Patents Examined by Jas A Sanghera
  • Patent number: 11473979
    Abstract: A sensor unit disclosed herein is a temperature sensor unit to be attached to an energy storage device. The temperature sensor unit includes an FPC to be positioned on an energy storage device body, a temperature sensor connected to a detection line of the FPC, a housing disposed on the FPC and covering the temperature sensor, and a biasing member elastically and deformably held in the housing and configured to bias the lower housing of the housing toward the energy storage device body by elastic restoring force to bring the temperature sensor into contact with the energy storage device body with the FPC therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignees: AUTONETWORKS TECHNOLOGIES, LTD., SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD., SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD., SUMITOMO ELECTRIC PRINTED CIRCUITS, INC.
    Inventors: Shinichi Takase, Yasuhiko Kotera, Isamu Hamamoto, Yoshifumi Uchita, Takayuki Tsumagari, Yusuke Suzuki, Atsushi Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 11467219
    Abstract: A battery monitoring device includes a first reference resistor disposed in a path different from a path of current flowing from a battery to a load; a transistor for passing current from the battery to the first reference resistor; and an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes: a current measurement unit that measures a first current flowing through the first reference resistor; a voltage measurement unit that measures a first voltage of the battery; and a first calculation unit that calculates an AC impedance of the battery based on the first current measured and the first voltage measured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: NUVOTON TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION JAPAN
    Inventors: Kazuo Matsukawa, Yu Okada, Yoshikazu Makabe, Hitoshi Kobayashi, Takeshi Misaku, Keiichi Fujii
  • Patent number: 11467220
    Abstract: Methods for determining a maximum duration of use of a battery, include: selecting a period of use of the battery; obtaining values of factors of degradation of the battery during the period of use of the battery selected during the selection step; determining at least one indicator of ageing of the battery on the basis of the degradation factor values obtained in the step of obtaining said values; and identifying intervals of variation of the degradation factors during said period of use, each ageing indicator being associated with actual variation intervals which each have a minimum value and a maximum value of said factors used during the determination step; and a step of predicting the maximum duration of use on the basis of the variation intervals obtained in the step of identification, the at least one ageing indicator and the operating limits of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: SAFRAN ELECTRICAL & POWER
    Inventor: Marie Sayegh
  • Patent number: 11469013
    Abstract: A combination includes: an electricity conducting element and a connector cable. The electricity conducting elements includes: a body of insulating material; an electrical conductor extending through the body; at least one passive electrical sensor embedded or integrated in the body of insulating material; and at least one shielded connector with one or more terminals arranged on an outer surface of the body, the at least one shielded connector being electrically connected to the at least one passive electrical sensor. The connector cable includes: a first shielded connector with one or more terminals for connecting with the at least one shielded connector; a second shielded connector with one or more terminals for connecting with an appliance or a further connector cable; and electrical components arranged closely to the first shielded connector and electrically connected to the terminals of the first shielded connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: Gerard Schoonenberg, Arend Lammers, Elisabeth Morskieft, Amritendu Das, Ranjit Jadhav
  • Patent number: 11467192
    Abstract: A microelectronic device has a common terminal transistor with two or more channels, and sense transistors in corresponding areas of the channels. The channels and the sense transistors share a common node in a semiconductor substrate. The sense transistors are configured to provide sense currents that are representative of currents through the corresponding channels. The sense transistors are located so that a ratio of the channel currents to the corresponding sense currents is less than a target value of cross-talk. The microelectronic device may be implemented without a compensation circuit which provides a compensation signal used to adjust one or more of the sense currents to reduce cross-talk. A method of forming the microelectronic device, including estimating a potential distribution in the semiconductor substrate containing the common node of the common terminal transistor, and selecting locations for the sense transistors based on the estimated potential distribution, is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Vijay Krishnamurthy, Abidur Rahman, Min Chu, Sualp Aras
  • Patent number: 11467221
    Abstract: A degradation-determination system includes at least four strain gauges that are installed on a principal surface of a lithium-ion battery and each of which is configured to detect pressure of a battery surface at a corresponding installation position, and a degradation determining unit configured to determine degradation of the lithium-ion battery based on measured values at the strain gauges. The degradation determining unit is configured to estimate a maximum expansion position where volume expansion is maximal in a region defined by the strain gauges, of the surface of the lithium-ion battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI Inc.
    Inventor: Shigemi Masuda
  • Patent number: 11462807
    Abstract: An analog matching filter includes a first plate, a second plate coupled with the first plate and separated from the first plate via a spacer, and a replicate matching material fixed to an inside surface of the first plate. A conductive plate or sheet is fixed to an inside surface of the second plate. An electrical circuit connects the first plate to the conductive plate or sheet. The replicate matching material and the conductive plate or sheet generate an opposite polarization pattern carried by the electrical circuit that is based on a polarization pattern of a to-be-detected entity according to a spatial gradient of the to-be-detected entity local electric field distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: DKL INTERNATIONAL, INC.
    Inventor: Thomas L. Afilani
  • Patent number: 11460507
    Abstract: A method and system for monitoring a non-rechargeable battery of an IoT device are described. Voltage values of the non-rechargeable battery when a load is applied to the non-rechargeable battery are determined over a first interval of time. Based at least in part on these voltage values a determination of whether a voltage of the non-rechargeable battery has decreased for more than a predetermined threshold is performed. In response to determining based at least in part on the voltage values that the voltage of the non-rechargeable battery has decreased for more than the predetermined threshold, a prediction of an end of life parameter value for the non-rechargeable battery is performed, and the end of life parameter value is transmitted to an electronic device of an administrator of the IoT device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Samsara Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Russell Coates Lloyd, Lucas Glenat
  • Patent number: 11460504
    Abstract: A cabinet box comprises a plurality of independent, explosion-proof chambers. A battery wiring assembly for receiving and testing a battery is attached to an inner wall of an explosion-proof door, and an electrical connector is provided on an outer wall of the door. The assembly is placed inside a chamber, and the door seals the chamber. The temperature in each chamber is controlled independently, allowing batteries to be tested simultaneously at different temperatures. An air-circulating temperature-control module can be in a chamber, or a temperature controller with a refrigeration sheet can be integrated with the battery wiring assembly for direct battery contact. Separate, independent explosion-proof chambers effectively eliminate the possibility of a battery explosion in one chamber causing a chain-reaction explosion in another chamber. Modularity allows damaged parts to be replaced easily. An external battery testing machine can connected to the connector on each door.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Inventor: Chaojiong Zhang
  • Patent number: 11454652
    Abstract: Provided is a sensor including a first bus bar, a second bus bar, and a shunt resistor including a shunt resistor body part whose one end portion is bonded to the first bus bar and the other end portion is bonded to the second bus bar and a detection terminal extending from the shunt resistor body part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: YAZAKI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasunori Kawaguchi, Takanori Toma
  • Patent number: 11454675
    Abstract: A method is described for determining the capacity of an electrical energy storage unit, which method comprises the steps: a) determining a first capacity value of the electrical energy storage unit using a first mathematical model based at least on an operating time and/or on a charging throughput of the electrical energy storage unit; b) determining a second capacity value of the electrical energy storage unit using a second mathematical model based at least on a second charging throughput value of the electrical energy storage unit and on a state-of-charge difference, which is obtained from the states of charge at two different time instants; c) obtaining a correction factor for determining a capacity value using the first mathematical model on the basis of the determined first capacity value and the determined second capacity value; d) determining a third capacity value of the electrical energy storage unit using the first mathematical model based at least on the obtained correction factor and on the o
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Christel Sarfert, Ganesh Susmitha, Shashank Holavanahalli
  • Patent number: 11454676
    Abstract: An apparatus for estimating a state of a secondary battery, connectable to a positive electrode lead, a negative electrode lead, a first measuring lead, and a second measuring lead in the secondary battery, including: a terminal case including: inner terminals contactable with the positive electrode lead, the negative electrode lead, the first measuring lead, or the second measuring lead on a first surface of the terminal case, and outer terminals respectively electrically connectable to the inner terminals on a second surface facing the first surface of the terminal case, a voltage measuring unit electrically connected to at least two of the outer terminals, and measuring a potential difference between the first and the second measuring lead, and a control unit estimating a state of health of the secondary battery based on the potential difference between the first measuring lead and the second measuring lead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventor: Song-Yi Han
  • Patent number: 11448709
    Abstract: According to an aspect, a battery system includes a current sensor configured to measure a current that charges or discharges a battery, a voltage monitor configured to measure a cell voltage of the battery, a state-of-charge (SoC) calculation engine configured to calculate an SoC value, and an energy calculation engine configured to compute charge energy loss of the battery for a sampling period based on the current, cell voltage, and the SoC value and compute a capacity degradation metric based on the charge energy loss and reference charge loss of a reference battery. The energy calculation engine is configured to transmit, via an interface, the capacity degradation metric to a battery manager of a device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventor: Hideo Kondo
  • Patent number: 11442110
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for accurately detecting an operating status of a battery in a battery system, where the method includes determining a charging profile of a battery in a battery system, identifying a constant voltage and a corresponding constant current in a charging cycle of the charging profile, estimating at least one of a decay constant or an internal resistance associated with the battery, using at least one of the constant voltage or the constant current, comparing the decay constant with a first threshold value or comparing the internal resistance with a second threshold value, and detecting an operating status of the battery to be faulty or healthy, based on the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atanu Talukdar, Anshul Kaushik, Arunava Naha, Shashishekara Parampalli Adiga
  • Patent number: 11435405
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides electrical architecture for electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). An EIS circuit comprises at least two current regulators and an electrical energy storage device, which are connected with one or more electrochemical cells in a configuration that decouples power flowing into the respective current regulators. The presence of the electrical energy storage device enables each regulator to operate simultaneously at lower power levels while inducing the desired EIS perturbation current. Operation at low power allows lower volume and cost for the same current compared to only dissipative or non-dissipative current regulators. Further, the electrical energy storage device allows the power flowing through the current regulators to be varied independently in order to achieve the desired EIS perturbation current while a minimum amount of heat is generated in the circuit, thus allowing the circuit to occupy minimal size and incur minimal cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignees: THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ELEAPPOWER LTD.
    Inventors: Zhe Gong, Olivier Trescases
  • Patent number: 11429050
    Abstract: An object of one embodiment of the present disclosure is to accurately suppress a color shift. One embodiment of the present disclosure is a printing apparatus including: a print head having a nozzle column including a plurality of nozzles through which ink is ejected; an acquiring unit configured to acquire a measurement value by reading a tone patch pattern printed by the print head; and a setting unit configured to set a printing characteristic based on the measurement value and a target value, and the printing apparatus further includes a determination unit configured to determine whether or not reading has been performed normally based on a variation amount calculated by using the measurement value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoko Baba
  • Patent number: 11428716
    Abstract: A current detection device including two conductors, a resistor and two detection portions is provided. The resistor is disposed between the two conductors. At least one of the detection portions is a detection terminal including a first terminal portion and a second terminal portion. The first terminal portion includes a first flange and a second flange, the second flange is connected to the second terminal portion, and at least one portion of the second flange is buried into at least one conductor. The first flange is buried into the at least one conductor, a distal end of the first flange does not protrude beyond the second surface, a distance is kept between the distal end of the first flange and the second surface, a gap is defined between the first flange and the second flange, and at least one portion of the gap is filled with a material of the at least one conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: CYNTEC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Po-Wen Liu
  • Patent number: 11422197
    Abstract: A battery system includes a controller that performs a calculation to calculate an internal resistance of a battery, and executes a predetermined operation based on the result. The calculation includes obtaining a regression line through a regression analysis of a current-voltage plot obtained from voltage sensor and current sensor, and calculating the internal resistance from a slope of the regression line. The controller calculates a first internal resistance through the calculation based on a first group of detection values of the voltage and current detected a plurality of times, and calculate a second internal resistance through the calculation based on a second group of detection values. The controller executes the predetermined operation when a resistance difference between the first and second internal resistances is smaller than a reference value, and does not execute the operation when the resistance difference is larger than the reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshiki Sugino, Yoshihiro Uchida, Tetsuya Watanabe
  • Patent number: 11422196
    Abstract: A device for estimating state of charge of battery of the present disclosure includes: a sensing unit configured to measure at least one of a first voltage and an OCV of a battery; and a processor operably coupled to the sensing unit. The processor is configured to estimate a second voltage of the battery based on the OCV of the battery or a previously estimated first SOC, calculate a counted voltage error by counting a voltage error between the first voltage and the second voltage of the battery, correct the second voltage of the battery depending on whether the counted voltage error is included in a reference error range, and estimate a first SOC of the battery based on the second voltage or the corrected second voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
    Inventor: Young-Jin Kim
  • Patent number: 11417917
    Abstract: A method of testing a battery includes the following steps. Step A1 is a step of preparing a test target battery. Step A2 is a step of measuring magnetism when applying an electric current to the test target battery. Step A3 is a step of obtaining a current distribution of the test target battery based on the magnetism measured in step A2. Step A4 is a step of comparing the current distribution of the test target battery obtained in step A3 with a normal current distribution that is obtained in advance, with predetermined reference positions being aligned with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shintaro Nagano