Patents Examined by Yalkew Fantu
  • Patent number: 11909245
    Abstract: A battery charging method includes: acquiring a current static voltage of a battery in a current charging stage, and determining the maximum charging current matching with the current static voltage, during staged charging of the battery; and charging the battery according to the maximum charging current. The charging speed can be guaranteed, and the overvoltage protection cannot be triggered during each charging stage, thereby preventing damages to battery cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jinhu Zhang, Huan Dang
  • Patent number: 11904711
    Abstract: Provided are a charging device and a vehicle capable of reducing the amount of noise flowing into a quick-charging facility. The pair of charging lines connecting the quick-charging facility (20) to an onboard battery (30) are referred to as quick-charging lines, and each of these quick-charging lines is provided with a relay (16-1, 16-2). Each relay (16-1, 16-2) is used to switch the current flowing in the respective quick-charging line on and off, the current being switched on during quick-charge and being switched off during normal charging. Each quick-charging line has a Y-capacitor (17) connected thereto closer to a QC port (15) than the respective relay (16-1, 16-2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shuhei Chizuwa
  • Patent number: 11901366
    Abstract: A flat panel substrate with integrated antennas and wireless power transmission system for delivering power to a receiving device is presented herein. A method can comprise depositing, onto a flat panel substrate, an antenna layer comprising multiple adaptively phased antennas elements; and depositing, onto the flat panel substrate, respective thin film transistor (TFT)-based antenna management circuits for the multiple adaptively phased antenna elements—the respective TFT-based antenna management circuits being operable to measure respective first phases at which first signals are received at the multiple adaptively phased antenna elements, and based on the respective first phases, control respective second phases at which second signals are transmitted from the multiple adaptively phased antenna elements to facilitate delivery, via the second signals, of power to the receiving device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Ossia Inc.
    Inventors: Hatem Ibrahim Munir Zeine, Douglas Wayne Williams, Adam W. Oster
  • Patent number: 11901517
    Abstract: A method for assessing a state of charge/discharge (SOC/SOD) for a secondary electrochemical cell, the cell having a first operational mode during which the cell is charged from a power supply connected to terminals of the cell, a second operational mode during which the cell is discharged into a load and a rest mode, the method comprising steps of measuring entropy and enthalpy for the electrochemical cell in the course of the first and second operational modes and during rest, and calculating a data representative of the state of charge/discharge (SOC/SOD).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Yasmi IP PTE. LTD.
    Inventor: Rachid Yazami
  • Patent number: 11890739
    Abstract: A battery connector, an electrical combination and methods. The electrical combination may include a battery connector including a housing with a support portion for a battery pack, and a circuit supported by the housing, the circuit including a universal serial bus (USB) input terminal connectable to a USB cable for receiving power, a charging terminal connectable to a pack terminal of the battery pack, and a battery charging portion operable to receive power from the USB input terminal and to output a charging current to the charging terminal to charge the battery pack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew R. Polakowski, Gareth Mueckl, Justin D. Dorman, Patrick S. Lueck, Douglas G. Schwartz
  • Patent number: 11894528
    Abstract: One embodiment provides a battery pack including a housing, a plurality of battery cells supported by the housing, and a terminal block. The terminal block is configured to be coupled to a power tool to provide operating power from the plurality of battery cells to the power tool. The terminal block has a positive power terminal, a charging terminal, and a ground terminal. The battery pack also includes a charging circuit provided between the charging terminal and the plurality of battery cells. The charging circuit is configured to receive and transfer charging current above 12 Amperes to the plurality of battery cells during charging. The charging circuit includes a charging switch and a fuse coupled between the charging terminal and the charging switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas R. Fieldbinder, Matthew R. Polakowski
  • Patent number: 11888335
    Abstract: In general, one aspect disclosed features an apparatus, comprising: a battery; a resistive load; a switch comprising a first transistor and a second transistor; a resistor; an inductor; and a control circuit; wherein the switch, the resistor, and the inductor are coupled in series between the battery and the resistive load; and wherein the control circuit controls the switch based on a voltage across the resistor. In general, another aspect disclosed features an apparatus, comprising: a battery; a resistive load; a switch; a resistor; an inductor; and a control circuit; wherein the switch, the resistor, and the inductor are coupled in series between the battery and the resistive load; and wherein the control circuit controls the switch based on a voltage across the resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Ampaire, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathaniel C. Wynn, Russell Newman, Arindam Chatterji
  • Patent number: 11888336
    Abstract: A system and method for charging and stacking electric transport devices is described. In one embodiment, an electric transport device charging system includes a charging mat including a plurality of charging terminals. The plurality of charging terminals have a first shape. The system also includes a plurality of electric transport devices. Each electric transport device has a pair of side surfaces including a plurality of connection points. The connection points on one of the side surfaces having a second shape that is configured to conform to the first shape of the plurality of charging terminals. A first electric transport device of the plurality of electric transport devices is configured to be placed on the charging mat with the plurality of charging terminals aligned with the connection points on one of the side surfaces having the second shape such that the connection points and the charging terminals fit into each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Michael Kim
  • Patent number: 11879947
    Abstract: A battery management device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a plurality of slave controllers including at least one sensing port connected to at least one battery cell provided to a plurality of battery modules through a sensing line to sense a voltage of each connected battery cell and at least one ID allocation port for receiving the voltage from the sensing line when being connected to the sensing line, the plurality of slave controllers being configured to be connected to at least one corresponding battery module among the battery modules; and a master controller connected to the plurality of slave controllers, respectively, to receive voltage information about the voltage applied to the ID allocation port from the slave controller and allocate a regular ID to each of the plurality of slave controllers based on the received voltage information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventor: Jun-Cheol Park
  • Patent number: 11876392
    Abstract: A USB Type C sensor is disclosed for use with an alarm system for monitoring a chargeable electrical device having a USB Type C port. A sensor comprises a first cable having a USB Type C plug receivable in the USB Type C port. A second cable has a second USB plug receivable in a power source. A third cable has an alarm plug receivable in an alarm receptacle for the alarm system, in use. A housing is operatively connected to the first, second and third cables. A sensor circuit is in the housing and electrically connects the second USB plug to the USB Type C plug to charge a chargeable electrical device to be monitored. A switch circuit monitors a configuration channel of the USB Type C port to determine if the first cable is connected to the chargeable electrical device and responsive thereto controls a switch electrically connected to the alarm plug so that the alarm system monitors status of the switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Se-Kure Controls, Inc.
    Inventors: David M. Adams, Emily Craig
  • Patent number: 11876390
    Abstract: A battery with switched accumulators, including: a first cell; a plurality of second cells series-connected with the first cell, each first and second cell including: an electric accumulator series-connected with a first switch, a second switch connected in parallel with the accumulator and the first switch, and a first diode, the cathodes of the first diodes being connected to an output node, the anode of the accumulator of the first cell being connected to ground, the anode of the first diode of each second cell being coupled to the cathode of the accumulator by at least one third switch; and a control circuit capable of measuring characteristics of at least certain accumulators and of controlling the first, second, and third switches according to the characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
    Inventors: Yan Lopez, Eric Fernandez, Sylvain Bacquet, Léandro Cassarino, Ghislain Despesse, Rémy Thomas
  • Patent number: 11870280
    Abstract: A method of determining a lifetime parameter of a capacitor in a failsafe device including measuring an amount of energy required to return the failsafe device to a failsafe position, measuring an effective capacitance of the capacitor, and comparing the amount of energy to the effective capacitance to determine the lifetime parameter of the capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Christopher J. Merkl, George John Dietz, Gary A. Romanowich, Kevin Anthony Weiss
  • Patent number: 11870287
    Abstract: A storage and charging station system for mobile electronic devices is described. The storage and charging station system includes a support tower structure including shelves for storing the mobile electronic devices during charging, a support device coupled to the support tower structure, a grid system on one side of the support tower structure, the grid system for mounting various accessories, a wire management system positioned adjacent to each of the shelves, a cable management system coupled to one side of the support tower structure, and a power distribution unit coupled to the support tower structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Inventor: Nathan R. Roberts
  • Patent number: 11870295
    Abstract: Techniques for wireless charging in a system, method, and apparatus are described herein. For example, the apparatus includes a wireless power transmitting coil configured to propagate current to generate a magnetic field. The wireless power transmitting coil is disposed in a hand-operated input device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Esa Saunamaki
  • Patent number: 11862773
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a charging method and a terminal. The method includes: automatically learning, by the terminal, historical data by using a machine learning algorithm, to establish a habit model of a user, and matching a current time with the usage habit model of the user to determine a current charging intention of the user, so as to determine a charging mode according to the charging intention. By means of the technical solutions, a charging requirement of a user can be effectively identified, and on-demand charging can be implemented. This improves user experience while avoiding a battery life decrease caused by frequent fast charging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Dawei Huo, Jie Ding, Pinghua Wang, Hui Li, Jinbo Ma
  • Patent number: 11863006
    Abstract: A method for determining a charging circuit, includes: acquiring a preset equivalent circuit model including a preset number of charging paths, wherein one or more of the preset number of charging paths includes a controllable device; controlling an operating state of each controllable device to obtain initial equivalent circuits each including respective different charging paths; acquiring a charging current in each charging path of each of the initial equivalent circuits in a charging state; for each of the initial equivalent circuits, acquiring a heat loss value of the initial equivalent circuit based on the charging current in each charging path of the initial equivalent circuit and a resistance value of each equivalent device in the equivalent circuit model; and determining one of the initial equivalent circuits having a minimum heat loss value under a same condition as a target charging circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Changyu Sun, Hang Ren
  • Patent number: 11858378
    Abstract: A battery discharge control system and method for a motor-driven vehicle may monitor a SOC of an auxiliary battery in real time and control electric power supply to a first electric component, a wireless communication module, a vehicle controller, and a second electric component which is an always-on component, based on a predetermined order according to the SOC of the auxiliary battery, thereby inhibiting the complete discharge of the auxiliary battery and eliminating driver's discomfort.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Jee Wook Huh
  • Patent number: 11855474
    Abstract: A method of charging a battery having a first voltage and a second voltage. In a first phase, applying a constant current to the battery; in a second phase, applying current pulses to the battery; repeating iteratively sampling the first voltage during a current pulse to obtain a measurement of the first voltage; sampling the first voltage during a current pause to obtain a measurement of the second voltage; generating a dynamic reference voltage based on the fixed reference voltage and on a difference between the measurement of the first voltage and the second voltage. There is a comparing the measurement of the first voltage with the dynamic reference voltage. There is a stopping of the current pulses when the measurement of the first voltage is equal to the dynamic reference voltage and the measurement of the second voltage is equal to the fixed reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventor: Sorin Laurentiu Negru
  • Patent number: 11855250
    Abstract: Systems and methods for charging and discharging a plurality of batteries are described herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a battery module, an energy storage system electrically coupled to the battery module, a power source, and a controller. The energy storage system is operable in a first operating state in which energy is transferred from the energy storage system to the battery module to charge the battery module, and a second operating state in which energy is transferred from the battery module to the energy storage system to discharge the battery module. The power source electrically coupled to the energy storage system and is configured to transfer energy from the power source to the energy storage system based on an amount of stored energy in the energy storage system. The controller is operably coupled to the battery module and is configured to monitor and control a charging state of the battery module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: 24M Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tony L. Taylor, Naoki Ota, Taison Tan
  • Patent number: 11841754
    Abstract: An electronic device supplies power to system load(s) from a first battery power source and a second battery power source connected in series across a re-configurable device section boundary. A battery monitor monitors voltage across each individual battery cell within the first and second battery power sources. The battery monitor directs a charge circuit as to how and when to charge the first and second battery power sources using an external power source. The battery monitor also directs the charge circuit as to how and when to use the first and second battery power sources to power the system load(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Stefan Jon Kristjansson, Jay Allen Kuehny, Sachin Ramesh Chandra, Yen Ying Lee, Gene R. Obie, Jason Michael Battle