Granted Patent B2

US 12,266,952 · App. 17/450,515 · Granted Apr 1, 2025

Inventors: Simon Brunet (Landvetter, SE); Tommy Hjelle (Torslanda, SE); Martin Myhre (Gothenburg, SE)

Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION

H02J7/0013B60L50/60H02J7/0063

Abstract

Claims (24)

1. A method for reducing contactor wear of an energy storage device in an energy storage system connected to a load, the energy storage system comprising at least two energy storage devices, the method comprising:

connecting the energy storage system to an electrical energy source,

electrically powering the load by electrical energy from the electrical energy source via the energy storage system by connecting at least one of the energy storage devices to directly transfer electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load and thereby using the connected energy storage device as a buffer or load buffer in the direct transfer of the electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load, and disconnecting at least one other energy storage device to not transfer any electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load, such that the electrical energy source is directly electrically powering the load via the energy storage system such that at the same time at least one energy storage device of the energy storage system is active and used as buffer or load buffer in the energy storage system, and at least one energy storage device of the energy storage system is inactive, and not subject to any contactor wear, and

cycling the energy storage devices in the energy storage system in such a way that over a period of time no energy storage device is connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load for a total time of more than 10% compared to any other energy storage device in the energy storage system.

2. The method according to claim 1 , comprising: alternately connecting and disconnecting the at least two energy storage devices.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system comprises a plurality of energy storage devices, the plurality being more than two, and the method comprises: connecting the energy storage device which has been disconnected the longest time.

4. The method according to claim 1 , comprising: remembering which energy storage device that was previously connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load, upon a subsequent step of electrically powering the load via the electrical energy storage system, connecting another energy storage device for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load than the energy storage device previously used.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein during electrically powering the load, only one energy storage device of the energy storage system is connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load, and any other energy storage devices of the energy storage system is disconnected and is not transferring any electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one energy storage device connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load is not charging.

7. A switching arrangement for reducing contactor wear of an energy storage device in an energy storage system connectable to an electrical energy source and to a load, the energy storage system comprising at least two energy storage devices, the switching arrangement being configured to electrically connect and disconnect each of the energy storage devices to the electrical energy source and/or the load, wherein the switching arrangement is configured to electrically power the load by electrical energy from the electrical energy source via the energy storage system in such a way that at least one energy storage device is connected for transferring electrical energy directly from the electrical energy source to the load and thereby using the connected energy storage device as a buffer or load buffer in the direct transfer of the electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load, and at least one other energy storage device is disconnected and is not transferring any electrical energy, such that the electrical energy source is directly electrically powering the load via the energy storage system in such a way that at the same time at least one energy storage device of the energy storage system is active and used as buffer or load buffer in the energy storage system, and at least one energy storage device of the energy storage system is inactive, and thus not subject to any contactor wear, and

to cycle the energy storage devices in the energy storage system in such a way that over a period of time no energy storage device is connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load for a total time of more than 10% compared to any other energy storage device in the energy storage system.

8. The switching arrangement according to claim 7 , being configured to alternately connect and disconnect the at least two energy storage devices.

9. The switching arrangement according to claim 7 , wherein, the energy storage system comprises a plurality of energy storage devices, the plurality being more than two, and wherein the switching arrangement is configured to connect the energy storage device which has been disconnected the longest time.

10. The switching arrangement according to claim 7 , being configured to remember which energy storage device that was previously connected for transferring electrical energy from the energy source to the load, and upon a subsequent action of electrically powering the load via the electrical energy storage system, to connect another energy storage device to transfer electrical energy from the energy source to the load than the energy storage device previously used.

11. The switching arrangement according to claim 7 , being configured to enable only one energy storage device of the energy storage system to be connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load, and any other energy storage devices of the energy storage system to be disconnected and thus not transferring any electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load.

12. A power conditioning arrangement comprising: an energy storage system connectable to an electrical energy source and to a load, the energy storage system comprising at least two energy storage devices, and a switching arrangement according to claim 7 .

13. An electric vehicle comprising switching arrangement according to claim 7 .

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein over the period of time, no energy storage device is connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load for a total time of more than 5% compared to any other energy storage device in the energy storage system.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein over the period of time, the energy storage devices are connected the same number of times.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an individual one of the energy storage devices is connected in two subsequent steps of electrically powering the load.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the period of time is greater than 10 days.

18. The method according to claim 7 , wherein over the period of time, no energy storage device is connected for transferring electrical energy from the electrical energy source to the load for a total time of more than 5% compared to any other energy storage device in the energy storage system.

19. The method according to claim 7 , wherein over the period of time, the energy storage devices are connected the same number of times.

20. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the period of time is greater than 10 days.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (31)