Rechargeable battery short circuit early detection device and rechargeable battery short circuit early detection method

1. A rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device that detects a short-circuit in a rechargeable battery that has an electrolyte and contains one or more battery cells, the device comprising one or more processors configured to be connected to a current sensor that detects a charging current of the rechargeable battery and to a temperature sensor detecting a temperature of the electrolyte or a temperature of a surrounding environment of the rechargeable battery, wherein the one or more processors are programmed to:

while the rechargeable battery is being charged, monitor the charging current detected by the current sensor and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor so as to produce a plurality of charging current values as a function of time;

convert each of the plurality of charging current values detected by the current sensor when a temperature of the electrolyte differs from a reference temperature to a converted charging current value in a reference state of the electrolyte that is at the reference temperature in accordance with the temperature of the electrolyte at which the charging current value is detected, thereby producing a plurality of the converted charging current values, the temperature of the electrolyte being detected by the temperature sensor or being estimated by the one or more processors from the temperature of the surrounding environment detected by the temperature sensor;

detect a temporal change in the plurality of the converted charging current values;

determine, when the detected temporal change in the plurality of converted charging current values indicates an increase in value over a prescribed period of time, that an abnormality exists and that there is a possibility that at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited; and

output a signal indicating the possibility that at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited.

2. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors monitor the charging current detected by the current sensor while the rechargeable battery is being charged at a constant voltage.

3. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to be connected to a voltage sensor that detects a charging voltage of the rechargeable battery, and the one or more processors are further programed to: while the rechargeable battery is being charged, monitor the charging voltage detected by the voltage sensor so as to produce a plurality of charging voltage values as a function of time,

convert each of the plurality of charging voltage values detected by the voltage sensor when the temperature of the electrolyte differs from a reference temperature to a converted charging voltage value in a reference state of the electrolyte that is at the reference temperature in accordance with the temperature of the electrolyte at which the charging voltage value is detected, thereby producing a plurality of the converted charging voltage values, the temperature of the electrolyte being detected by the temperature sensor or being estimated by the one or more processors from the temperature of the surrounding environment detected by the temperature sensor;

detect a temporal change in the plurality of converted charging voltage values,

determine, when the detected temporal change in the plurality of converted charging voltage values indicates a decrease in value over a prescribed period of time, that at least one of cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited and that the short-circuit has further progressed, and

output a signal indicating the determination that at least one of cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited and that the short-circuit has further progressed.

4. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors monitor the charging voltage from the voltage sensor while the rechargeable battery is being charged at a constant current.

5. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 3 , wherein upon determining that at least one of cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited and that the short-circuit has further progressed, the one or more processors cause a warning to be outputted to an exterior.

6. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 3 , wherein upon determining that at least one of cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited and that the short-circuit has further progressed, the one or more processors cause charging of the rechargeable battery to be terminated.

7. A rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection system, comprising:

the rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 3 ;

said current sensor to which the one or more processors of the rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device is connected;

said voltage sensor to which the one or more processors of the rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device is connected; and

said temperature sensor to which the one or more processors of the rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device is connected.

8. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein upon determining that there is the possibility that at least one of cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited, the one or more processors cause a warning to be outputted to an exterior.

9. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein upon determining that there is the possibility that at least one of cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited, the one or more processors cause charging of the rechargeable battery to be restricted.

10. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further programmed to:

upon passing of a prescribed period of time after outputting the signal indicating the possibility that at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited, newly detect a temporal change in the plurality of converted charging current values, and determine whether the newly detected temporal change indicates that the abnormality persists;

if the newly detected temporal change indicates that the abnormality persists, output a signal indicating a possibility that the short-circuit of the at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery is progressing; and

thereafter, cause charging of the rechargeable battery to be restricted.

11. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to be connected to a voltage sensor that detects a charging voltage of the rechargeable battery, and the one or more processors are further programed to:

while the rechargeable battery is being charged, monitor the charging voltage detected by the voltage sensor so as to produce a plurality of charging voltage values as a function of time;

detect a temporal change of the plurality of charging voltage values; and

if the plurality of charging voltage values decreases in a time period of approximately several minutes and increases thereafter in a time period of approximately 1 day and approaches asymptotically to a constant voltage, determine that the short-circuit has occurred and progressed, and output a signal indicating that the short-circuit has occurred and progressed.

12. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

detect a temporal slope of the plurality of converted charging current values when the one or more processors determine that the rechargeable battery is being charged with a constant voltage;

if the detected temporal slope of the plurality of converted charging current values exceeds a first threshold, determine that there is a possibility that a short circuit has occurred in at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery and output a signal indicating said possibility;

when the one or more processors determine that there is the possibility that at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited, detect anew a temporal slope of the plurality of converted charging current values after a prescribed period of time has elapsed since the determination of said possibility; and

thereafter, if the anew detected temporal slope of the plurality of converted charging current values exceeds a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, determine that there is a possibility that the short-circuit is progressing, and output a signal indicating said possibility.

13. The rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection device according to claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to be connected to a voltage sensor that detects a charging voltage of the rechargeable battery, and the one or more processors are further programed to:

determine whether or not the rechargeable battery is being charged with a constant current;

convert each of the plurality of charging voltage values detected by the voltage sensor when the temperature of the electrolyte differs from a reference temperature to a converted charging voltage value in a reference state of the electrolyte that is at the reference temperature in accordance with the temperature of the electrolyte at which the charging voltage value is detected, thereby producing a plurality of the converted charging voltage values, the temperature of the electrolyte being detected by the temperature sensor or being estimated by the one or more processors from the temperature of the surrounding environment detected by the temperature sensor;

if the one or more processors determine that there is the possibility that the short-circuit is progressing and that the rechargeable battery is being charged with the constant current, detect a temporal slope of the plurality of the converted charging voltage values; and

if the detected temporal slope of the plurality of converted charging voltage values is less than a third threshold, determine that the short-circuit has further progressed, and output a signal indicating that the short-circuit has further progressed.

14. A rechargeable battery short-circuit early detection method that detects a short-circuit in a rechargeable battery that has an electrolyte and contains one or more battery cells, the method being executed by one or more processors configured to be connected to a current sensor that detects a charging current of the rechargeable battery and to a temperature sensor detecting a temperature of the electrolyte or a temperature of a surrounding environment of the rechargeable battery, the method comprising:

while the rechargeable battery is being charged, monitoring the charging current detected by the current sensor and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor so as to produce a plurality of charging current values as a function of time;

converting the plurality of charging current values detected by the current sensor when a temperature of the electrolyte differs from a reference temperature to a converted charging current value in a reference state of the electrolyte that is at the reference temperature in accordance with the temperature of the electrolyte at which the charging current value is detected thereby producing a plurality of the converted charging current values, the temperature of the electrolyte being detected by the temperature sensor or being estimated by the one or more processors from the temperature of the surrounding environment detected by the temperature sensor;

detecting a temporal change in the plurality of converted charging current values;

determining, when the detected temporal change in the plurality of converted charging current values indicates an increase in value over a prescribed period of time, that there is a possibility that at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited; and

outputting a signal indicating the possibility that at least one of the cells of the rechargeable battery has short-circuited.