Patents by Inventor Youhei Kawahara

Youhei Kawahara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10725111
    Abstract: A battery state detection device detects a battery state and includes: a first permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a first permissible current of a battery based on a voltage of the battery detected by a voltage detecting unit; a second permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a second permissible current of the battery without using the voltage of the battery; and a correction unit configured to compare the first permissible current and the second permissible current and to perform a predetermined correction process on the basis of the comparison result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: Vehicle Energy Japan Inc.
    Inventors: Youhei Kawahara, Masahiro Yonemoto, Keiichiro Ohkawa
  • Patent number: 10686229
    Abstract: A battery state detection device detects a battery state and includes: a first permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a first permissible current of a battery based on a voltage of the battery detected by a voltage detecting unit; a second permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a second permissible current of the battery without using the voltage of the battery; and a permissible current determining unit configured to determine a permissible current of the battery corresponding to the battery state on the basis of at least one of the first permissible current and the second permissible current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: Vehicle Energy Japan Inc.
    Inventors: Youhei Kawahara, Masahiro Yonemoto, Keiichiro Ohkawa
  • Patent number: 10591550
    Abstract: A secondary-battery monitoring device includes: a use-state memory device that stores a transition of a load parameter indicating a use state of a secondary battery; and a battery capacity prediction device that predicts a temporal change of a battery capacity of the secondary battery on the basis of a prediction function. The prediction function is derived from a relation between growth of a film formed in an electrode surface of the secondary battery and a reduction of a precursor component of the film which is contained in an electrolyte of the secondary battery. The battery capacity prediction device determines a coefficient of the prediction function on the basis of the transition of the load parameter which is stored in the use-state memory device, and predicts the temporal change of the battery capacity of the secondary battery on the basis of the prediction function which uses the coefficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: VEHICLE ENERGY JAPAN INC.
    Inventors: Masahiro Yonemoto, Youhei Kawahara, Takeshi Inoue, Keiichiro Ohkawa
  • Publication number: 20190386511
    Abstract: A power management system is provided with: a power supply facility equipped with an electricity storage unit; a user facility using stored power; and an integrated control device for controlling the supply of the stored power on the basis of stored-power use request information from the user facility. The power supply facility specifies the available capacity and time zone of the electricity storage unit to the integrated control device. The user facility specifies, to the integrated control device, a use request amount and a use request time zone when using the stored power. The integrated control device controls the use of the electricity storage unit so as to satisfy the use request amount and the use request time zone specified by the user and the available capacity and time zone specified by the provider.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Publication date: December 19, 2019
    Inventors: Hirofumi TAKAHASHI, Youhei KAWAHARA, Kohei HONKURA, Masatoshi SUGIMASA, Shinsuke ANDOU
  • Patent number: 10147983
    Abstract: A secondary battery system capable of acquiring an SOC of a battery with a simple computation without acquiring battery characteristics is to be provided. The secondary battery system according to the present invention is adapted to acquire a momentary SOC (charging SOC) by obtaining an initial value of an SOC from a CCV acquired during a charging period and adding an integrated value of a charge or discharge current to the initial value of the SOC, acquire a momentary SOC (discharging SOC) by obtaining an initial value of an SOC from a CCV acquired during a discharging period and adding an integrated value of a charge or discharge current to the initial value of the SOC, and acquire an SOC close to a true value by averaging the charging SOC and the discharging SOC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Youhei Kawahara, Takeshi Inoue, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Keiichiro Ohkawa
  • Patent number: 9748537
    Abstract: There is provided a highly reliable storage battery apparatus which can diagnose the status of a temperature detection unit and a cooling unit. In the storage battery apparatus comprising a battery module including one or more batteries, a plurality of temperature detection units and a cooling unit cooling the battery module, the temperature detection units measure, at least, the temperature of the cooling medium inputted to the storage battery apparatus, the temperature of the cooling medium outputted from the storage battery apparatus, and the temperature of at least one of the batteries and the battery module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Akihiko Emori, Youhei Kawahara, Takahiro Kawata, Akihiko Kudo
  • Patent number: 9689926
    Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a battery control device that can appropriately verify the results of the estimation of the state of charge of a battery. This battery control device is provided with a charged state calculation unit that calculates the state of charge of the battery and a charged state verification unit that verifies the results of the calculation. The charged state verification unit calculates the charged state using a calculation procedure that is not being used by the charged state calculation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Keiichiro Ohkawa, Ryohei Nakao, Youhei Kawahara, Naoyuki Igarashi, Yoshinori Aoshima
  • Publication number: 20170141444
    Abstract: A battery state detection device detects a battery state and includes: a first permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a first permissible current of a battery based on a voltage of the battery detected by a voltage detecting unit; a second permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a second permissible current of the battery without using the voltage of the battery; and a permissible current determining unit configured to determine a permissible current of the battery corresponding to the battery state on the basis of at least one of the first permissible current and the second permissible current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2015
    Publication date: May 18, 2017
    Inventors: Youhei KAWAHARA, Masahiro YONEMOTO, Keiichiro OHKAWA
  • Publication number: 20170131360
    Abstract: A battery state detection device detects a battery state and includes: a first permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a first permissible current of a battery based on a voltage of the battery detected by a voltage detecting unit; a second permissible current calculating unit configured to calculate a second permissible current of the battery without using the voltage of the battery; and a correction unit configured to compare the first permissible current and the second permissible current and to perform a predetermined correction process on the basis of the comparison result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2015
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Youhei KAWAHARA, Masahiro YONEMOTO, Keiichiro OHKAWA
  • Patent number: 9641011
    Abstract: A battery control device capable of carrying out current limitation in consideration of constraints on other components than a battery main body is provided. A battery control device according to the invention has an average current table describing an average current allowed for each of plural time window widths, and limits a battery current in accordance with the description.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Keiichiro Ohkawa, Ryouhei Nakao, Youhei Kawahara
  • Publication number: 20170082694
    Abstract: A secondary-battery monitoring device includes: a use-state memory device that stores a transition of a load parameter indicating a use state of a secondary battery; and a battery capacity prediction device that predicts a temporal change of a battery capacity of the secondary battery on the basis of a prediction function. The prediction function is derived from a relation between growth of a film formed in an electrode surface of the secondary battery and a reduction of a precursor component of the film which is contained in an electrolyte of the secondary battery. The battery capacity prediction device determines a coefficient of the prediction function on the basis of the transition of the load parameter which is stored in the use-state memory device, and predicts the temporal change of the battery capacity of the secondary battery on the basis of the prediction function which uses the coefficient.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2015
    Publication date: March 23, 2017
    Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Masahiro YONEMOTO, Youhei KAWAHARA, Takeshi INOUE, Keiichiro OHKAWA
  • Publication number: 20160351976
    Abstract: A secondary battery system capable of acquiring an SOC of a battery with a simple computation without acquiring battery characteristics is to be provided. The secondary battery system according to the present invention is adapted to acquire a momentary SOC (charging SOC) by obtaining an initial value of an SOC from a CCV acquired during a charging period and adding an integrated value of a charge or discharge current to the initial value of the SOC, acquire a momentary SOC (discharging SOC) by obtaining an initial value of an SOC from a CCV acquired during a discharging period and adding an integrated value of a charge or discharge current to the initial value of the SOC, and acquire an SOC close to a true value by averaging the charging SOC and the discharging SOC.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2015
    Publication date: December 1, 2016
    Inventors: Youhei KAWAHARA, Takeshi INOUE, Mutsumi KIKUCHI, Keiichiro OHKAWA
  • Patent number: 9397374
    Abstract: A secondary battery module includes a battery information storage unit for storing electric characteristic information and usage history information of the secondary battery module. A battery information management device and a terminal device respectively include interfaces to be connected to the secondary battery module. The battery information management device is provided with a battery information database. The battery information management device is connected to the terminal device through a communications network. In this way, battery information stored in the battery information storage unit, which is acquired by the battery information management device and the terminal device, is accumulated in the battery information database. Moreover, the battery information management device grades the secondary battery module for reuse based on the battery information and a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Shuko Yamauchi, Youhei Kawahara, Akihiko Emori
  • Patent number: 9362759
    Abstract: In a battery device including a battery pack in which a plurality of cells are connected in series, there are provided a battery control circuit or a battery device capable of eliminating a fluctuation in the voltage or charged state which can occur between the cells, or preventing the cells from being maintained in an over-charged state for a long period. A plurality of cell groups each including a plurality of cells are connected in series to form a battery pack. Cell controller is provided to the respective cell groups operate with electricity supplied from the cell groups allocated thereto so as to monitor and control the state of the cells of the cell group. Battery pack controller controls the cell controller based on information from the plurality of cell controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryouhei Nakao, Youhei Kawahara, Akihiko Kudou, Akihiko Emori, Kei Sakabe
  • Patent number: 9356451
    Abstract: A battery control circuit includes a voltage detection circuit for measuring voltages of electric cells, balancing circuits for balancing the voltages or SOCs of the electric cells, a signal input/output circuit for communicating with the outside, a power supply circuit having two modes: a normal mode and a low consumption mode, and a time management circuit. It receives a signal containing a period of time until the shift of the power supply circuit from the normal mode to the low consumption mode, and stores it in the time management circuit. If a command from the outside has not been sent for a predetermined period of time or when an operation stop command has been sent from the outside, the time management circuit causes the power supply circuit to continuously operate in the normal mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Youhei Kawahara, Ryouhei Nakao, Akihiko Kudo, Akihiko Emori, Kei Sakabe
  • Patent number: 9293937
    Abstract: An electric storage device includes an assembled battery including a plurality of electric cells connected in series; an assembled battery control unit that estimates internal resistances of the plurality of electric cells, or a magnitude relationship of the internal resistances of the plurality of electric cells; an assembled battery control unit that calculates such a discharge quantity that an SOC after the electric cells have been discharged becomes lower as the internal resistance of the electric cells, which is estimated by the assembled battery control unit, is larger, or as the magnitude relationship of the internal resistances of the electric cells is estimated to be larger by the assembled battery control unit, for each of the electric cells; and electric cell control units that discharge each of the plurality of electric cells on the basis of the discharge quantity calculated by the assembled battery control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Youhei Kawahara, Ryouhei Nakao, Akihiko Kudo, Akihiko Emori, Keiichiro Okawa, Yoshinori Aoshima
  • Patent number: 9263777
    Abstract: A semiconductor device generates battery state information including information of a capacity that can be extracted from a battery in the case of discharging from a full charge state until a discharge cutoff voltage at a predetermined discharge rate, based on measurement results of battery voltage, current, and temperature. The device calculates a first estimate value of capacity that can be extracted in the case of discharging the battery from the full charge state until the discharge cutoff voltage and calculates a second estimate value of capacity that can be extracted in the case of discharging the battery until a voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage. The device corrects the first estimate value based on a difference between a capacity value extracted from the battery by discharging the battery from the full charge state until the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage and the second estimate value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Youhei Kawahara, Kenta Kobayashi, Suguru Sasaki, Yusuke Sugawara
  • Patent number: 9252624
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a battery control apparatus capable of accurately obtaining permissible charging or discharging power in keeping with variation of the internal resistance of a battery. The battery control apparatus of this invention includes an internal resistance table in which the internal resistance value of single cells corresponding to the temperature and state of charge thereof are described in association with each of charging or discharging duration time of the single cells. The battery control apparatus calculates a permissible charging current or a permissible discharging current by using the internal resistance value described in the internal resistance table and controls the charging or discharging of the single cells in accordance with the current value thus obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Keiichiro Ohkawa, Ryouhei Nakao, Youhei Kawahara
  • Patent number: 9252602
    Abstract: To satisfactorily carry out balancing even when balancing control is suspended. It is selected according to a condition which of battery cell information (old state information) by the last balancing stored in a storage device and battery cell information (new state information) acquired during a start of this time is used, and the balancing control is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Keiichiro Ohkawa, Youhei Kawahara, Ryouhei Nakao
  • Publication number: 20150301115
    Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a battery control device that can appropriately verify the results of the estimation of the state of charge of a battery. This battery control device is provided with a charged state calculation unit that calculates the state of charge of the battery and a charged state verification unit that verifies the results of the calculation. The charged state verification unit calculates the charged state using a calculation procedure that is not being used by the charged state calculation unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2013
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Keiichiro OHKAWA, Ryohei NAKAO, Youhei KAWAHARA, Naoyuki IGARASHI, Yoshinori AOSHIMA