Method and Device for the Non-Invasive Determination of a Battery, and Battery Management System

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This invention relates to a method and device for non-invasively determining the electrochemical and health characteristics of a battery (especially lithium-ion batteries) using voltage measurements after charging. Instead of complex and time-consuming traditional impedance spectroscopy, the system analyzes the battery's voltage relaxation (after being charged with a constant current) to compute the distribution of electrochemical processes inside the battery. This information is used to assess aging, capacity, impedance, and other key battery parameters without requiring special hardware or invasive procedures.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• On-board diagnostics and health monitoring in electric vehicles without interrupting regular operation.
• Battery management systems (BMS) for real-time, online assessment of battery state and performance.
• Remote fleet management of electric vehicles or stationary storage systems to optimize maintenance and operation based on actual battery health.
• Accelerated laboratory analysis of battery aging and degradation processes for researchers and manufacturers.
• Early detection of safety risks (e.g., lithium plating) in battery systems, enabling preventive action.
• Integration into charging station infrastructure for automated health checks during charging.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Non-invasive and does not require altering or opening the battery, ensuring operational safety and integrity.
• Enables real-time or online diagnosis using standard battery management electronics—no special or additional hardware required.
• Much faster than traditional impedance spectroscopy, making detailed analysis feasible during typical charging cycles.
• Provides high-resolution insights into both rapid and slow (long time constant) electrochemical processes, improving accuracy in tracking battery health and degradation.
• Supports all major battery chemistries and formats, and adapts to different operational environments (e.g., automotive, stationary storage).
• Improves predictive maintenance, reduces downtime, and enhances the lifetime and reliability of expensive battery assets.
• Helps prevent safety-critical failures by early identification of risk factors like lithium plating or excessive capacity loss.

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Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the non-invasive determination of a battery, comprising: providing a battery (1); charging the battery with a constant current, which has a constant current value, for a charging time period; measuring, for a measurement time period, a relaxation behavior of the battery by means of a measuring apparatus (2) during a relaxation time period after the end of the charging process, wherein, for the duration of the measurement time period, voltage measurement values for a battery voltage of the battery are acquired with temporal resolution and the battery is free of a current load or a current load of the battery (1) is at most 5 percent of the constant current value; and determining a distribution function for time constants from the voltage measurement values acquired with temporal resolution, wherein, for peaks of the distribution function, a position on the time axis corresponds to a temporal value of a time constant and an area under the curve corresponds to a polarization contribution of an electrochemical process in the battery (1), said electrochemical process being associated with the time constants. The invention also relates to a device for the non-invasive determination of a battery and to a battery management system.