Dual sided reusable battery indicator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11664539-B2
Application number	US-202017135759-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2020
Priority date	Nov 1, 2016
Publication date	May 30, 2023
Grant date	May 30, 2023

Abstract

A reusable battery indicator comprises 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 at least a first connector and a second connector that are electrically connected to the voltage sensor, the first connector and the second connector being adapted to be removably connected to a first battery terminal and to a second battery terminal, respectively, thereby completing an electrical circuit between the voltage sensor and the first and second battery terminals when the connection mechanism is coupled to the first battery terminal and to the second battery terminal.

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 at least a first connector and a second connector that are electrically connected to the voltage sensor, the first connector and the second connector being adapted to be removably connected to a first battery terminal and to a second battery terminal, respectively, thereby completing an electrical circuit between the voltage sensor and the first and second battery terminals when the connection mechanism is coupled to the first battery terminal and to the second battery terminal,
wherein the first connector comprises a first magnet and the second connector comprises a second magnet.

2. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage booster electrically connected to the voltage sensor.

3. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first connector and the second connector further comprises a cup.

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

5. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first connector and the second connector comprises at least one of a metal, a metal alloy, cold-rolled steel, hard drawn ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, high and low carbon steel alloys, post or pre-plated ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, or any combination thereof.

6. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit comprises Wi-Fi circuitry.

7. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the voltage sensor reads 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 second connector.

9. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the first magnet provides retention force between the first connector and the first battery terminal and the second magnet provides retention force between the second connector and the second battery terminal.

10. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the first connector and the second connector comprise conductive magnets.

11. 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 longitudinally side-by-side.

12. The reusable battery indicator of claim 11 , wherein the housing has a cross-section that is in a shape of a triangular prism.

13. The reusable battery indicator of claim 12 , wherein the housing has one side that is concave.

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

15. The reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein the voltage sensor is one of a thin disc BLE, UHF, or RF circuitry.

16. An electronic device comprising the reusable battery indicator of claim 1 , wherein a housing of the reusable battery indicator is mounted within a battery receptacle of an electronic device.

17. A remote battery indication system, the system comprising:
a battery; and
a reusable battery indicator, the battery indicator including a voltage sensor that converts 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 at least a first connector and a second connector that are electrically connected to the voltage sensor, the first connector and the second connector being adapted to be removably connected to a first battery terminal and to a second battery terminal, respectively, thereby completing an electrical circuit between the voltage sensor and the first and second battery terminals when the connection mechanism is coupled to the first battery terminal and to the second battery terminal,
wherein the first connector comprises a first magnet and the second connector comprises a second magnet, and the first connector and the second connector are electrically attached to a first battery terminal and a second battery terminal, respectively, so that the voltage sensor senses a characteristic of the battery.

18. The system of claim 17 , 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.

19. The system of claim 18 , 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.

20. The system of claim 19 , 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, and a coulomb count.

21. The system of claim 19 , 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, and 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

• H01M10/486

  for measuring temperature · CPC title

• G01R31/371

  with remote indication, e.g. on external chargers · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H01M10/4285

  Testing apparatus · CPC title

• G01R31/3835

  involving only voltage measurements · CPC title