| 摘要 |
A battery management system and method for controlling the operation of a plurality of electrical batteries (10) coupled to one another, includes a master control unit (50) coupled to each of the batteries (10), at least one battery status unit operable to provide data relating to the status of each of the batteries of the plurality of batteries and a power determination unit operable to provide a measure of the power draw required from the batteries (10). The master control unit (50) is operable to control the operation of the plurality of batteries to activate a number of the plurality to meet the required power draw and to deactivate any batteries (10) of the plurality which would cause said plurality of batteries to exceed the required power draw. In the preferred embodiment, the power determination unit is operable to determine the maximum safe power to a device coupled to the plurality of batteries (10), the master control unit (50) being operable to control the operation of the plurality of batteries (10) to activate a number of the batteries (10) having a combined power capacity not exceeding the safe maximum power. Thus, the system and method allow for a large number of batteries (10) to be coupled to an electrical device and for these to be controlled so as not to produce a current which is too high for the device. There are also described elements for determining the operation of the batteries (10) and in particular which is to operate as a master battery and which as slave batteries, as well as for managing the batteries during the powering of a device and for charging. A battery designed for this purpose is also disclosed. |
