WO2021077309A1

WO2021077309A1 - Auxiliary controller for controlling battery assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2021077309A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/112628
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhu Yuan; Xiaotao XIAO; Bifeng Mao
Original assignee: Neutron Holdings Inc
Current assignee: Neutron Holdings Inc
Priority date: 2019-10-22
Filing date: 2019-10-22
Publication date: 2021-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2022-04-22

Abstract

An auxiliary controller for controlling a battery assembly is provided. The battery assembly includes a P/C port to connect to a target device, a battery, a battery switch connected between the P/C port and the battery, and a battery controller connected to the battery switch. The auxiliary controller includes a base, a detector on the base to detect a target operation, and a connection port connecting the detector to the battery controller and configured to send an actuation signal to the battery controller when the target operation is detected, wherein the battery controller controls the battery switch based on the actuation signal such that the battery is electrically connected to the target device only when the target operation is detected. With the auxiliary controller, the battery assembly generates no voltage at the P/C port before being connected to the target device, thereby reducing energy consumption and avoiding short-circuit.

Description

AUXILIARY CONTROLLER FOR CONTROLLING BATTERY ASSEMBLY

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to the technical field of a battery, more particularly to an auxiliary controller for controlling a battery assembly.

BACKGROUND

The conventional rechargeable battery is chargeable and dischargeable. Even if the rechargeable battery does not connect to any device or charger, it may still provide a voltage between connecting interfaces of the battery. If a metal piece accidentally contacts the connecting interfaces of the battery, the battery will be directly short-circuited, which may cause a safety hazard when the battery is idle, for example when the battery is stationary or transported. At the same time, since the output voltage of the battery is preset and the battery can be charged and discharged, the battery management circuit inside the battery will continuously consume the battery power, which is not conducive to the storage of electric energy in the idle state of the battery.

SUMMARY

In order to solve the technical problem that the battery assembly consumes energy and risks of short-circuit when the charging device or the load device is not connected, the embodiments of the present application provides an auxiliary controller for controlling the battery assembly to not provide any voltage between its P/C ports until it is connected with a charging device or load device, thereby avoiding continuous consumption of electrical energy and potential short circuit hazards.

An aspect of the present application provides an auxiliary controller for controlling a battery assembly. The battery assembly includes: a P/C port, a battery, a battery switch, and a battery controller. The P/C port is configured to connect to a target device. The battery is connected to the P/C port. The battery switch is located between the P/C port and the battery. The battery controller is connected to the battery switch. The auxiliary controller comprises a base, a detector, and a connection port. The detector is located on the base to detect a target operation to the battery assembly. The connection port connects the detector to the battery controller and is configured to send an actuation signal to the battery controller when the detector detects the target operation, wherein the battery controller controls the battery switch based on the actuation signal such that the battery is only electrically connected to the target device only when the detector detects the target operation.

In some embodiments of the present application, the target operation includes an electrical connection operation between the P/C port and the target device.

some embodiments of the present application, the auxiliary controller of further comprises: a signal transmitter configured to receive the detection signal from the detector, transform the detection signal to the actuation signal and send the actuation signal to the connection port.

With the auxiliary controller, the battery switch is ON only if the detector detects the target operation of the target device towards the battery assembly (such as, connecting or approaching the P/C port of the battery assembly) . Before the P/C port of the battery assembly is connected to the charging device or the load device, the battery switch keeps OFF and there is no voltage between the P/C ports, thereby avoiding potential short-circuit hazards and reducing consumption of electrical energy in the idle status of the battery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments. The foregoing and other aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are made more evident in the following detail description, when read in conjunction with the attached drawing figures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes an actuator and the exemplary battery assembly includes an auxiliary controller;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary auxiliary controller according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a protrusion structure and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes a limit switch;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a magnet and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes a magnetic switch;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a first NFC module and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes a second NFC module; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a light source and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes an optical sensor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides an auxiliary controller for controlling a battery assembly, such that the battery of the battery assembly does not provide a voltage between its P/C ports before being connected to the charging device or the load device.

The following description provides specific application scenarios and requirements of the present application in order to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the present application. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown, but the broadest scope consistent with the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” may include their plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. When used in this disclosure, the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “includes” and/or “including” refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used in this disclosure, the term "A on B" means that A is directly adjacent to B (from above or below) , and may also mean that A is indirectly adjacent to B (i.e., there is some element between A and B) ; the term "A in B" means that A is all in B, or it may also mean that A is partially in B.

In view of the following description, these and other features of the present disclosure, as well as operations and functions of related elements of the structure, and the economic efficiency of the combination and manufacture of the components may be significantly improved. All of these form part of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings. However, it should be clearly understood that the drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and description, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It is also understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale.

Moreover, while the systems and methods in this disclosure primarily describe designs with bicycles, it should be understood that this is merely an exemplary embodiment. The systems or methods of the present disclosure may be applied to any other type of vehicle. For example, the systems or methods of the present disclosure may be applied to vehicles operating in different environments, including terrestrial, marine, aerospace, etc., or any combination thereof. The vehicle may include electric, motorized and/or human-powered scooter, bicycle, moped, motorcycle, self-balancing scooter, motorboat, etc., or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the systems or methods can find an application in, for example, logistics warehouse, military affairs, and the like.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure .

The target device 110 may include an actuator 111, a positive pin 112-1, and a negative pin 112-2. The target device 110 may be a load device or a charger. In some embodiments, the target device 110 may be a load driven by the power of the battery assembly 120, such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, an electric tool, a robot or an electric automobile, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the target device 110 may be a charger supplying power to the battery assembly 120, such as an alternating current (AC) power source, a direct current (DC) power source, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the AC power source may be a 220V and 50Hz power source, a 230V and 50Hz power source, a 240V and 50Hz power source, a 110V and 50Hz power source, a 110V and 60Hz power source, a 120V and 60Hz power source, a 127V and 60Hz power source, a 220V and 60Hz power source, or the like, or any combination thereof.

The battery assembly 120 may include a battery controller 121, an auxiliary controller 122, a positive electrode terminal 123-1 of a Power Connector port (P/C port) 123, a negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port 123, a battery switch 124, and a battery 125.

The battery controller 121 may be configured to protect the battery 125 from overcharging and/or overcurrent discharging (e.g., short-circuiting. ) The battery controller 121 may be connected to the battery switch 124 to switch the battery switch 124 between ON and OFF, thereby controlling the battery 125 to switch between connecting and disconnecting to the target device 110. For example, in the case of the breakdown of the target device 110 connected with the P/C port 123 (e.g., positive electrode terminal 123-1 or the negative electrode terminal 123-2, ) the battery controller 121 may cuts off a charge/discharge current by turning the battery switch 124 off to protect the battery 125. In some embodiments, the battery controller 121 is powered by the battery 125 via the battery switch 124 or via other power supply circuits (not shown in the figure) in the battery assembly 120.

In some embodiments, the battery controller 121 may include one or more management circuits to manage and/or maintain the performance and/or the characteristic of the battery 125. For example, the battery controller 121 may include one or more circuits to control a charging rate or a discharging rate of the battery 125. For another example, the battery controller 121 may include one or more circuits to control input current, output current and/or voltage of the battery 125. For still another example, the battery controller 121 may include one or more circuits to stabilize the input current, output current and/or voltage of the battery 125. For still another example, the battery controller 121 may include one or more circuits to determine a battery consumption percentage and/or a percentage of charge of the battery 125. In some embodiments, the one or more management circuits of the battery controller 121 may be powered by the battery 125 via the battery switch 124 or via other power supply circuit (not shown in the figure) in the battery assembly 120.

The battery controller 121 may include one or more processing units (e.g., single-core processing engine (s) or multi-core processing engine (s) ) . Merely by way of example, the battery controller 121 may include a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , an application-specific instruction- set processor (ASIP) , a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a physics processing unit (PPU) , a digital signal processor (DSP) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) , a programmable logic device (PLD) , a controller, a microcontroller unit, a reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) , a microprocessor, or the like, or any combination thereof.

The auxiliary controller 122 may be configured to detect a target operation, generate an actuation signal based on the detected target operation, and send the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to control ON/OFF of the battery switch 124. The battery switch 124 may turn off when the battery assembly 120 does not connect to the target device 110. The target operation may be related to a distance (e.g., 0 to 5 centimeters, or 0 to 5 meters, etc. ) between the battery assembly 120 and the target device 110. For example, the target operation may be an operation that the target device 110 connects to the battery assembly 120. In some embodiments, the target operation may include an electrical connection operation between the P/C port 123 of the battery assembly 120 and the target device 110. For example, the target operation may be that the positive pin 112-1 of the target device 110 is connected to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative pin 112-2 of the target device 110 is connected to the negative electrode terminal 123-2.

The auxiliary controller 122 may detect the target operation triggered by the actuator 111 of the target device 110. In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may include a detector, a transmitter, and a connection port to connect the detector to the battery controller 121. The detector may be used to detect a target operation triggered by the actuator 111 and generate a detection signal based on the target operation. The transmitter may be used to process the detection signal of the detector to generate an actuation signal and to transmit the actuation signal to the connection port. For example, the detector generates a detection signal when the target operation is detected, then the transmitter converts the detection signal into an actuation signal and send the actuation signal to the connection port, and then the connection port may send the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124. The target operation may include an operation of making an electrical connection between the P/C port 123 and the target device 110. The target operation may also include an operation of separating the P/C port 123 from the target device 110. The target operation may also include causing a distance of the target device 110 from the P/C port 123 to be less than a predetermined threshold. The target operation may also include causing the distance of the target device 110 from the P/C port 123 to be greater than a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold may be 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, or 5 mm. When the target operation is conducted, for example, when the target device 110 approaches the P/C port 123, the actuator 111 of the target device 110 may get close to the detector of the auxiliary controller 122, so that the detector of the auxiliary controller 122 may be actuated and generate the detection signal. In some embodiments, the detector may be a contact-actuated detector. For example, the detector may generate the detection signal when the actuator contacts with the detector. For example, the detector may be a limit switch and the target device 110 may include a protrusion to actuate the limit switch. When the target device 110 couples with the detector, the protrusion pushes the limit switch to change its status (from ON to OFF or from OFF to ON) , thereby emitting a signal to the transmitter. In some embodiments, the detector may be a non-contact-actuated detector. For example, the detector may be an NFC (Near Field Communication) or an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) detector, and the actuator 111 of the target device 110 may include a corresponding NFC actuator or an RFID actuator. When the NFC actuator or the RFID actuator approaches the detector, the detector is activated and sends out a detection signal to the signal transmitter. For another example, the detector may be an optical sensor, and the target device 110 may include a light source. When the target device is coupled to the detector, the optical sensor receives the light and is actuated. Detailed description related to the auxiliary controller 122 may be found somewhere else of the present disclosure (e.g., FIG. 2 and the related description thereof) .

The P/C port 123 may be configured to connect the battery assembly 120 to the target device 110. The battery 125 may be connected with the P/C port 123. As shown in FIG. 1, the P/C port 123 may include a positive electrode terminal 123-1 and a negative electrode terminal 123-2. When the target device 110 is a charging device and the battery 125 is charged, the positive pin 112-1 of the target device 110 is connected to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative pin 112-2 of the target device 110 is connected to the negative electrode terminal 123-2. When the target device 110 is a load device and the battery 125 is discharged, the positive pin 112-1 of the target device 110 is connected to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative pin 112-2 of the target device 110 is connected to the negative electrode terminal 123-2.

In some embodiments, the P/C port 123 may include but not limited to a P+end, a C+ end, a P-end, or a C-end connected on the battery assembly 120. As shown in FIG. 1, the positive electrode terminal 123-1 of the battery assembly 120 may include the P+ end or the C+ end. The negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the battery assembly 120 may include the P-end or the C-end. When the target device 120 is a load device and the battery 125 is discharged, the P+ end may connect with positive pin 112-1 of the target device 110, and P-end may connect with negative pin 112-2 of the target device 110. When the target device 110 is a charging device and the battery 125 is charged, the C+ end may connect with positive pin 112-1 of the target device 110, and C-end may connect with negative pin 112-2 of the target device 110.

The battery switch 124 may be located between the P/C port 123 (e.g., the positive electrode terminal 123-1 or the negative electrode terminal 123-2) and the battery 125 to control discharging and charging of the battery 125 through the P/C port 123. The battery switch 124 may include a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) equivalently containing a diode between the source and the drain according to the structure. In some embodiments, the battery switch 124 may be a switch group including a plurality of switches. For example, one or more switches of the battery switch 124 may be ON to discharge current from the battery 125 when a load target device 110 connects to the battery assembly 120. One or more switches of the battery switch 124 may be ON to charge the battery 125 when a charger target device 110 connects to the battery assembly 120. In some embodiments, the battery switch 124 may include various circuits for supplying power to the battery controller 121. One or more switches of the battery switch 124 may turn off or turn on to control the current to the battery controller 121. In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may send an actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to control the battery switch 124 to be ON or OFF based on the detected relative position of the target device 110 and the battery assembly 120. In some embodiments, the battery switch 124 may be a normally ON switch, and auxiliary controller 122 sends an actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to control the battery switch 124 to be OFF only when it is detected that the target device 110 is approaching or connecting the battery assembly 120. In the present application, the term "normally OFF switch" refers to a switch that is OFF in a normal state but is ON after receiving a flip signal. In some embodiments, the battery switch 124 may be a normally ON switch, and the auxiliary controller 122 sends an actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to control the battery switch 124 to be OFF only when it is detected that the target device 110 is moving away from or disconnected from the battery assembly 120. In the present application, the term "normally ON switch" refers to a switch that is ON in its normal state but is OFF after receiving a flip signal.

The battery 125 may be a battery group including one or more secondary batteries. The battery 125 may be a rechargeable secondary battery, including but not limited to a lithium-ion secondary battery, a lithium polymer secondary battery, a nickel-metal-hydride secondary battery, a nickel-cadmium secondary battery, or the like, or any combination thereof.

It should be noted that the descriptions above in relation to battery assembly 120 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various variations and modifications may be conducted under the guidance of the present disclosure. For example, the battery controller 121 and the auxiliary controller 122 may be integrated as one module. For another example, the battery controller 121 and the battery switch 124 may be integrated as one module. However, those variations and modifications do not depart the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary auxiliary controller according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The auxiliary controller 122 may include a base 201, a detector 202, a transmitter 203, and a connection port 204.

At least part of the auxiliary controller 122 may be integrated on a base 201. In some embodiments, the base 201 may be part of the battery controller 121 as illustrated in FIG. 1, that is, at least part of the auxiliary controller 122 may be integrated on the battery controller 121.

The detector 202 may be located on the base 201 and configured to detect a target operation of the target device 110 on the battery assembly 120. In some embodiments, the detector 202 generates a detection signal when the target operation is detected. The detection signal may be directly or indirectly used for controlling the battery controller 121 to turn ON or turn OFF the battery switch 124 (as shown in FIG. 1) . The target operation may be an operation that the target device 110 connects to the battery assembly 120. In some embodiments, the target operation may include an electrical connection operation between the P/C port 123 and the target device 110. For example, the target operation may be that the positive pin 112-1 of the target device 110 is connected to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative pin 112-2 of the target device 110 is connected to the negative electrode terminal 123-2.

The detector 202 may also detect the target operation according to a detection signal generated based on the actuator 111. When the target operation is conducted, for example, when the target device 110 approaches the P/C port 123, a distance between the actuator 111 of the target device 110 and the detector 202 may get close, so that the detector 202 of the auxiliary controller 122 may generate a detection signal, for example, based on an action or signal from the actuator 111. In some embodiments, the detector 202 may be a contact-actuated detector. The detector 202 may generate the detection signal when the actuator 11 contacts with the detector 202. For example, the detector 202 may be a limit switch, and the actuator 111 of the target device 110 may include a protrusion to actuate the limit switch. When the target device 110 couples with the detector, the protrusion pushes the limit switch to change its status (from ON to OFF or from OFF to ON) , thereby emitting the detection signal. In some embodiments, the detector 202 may be an NFC detector, and the target device may include an NFC actuator. When the actuator 111 approaches the detector 202, the detector is activated and sends out an actuation signal.

The transmitter 203 may be located on the base 201 and configured to receive a detection signal from the detector 202 and transform the detection signal to the actuation signal of the battery controller 121. In some embodiments, the transmitter 203 may transform the detection signal to the actuation signal, and then the battery controller 121 may turn on/off the battery switch 124 according to the actuation signal. In some embodiments, the detection signal may be a first voltage, and the transmitter 203 may include an amplification circuit to amplification the first voltage by certain times to generate a second voltage as the actuation signal. In some embodiments, the transmitter 203 may be a wire for transmitting signals. In some embodiments, the transmitter 203 may also send the detection signal directly to the connection port 204, which then sends the detection signal as an actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn the battery switch 124 on or off. In some embodiments, the transmitter 203 may be integrated within the detector 202.

The connection port 204 may be located on the base 201 and connect the detector 202 to the battery controller 121. When the detector 202 detects the target operation, the connection port may send an actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124, such that the battery 125 is only electrically connected to the target device 110 only when the detector 202 detects the target operation.

In some embodiments, the connection port 204 may connect the transmitter 203 to the battery controller 121. When the detector detects the target operation, detector 202 may send out a detection signal to the transmitter 203, and then the transmitter 203 may transform the detection signal to the actuation signal and send the actuation signal to the connection port 204, and then the connection port 204 may send the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124.

In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may only include the base 201, the detector 202, and the connection port 204, wherein the detector 202 may be directly connected to the connection port 204. In this case, when the detector 202 detects the target operation, the detector 202 may send a detection signal to the connection port 204, and the connection port 204 may then send the detection signal to the battery controller 121 to activate the battery controller. 121 to turn the battery switch 124 on or off.

It should be noted that the descriptions above in relation to auxiliary controller 122 are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various variations and modifications may be conducted under the guidance of the present disclosure. For example, detector 202 and the transmitter 203 may be integrated as one module. For another example, the transmitter 203 may be omitted. However, those variations and modifications do not depart the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a protrusion structure and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes a limit switch.

The target device 110 may include a positive pin 112-1, and a negative pin 112-2, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The battery assembly 120 may include a battery controller 121, an auxiliary controller 122, a positive electrode terminal 123-1 of a P/C port 123, a negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port 123, a battery switch 124, a battery 125, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The target device 110 may include a protrusion structure 301 and the auxiliary controller 122 may include a limit switch 302. Before the positive pin 112-1, and negative pin 112-2 connect to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative electrode terminal 123-2, the battery switch 124 may turn off. Thus, there is no voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative electrode terminal 123-2. The battery 125 does not supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 is not charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

When the target device 110 gets close to or makes an electrical connection with the battery assembly 120, the protrusion structure 301 (i.e., the actuator 111 as illustrated in FIG. 1) may get close to the limit switch 302. When the protrusion structure 301 gets close enough and contacts with the limit switch 302, the limit switch 302 may contacts the high voltage pin 303 to make an electrical connection, and may generate a detection signal, which is directly or indirectly used to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on the battery switch 124. Thus, there is a voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative electrode terminal 123-2. The battery 125 may start to supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 may be charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may also include a transmitter (not shown) and a connection port (not shown) . In this case, the transmitter converts the detection signal generated by the limit switch 302 into an actuation signal and transmits the actuation signal to a connection port, and then the connection port transmitting the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate it to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124. In some embodiments, the limit switch 302 includes the transmitter.

With the auxiliary controller provided in this embodiment, before the P/C port 123 of the battery assembly 120 is connected to the charging device or the load device, the battery switch 124 is OFF and the P/C port 123 does not generate any voltage, thereby avoiding the potential short-circuit and reducing the battery’s power consumption in the idle state.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a magnet and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes a magnetic switch.

The target device 110 may include a positive pin 112-1, and a negative pin 112-2, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The battery assembly 120 may include a battery controller 121, an auxiliary controller 122, a positive electrode terminal 123-1, a negative electrode terminal 123-2, a battery switch 124, a battery 125, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The target device 110 may include a magnetic 401, and the auxiliary controller 122 may include a magnetic switch 402. Before the positive pin 112-1, and negative pin 112-2 connect to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative electrode terminal 123-2, the battery switch 124 may turn off. Thus, there is no voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative electrode terminal 123-2. The battery 125 does not supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 is not charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

When the target device 110 gets close to or makes an electrical connection with the battery assembly 120, the magnetic 401 (i.e., the actuator 111 as illustrated in FIG. 1) may get close to the magnetic switch 402. When the magnetic 401 gets close enough to the magnetic switch 402, the magnetic switch 402 may contacts the high voltage pin 403 to make an electrical connection, and may generate a detection signal, which is directly or indirectly used to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on the battery switch 124. Thus, there is a voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 and the negative electrode terminal 123-2. The battery 125 may start to supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 may be charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may also include a transmitter (not shown) and a connection port (not shown) . In this case, the transmitter converts the detection signal generated by the magnetic switch 402 into an actuation signal and transmits the actuation signal to a connection port, and then the connection port transmitting the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate it to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124. In some embodiments, the magnetic switch 402 includes the transmitter.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the connection of an exemplary target device and an exemplary battery assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the exemplary target device includes a first NFC module and the auxiliary controller of the exemplary battery assembly includes a second NFC module.

The target device 110 may include a positive pin 112-1, and a negative pin 112-2, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

The battery assembly 120 may include a battery controller 121, an auxiliary controller 122, a positive electrode terminal 123-1 of a P/C port, a negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port, a battery switch 124, a battery 125, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

The target device 110 may include a first NFC module 501 (i.e., the actuator 111 shown in Fig. 1) , and the auxiliary controller 122 may include a second NFC module 502. The first NFC module 501 and the second NFC module 502 may be communicated with each other. For example, the first NFC module 501 may be an NFC tag and the second NFC module 502 may be an NFC reader. When the NFC tag gets close to the NFC reader, the NFC reader may generate a detection signal, which is directly or indirectly used to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124. In some embodiments, the when the NFC tag gets close to the NFC reader, the NFC reader may generate the detection signal, and the NFC module 502 may include a transmitter (not shown) for transforming the detection signal to the actuation signal and transmit the actuation signal to the battery controller 121.

Before the positive pin 112-1, and negative pin 112-2 connect to the positive electrode terminal 123-1 of the P/C port and the negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port, the battery switch 124 may turn off. Thus, there is no voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 of the P/C port and the negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port. The battery 125 does not supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 is not charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

When the target device 110 gets close to or makes an electrical connection with the battery assembly 120, the first NFC module 501 (i.e., the actuator 111 as illustrated in FIG. 1) may get close to the second NFC module 502. When the first NFC module 501 (e.g., an NFC tag) gets close enough to the second NFC module 502 (e.g., an NFC reader) , the NFC reader may generate a detection signal, which is directly or indirectly used to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on the battery switch 124. In some embodiments, the second NFC module 502 may further include a transmitter (not shown) . When the first NFC module 501 gets close enough to the second NFC module 502, the second NFC module 502 may generate the detection signal, and the transmitter of the second NFC module 502 may transform the detection signal to the actuation signal and transmit it to the battery controller 121 to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on the battery switch 124. Thus, there is a voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 of the P/C port and the negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port. The battery 125 may start to supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 may be charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may also include a transmitter (not shown) and a connection port (not shown) . In this case, the transmitter converts the detection signal generated by the second NFC module 502 into an actuation signal and transmits the actuation signal to a connection port, and then the connection port transmitting the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate it to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124.

When the target device 110 gets away from the second NFC module 502, the detection signal or the actuation signal may disappear. The battery controller 121 may turn off the battery switch 124, thus the voltage supplies between the P/C ports of the battery assembly 120 disappear.

In some embodiments, the battery controller 121 may get power supply from the battery 125 via the battery switch 124 or via other power supply circuits of the battery assembly 120. Before the P/C port of the battery assembly 120 connects to the target device 110, the battery switch 124 or the other power supply circuit may turn off, so the battery controller 121 is not powered and does not consume the energy of the battery 125. When the target device 110 gets close to and makes an electrical connection with the battery assembly 120, the first NFC module 501 may supply power to the battery controller 121 via the second NFC module 502 according to an electromagnetic induction effect. After receiving the power supply from the first NFC module 501, the battery controller 121 may be able to turn on the battery switch 124 (and/or other power supply circuit of the battery assembly 120) based on the detection signal transmitted from the second NFC module 502. Then the battery 125 may resume the power supply of the battery controller 121. When the target device 110 gets away from the second NFC module 502, the detection signal or the actuation signal may disappear. The battery controller 121 may turn off the battery switch 124 or other power supply circuit may turn off, so the battery controller 121 is not powered and does not consume the energy of the battery 125 when the target device 110 does not connect to the battery assembly 120.

It should be noted that the descriptions above are provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, various variations and modifications may be conducted under the guidance of the present disclosure. For example, the NFC modules aforementioned may be replaced by other wired or wireless communication method, such as a cable network, a wireline network, an optical fiber network, a telecommunications network, an intranet, an Internet, a local area network (LAN) , a wide area network (WAN) , a wireless local area network (WLAN) , a metropolitan area network (MAN) , a public telephone switched network (PSTN) , a Bluetooth network, a ZigBee network, or the like, or any combination thereof. However, those variations and modifications do not depart the scope of the present disclosure.

The target device 110 may include a positive pin 112-1, and a negative pin 112-2, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The battery assembly 120 may include a battery controller 121, an auxiliary controller 122, a positive electrode terminal 123-1 of a P/C port, a negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port, a battery switch 124, a battery 125, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The target device 110 may include a light source 601 (i.e., the actuator 111 shown in Fig. 1) and the auxiliary controller 122 may include an optical sensor 602. The light source 601 may be a visible-light source or an invisible-light source. For example, the light source 601 may be a white light source, an infrared light source, an ultraviolet light source, a laser source, a microwave source, a light-emitting diode (LED) light source, a fluorescent light source, a flashlight source, or the like, or any combination thereof. The optical sensor 602 may convert light or a change in light emitted from the light source 601 into an electronic signal. In some embodiments, the optical sensor 602 may be a photoconductive sensor, a photovoltaic sensor, a phototransistor, a photodiode, or the like or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the when the light source 601 gets close to the optical sensor 602, the optical sensor 602 may generate the detection signal according to light emitted from the light source 601, the detection signal is directly or indirectly used to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124. In some embodiments, the optical sensor 602 may include a transmitter (not shown) for transforming the detection signal to the actuation signal and transmit it to the battery controller 121.

When the target device 110 gets close to or makes an electrical connection with the battery assembly 120, the light source 601 (i.e., the actuator 111 as illustrated in FIG. 1) may get close to the optical sensor 602. When light source 601 gets close enough to the optical sensor 602, the optical sensor 602 may generate a detection signal, which is directly or indirectly used to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on the battery switch 124. In some embodiments, the optical sensor 602 may further include a transmitter (not shown) . When the light source 601 gets close enough to the optical sensor 602, the optical sensor 602 may generate the detection signal, and the transmitter of the optical sensor 602 may transform the detection signal to the actuation signal and transmit it to the battery controller 121 to actuate the battery controller 121 to turn on the battery switch 124. Thus, there is a voltage supply between the positive electrode terminal 123-1 of the P/C port and the negative electrode terminal 123-2 of the P/C port. The battery 125 may start to supply power to the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a load device. The battery 125 may be charged by the target device 110 if the target device 110 is a charging device.

In some embodiments, the auxiliary controller 122 may also include a transmitter (not shown) and a connection port (not shown) . In this case, the transmitter converts the detection signal generated by the optical sensor 602 into an actuation signal and transmits the actuation signal to a connection port, and then the connection port transmitting the actuation signal to the battery controller 121 to actuate it to turn on or turn off the battery switch 124.

When the target device 110 gets away from the optical sensor 602, the detection signal or the actuation signal may disappear since the optical sensor 602 cannot receive the light emitted from the light source 601 anymore. The battery controller 121 may turn off the battery switch 124, thus the voltage supplies between the P/C ports of the battery assembly 120 vanish.

In some embodiments, the battery controller 121 may get power supply from the battery 125 via the battery switch 124 or via other power supply circuits of the battery assembly 120. Before the P/C port of the battery assembly 120 connects to the target device, the battery switch 124 or the other power supply circuit may turn off, so the battery controller 121 is not powered and does not consume the energy of the battery 125. When the target device 110 gets close to and makes an electrical connection with the battery assembly 120, the light source 601 may supply power to the battery controller 121 via the optical sensor 602 according to a photoelectric effect. After receiving the power supply from the light source 601, the battery controller 121 may be able to turn on the battery switch 124 (and/or other power supply circuit of the battery assembly 120) based on the actuation signal transmitted from the optical sensor 602. Then the battery 125 may resume the power supply of the battery controller 121. When the target device 110 gets away from the optical sensor 602, the detection signal or the actuation signal may disappear. The battery controller 121 may turn off the battery switch 124 or other power supply circuit may turn off, so the battery controller 121 is not powered and does not consume the energy of the battery 125 when the target device 110 does not connect to the battery assembly 120.

Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc. ) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “block, ” “module, ” “engine, ” “unit, ” “component, ” or “system. ” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-readable media having computer-readable program code embodied thereon.

A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium that is not a computer-readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer-readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB. NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby, and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the last scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) , or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS) .

Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims. Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software-only solution-e.g., an installation on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, inventive embodiments lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.

Claims

An auxiliary controller for controlling a battery assembly, wherein the battery assembly includes:

a P/C port configured to connect to a target device;

a battery connecting to the P/C port;

a battery switch between the P/C port and the battery to control discharging and charging of the battery through the P/C port; and

a battery controller connected to the battery switch,

the auxiliary controller comprising:

a base;

a detector on the base configured to detect a target operation of the target device on the battery assembly; and

a connection port connecting the detector to the battery controller and configured to send an actuation signal to the battery controller when the detector detects the target operation,

wherein the battery controller controls the battery switch based on the actuation signal such that the battery is only electrically connected to the target device only when the detector detects the target operation.
The auxiliary controller of claim 1, wherein the target operation includes an electrical connection operation between the P/C port and the target device.
The auxiliary controller of claim 1, wherein the target operation includes causing the distance between the P/C port and the target device to be less than a predetermined threshold.
The auxiliary controller of claim 1, wherein the target device is a load device or a charging device.
The auxiliary controller of claim 1, wherein the detector is a contact-actuated detector.
The auxiliary controller of claim 5, wherein the detector is a limit switch, and the target device includes a protrusion to actuate the limit switch.
The auxiliary controller of claim 1, wherein the detector is a non-contact-actuated detector.
The auxiliary controller of claim 7, wherein the detector is a Near-field communication (NFC) detector, and the target device includes an NFC actuator.
The auxiliary controller of claim 7, wherein the detector is an optical sensor, and the target device includes a light source.
The auxiliary controller of claim 7, wherein the detector is a magnetic switch, and the target device includes a magnet.
The auxiliary controller of claim 1, further comprising:

a signal transmitter configured to receive the detection signal from the detector, transform the detection signal to the actuation signal and send the actuation signal to the connection port.