Single sided reusable battery indicator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10818979-B2
Application number	US-201615340731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2016
Priority date	Nov 1, 2016
Publication date	Oct 27, 2020
Grant date	Oct 27, 2020

Abstract

A reusable battery indicator includes a voltage sensor, a communication circuit communicatively connected to the voltage sensor, an antenna operatively coupled to the communication circuit, and a connection mechanism having a first connector and a retainer. The first connector and the retainer are electrically connected to the voltage sensor, and the first connector is adapted to be removably connected to a first battery terminal, thereby providing an electrical connection between the voltage sensor and the first battery terminal. The retainer is adapted to removably secure the voltage sensor to a can of a battery, thereby providing an electrical connection between the voltage sensor and the can of the battery. An electrical circuit is completed between the voltage sensor and the first battery terminal and between the voltage sensor and the can.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A reusable battery indicator comprising:
a voltage sensor configured to convert sensed analog characteristics of a battery to digital information;
a communication circuit communicatively connected to the voltage sensor;
an antenna operatively coupled to the communication circuit; and
a connection mechanism having a first connector and a retainer, the first connector and the retainer being electrically connected to the voltage sensor and the first connector and the retainer both being located at the same end of the reusable battery indicator, the first connector being adapted to be removably connected to a first battery terminal, thereby providing an electrical connection between the voltage sensor and the first battery terminal when the first connector is connected to the first battery terminal, and the retainer being adapted to removably secure the voltage sensor to a can of a battery, thereby providing an electrical connection between the voltage sensor and the can of the battery, the retainer comprising a plurality of retainer tabs that extend away from the first connector,
wherein an electrical circuit is completed between the voltage sensor and the first battery terminal and between the voltage sensor and the can when the connection mechanism is coupled to the first battery terminal and to the can.

2. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the first connector is connected to a negative electrode of the battery and the retainer is connected to a positive electrode of the battery.

3. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the first connector is one of a formed spring, a Kelvin connection, a split wire, a leaf spring, or combinations thereof.

4. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage booster electrically connected to or incorporated in the voltage sensor.

5. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the first connector comprises at least one metal and at least one insulator.

6. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit comprises at least one of radio-frequency identification circuitry, Bluetooth circuitry, Bluetooth low energy circuitry, Wi-Fi circuitry, Zigbee circuitry, LORA circuitry, or Z-wave circuitry.

7. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the voltage sensor is capable of reading an open circuit voltage of less than 1.8 Volts.

8. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the voltage sensor and the communication circuit are formed on a printed circuit board that is disposed between the first connector and the retainer.

9. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , further comprising a housing, the voltage sensor and the communication circuit being mounted within the housing, the housing being sized and shaped to fit between two cylindrical batteries that are arranged side-by-side.

10. The reusable battery indicator of claim 9 , wherein the housing has a cross-section that is in the shape of a triangular prism.

11. The reusable battery indicator of claim 10 , wherein the housing has one side that is concave.

12. The reusable battery indicator of claim 10 , wherein the housing has two sides that are concave.

13. The reusable battery indicator of claim 10 , wherein the housing has an available void volume of between about 102 mm 3 and about 165 mm 3 .

14. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the voltage sensor is disc-shaped to and arranged to fit one end of a cylindrical battery cell.

15. A remote battery indication system, the system comprising:
a battery; and
a reusable battery indicator, the reusable battery indicator including a voltage sensor configured to convert sensed analog characteristics of a battery to digital information; a communication circuit communicatively connected to the voltage sensor; an antenna operatively coupled to the communication circuit; and a connection mechanism having a first connector and a retainer, the first connector and the retainer being electrically connected to the voltage sensor and the first connector and the retainer both being located at the same end of the reusable battery indicator, the first connector being adapted to be removably connected to a first battery terminal, thereby providing an electrical connection between the voltage sensor and the first battery terminal when the first connector is connected to the first battery terminal, and the retainer being adapted to removably secure the voltage sensor to a can of a battery, thereby providing an electrical connection between the voltage sensor and the can of the battery, when the retainer is connected to the can of the battery,
wherein the first connector is electrically attached to a first battery terminal, so that the voltage sensor senses a characteristic of the battery.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising a computing device that is communicatively connected to the communication circuit, the computing device receiving information from the communication circuit through the antenna.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the computing device includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing a software routine that causes the processor to detect a wireless communication signal from the reusable battery indicator, to remotely control battery circuitry through the reusable battery indicator to determine battery characteristic data; and to send the battery characteristic data to a user interface.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the battery characteristic data comprises at least one of an electrical capacity; a voltage; an impedance, a temperature, a current; an age, a charge/discharge cycle count, or a coulomb count.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the software routine, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to determine at least one of a battery type, a physical location of the battery, or an electrical device that the battery is powering.

Assignees

• Duracell Us Operations Inc

Inventors

• Riemer Joern
• Pavlinsky Robert
• Bourilkov Jordan
• Specht Steven J
• Turco George
• Coronado Sergio

Classifications

• H01M10/48

  Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte (constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569) · CPC title

• H01M50/124

  having a layered structure · CPC title

• H01M50/569

  Constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals (battery terminal connectors with integrated measuring arrangements G01R31/364) · CPC title

• H01M50/119

  Metals · CPC title

• H04L67/125

  involving control of end-device applications over a network · CPC title