legs in the six-phase leg circuit and upper legs of the other three phase legs, so that the power supply module, the inverter module, and the driving module of the battery heating circuit form the discharge loop; and

in the charge loop or the discharge loop, a spatial phase difference among three windings respectively connected to the three phase upper legs turned on is 120°, and a spatial phase difference among three windings respectively connected to the three lower legs turned on is 120°.

14 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

determining whether a state of charge of the battery group is greater than or equal to a preset threshold;

wherein, the heating signals are sent to the inverter module at the preset frequency upon a determination that the state of charge of the battery group is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

15 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

obtaining an operating state of the motor;

wherein the heating signals are sent to the inverter module at the preset frequency if the operating state of the motor is a non-driving state.

16 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving, by the control module, a control signal sent by a vehicle control unit;

wherein the heating signals are sent to the inverter module at the preset frequency if the control signal indicates heating the traction battery.

17 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving, in the control module, request data sent by a battery management system;

wherein the heating signals are sent to the inverter module at the preset frequency if the request data indicates that the traction battery meets a heating condition.

18 . The traction battery heating control method according to claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a temperature of the battery group meets a stop heating condition, wherein the stop heating condition comprises that the battery group reaches a preset temperature or the traction battery experiences abnormal temperature rise; and

sending a stop heating signal to the inverter module, wherein the stop heating signal enables the inverter module to open the charge loop or the discharge loop, if the temperature of the battery group meets the stop heating condition.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 6, 2024
From: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
To: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY (HONG KONG) LIMITED
Reel/Frame 068338/0402 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 20, 2023
From: HUANG, XIAOJIAN; DAN, ZHIMIN; GAO, JINFENG; HUANG, JIN
To: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
Reel/Frame 063383/0903 →
Priority Claims (1)
WO PCT/CN2021/110708 · Aug 5, 2021 · international
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTCN2022085823 · Apr 8, 2022
Related Publication 20230256867A1 · Aug 17, 2023
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