Patents Examined by Christopher Domone
  • Patent number: 9065085
    Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention provides a battery pack comprising a plurality of battery cells; a protective circuit module coupled to at least two battery cells; and a case accommodating the battery cells and the protective circuit module, wherein the two battery cells are disposed on a surface of the case, and the protective circuit module is disposed between the two battery cells on the surface of the case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Seok Koh
  • Patent number: 9061373
    Abstract: A component of an implantable medical device may include a first member, a second member, and a composite seam weld formed between the first member and the second member. In some examples, the composite seam weld includes a continuous wave (CW)-welded portion formed using CW welding and a pulse-welded portion formed using pulsed welding. A first end of the pulse-welded portion may partially overlap a first end of the CW-welded portion and may be offset from the first end of the CW-welded portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal orientation of the first end of the CW-welded portion. Techniques for forming composite seam welds are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Medtronic, Inc.
    Inventors: Pankaj Mohan, David J. Buendorf, Jeffrey J. Louwagie
  • Patent number: 9059461
    Abstract: A coated nickel hydroxide powder suitable as a cathode active material for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide powder particles which have a coating layer thereon of preferably cobalt hydroxide or cobalt oxyhydroxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryuichi Kuzuo, Minoru Shiraoka
  • Patent number: 9054346
    Abstract: A lithium ion battery and a charger thereof are provided. The lithium ion battery comprises a shell (1), a locating seat (2), an end cover (3), a battery cell (4), a positive contact (51), a positive plate (52), a negative plate (53), a positive connecting plate (61) and a negative connecting plate (62). The shell (1) is a one-step-molding cylinder with an upper opening. The positive contact (51) extends out from a contact extending hole (11) of the shell (1). A lower end face of the end cover (3) is tightly pressed on the negative plate (53) and the locating seat (2), where the end cover (3) is detachably connected with the upper opening of the shell (1). A cover edge of the end cover (3) cooperates with an end face of the upper opening of the shell (1). The lithium ion battery is conveniently detachable with the charger thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: Guangdong Jetfast Portable Lighting Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yun-Zhao Liu
  • Patent number: 9029013
    Abstract: An electroactive composition includes an anodic material; a poly(arylene oxide); and stabilized lithium metal particles; where the stabilized lithium metal particles have a size less than about 200 ?m in diameter, are coated with a lithium salt, are present in an amount of about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt %, and are dispersed throughout the composition. Lithium secondary batteries including the electroactive composition along with methods of making the electroactive composition are also discussed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: UChicago Argonne, LLC
    Inventors: Zhengcheng Zhang, Shengwen Yuan, Khalil Amine
  • Patent number: 9023517
    Abstract: A secondary battery including an electrode assembly; a case accommodating the electrode assembly; a cap plate coupled with the case; a terminal electrically connected to the electrode assembly and extending through the cap plate; and a safety member between the terminal and the cap plate, the safety member having an apex contacting one of the cap plate and the terminal to electrically connect together the cap plate and the terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignees: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Yongsam Kim, Janghyun Song, Taisun You
  • Patent number: 9012083
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an electrode for the lithium iron phosphate battery and the manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a coated electrode for the lithium iron phosphate with a smooth surface and without de-powder phenomenon and the manufacturing method thereof. The electrode provided in the present invention uses an arabic gum modified by adding silicone-based gel into the arabic gum. The lithium iron phosphate active material and the conductive agent in a certain ratio are added into the aforesaid modified arabic gums, after the mixing process, a liquid slurry with a certain viscosity is formed. Then, the liquid slurry is coated uniformly onto a positive current collector of aluminum foil or mesh, and followed by the process like drying, calendaring, cutting and etc. to form positive electrode plate. The electrode in the present invention has the characteristics of smooth surface and no de-powder phenomenon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetic Limited Company
    Inventors: Dayang Cheng, Guoguang Wang, Daxin Bao, Shijin He
  • Patent number: 8986863
    Abstract: Disclosed is a battery cooling system having a main frame for defining a structure of a battery rack; a space dividing frame for dividing the inside of the main frame into a plurality of levels; a battery module located inside the main frame and supported by the space dividing frame; a pair of refrigerant guide plates respectively installed at the upper and lower ends of the battery module and installed to be inclined in the same direction with predetermined angles with respect to the upper and lower surfaces thereof; and side panels coupled to the sides of the main frame and having a channel slit formed in at least a part thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: LG Chem, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ji-Young Choi, Chae-Ho Chung, Bum-Hyun Lee, Won Chan Park, Yong-Seok Choi
  • Patent number: 8986888
    Abstract: A material for a battery or an accumulator, especially for a negative electrode of an accumulator, for example, a lithium ion secondary battery, the use of such a material, an electrode that includes such a material, a battery having such an electrode, and a process for producing such a material. The material includes carbon, an alloy and/or a mixture of silicon with at least one element of main group 1 of the Periodic Table of the Elements excluding lithium, and optionally at least one further metallic element and production-related impurities, the elements being distributed within a silicon phase in the case of a mixture, and a binder which binds carbon and the alloy and/or the mixture to give a solid material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: MAGNA STEYR Battery Systems GmbH & Co OG
    Inventors: Cornelia Bayer, Christoph Stangl, Colin God, Stefan Koller, Nikolaus Hochgatterer, Heimo Kreimaier, Gabriel Stabentheiner
  • Patent number: 8974958
    Abstract: An electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery of an embodiment includes: a current collector; and an active material layer including an active material and a binder, formed on the current collector, wherein the binder includes at least an olefin based polymer and a fatty acid, and the fatty acid has a melting point of 25° C. or less and a boiling point of 100° C. or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Miho Muramatsu, Tomokazu Morita, Takashi Kuboki, Norio Takami
  • Patent number: 8968931
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the preparation of a mesoporous substantially pure anatase titanium oxide (meso-TiO2) and its use in electrochemical devices, in particular lithium-ion batteries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: National University of Singapore
    Inventors: Palani Balaya, Ananthanarayanan Krishnamoorthy, Saravanan Kuppan
  • Patent number: 8956775
    Abstract: A fuel cell system and an abnormality detecting method therefore is provided. The fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell that includes at least one fuel-cell cell having an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte membrane, an anode-side passage supplying and exhausting fuel gas to and from the anode, a cathode-side passage supplying and exhausting oxidation gas to and from the cathode, a voltage detecting unit detecting a fuel cell voltage, a suppressing unit setting a suppression state where, after terminating normal power generation, introduction of the fuel and oxidation gas to the anode-side and cathode-side passages and emission of the fuel and oxidation gas from the anode-side and cathode-side passages to outsides are suppressed as compared with those during the normal power generation; and an abnormality detecting unit, after setting the suppression state, detecting abnormality of the fuel cell system based on the detected voltage or a variation thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Manabu Kato
  • Patent number: 8956776
    Abstract: A fuel cell system and an abnormality detecting method therefor is provided. The fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell that includes at least one fuel-cell cell having an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte membrane, an anode-side passage supplying and exhausting fuel gas to and from the anode, a cathode-side passage supplying and exhausting oxidation gas to and from the cathode, a voltage detecting unit detecting a fuel cell voltage, a suppressing unit setting a suppression state where, after terminating normal power generation, introduction of the fuel and oxidation gas to the anode-side and cathode-side passages and emission of the fuel and oxidation gas from the anode-side and cathode-side passages to outsides are suppressed as compared with those during the normal power generation; and an abnormality detecting unit, after setting the suppression state, detecting abnormality of the fuel cell system based on the detected voltage or a variation thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Manabu Kato
  • Patent number: 8956744
    Abstract: Each of electric cells constituting a battery assembly is provided with external terminals. The upper end of the electric cell is covered with an upper cap surrounding the external terminals whereas the lower end of the electric cell is covered with a lower cap. The electric cell is held between an upper holder and a lower holder via the upper cap and the lower cap. A plurality of bus bar openings for allowing a bus bar extending from the external terminals to be inserted therethrough are formed in the upper cap in such a manner as to penetrate in a thickness direction. Thus, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of the arrangement of the electric cells in the battery assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: GS Yuasa International Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasutaka Miyawaki, Yoshinori Ishimoto, Atsushi Nishida, Hirokazu Ito
  • Patent number: 8945772
    Abstract: A power storage device a positive electrode including a positive electrode active material layer and a negative electrode including a negative electrode active material layer. The positive electrode active material layer includes a plurality of particles of x[Li2MnO3]-(1?x)[LiCo1/3Mn1/3Ni1/3O2] (obtained by assigning 0.5 to x, for example) which is a positive electrode active material, and multilayer graphene with which the plurality of particles of the positive electrode active material are at least partly connected to each other. In the multilayer graphene, a plurality of graphenes are stacked in a layered manner. The graphene contains a six-membered ring composed of carbon atoms, a poly-membered ring which is a seven or more-membered ring composed of carbon atoms, and an oxygen atom bonded to one or more of the carbon atoms in the six-membered ring and the poly-membered ring, which is a seven or more-membered ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takahiro Kawakami, Hiroatsu Todoriki, Teppei Oguni, Takeshi Osada, Shunpei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 8936861
    Abstract: A sealed battery (10) provided by the present invention includes: a current cut-off valve (22); and a connecting member (30) having an engagement hole (34) formed in a location adjacent to the current cut-off valve. The current cut-off valve is conductively connected to the connecting member by joining linearly to a peripheral edge of the engagement hole and/or joining at a surface that is in contact with an inner wall of the engagement hole in a state in which part of the current cut-off valve is fitted into the engagement hole. When an internal pressure of a battery case (40) rises above a predetermined level, the current cut-off valve is deformed outward of the case by the internal pressure, the current cut-off valve is separated from the connecting member, and the electric connection between the connecting member and the current cut-off valve is broken.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Kiyama, Tadayoshi Yamada
  • Patent number: 8936878
    Abstract: An insulating (nonconductive) microporous polymeric battery separator comprised of a single layer of enmeshed microfibers and nanofibers is provided. Such a separator accords the ability to attune the porosity and pore size to any desired level through a single nonwoven fabric. Through a proper selection of materials as well as production processes, the resultant battery separator exhibits isotropic strengths, low shrinkage, high wettability levels, and pore sizes related directly to layer thickness. The overall production method is highly efficient and yields a combination of polymeric nanofibers within a polymeric microfiber matrix and/or onto such a substrate through high shear processing that is cost effective as well. The separator, a battery including such a separator, the method of manufacturing such a separator, and the method of utilizing such a separator within a battery device, are all encompassed within this invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: Dreamweaver International, Inc.
    Inventor: Brian G. Morin
  • Patent number: 8927152
    Abstract: Provided is a binder for an electrode of a lithium rechargeable battery including a copolymer of Chemical Formula 1, which increases adhesion between the electrode and an active material by employing a copolymer based on polyacrylamide, while having excellent heat resistance and mechanical strength, an electrode for a rechargeable battery including the same, and a rechargeable battery including the electrode. The binder and electrode can improve charge and discharge cycle life characteristics of the rechargeable battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Byungjoo Chung, Namseon Kim, Yangsoo Kim, Kwangshik Choi
  • Patent number: 8920951
    Abstract: In a battery module, having a housing, at least one battery, which is disposed in the housing, at least one inlet opening for introducing a cooling fluid into the housing, and at least one outlet opening for conducting the cooling fluid out of the housing. According to the invention, compressed cooling fluid can be supplied to the at least one inlet opening using a compressor. A reduction of the cooling performance because of heating of the compressed cooling fluid is to be at least partially avoided. Furthermore, the design effort is to be low and the battery module is to be cost-effective to produce. The invention solves a problem in that the cooling fluid can be cooled by a cooling apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Stephan Leuthner, Philipp Kohlrausch
  • Patent number: 8916304
    Abstract: A hydrogen generator includes: a reformer (102) configured to generate a hydrogen-containing gas by a reforming reaction using a raw material; a combustor (104) configured to heat the reformer; an air supplying device (106) configured to supply combustion air to the combustor; a first heat exchanger (108) configured to recover heat from a flue gas discharged from the combustor; a first heat medium passage (110) through which a first heat medium flows, the first heat medium receiving the heat recovered from the flue gas in the first heat exchanger; a first pump (112) configured to cause the first heat medium in the first heat medium passage to flow; a heat accumulator (140) configured to store the heat recovered by the first heat medium; and a controller (114) configured to cause the first pump to operate in a cooling step that is a step of cooling down at least the reformer by supplying the air from the air supplying device to the combustor in a state where the combustor is not carrying out combustion during
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshio Tamura, Kiyoshi Taguchi, Yoshikazu Tanaka, Shigeki Yasuda