US Patent 8134340 Battery management system

A battery management system capable of safely disconnecting a charge/discharge current line from a battery pack in an over-charge condition is provided. The battery management system includes a charge/discharge relay including a relay switch coupled to a charge/discharge current path of a battery pack and a driving coil for driving the relay switch, a relay driving unit for controlling the driving coil, a motor control unit (MCU) for controlling the relay driving unit, the MCU being coupled to the relay driving unit, a switching device being coupled between the driving coil and the relay driving unit, and a switching control unit for controlling on/off operations of the switching device to control a current of the relay driving unit.