Smart battery charging to improve the lifespan of batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9966775-B2
Application number	US-201715662673-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2017
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

A method for managing a rechargeable battery. The method includes a computer processor identifying a rechargeable battery within a first device. The method further includes a computer processor identifying a battery maintenance policy associated with the rechargeable battery. The method further includes a computer processor determining a first set of models for implementing the identified battery maintenance policy on the identified rechargeable battery based on the identified battery maintenance policy and one or more environmental factors corresponding to the first device. The method further includes a computer processor installing the first set of models in the first device. The method further includes a computer processor performing an intervention action based, at least in part, on a current state of the first set of models and one or more current environmental factors corresponding to the first device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer system for managing a rechargeable battery, the computer system comprising:
one or more computer processors;
one or more computer readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors, the program instructions comprising:
program instructions to identify a rechargeable battery within a first device;
program instructions to identify a battery maintenance policy associated with the rechargeable battery, wherein the battery maintenance policy is developed by a manufacturer of the identified rechargeable battery;
program instructions to determine a first set of models for implementing the identified battery maintenance policy on the identified rechargeable battery based on the identified battery maintenance policy and one or more environmental factors corresponding to the first device;
program instructions to install the first set of models in the first device; and
program instructions to perform an intervention action based, at least in part, on a current state of the identified rechargeable battery, the first set of models, and one or more current environmental factors corresponding to the first device, wherein the intervention action is comprised of one or more of:
restricting a recharging rate of the identified rechargeable battery based on a temperature of the identified rechargeable battery;
restricting a recharging rate of the identified rechargeable battery based on a pressure within cells of the identified rechargeable battery;
limiting a charge level of the rechargeable battery based on a period of time;
modifying one or more power management settings of the first device;
calibrating a battery management system included in the first device; and
wherein environmental factors include: a temperature sensed by the first device, a barometric sensed by the first device, and a humidity sensed by the first device; and

program instructions to estimate a remaining lifespan of the identified rechargeable battery, wherein estimating the remaining lifespan of the identified rechargeable battery includes a probability of failure of the identified rechargeable battery within the first device and a time duration, and wherein program instructions to estimate the remaining lifespan of the rechargeable battery further comprises program instructions to:
determine the current state of the identified rechargeable battery within the first device;
determine a level of compliance demonstrated of the first device, based at least in part on the first set models of the identified battery maintenance policy and a completion of the intervention action; and
program instructions to compare the level of compliance demonstrated by the first device to one or more relative levels of compliance of other instances of the rechargeable battery utilized by devices of other users and the corresponding maximum lifespan of the other instances of the rechargeable battery in the devices of the other users.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Childress Rhonda L
• Eckert Kim A
• Kuang Jente B
• Mcnair Ryan D

Classifications

• H02J7/84

  Control of state of health [SOH] · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/50

  acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H02J7/47

  Arrangements for checking compatibility or authentication between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source · CPC title

• H02J7/42

  with electronic devices having internal batteries, e.g. mobile phones · CPC title