Patents Examined by Jas A Sanghera
  • Patent number: 11978865
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device for measuring the thermal characteristics of a pouch-type battery cell, specifically, the thermal conductivity of the battery cell, and a thermal conductivity measurement method using the same. When the battery cell thermal conductivity measurement device of the present invention is used, the thermal conductivity of a pouch-type battery cell exhibiting anisotropic thermal conductivity characteristics can be separated along each direction and measured, and thereby stability according to the thermal characteristics of a product, which uses a battery cell for a rechargeable battery, can be efficiently evaluated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventors: Kwang Min Kim, Woo Young Song
  • Patent number: 11977123
    Abstract: A voltage sensor includes a drive-sense circuit (DSC) and a reference load. The DSC is operably coupled to a point along a wire that is proximate to a battery terminal. The wire connects the battery terminal to a load. The DSC is configured to generate a signal based on a reference signal that is reference signal is based on an estimate of a voltage at the point along the wire. The DSC is also configured to generate an output signal that corresponds to a difference between the signal and the reference signal and to tune the reference signal until the signal compares favorably to the voltage at the point along the wire. The DSC also is configured to determine the voltage at the point along the wire based on the tuned reference signal. The reference load is operably coupled to the DSC and the point along a wire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: SIGMASENSE, LLC.
    Inventors: Patrick Troy Gray, Michael Shawn Gray, Timothy W. Markison, Shayne X. Short
  • Patent number: 11977128
    Abstract: Provided is a storage for used battery units capable of economically storing a plurality of used battery units of various manufacturers while suppressing the deterioration of the used battery units during storage. The storage for used battery units includes: a selection unit that selects a discharge target battery unit and a charge target battery unit from among the plurality of used battery units on the basis of the current values and the voltage values of the plurality of used battery units in storage and the predetermined SOC range of each of the plurality of used battery units; and a charge/discharge control unit which causes a discharge target battery unit to be discharged and charges the discharged power into a charge target battery unit such that the SOCs of the discharge target battery unit and the charge target battery unit reach a predetermined SOC range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: TOYO SYSTEM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi Tanno, Hideki Shoji
  • Patent number: 11977347
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect an object and a power-supply control unit. The power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to a second power state, in response to a lapse of a predetermined time following no detection of the object, when a job has not been executed until the detection unit detects no object, after the power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to the first power state. The power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to the second power state before a lapse of the predetermined time, when a job has been executed until the detection unit detects no object, after the power-supply control unit shifts the image forming apparatus to the first power state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Ryotaro Okuzono
  • Patent number: 11977124
    Abstract: A measurement device including an impedance calculator configured to perform following processes S1 to S5 is provided: S1: preparing a Bode diagram; S2: extracting a peak from the Bode diagram; increasing the number of RC parallel circuits by +1, and fitting a mountain shape which is able to be represented by an RC parallel circuit centered on the peak; S3: subtracting a Bode diagram component which is able to be represented by the fitted RC parallel circuit from the Bode diagram of the measurement results; S4: ending identification of the number of RC parallel circuits when a peak is not extracted from the Bode diagram and repeating the processes (S2) and S(3) when a peak is extracted; and S5: reporting the total number of RC parallel circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD
    Inventors: Yuki Tominaga, Yurika Nishimoto
  • Patent number: 11979033
    Abstract: A device and a method for detecting living objects for inductive charging devices, the inductive charging device having a resonator coil, which is configured to generate an electromagnetic field, and a plurality of living object sensors, which are configured to detect a living object. The method has steps for determining a critical magnetic field limit of the electromagnetic field by magnetic field limit sensors, the critical magnetic field limit being defined in that a magnetic field strength outside the critical magnetic field limit falls below a limit value; and for detecting a living object within the determined, critical magnetic field limit of the electromagnetic field by the living object sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Vitesco Technologies GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Kausche, Anselm Schwarte
  • Patent number: 11970077
    Abstract: A method for determining a cell voltage of a battery cell of a traction battery of a vehicle includes filtering the cell voltage of the battery cell by a filtering device, sampling the filtered cell voltage by an analogue to digital converter, transferring the filtered and sampled cell voltage as a cell voltage signal to a computing device, evaluating the cell voltage signal by the computing device, determining a ripple value which describes a ripple of the cell voltage, and evaluating the cell voltage signal depending on the ripple value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Daimler AG
    Inventor: Andreas Maier
  • Patent number: 11971382
    Abstract: System for measuring the composition of a multiphase fluid flow in a pipe, the multiphase flow containing a mixture of gas and liquid. The system comprising a first and a second sensor arrangement, wherein each sensor arrangement is adapted to measuring electrical characteristics (i.e. impedance) of the flow at a predetermined rate. The system also including an analysis unit being adapted to monitor the measured electrical characteristics from said first and second sensor arrangement and to detect occurrences of time periods involving a predetermined relationship between the measured characteristics, and during these periods assuming a liquid rich phase and calculating the composition based on the electrical characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: ROXAR FLOW MEASUREMENT AS
    Inventor: Frode Hugo Aase
  • Patent number: 11971455
    Abstract: A mixed chemistry battery is provided. The mixed chemistry battery includes a reference module having a first chemistry and a battery module having a second chemistry that is different that the first chemistry, the battery module is connected to the reference module in series. The mixed chemistry battery also includes a battery monitoring system configured to monitor an open circuit voltage of the reference module, an open circuit voltage of the battery module, and a current flow through the reference module and the battery module. The battery monitoring system is further configured to calculate a state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH) of the battery module based at least in part on a SOC of the reference module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Chengwu Duan, Jian Yao, Dewen Kong, Jingyuan Liu
  • Patent number: 11964741
    Abstract: A method includes receiving electric field data regarding an electric field that is detected in an underwater environment by a plurality of electrodes mounted on a first structure, and receiving sensor data from at least one sensor mounted on the first structure. The sensor data relates to a sensed location of a second structure. The method includes determining location data including information regarding a location of the second structure relative to the first structure in the underwater environment based on the sensor data, and determining one or more characteristics of the second structure based on the electric field data and the location data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: OCEAN FLOOR GEOPHYSICS, INC.
    Inventors: Brian Claus, Craig Donald, Peter Kowalczyk, Matthew Kowalczyk
  • Patent number: 11965757
    Abstract: The electromagnetic induction displacement sensor consists of a transceiver board and an excitation board that may move relative to each other along a measuring path. The transceiver board is arranged with at least one transmitter winding and at least two three-phase receiver windings with different pitches, the number of three-phase receiver windings is one more than that of transmitter windings. Each transmitter winding encircles two three-phase receiver windings with different pitches in the same direction in series, and all receiver windings are in a distributed winding structure. The excitation board is arranged with at least two rows of excitation coils in the shape of short-circuit loop, the number of rows of excitation coils is equal to the number of the three-phase receiver windings on the transceiver board, respectively aligning with corresponding three-phase receiver winding and having the same pitch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: GUILIN GUANGLU MEASURING INSTRUMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Quhui Lu
  • Patent number: 11965936
    Abstract: A battery diagnosis apparatus for diagnosing a battery including battery cells, the apparatus according to an embodiment may include a voltage measurer for measuring the voltage of each battery cell during a preset period of time, a voltage variation calculator for calculating an individual voltage variation of each battery cell during the preset period of time, an average voltage variation calculator for calculating an average voltage variation of the battery cells during the preset period of time, and an abnormality detector for determining that a voltage abnormality has occurred in at least one battery cell among the battery cells when a difference between the voltage variation of the at least one battery cell and the average voltage variation of the at least one battery cell is greater than a threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventors: Hyun Chul Lee, Dong Keun Kwon, Sung Yul Yoon, Seung Hyun Kim, An Soo Kim
  • Patent number: 11959981
    Abstract: The magnetic detector 1 according to the present disclosure includes a transmission line 10 having a linear first conductor 11 including a magnetic material, a signal generator 30 configured to input a pulse as an incident wave to the transmission line 10, and a calculator 20 configured to detect a reflected wave caused by impedance mismatching at a magnetic field application position of the transmission line 10 and the incident wave. The calculator 20 calculates a position and a strength of the magnetic field applied to the transmission line 10 on the basis of the incident wave and the reflected wave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuma Takenaka
  • Patent number: 11959973
    Abstract: A multi-fault diagnosis method has the following steps: measuring cell voltages of a battery pack to be diagnosed; constructing a cell voltage sequence according to measured cell voltages of the battery pack to be diagnosed, and calculating a sample entropy value of the cell voltage sequence; setting a correction coefficient for representing voltage fluctuation information, and correcting the sample entropy value through the correction coefficient to obtain a corrected sample entropy value; and judging and outputting a fault type of the battery pack to be diagnosed according to a numerical value change of the corrected sample entropy value. Faults of cells can be accurately diagnosed without a model, sample entropy values under different faults can be distinguished by setting the correction coefficient, the intuitiveness and efficiency of fault detection are improved, and the fault type and time of the lithium-ion cells can be quickly, accurately and stably diagnosed and predicted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: SHANDONG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Chenghui Zhang, Yunlong Shang, Qi Zhang, Bin Duan
  • Patent number: 11959971
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and system for detecting connection failure of a parallel connected cell that provides improved accuracy by first detecting the cell connection failure due to the current interruption device (CID) operation of the battery or opening the parallel connection line for a battery that is being discharged by the operation of an external device, and confirming the first detection result through Direct Current Internal Resistance (DCIR) measurement for the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventor: Jeong Wan Kim
  • Patent number: 11953562
    Abstract: An MI sensor includes: an amorphous wire; an insulator layer formed on an outer peripheral surface of the amorphous wire; and an X-axis coil, a Y-axis coil, and a Z-axis coil which are formed, in a spiral shape, on an outer peripheral surface of the insulator layer. The X-axis coil, the Y-axis coil, and the Z-axis coil are formed of a conductive layer, and the X-axis coil, the Y-axis coil, and the Z-axis coil are arranged in directions orthogonal to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: NIDEC-READ CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tatsufumi Kusuda
  • Patent number: 11946978
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the teachings herein include a method for classifying a battery cell. The method may include: measuring load cycles of the cell using a coulometry apparatus; repeating the measurement until an abort criterion is met; determining values for a discharge capacity of the battery cell using a first and a second calculation rule; wherein a calibration is input differently into the first and the second rule; carrying out an optimization method to determine a calibration of the current measurement with the greatest match between the first and the second discharge capacity; determining an aging criterion for the battery cell based on the result of the measurement; and sorting the battery cell into one of several classification ranges based on the aging criterion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Arno Arzberger
  • Patent number: 11947068
    Abstract: An electromagnetic wave detection apparatus (10) includes a separation unit (16), first detector (17), propagation unit (18), second detector (20), and blocker (21). The separation unit (16) separates electromagnetic waves propagating in a first direction (d1) and propagates the electromagnetic waves in a second direction (d2) and a third direction (d3). The first detector (17) detects electromagnetic waves propagated in the second direction (d2). The propagation unit (18) includes pixels (px) along a reference surface (ss). The propagation unit (18) switches the propagation direction of electromagnetic waves propagated in the third direction (d3) and incident on the reference surface (ss) between a fourth direction (d4) and a fifth direction (d5) at each pixel (px). The second detector (20) detects the electromagnetic waves propagated in the fourth direction (d4). The blocker (21) blocks at least a portion of the electromagnetic waves propagated in the fifth direction (d5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: KYOCERA Corporation
    Inventors: Eri Takeuchi, Hiroki Okada
  • Patent number: 11946954
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting the connectivity of an absence of voltage detector to the source of power to be detected has a first terminal wire connected to a first terminal and a second terminal wire also connected to the first terminal. An RF signal is placed on the first terminal and then its presence is detected on the second signal wire. This method and system can also be placed on each phase of a three phase system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Inventors: Walid Balid, Masud Bolouri-Saransar
  • Patent number: 11940485
    Abstract: In an inspection apparatus for inspecting an inspection target device formed on an inspection object, the inspection target device is a back-illuminated imaging device into which light is incident from a rear surface opposite to a side of a wiring layer. The inspection apparatus includes a stage having the inspection object placed such that the inspection object faces the rear surface. The stage includes a light transmitter made of a light-transmissive material. The inspection object is placed on the light transmitter below which a light illuminator is disposed. The light illuminator includes a flat light guide plate having a facing surface facing the inspection object. A light source is provided laterally outside the light guide plate configured to diffuse light emitted from the light source incident from a side end surface of the light guide plate, and to emit the light as planar light from the facing surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Naoki Akiyama, Susumu Saito, Hiroyuki Nakayama, Shigeru Kasai