Patents by Inventor Kenji Nishigaki

Kenji Nishigaki 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: 11189863
    Abstract: A power storage apparatus including a battery and a control circuit that controls the charging or discharging of the battery, wherein during a polarization elimination time period extending from the charging/discharging end time of the battery to a polarization-eliminated time at which polarization of the battery can be judged to have been eliminated, the control circuit obtains, as an amount of change, the difference between a voltage measured at a first time set according to the temperature of the battery and a voltage measured at a second time following the first time and set according to the temperature of the battery, and sums the product of the amount of change and an estimation coefficient and the voltage measured at the first or second time so as to estimate an open-circuit voltage of the battery to be provided after elimination of the polarization of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Kenji Nishigaki, Junichi Hatano, Toshio Otagiri, Hiroto Sato, Shinichi Aizawa, Ryusuke Hase
  • Patent number: 11095130
    Abstract: Provided is a power storage apparatus including a battery and a control circuit that controls charging and discharging of the battery, wherein during a polarization elimination time period, the control circuit obtains, as an amount of change, a difference between a first voltage of the battery measured at a first time and a second voltage of the battery measured at a second time following the first time, multiplies the amount of change by an estimation coefficient that depends on the first voltage, the second voltage, a temperature of the battery, a temperature of a space around the battery, or a degree of deterioration of the battery, and sums the value obtained so as to estimate an open-circuit voltage to be provided after elimination of the polarization of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Junichi Hatano, Toshio Otagiri, Hiroto Sato, Shinichi Aizawa, Ryusuke Hase, Kenji Nishigaki
  • Patent number: 10705146
    Abstract: A battery state-of-charge estimation apparatus includes: a storage that stores a charge SOC-OCV curve, a discharge SOC-OCV curve, and internal-division-ratio information; and a state-of-charge estimation unit, wherein: when a capacity difference between a battery before and after charging when the battery is charged when an intersection point is on the discharge SOC-OCV curve or when a capacity difference between the battery before and after discharging when the battery is discharged when an intersection point is on the charge SOC-OCV curve is less than a threshold, the state-of-charge estimation unit references the internal-division-ratio information to determine an internal division ratio; and the state-of-charge estimation unit estimates the state of charge of the battery using the determined internal division ratio, the open-circuit voltage of the battery after elapse of a predetermined time period since the end of charging or discharging, the charge SOC-OCV curve, and the discharge SOC-OCV curve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Toshio Otagiri, Hiroto Sato, Kenji Nishigaki
  • Publication number: 20200011933
    Abstract: A battery state-of-charge estimation apparatus includes: a storage that stores a charge SOC-OCV curve, a discharge SOC-OCV curve, and internal-division-ratio information; and a state-of-charge estimation unit, wherein: when a capacity difference between a battery before and after charging when the battery is charged when an intersection point is on the discharge SOC-OCV curve or when a capacity difference between the battery before and after discharging when the battery is discharged when an intersection point is on the charge SOC-OCV curve is less than a threshold, the state-of-charge estimation unit references the internal-division-ratio information to determine an internal division ratio; and the state-of-charge estimation unit estimates the state of charge of the battery using the determined internal division ratio, the open-circuit voltage of the battery after elapse of a predetermined time period since the end of charging or discharging, the charge SOC-OCV curve, and the discharge SOC-OCV curve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2018
    Publication date: January 9, 2020
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Toshio OTAGIRI, Hiroto SATO, Kenji NISHIGAKI
  • Patent number: 10466303
    Abstract: A state-of-charge estimation device and a state of charge estimation method are provided that estimate a state of charge in a battery having a large polarization, requiring a long time for depolarization, and having a large charge/discharge hysteresis in its SOC-OCV characteristics. The state-of-charge estimation device includes a voltage measuring unit which measures a closed circuit voltage in a battery, a charge estimation unit which estimates a state of charge in a charge mode by referring to charge mode information that associates a closed circuit voltage with a state of charge in the battery, and a discharge estimation unit which estimates a state of charge in a discharge mode by referring to discharge mode information that associates a closed circuit voltage generated by use of a discharge pattern of the battery with a state of charge in the battery by use of the measured closed circuit voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Kenji Nishigaki, Masashi Kidono, Takahiro Tsuzuku, Hiroyuki Nomura
  • Patent number: 10459037
    Abstract: A state-of-charge estimation device includes a transition estimation unit, when a transition from a charge mode to a discharge mode starts, which starts current integration by use of a measured current and obtains a second state of charge by use of a first state of charge at the start of the transition and a current integration value, so as to estimate that the second state of charge is a state of charge upon transition until a target state of charge is reached that is determined by a current integration value obtained for a predetermined time period after the start of the transition, and/or when a transition from a discharge mode to a charge mode starts, which starts current integration by use of a measured current and obtains a sixth state of charge by use of a third state of charge at the start of the transition and a current integration value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Kenji Nishigaki, Masashi Kidono, Takahiro Tsuzuku, Hiroyuki Nomura
  • Publication number: 20190229539
    Abstract: Provided is a power storage apparatus including a battery and a control circuit that controls charging and discharging of the battery, wherein during a polarization elimination time period, the control circuit obtains, as an amount of change, a difference between a first voltage of the battery measured at a first time and a second voltage of the battery measured at a second time following the first time, multiplies the amount of change by an estimation coefficient that depends on the first voltage, the second voltage, a temperature of the battery, a temperature of a space around the battery, or a degree of deterioration of the battery, and sums the value obtained so as to estimate an open-circuit voltage to be provided after elimination of the polarization of the battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Junichi HATANO, Toshio OTAGIRI, Hiroto SATO, Shinichi AIZAWA, Ryusuke HASE, Kenji NISHIGAKI
  • Publication number: 20190207271
    Abstract: A power storage apparatus including a battery and a control circuit that controls the charging or discharging of the battery, wherein during a polarization elimination time period extending from the charging/discharging end time of the battery to a polarization-eliminated time at which polarization of the battery can be judged to have been eliminated, the control circuit obtains, as an amount of change, the difference between a voltage measured at a first time set according to the temperature of the battery and a voltage measured at a second time following the first time and set according to the temperature of the battery, and sums the product of the amount of change and an estimation coefficient and the voltage measured at the first or second time so as to estimate an open-circuit voltage of the battery to be provided after elimination of the polarization of the battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2017
    Publication date: July 4, 2019
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Kenji NISHIGAKI, Junichi HATANO, Toshio OTAGIRI, Hiroto SATO, Shinichi AIZAWA, Ryusuke HASE
  • Patent number: 9931955
    Abstract: A management system and a management method of a battery and a battery charger, and a battery charger are provided that can obtain information on the state of a battery and information on the usage state of a battery charger even during charging so as to monitor/control the battery and the battery charger even during the charging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Mamoru Kuraishi, Shinji Hirose, Kenji Nishigaki, Junichi Hatano
  • Patent number: 9766292
    Abstract: An abnormality diagnostic for a MOSFET switch element in a rechargeable battery pack for determining a short circuit abnormality (fusion) in a MOSFET switch element that causes a charge current to flow in. An on/off controller turns off a MOSFET causing a charge current to flow into a battery module, a start-of-charge instruction unit transmits to a charger an instruction signal to start a charging operation, and a short circuit abnormality diagnostic unit determines, based on a current sensor output, whether current is flowing through the MOSFET due to the charging operation to diagnose a short circuit abnormality in the MOSFET. After diagnosis of the MOSFET, a diagnosis of a short circuit abnormality in a MOSFET that causes a discharge current to flow out of the battery module is performed, and then a diagnosis of a short circuit abnormality in a charge relay is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Shinji Hirose, Mamoru Kuraishi, Tomoyuki Ito, Kazuhiro Niimura, Kenji Nishigaki, Junichi Hatano, Satoshi Yamamoto, Yusuke Tsutsui
  • Patent number: 9714982
    Abstract: A method and a device are provided for estimating a remaining capacity of a battery. Transient characteristics are generated that represent a correlation between the remaining capacity and a closed circuit voltage, the correlation transitioning from one of a charging-side and a discharging-side characteristic to the other when the charging/discharging of the battery has been switched, on the basis of map data of a charging-side characteristic that is only conducted from a fully-discharged to a fully-charged state and a discharging-side characteristic that is only conducted from the fully-charged to the fully-discharged state, the characteristics representing a correlation between the remaining capacity and the Closed Circuit Voltage of the battery. When charging and discharging of the battery have been switched, the remaining capacity of the battery is estimated from the Closed Circuit Voltage of the battery by using the transient characteristics until polarization of the battery enters a saturated state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Takahiro Tsuzuku, Hiroyuki Nomura, Kenji Nishigaki, Masashi Kidono
  • Publication number: 20160336736
    Abstract: A method for detecting an abnormality in a relay that can detect that a module relay is inoperative is provided. In a method for detecting an abnormality in a relay in a battery pack comprising a plurality of battery modules connected in parallel to each other and comprising a main relay and module relays, the main relay is shut off if it is determined that a current is flowing in a battery module for which the module relay is not shut off and a current is flowing in a battery module for which the module relay is shut off.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2014
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Hiroyuki NOMURA, Kenji NISHIGAKI, Takahiro TSUZUKU
  • Publication number: 20160231382
    Abstract: An abnormality diagnostic for a MOSFET switch element in a rechargeable battery pack for determining a short circuit abnormality (fusion) in a MOSFET switch element that causes a charge current to flow in. An on/off controller turns off a MOSFET causing a charge current to flow into a battery module, a start-of-charge instruction unit transmits to a charger an instruction signal to start a charging operation, and a short circuit abnormality diagnostic unit determines, based on a current sensor output, whether current is flowing through the MOSFET due to the charging operation to diagnose a short circuit abnormality in the MOSFET. After diagnosis of the MOSFET, a diagnosis of a short circuit abnormality in a MOSFET that causes a discharge current to flow out of the battery module is performed, and then a diagnosis of a short circuit abnormality in a charge relay is performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Publication date: August 11, 2016
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Shinji HIROSE, Mamoru KURAISHI, Tomoyuki ITO, Kazuhiro NIIMURA, Kenji NISHIGAKI, Junichi HATANO, Satoshi YAMAMOTO, Yusuke TSUTSUI
  • Publication number: 20160181832
    Abstract: A charging system supplies a charging current of a constant value (Icc) to a secondary battery, performs a constant-current charging using the charging current until the CCV of the secondary battery reaches a predetermined threshold voltage (Vcc), and repeats a predetermined number of times (N times): —reducing the charging current currently being supplied by a predetermined current reduction amount (?Ic), —setting the reduced charging current as a new charging current, and —performing the constant-current charging using the new charging current until the CCV of the secondary battery increases by a predetermined voltage increase amount (?Vx), and then stops the supply of the charging current. The current reduction amount (?Ic) is set so that the CCV of the secondary battery is larger than the fully-charged voltage (Vfull) of the secondary battery when the charging current currently being supplied is reduced by (?Ic).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2014
    Publication date: June 23, 2016
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Junichi HATANO, Kenji NISHIGAKI
  • Publication number: 20160101705
    Abstract: A management system and a management method of a battery and a battery charger, and a battery charger are provided that can obtain information on the state of a battery and information on the usage state of a battery charger even during charging so as to monitor/control the battery and the battery charger even during the charging.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Publication date: April 14, 2016
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Mamoru KURAISHI, Shinji HIROSE, Kenji NISHIGAKI, Junichi HATANO
  • Publication number: 20150369871
    Abstract: A state-of-charge estimation device includes a transition estimation unit, when a transition from a charge mode to a discharge mode starts, which starts current integration by use of a measured current and obtains a second state of charge by use of a first state of charge at the start of the transition and a current integration value, so as to estimate that the second state of charge is a state of charge upon transition until a target state of charge is reached that is determined by a current integration value obtained for a predetermined time period after the start of the transition, and/or when a transition from a discharge mode to a charge mode starts, which starts current integration by use of a measured current and obtains a sixth state of charge by use of a third state of charge at the start of the transition and a current integration value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Kenji NISHIGAKI, Masashi KIDONO, Takahiro TSUZUKU, Hiroyuki NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20150369869
    Abstract: A method and a device are provided for estimating a remaining capacity of a battery. Transient characteristics are generated that represent a correlation between the remaining capacity and a closed circuit voltage, the correlation transitioning from one of a charging-side and a discharging-side characteristic to the other when the charging/discharging of the battery has been switched, on the basis of map data of a charging-side characteristic that is only conducted from a fully-discharged to a fully-charged state and a discharging-side characteristic that is only conducted from the fully-charged to the fully-discharged state, the characteristics representing a correlation between the remaining capacity and the Closed Circuit Voltage of the battery. When charging and discharging of the battery have been switched, the remaining capacity of the battery is estimated from the Closed Circuit Voltage of the battery by using the transient characteristics until polarization of the battery enters a saturated state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2013
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Takahiro TSUZUKU, Hiroyuki NOMURA, Kenji NISHIGAKI, Masashi KIDONO
  • Publication number: 20150355285
    Abstract: A state-of-charge estimation device and method are provided that estimate a state of charge in a battery having a large polarization, requiring a long time for depolarization, and having a large charge/discharge hysteresis in its SOC-OCV characteristics. The state-of-charge estimation device includes a voltage measuring unit which measures a closed circuit voltage in a battery, a charge estimation unit which estimates a state of charge in a charge mode by referring to charge mode information that associates a closed circuit voltage with a state of charge in the battery, and a discharge estimation unit which estimates a state of charge in a discharge mode by referring to discharge mode information that associates a closed circuit voltage generated by use of a discharge pattern of the battery with a state of charge in the battery by use of the measured closed circuit voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2013
    Publication date: December 10, 2015
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Kenji NISHIGAKI, Masashi KIDONO, Takahiro TSUZUKU, Hiroyuki NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20150321562
    Abstract: The present application relates to a vehicle and a method of limiting a vehicle speed during evacuation running designed to prevent a normal battery block from being overcharged by regenerative electric power during evacuation running, in which a vehicle driven by a parallely connected battery blocks runs under a condition in which some abnormal battery blocks are separated. The method may include determining whether a vehicle is performing evacuation running, calculating receivable regenerative electric power for the battery blocks used for running of the vehicle, calculating a limit speed of the vehicle according to the receivable regenerative electric power, and limiting the speed of the vehicle to the limit speed or to a speed lower than the limit speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2013
    Publication date: November 12, 2015
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Hiroyuki NOMURA, Tadasumi MATSUI, Kenji NISHIGAKI, Masashi KIDONO, Takahiro TSUZUKU, Hiromasa YOSHIZAWA
  • Patent number: 8955253
    Abstract: A detecting unit (14) forms a plurality of detection spots arranged two-dimensionally on a floor surface near a door panel (12). Each detection spot is capable of detecting a human or an object by infrared light independently from other detection spots. Region distinguishing means (30) distinguishes a region formed by plural ones of the said detection spots that have detected the human or object. Person's movement judging means (44) judges the direction in which the distinguished region moves. A signal which causes a door panel (12) to be opened is supplied to a door controller (34) only when the direction of movement of the distinguished region is the direction toward the door panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Nabtesco Corporation
    Inventors: Hisayuki Kanki, Toru Iriba, Shinya Ikeda, Yasutaka Kanda, Kenji Nishigaki, Yasuteru Kitada, Takashi Wada