Patents Assigned to Varta Microbattery GmbH
  • Patent number: 11217844
    Abstract: A rechargeable lithium ion button cell includes a first metal conductor electrically connected to a positive electrode and a housing component, and a second metal conductor electrically connected to the positive electrode and another housing component, wherein the positive electrode and a negative electrode each include a strip-shaped current collector, at least one of the strip-shaped current collectors includes sections coated with an active electrode material and an uncoated section between two coated sections, and either the first or the second metal conductor is attached by welding to the uncoated section and one of planar bottom and planar top regions, thereby electrically connecting either the positive or negative electrode to the housing component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 11178767
    Abstract: A cylindrical cell includes a. a cylindrical housing enclosing an interior space and composed of a first and a second metal housing part, wherein the housing includes, at its axial ends, a first planar end face and a second planar end face connected to one another by an annular casing, b. a positive electrode and a negative electrode, at least one of which can intercalate and/or deintercalate lithium ions, wherein the positive electrode electrically connects to the first housing part directly or via a separate electrical conductor, and the negative electrode electrically connects to the second housing part directly or via a separate electrical conductor, c. a first contact lug configured as a sheet-metal part that is welded onto the first end face and which has a planar section extending in a plane parallel to the first end face, and d.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Marc Oliver Nestle, Sunil Siddannavar
  • Patent number: 11158896
    Abstract: A method for producing a button cell includes providing a first metal housing part having a first housing plane region, providing a second metal housing part having a second housing plane region, and providing a cylindrical electrode winding having a first end side, a second end side, and an outer side. The electrode winding is formed from a multi-layer assembly wound in a spiral shape about an axis. The multi-layer assembly includes a positive electrode formed from a first current collector coated with a first electrode material, a negative electrode formed from a second current collector coated with a second electrode material, and a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The method further includes placing the electrode winding into the first metal housing part and forming a cell housing by assembling together the first metal housing part and the second metal housing part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 11137450
    Abstract: A method of determining a state or a state change of an electrochemical energy storage device that includes a housing composed of a multilayer composite film, wherein the housing includes a first housing part and a second housing part composed of the multilayer composite film, which parts are joined to one another, and together enclose a hollow space in which the composite is arranged, and the composite film includes a ply composed of a metal layer and also two plies composed of polymer, with the metal layer being arranged between the two polymer plies, wherein to determine the state or the state change, an electric potential is applied to the metal layers of the first housing part and the second housing part so that an electric field arises between the metal layers and an electrical parameter influenced by a change of a spacing between the metal layers is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignees: VW Kraftwerk GmbH, VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Werner Schreiber, Andreas Huth, Ralf Keppeler
  • Patent number: 11121410
    Abstract: A secondary energy storage element includes a reference electrode or a constituent thereof positioned between at least one ply of a separator layer and one of electrode layers and electrically insulated from the electrode layer by an insulating means, the reference electrode or the constituent thereof positioned such that there is at least one metal filament or a sheet-shaped metallic coating on a surface of the at least one ply of the separator layer or a surface of the insulating means, within an overlap region the at least one metal filament or the sheet-shaped metallic coating is arranged on the surface of a ply of the separator layer or a surface of the insulating means, and the at least one metal filament or the sheet-shaped metallic coating covers on the surface an area of a maximum of 5% of the area over which the overlap region extends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: David Ensling, Stefanie Scholz, Stefan Stock, Ihor Chumak
  • Patent number: 11114701
    Abstract: A method of producing an electrode-separator winding includes feeding a first current collector, feeding a second current collector, feeding two separators in strip form to a winding device, and winding the first and second current collectors and the separators to form a winding with a sequence, wherein a contact strip is welded on at least one of the contact sections of the current collectors, or at least one of the contact sections is folded over to form a contact strip, and at least one of the separators is reinforced in at least one risk region in which the at least one separator within the completed electrode-separator winding lies against the at least one contact section in which the contact strip is welded on or against the at least one contact section folded over to form a contact strip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Winfried Gaugler, Wolfgang Maas
  • Patent number: 11095134
    Abstract: A modular battery storage system includes energy storage modules. A switch is assigned to individual energy storage modules, by which the respective energy storage module can be activated and deactivated. The energy storage modules can connect to one another by the switches such that the individual voltages of activated energy storage modules can be added up to form a total voltage. A method of operating the battery storage system ascertains at least one power value for each of the energy storage modules, the power value being characteristic of the power capacity of the energy storage module. A total voltage is generated by at least two energy storage modules being activated with a time overlap but over activation periods of different length. One of the activation periods of different length is assigned to each of the at least two energy storage modules depending on the ascertained at least one power value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Elmer, Alexander Hirnet, Dieter Kloos
  • Patent number: 11024893
    Abstract: A battery of modular construction that stores electrical energy includes a battery housing, a module assembly including at least two battery modules, each with at least one positive and at least one negative electrode, and a pressing means. A method of safety operation of the battery includes equipping the battery with at least one safety means that triggers a reduction in the mechanical pressure exerted onto the battery modules when there is a defect in at least one of the battery modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignees: VARTA Microbattery GmbH, VW Kraftwerk GmbH
    Inventors: Torsten Knape, Werner Schreiber
  • Patent number: 11024907
    Abstract: A button cell includes a housing having a metal cell cup and a metal cell top. The button cell is a secondary lithium ion cell. An electrode winding disposed within the housing is formed from a multi-layer assembly that is wound in a spiral shape about an axis. The multi-layer assembly including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator disposed between the electrodes. A first conductor is provided that includes a strip-shaped portion that lies flat between a first end side of the electrode winding and a first of the cell cup and cell top. A second conductor is provided that includes a strip-shaped second portion that lies flat between a second end side of the electrode winding and a second of the cell cup and cell top. The first conductor and the second conductor are metal foils.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 11024869
    Abstract: A button cell includes a housing, the housing including a cell cup, the cell cup having a flat bottom area, a cell cup casing; an insulator; and an electrode-separator assembly winding disposed within the housing, the electrode-separator assembly winding including a multi-layer assembly that is wound in a spiral shape about an axis, the multi-layer assembly including a positive electrode formed from a first metallic film or mesh coated with a first electrode material, a negative electrode formed from a second metallic film or mesh coated with a second electrode material, and a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The first metallic film or mesh is bent such that at least a portion extends out of the electrode-separator assembly winding and wherein at least a first part of the portion is not covered with the first electrode material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventors: Eduard Pytlik, Jürgen Lindner, Ulrich Barenthin, Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 11024904
    Abstract: A rechargeable button cell having a height-to-diameter ratio less than one, including two metal housing halves separated from one another by an electrically insulating seal or film seal forming a housing having a plane bottom region and a plane top region parallel thereto is disclosed. The housing contains an electrode separator assembly comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode inside the housing, the electrode separator assembly being provided in the form of a winding, end sides of which face in a direction of the plane bottom region and the plane top region such that layers of the electrode separator assembly are oriented essentially orthogonally to the plane bottom region and plane top region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 11024905
    Abstract: A button cell includes a housing having a metal cell cup and a metal cell top. An electrode winding disposed within the housing is formed from a multi-layer assembly that is wound in a spiral shape about an axis, the multi-layer assembly including a positive electrode formed from a first current collector and a negative electrode formed from a second current collector. A separator is disposed between the electrodes. The first current collector includes a first end section bent so as to extend out of the electrode winding forming an uncoated first flat layer adjacent to the electrode winding. An insulator is positioned (i) between the first flat layer and the first end side of the electrode winding or (ii) between a second flat layer and a second end side of the electrode winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 11024906
    Abstract: A button cell includes a housing having a metal cell cup having a cell cup plane region and a metal cell top having a cell top plane region. An electrode winding is disposed within the housing, the electrode winding having a first end side and a second end side, the electrode winding being formed from a multi-layer assembly wound in a spiral shape, the multi-layer assembly including a positive electrode formed from a current collector. A conductor is connected to the current collector, wherein the conductor at least partially lies flat between (i) the first end side of the electrode winding and (ii) a first of the cell cup plane region or the cell top plane region. The first conductor is welded to the first of the cell cup plane region or the cell top plane region. An insulator is positioned between the first conductor and the electrode winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 10971776
    Abstract: A method for producing a button cell includes: providing a metal cell cup having a cell cup plane region; providing a metal cell top having a cell top plane region; providing a cylindrical electrode winding, the electrode winding being a multi-layer assembly wound in a spiral shape, the multi-layer assembly including an electrode formed from a current collector; connecting a conductor to the current collector; placing the electrode winding into the cell top; inserting the cell top into the cell cup to form a housing in which a strip-shaped portion of the conductor lies flat between (i) an end side of the electrode winding and (ii) a plane region of the cell cup plane region or the cell top plane region; and welding, after forming the housing, the strip-shaped portion of the conductor to a surface of the plane region located in the interior of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 10930899
    Abstract: An electrochemical cell includes an annular electrode composite body; and an annular liquid-tight housing formed as a hollow cylinder and including an annular interior space, wherein the housing is arranged around a central aperture or recess, the housing has a height of 5 mm to 40 mm and an external diameter of 6 mm to 20 mm, and the annular electrode composite body is arranged in the annular interior space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Bernd Kreidler, Goran Kilibarda, Rainer Hald, Winfried Gaugler, Claus-Christian Fischer, Jürgen Ernsperger, Rolf Brenner
  • Patent number: 10804506
    Abstract: A button cell includes a housing consisting of two metal housing halves, an electrode separator assembly in the form of a preferably spiral-shaped winding inside the housing, and metal conductors which electrically connect the electrodes of the assembly to the housing halves, wherein at least one of the conductors is connected to the respective housing half by welding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: VARTA MICROBATTERY GMBH
    Inventor: Winfried Gaugler
  • Patent number: 10658695
    Abstract: A battery has a prismatic metal housing that includes a rectangular base having a base inner side and a base outer side, a rectangular cover having a cover inner side and a cover outer side, the size and shape of which substantially correspond to that of the base, and four rectangular side elements connecting the base and the cover and each have an inner side and an outer side. The at least one individual cell is a winding having a first and a second end face and the first end face faces in the direction of the base and the second end face faces in the direction of the cover. Conductor vanes electrically connect to the base of the metal housing exit from the first end face. These are fixed to an electrically conductive collecting and positioning means inserted into a receiving means in the base of the metal housing and fixed therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Rolf Brenner, Juergen Ernsperger
  • Patent number: 10615400
    Abstract: A battery includes a housing, at least one individual cell arranged in the housing and including at least one positive electrode and at least one negative electrode, a positive pole stud passed through the housing and electrically connected to the at least one positive electrode and/or a negative pole stud passed through the housing and electrically connected to the at least one negative electrode, at least one electrical switch which can be pneumatically operated and changes its switching state in the event of an increase in pressure within the housing beyond a threshold value and thereby interrupts the electrical connection between at least one of the pole studs and an associated at least one electrode, and a resetting device with which an electrical connection which is interrupted as a result of a change in the switching state can be re-established without the housing having to be opened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignees: VW Kraftwerk GmbH, VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Andreas Gaugler, Konrad Holl, Stefan Stock, Werner Schreiber
  • Patent number: 10573924
    Abstract: An electrochemical cell includes a composite electrode body with at least one positive and at least one negative electrode; an electrolyte that impregnates the composite electrode body; and a housing with a liquid-impervious interior, wherein the composite electrode body impregnated with the electrolyte is disposed in the interior, and the housing consists of PEK or a PEK based material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: Rolf Brenner, Juergen Ernsperger, Claus-Christian Fischer, Winfried Gaugler, Rainer Hald, Goran Kilibarda, Bernd Kreidler
  • Patent number: 10516282
    Abstract: A secondary electrochemical cell includes a negative electrode including as an output conductor, a metallic or metal-coated open-pore form or a metallic or metal-coated nonwoven, as a carbon-based storage material that enables storage of electrical charge in the electrode through formation of an electrical double layer (Helmholtz double layer), activated carbon having a BET surface area of at least 800 m2/g, a non-carbon-based H2 storage material that can chemisorb hydrogen and/or store it as a metal hydride, a positive electrode including as an output conductor, a metallic or metal-coated open-pore form or a metallic or metal-coated nonwoven, and nickel hydroxide and/or nickel oxyhydroxide, a porous separator that separates the negative electrode and the positive electrode from one another, an aqueous alkaline electrolyte with which the electrodes and the separator are soaked, and a housing that encases the electrodes, the separator and the electrolyte.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: VARTA Microbattery GmbH
    Inventors: David Ensling, Edward Pytlik, Stefanie Scholz, Claudio Schula