APPARATUS FOR AND A METHOD OF BALANCING THE STATE OF CHARGE OF SUB-UNITS OF A BATTERY

摘要

Apparatus for balancing the state of charge of a plurality of serially connected sub-units (1) of a battery comprises state of charge monitoring means operative to monitor the state of charge reached by each sub-unit (1). Discharging means (R) operate in response to the state of charge monitoring means to discharge sub-unit which store more charge than another sub-unit. The discharge is performed for a period of time in order to reduce the inequality in the state of charge between said sub-units (1). The state of charge monitoring means preferably includes a processor which monitors the voltage (V0, V2, V3... Vn) across the sub-units and applies control signals to terminals (T1, T2...Tn) in order to control the balancing discharge of the sub-units (1).