With Detection Of Current Or Voltage Integral (e.g., Total Charge, Etc.) Patents (Class 320/149)
  • Patent number: 7218079
    Abstract: A method for determining the wear to an electrochemical energy store and an electrochemical energy store allows for continuously determining the amounts of charge (qL) converted during charging cycles of the energy store and calculating a wear variable (Qv) which characterizes the wear as a function of the determined converted amount of charge (qL).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: V8 Autobatterie GmbH
    Inventors: Eberhard Meissner, Helmut Laig-Hoerstebrock
  • Patent number: 7199537
    Abstract: By using a target voltage Vc* of a capacitor connected to the output side of a DC/DC converter and a voltage Vb of a battery connected to the input side of the DC/DC converter, a duty ratio D as a drive instruction of the DC/DC converter is calculated. By using the voltage Vb, the electromotive force Vbo of the battery, and the charge/discharge current Ib of the battery, an internal resistance Rb is calculated. According to the internal resistance Rb and the electromotive force Vbo, the current value when the battery output becomes maximum is set as the upper limit value of the optimal current range IR, the DC/DC converter is driven/controlled by limiting the duty ratio D so that the current Ib is within the range of the optimal current range IR. Thus, it is possible to appropriately convert the battery input voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2007
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaki Okamura, Eiji Sato
  • Patent number: 7196493
    Abstract: A controller and a control method for modifying battery discharge and charge power limits in a vehicle powertrain that includes an electric battery as a power source. The modification compensates for inaccurate estimates of battery discharge and charge power limits by using a closed loop feedback control based on error between a battery voltage set point and commanded battery voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2007
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ryan McGee, Jonathan Butcher, John Czubay, Fazal Syed, Ming Kuang
  • Patent number: 7196496
    Abstract: A battery control circuit having a battery voltage detecting section for detecting the voltage of a battery includes a resistor and a switching element which are connected in series and which are connected to the battery in parallel, and a battery controlling section for acquiring information relating to a change in the voltage of the battery, which is detected by the battery voltage detecting section, by turning on the switching element to allow a current of the battery to flow through the resistor. The battery controlling section determines the residual capacity of the battery based on the information relating to the change in the voltage of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2007
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Susumu Yamada, Tsunehiko Yatsu
  • Patent number: 7193421
    Abstract: A method and a device for determining the state of a vehicle battery in which the battery voltage is measured and information regarding the state of the vehicle battery is derived from the measured battery voltage by means of an integration procedure. A variable weighting factor is taken into account in the integration procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2007
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Wunibald Frey, Helmut Meyer, Marc Knapp
  • Patent number: 7144646
    Abstract: A fuel cell system determines each of a battery charging current error, a battery voltage error, and a stack current error. The fuel cell system regulates current through a series pass element in response to a greater of the determined errors. Thus, the fuel cell system operates in three modes: battery voltage limiting mode, stack current limiting mode and battery charging current limiting mode. Additionally, there can be a fourth “saturation” mode where the stack voltage VS drops below the battery voltage VB as the load pulls even more current. Individual fuel cell systems can be combined in series and/or parallel to produce a combined fuel cell system having a desired output voltage and current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2006
    Assignee: Ballard Power Systems Inc.
    Inventor: Martin T. Pearson
  • Patent number: 7135791
    Abstract: A controller compares a minimum value of power source voltage which decreases in association with starting current generated upon start of a motor with a threshold value in a storing unit. When the minimum value is less than the threshold value, the controller notifies of shortage of the power source terminal voltage, and stops the motor. The controller also compares a value obtained by integrating the power source voltage which decreases in association with starting current generated upon start of the motor for only predetermined time with the threshold value in the storing unit, when the integral value is less than the threshold value, notifies of shortage of the power source terminal voltage, and stops the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: Maeda Metal industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshihiko Kushida, Yukio Torigai
  • Patent number: 7135839
    Abstract: Disclosed are a battery package and a method for charging and discharging secondary batteries including nickel hydrogen batteries by refreshing and suppressing inactivity of the batteries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takuma Iida, Naoyoshi Shibuya, Hiroki Saito, Hiroki Takeshima, Kiyoto Watanabe
  • Patent number: 7071655
    Abstract: Disposed in a secondary side circuit of an AC adapter (10A), a??I detection circuit (45) detects that a charging current (Ic) lowers less than a set current value to produce a detected signal. A voltage control circuit (42A) operates so as to repeat the steps of gradually lowering an adapter voltage (VADP) and of heightening the adapter voltage in response to the detected signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2006
    Assignee: Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kouji Murakami, Hidetoshi Hamai
  • Patent number: 7064552
    Abstract: A device (8) for determining the energy state of an energy storing device (7) of a data carrier (4) in which a voltage stabilizer (9) is used to derive a stabilized DC voltage for the supply of the data carrier from an unstabilized DC voltage available at the energy storing device. The device (8) has an evaluation circuit that includes an auxiliary capacitor (13), a measurement circuit (15, 16, 21) for measuring the charging times of the auxiliary capacitor, and an evaluation logic (18). A quantity describing the energy state of the energy storing device is provided at the output of the evaluation circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2006
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Michael Cuylen
  • Patent number: 7064521
    Abstract: A charging circuit for controlling a system charging parameter provided to a host of rechargeable batteries, wherein the host of batteries includes at least a first battery and second battery that may be coupled in parallel. The charging circuit provides for fast charging of rechargeable batteries in parallel. Independent current and voltage sensing for each battery enables parallel charging of batteries at different charging currents. The charging circuit may be configured to accept either analog or digital signals from an associated power management unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2006
    Assignee: O2Micro International Limited
    Inventors: Vlad Popescu Stanesti, Marian Niculae, Constantin Bucur
  • Patent number: 7053632
    Abstract: A circuit for predicting the dead time is provided. The circuit includes a plurality of integrators, a plurality of comparators, and a logic circuit. Based on a reference signal provided externally, a first charging operation is delayed by a predetermined delay time during one period of the reference signal, such that the integrators maintain at a voltage level in a next period of the reference signal. Then, the integrators further perform another charging operation during the next period, and the charging voltage is compared with the maintained voltage value. When the charging voltage exceeds the maintained voltage, a reset signal is generated by the logic circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Shen-Yao Liang, Hung-Sung Chu, Kun-Cheng Hung
  • Patent number: 7015728
    Abstract: A high voltage floating current sense amplifier circuit, including first and second resistive devices and a floating amplifier circuit, that senses current through a current sense device coupled between an output node and a battery node each referenced to a common node. The battery node couples to a positive terminal of a removable battery. The floating amplifier circuit drives a proportional current through the first resistor in order to maintain voltage across the first resistive device at approximately the same voltage as that across the current sense device. The second resistive device has a first end coupled to the common node and a second end coupled to receive the proportional current for developing a sense voltage indicative of current through the current sense device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2006
    Assignee: Intersil Americas Inc.
    Inventor: Eric M. Solic
  • Patent number: 6977486
    Abstract: Disclosed is a charging apparatus capable of easily charging a battery of a mobile communication terminal and being portable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jae-Won Choi
  • Patent number: 6975080
    Abstract: A rotating electrical machine for a vehicle is capable of improving the acceleration performance and the fuel mileage of the vehicle while achieving the prevention of occurrence of overvoltage and the improvement of its power generation characteristic at the same time. The machine includes an armature having an armature core and an armature winding wound around the armature core for generating an output voltage to charge a battery; a rotor having a rotor core with a field winding wound therearound, and permanent magnets for supplying magnetic flux to the armature core; and a voltage control section that adjust the output voltage of the armature by controlling the field current based on the value of an output voltage of the armature winding and the value and the direction of flow of the field current flowing through the field winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2005
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yutaka Kitamura, Yoshihito Asao
  • Patent number: 6922151
    Abstract: The battery remaining amount warning circuit can issue a battery remaining amount warning after battery power is fully used, reduce current consumption, and issue a warning at appropriate timing for various types of battery. A system controller calculates DC resistance value of the battery from a difference between a current value in an operating mode before a change which is stored in the memory and a current value in an operating mode after the change which is stored in the memory and a voltage variation of the battery measured by an A/D converter, and when the calculated DC resistance value becomes greater than a predetermined value, the system controller sends a warning instruction signal to a data LCD.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Chikuni Kawakami
  • Patent number: 6922058
    Abstract: A method for determining the internal impedance of each battery cell within a system including at least one parallel string of serially connected battery cells without disconnecting the battery cells from the system, which initially makes measurements of two battery cells within each string to calculate the internal impedance of each of those two battery cells and to calculate a common impedance multiplier term for the rest of the battery cells in each string. The remaining battery cells in each string are individually measured and the common impedance multiplier term for that string is used to account for measured current which comes from the Thevenin equivalent voltage source of the rest of the system, in addition to current drawn from the battery cell being measured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: BTECH, Inc.
    Inventor: Edward M. Potempa
  • Patent number: 6919714
    Abstract: A circuit for conditioning a power supply whose graph of the power supplied as a function of the voltage at the terminals of the supply features a maximum comprises a DC/DC converter with an input to which power is supplied by the power supply and an output from which power is supplied to a load. A control circuit controls the converter in accordance with a power set point applied to the converter. The set point is a rising set point when the time derivative of the converter input voltage is higher than a negative first threshold value and a falling set point when the time derivative of the converter input voltage is lower than a positive second threshold voltage. The rate of variation of the average power when the set point is a rising set point is lower than the opposite of the rate of variation of the average power when the set point is a falling set point. The conditioning circuit enables the supply to deliver power at the maximum power point and is simple to implement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2005
    Assignee: Alcatel
    Inventor: Christophe Delepaut
  • Patent number: 6894458
    Abstract: A charge control device has a full charge detection circuit for checking whether a secondary cell is in a fully charged state or not based on the charge voltage and/or the charge current of the secondary cell, a control circuit for controlling the feeding of electric power to the secondary cell according to the output of the full charge detection circuit, a storage circuit for storing control information, and a setting circuit for setting the level of the charge voltage and/or the charge current at which the full charge detection circuit recognizes the fully charged state according to the control information read from the storage circuit. The control information is fed into the storage circuit from outside. With this configuration, it is possible to accurately control the charging of a secondary cell by canceling the influence of stress occurring when an IC is packaged or mounted on a circuit board and other factors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masaaki Fujii
  • Patent number: 6876602
    Abstract: A first voltage detector detects whether the voltage of a secondary cell has reached to 1.2V and a first timer counts a time duration for which the voltage is equal to or above 1.2V. If the time counted by the first timer reaches one hour, a second timer starts counting time for one hour. An amount of charge accumulated in the secondary cell is displays after counting of the one hour by the second timer is over. As a result, an accurate display of the amount of charge accumulated in the secondary cell can be achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignee: Citizen Watch Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masakazu Ichikawa, Isao Kitazawa, Masao Sakuyama, Tomio Okigami
  • Publication number: 20040232889
    Abstract: A smart battery pack having an inexpensive, high-performance N-channel MOS transistor is provided. A level shift is conducted in communications between a remaining battery power detecting circuit of the smart battery pack and an electronic device such that the shifted level matches the signal level of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2004
    Publication date: November 25, 2004
    Inventors: Minoru Sudo, Takashi Niwa, Norio Chiba, Susumu Ichihara
  • Publication number: 20040212351
    Abstract: Devices and/or methods for determining the availability of electrical energy in dual energy-storing means and on-board electrical systems, in which the two energy-storing means, in particular batteries, can communicate with one another via a direct-voltage converter. The requisite electrical energy is generated by means of a generator driven by the vehicle engine. The usual consumers are connected to a first consumer battery circuit 10, 24. Further consumers, such as high-current consumers and in particular the starter, communicate with the second battery circuit 11, 29. A control unit, for instance a control unit with a microprocessor, ascertains the availability of the electrical energy and any defects that occur by evaluating various algorithms and performs the requisite triggering and signalling operations. The algorithms include threshold value statements on the availability of the electrical energy (SOCS) and threshold value statements for detecting system defects (SOHS).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Publication date: October 28, 2004
    Inventors: Markus Kneifel, Sigmar Braeuninger, Christof Gross
  • Publication number: 20040207367
    Abstract: An internal condition detection system detects a charging and discharging current and a terminal voltage of a charge accumulating device, and learns the internal condition quantity of the charge accumulating device through a neural network based on the current values and the terminal voltage values. The current values and the terminal voltage values are stored in a buffer and supplied as time-series data so that historical information is included. Further the neural network is fed with type information of the charge accumulating device. The type information is stored in a memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2004
    Publication date: October 21, 2004
    Applicants: DENSO CORPORATION, NIPPON SOKEN, INC.
    Inventors: Makoto Taniguchi, Atsushi Ichikawa, Atsushi Hashikawa, Satoru Mizuno, Shoji Sakai, Hiroyuki Satou, Naoki Mizuno, Yoshifumi Morita
  • Patent number: 6798171
    Abstract: The present invention provides a safe battery device by preventing oscillation of an external terminal during a discharge limiting state entered due to an instruction from a microcomputer. When a discharge limiting signal is inputted to a battery state monitoring circuit from an exterior, impedance of an over-current monitor terminal is kept constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventor: Atsushi Sakurai
  • Publication number: 20040164715
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a display for a secondary battery in response to the status thereof. For this end, the secondary battery is provided with the display section including LEDs and the switch. If the switch is operated while the secondary battery is being exhibited in a shop, displays to give an image what happens after purchase of the secondary battery are preformed in the display section. Such displays differ from each other in the charging mode and the discharging mode of the secondary battery. For example, in the charging mode, LEDs are sequentially lighted to indicate that the secondary battery is being charged. Additionally, by controlling the LEDs based on the timing calculated from the charging current magnitude through the secondary battery, it is possible to indicate such information if the charging is approaching to the final stage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2003
    Publication date: August 26, 2004
    Inventors: Kazuyasu Nawa, Yukio Tsuchiya, Hideyuki Sato, Hisashi Aoki, Tatsuya Yamazawa
  • Publication number: 20040090209
    Abstract: A charging circuit for a secondary battery includes a constant-voltage circuit part outputting one of a plurality of predetermined constant voltages and charges the secondary battery by applying the constant voltage thereto, a detection circuit part detecting a battery voltage of the secondary battery, and a control circuit part controlling the selection of the constant-voltage in response to the detected battery voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2003
    Publication date: May 13, 2004
    Inventors: Junji Nishida, Shinya Manabe
  • Publication number: 20040066174
    Abstract: Disclosed is a charging apparatus capable of easily charging a battery of a mobile communication terminal and being portable.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Publication date: April 8, 2004
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Jae-Won Choi
  • Publication number: 20030132733
    Abstract: A voltage detection circuit control device includes a first voltage detection circuit which detects a first voltage, a second voltage detection circuit which detects a second voltage higher than the first voltage, and an operation signal generating circuit which is connected to the first and second voltage detection circuits and produces a signal for controlling an operation of the first voltage detection circuit on the basis of a voltage detection signal from the second voltage detection circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2002
    Publication date: July 17, 2003
    Inventor: Keijiro Hijikata
  • Publication number: 20030122526
    Abstract: A charge control device has a full charge detection circuit for checking whether a secondary cell is in a fully charged state or not based on the charge voltage and/or the charge current of the secondary cell, a control circuit for controlling the feeding of electric power to the secondary cell according to the output of the full charge detection circuit, a storage circuit for storing control information, and a setting circuit for setting the level of the charge voltage and/or the charge current at which the full charge detection circuit recognizes the fully charged state according to the control information read from the storage circuit. The control information is fed into the storage circuit from outside. With this configuration, it is possible to accurately control the charging of a secondary cell by canceling the influence of stress occurring when an IC is packaged or mounted on a circuit board and other factors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Publication date: July 3, 2003
    Inventor: Masaaki Fujii
  • Patent number: 6583606
    Abstract: A method for charging a lead battery is provided. In the method, a SOC is controlled so as to be less than 100%, and when the lead battery has not been charged and discharged for a predetermined time, refresh charge is performed so that the SOC becomes at least 90% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiichi Koike, Nobuyuki Takami, Yasuyuki Yoshihara, Hiroyuki Jimbo
  • Publication number: 20030085688
    Abstract: In a method for determining the state of charge of rechargeable batteries by integration of the amounts of current flowing during charging and discharging, a first state of charge value LZA is determined by continuous integration of the rechargeable battery current. A second state of charge value LZB is determined by measurement of the no-load voltage U0 after receiving or supplying a defined amount of charge Q which is sufficient in order to leave the region of the mixed potential of the electrodes and to reach a no-load voltage of the rechargeable battery, and by comparison of this measured no-load voltage U0 with empirically determined no-load voltage characteristics for the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2002
    Publication date: May 8, 2003
    Applicant: NBT GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Ullrich, Hans-Walter Folge, Claus Schmitz
  • Patent number: 6522104
    Abstract: An integrated power and sense device provides a current used in measuring the charge of a rechargeable battery. The charge measurement apparatus for a rechargeable battery powered system includes an integrated power and sense device having a power device and a sense device, connected to the rechargeable battery and a load; the sense device operatively coupled to provide a mirror current that is a fixed ratio of the current in the power device, and a first circuit that uses the mirror current to measure the charge in the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: Xicor, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph Drori
  • Patent number: 6515452
    Abstract: A remaining battery capacity corrector and a controlling method therefor are provided. The remaining battery capacity corrector corrects errors in a calculated remainingbattery capacity and includes a voltage detector for detecting an output voltage of a battery, a current detector for detecting an output current of the battery, a temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the battery, a remaining battery capacity correction table storage unit for storing a remaining battery capacity correction table representing a reference output voltage, so as to correspond to the output current and the temperature of the battery, and a controller for correcting the displayed value of the remaining battery capacity based on the reference output voltage in the remaining battery capacity correction table, in the case that the output voltage is less than the reference output voltage in the remaining battery capacity correction table which is dependent on the detected output current and the battery temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2003
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yeon-Chul Choo
  • Patent number: 6501249
    Abstract: A battery management system is provided having a battery management unit (BMU) and an integrated switch and sense device (SSD) for accurately measuring the charge state of a rechargeable battery and providing charge protection for the rechargeable battery. The system includes a load, a integrated power and sense device including a power device and a sense device, the integrated power and sense device connected between the rechargeable battery and the load wherein the sense device provides a mirror current proportional to the current in the power device, a first circuit that measures the rechargeable battery current using the mirror current, and a second circuit that measures the charge in the rechargeable battery using the mirror current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignee: Xicor, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph Drori
  • Publication number: 20020140402
    Abstract: A voltage detecting circuit controls the current consumption of the circuit so as to detect the voltage at a high speed with suppressing the consumption of a battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2002
    Publication date: October 3, 2002
    Inventor: Minoru Sudo
  • Publication number: 20020101218
    Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment, a battery conditioning system monitors battery conditioning and includes a memory for storing data based thereon; for example, data may be stored representative of available battery capacity as measured during a deep discharge cycle. With a microprocessor monitoring battery operation of a portable unit, a measure of remaining battery capacity can be calculated and displayed. Where the microprocessor and battery conditioning system memory are permanently secured to the battery so as to receive operating power therefrom during storage and handling, the performance of a given battery in actual use can be accurately judged since the battery system can itself maintain a count of accumulated hours of use and other relevant parameters. In the case of a nonportable conditioning system, two-way communication may be established with a memory associated with the portable unit so that the portable unit can transmit to the conditioning system information concerning battery parameters (e.g.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2001
    Publication date: August 1, 2002
    Applicant: Intermec IP Corp
    Inventors: Steven E. Koenck, Ronald D. Becker, Phillip Miller
  • Patent number: 6424124
    Abstract: A charging system for portable equipment is provided which may be used in a system including an information terminal and portable equipment connected to the information terminal. The charging system includes a power supply output device provided with the information terminal and a first battery control device provided with the portable equipment. The power supply output device is capable of supplying electric power, which is supplied to the information terminal, to the portable equipment. The first battery control device receives electric power supplied from the power supply output device and performs a charging operation for a battery of the portable equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Masaki Ichihara, Kozo Maemura
  • Publication number: 20020093312
    Abstract: A remaining battery capacity corrector and a controlling method therefor are provided. The remaining battery capacity corrector corrects errors in a calculated remaining battery capacity and includes a voltage detector for detecting an output voltage of a battery, a current detector for detecting an output current of the battery, a temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the battery, a remaining battery capacity correction table storage unit for storing a remaining battery capacity correction table representing a reference output voltage, so as to correspond to the output current and the temperature of the battery, and a controller for correcting the displayed value of the remaining battery capacity based on the reference output voltage in the remaining battery capacity correction table, in the case that the output voltage is less than the reference output voltage in the remaining battery capacity correction table which is dependent on the detected output current and the battery temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2001
    Publication date: July 18, 2002
    Inventor: Yeon-Chul Choo
  • Patent number: 6404151
    Abstract: An electric vehicle drive has an electric machine which can be alternatively driven as a motor or as a generator and has a d.c. connection to which a supply voltage can be applied, from a first energy source and/or a second energy source. The first energy source is designed for base load supply of the electric machine, while the second energy source comprises an energy accumulator designed for a short-term peak load supply of the electric machine. Also, vehicle braking energy can be stored by way of the electric machine in its generator operating mode. According to the invention, the second energy source in the form of an energy accumulator is coupled via a bidirectional DC/DC converter to a supply connection of the first energy source connected with the direct-voltage connection of the electric machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG
    Inventor: Christian Bader
  • Patent number: 6384578
    Abstract: The minimum transmit battery voltage (Vtx min) of a radio operating in a TDMA mode of operation or the stand-by battery voltage (Vstd-by) of the radio operating in a GSM mode of operation can be determined as a function of the combination of an in-slot transmit battery voltage (Vin-slot), an out-of-slot transmit battery voltage (Vout-slot), a stand-by compensation factor (&Dgr;sb), and a compensation factor (K). The stand-by compensation factor (&Dgr;sb) is related to a difference between the out-of-slot transmit battery voltage (Vout-slot) and a stand-by battery voltage (Vstd-by). The compensation factor (K) has a first value for the TDMA mode of operation and a second value for the GSM mode of operation. Each value of compensation factor (K) is related to the manner in which the radio utilizes battery power during transmission in the TDMA or GSM modes of operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Patino, Alexander Rodriguez, Charles Cole, William F. Pence, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20020050809
    Abstract: This provides a power supply apparatus, which detects a battery deterioration without any drop in an output to a load side, at a time of a voltage drop in a usual power supply or a service interruption of a commercial alternating power supply.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2001
    Publication date: May 2, 2002
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroshi Uchida
  • Publication number: 20010043055
    Abstract: A control voltage is set to an acceleration control voltage which is higher than a battery voltage V by a predetermined voltage difference &Dgr;V1 within a range and delayed by a predetermined time &Dgr;T1 during acceleration at low speeds. During acceleration at low speeds, the rotational speed is less than a predetermined value and the rate of increase in rotational speed is equal to or greater than another predetermined value. The range of voltage is higher than battery voltage V and lower than the steady state control voltage of 14.5V.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2000
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Inventors: Koji Tanaka, Makoto Taniguchi, Takeshi Sada
  • Publication number: 20010040443
    Abstract: A remaining capacity of a battery correcting method outputs the remaining capacity with calculating to an electronic device which change into hibernation when the remaining capacity becomes lower than a hibernation changeover capacity. The method of correcting battery remaining capacity decreases the remaining capacity with a first gradient after corrected to the hibernation changeover capacity, when the remaining capacity at decreasing to 0% detecting voltage is higher than the hibernation changeover capacity. In addition, when the remaining capacity at decreasing to 0% detecting voltage is lower than the hibernation changeover capacity, the remaining capacity is decreased with a second gradient.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2001
    Publication date: November 15, 2001
    Inventors: Katsuhiro Suzuki, Toshitake Kurihara
  • Patent number: 6317697
    Abstract: An apparatus for determining life of a battery which supplies charged electricity to an electrical appliance is equipped with a storage part for storing relationship between standard total values of discharge voltage drop amounts since a start of discharge of the battery and standard life values, a discharge voltage drop amount totalizer part for totalizing the discharge voltage drop amounts since the start of discharge with the battery being discharged, and a life determination part for determining the life of the battery from a measured total value of totalized discharge voltage drop amounts and the standard total values of the storage means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2001
    Assignee: Omron Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuo Yoshikawa, Hiroshi Fujii, Shigemitsu Kiso
  • Patent number: 6313606
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting the capacity of a battery wherein a voltage method of measuring the voltage of the battery, to calculate the capacity of the battery based on the correlation between the voltage and the capacity of the battery, is switched to a current integrating method of integrating the current magnitude of the battery with respect to time, to calculate the capacity of the secondary battery, and vice versa, with a pre-set current magnitude as a threshold value, in order to detect the capacity of the battery. By selectively using the voltage method and the current integrating method depending on the current magnitude of the battery, the capacity of the battery can be calculated with greater accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2001
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuhito Eguchi
  • Patent number: 6310464
    Abstract: Apparatus for charging the battery of an electric car. The apparatus comprising a battery charge controller, a battery charger, and a battery. The charge controller being capable of detecting the charge status of the battery, and upon detecting an under-charge condition of initializing, at any given time, a charging process wherein the battery is charged an expected charge amount which is dependant on the degree of under-charge initially detected by the charge controller. The charge controller upon termination of the charging process detects the actual charge amount and compares that amount to the expected charge amount and calculates a difference value. If the difference value exceeds a predetermined reference value, the controller charges the battery pack an additional predetermined amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2001
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Jae-Seung Koo
  • Patent number: 6294895
    Abstract: A power supply apparatus for supplying power from a battery to a plurality of functional blocks of an electronic device includes a battery capacity assigning means for assigning battery capacities to the plurality of functional blocks, and a battery capacity managing means for managing the battery capacities of the plurality of functional blocks that operate corresponding to the battery capacities assigned to the plurality of functional blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2001
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Toru Kukai
  • Patent number: 6294894
    Abstract: A rechargeable battery arrangement in which total service capacity for discharge from full charging to a final discharge voltage varies according to discharge conditions for discharging charged electric charge, comprising: an integration member which integrates quantity of electric charge discharged between a point of start of discharge after charging and the present; a data storage member for storing a plurality of total service capacities for discharge at a plurality of values of discharge current, respectively in unique association with a specific one of the total service capacities for discharge at a specific one of the values of discharge current; a current detection member for detecting a present value of discharge current; and a calculation member which obtains, from data obtained by the data storage member on the basis of the present value of discharge current detected by the current detection member, a total service capacity corresponding to or closest to the present value of discharge current and ca
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2001
    Assignee: Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.
    Inventors: Makoto Ochiai, Masato Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6288520
    Abstract: The present invention is capable of displaying remaining electric current of a battery by compensating leakage current of a system and self-discharge current of the battery by using a system leakage current timer for compensating leakage current of the system, self-discharge timer of the battery for compensating self-discharge current of the battery. Hence, a user can properly manage remaining current of the battery because an accurate remaining current of the battery is displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2001
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Hyeung-Seog Kim
  • Patent number: 6285163
    Abstract: Means for estimating the charged state of a battery, capable of accurately estimating an SOC even though the battery repeats charging/discharging in short cycles. The charging/discharging current Ib measured by current sensing means (10) is integrated, and pseudo-SOC estimating means estimates a pseudo-SOC. Electromotive force estimating means (16) estimates the open voltage Voc from the pseudo-SOC. Voltage change estimating means (18) estimates the voltage change Vr due to the internal resistance from the charging/discharging current Ib. Dynamic voltage change estimating means (20) estimates the voltage change Vdyn due to the change of the charging/discharging current. An adder (22) adds the Voc, Vr, and Vdyn to calculate an estimated voltage Vest of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2001
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuo Watanabe, Yukio Kuroda, Yoshiaki Kikuchi