Patents Examined by Lingwen R Zeng
  • Patent number: 11127939
    Abstract: Electrode material, for a lithium-ion-based electrochemical cell, containing primary particles of a Mn-containing spinel-type metal oxide selected from the group consisting of spinel-type lithium-nickel-manganese-oxide, spinel-type lithium-manganese-oxide, and mixtures thereof. Mn of the Mn-containing spinel-type metal oxide is partially substituted with a substitution-element selected from the group consisting of Si, Hf, Zr, Fe, Al, V and mixtures thereof and the primary particles are aggregated in order to form secondary particles, with the secondary particles having the shape of a microsphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Kamelia Detig-Karlou, Ann-Christin Gentschev, Miriam Karin Keppeler, Sung-Jin Kim, Madhavi Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 11108100
    Abstract: Provided are battery modules. Each module may comprise an enclosure having a base, the base having a plurality of first holes disposed therein, the enclosure including a coolant input port, a coolant output port; the enclosure having a coolant sub-system for circulating coolant being directed into the enclosure through the coolant input port and the plurality of first holes and out of the enclosure through the coolant output port; a center divider affixed to the enclosure; a module cover coupled to the enclosure at an opposite end of the module from the center divider; a retainer disposed within the enclosure and configured to support a plurality of cells; a current carrier disposed between the module cover and the retainer; and the plurality of cells disposed between the current carrier and the center divider, the cells being coupled to and supported by the retainer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Faraday & Future Inc.
    Inventors: W. Porter Harris, Blake Rosengren, Nicholas John Sampson
  • Patent number: 11108113
    Abstract: A battery case accommodates therein a battery cell that has a first main surface and a second main surface opposite the first main surface. The battery case includes a chassis with which the first main surface of the battery cell comes into contact, and a holding plate that comes into partial contact with the second main surface of the battery cell and presses against the battery cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Kentaro Marutani
  • Patent number: 11108062
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a control unit that is configured to perform pressure reduction control for increasing a flow rate of cathode gas supplied to a fuel cell from a turbo compressor, by controlling a pressure adjusting valve such that a pressure in the fuel cell is lower when a pressure reduction condition is fulfilled than when the pressure reduction condition is not fulfilled. The pressure reduction condition is a condition that an outside air pressure determined based on outside air pressure-associated information is lower than an outside air pressure threshold determined in advance and that an amount of water determined based on water amount-associated information is equal to or larger than a water amount threshold determined in advance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Satoshi Watanabe, Norihiro Fukaya
  • Patent number: 11088525
    Abstract: A grommet is provided. The grommet includes a pedestal and a wire fixing member configured to fix a wire, wherein each of the pedestal and the wire fixing member has at least one hole through which the wire is configured to be inserted, and the pedestal has a pool portion configured to accommodate a resin agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 11088398
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a secondary battery and a battery module. The secondary battery includes: a casing including a receiving cavity and an opening which is in communication with the receiving cavity; an electrode assembly housed in the casing; a first top cover plate, which covers the opening and is connected with the casing, the first top cover plate including an insertion portion extending into the casing and an exposed portion disposed outside the casing; and a sealing member; the casing is provided with a first through hole, the insertion portion is provided with a second through hole, the second through hole includes an inlet which is in communication with the first through hole and an outlet which is in communication with the receiving cavity, and the sealing member is connected to the casing and seals the first through hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited
    Inventors: Yong Zhou, Zhijun Guo, Jie Zhang, Peng Wang
  • Patent number: 11088424
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a battery module comprising a first battery unit and a second battery unit, each of which comprises N secondary batteries, N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and each secondary battery comprises a first electrode lead and a second electrode lead having opposite polarities. The first electrode lead has a melting point higher than that of the second electrode lead, and N first electrode leads of the first battery unit and N second electrode leads of the second battery unit are arranged to form a layered construction. The battery module has a plurality of connection points distributed in the layered construction, the number of which is greater than or equal to N, and each connection point is adapted to electrically connect one first electrode lead of the first battery unit to at least one second electrode lead of the second battery unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited
    Inventors: Xiaorong Liu, Bin Zhao, Chao Yang, Zonghuo Chen, Anwei Wu, Zhiguang Qu
  • Patent number: 11081682
    Abstract: A fabricating method of an electrode assembly according to the present invention includes forming a radical unit having a four-layered structure obtained by stacking a first electrode, a first separator, a second electrode, and a second separator one by one, and stacking at least one radical unit one by one to form a unit stack part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Inventors: Ji Won Park, Seung Jae You, Myung Hoon Ko, Jin Ho Ban, Hyang Mok Lee
  • Patent number: 11081894
    Abstract: A battery pack includes at least two battery cells; a circuit board to control charging and discharging operations of the battery cells; and a connection tab electrically connected to the battery cells, extending towards the circuit board, and including a bent portion proximal to the battery cells and located within a battery area defined by the battery cells. A battery pack suitable for a compact type device is provided and a low-resistive design may be applied to the battery pack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Moonsoo Cheon, Seungil Kim, Gangya Park
  • Patent number: 11081709
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell; a reformer to generate a hydrogen-containing gas; an electric power generation raw material supply unit; a reforming material supply unit configured to supply at least one of reforming water and reforming air, to the reformer; an oxidizing gas supply unit to supply an oxidizing gas to a cathode of the fuel cell; a combustor to ignite an exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell; and a controller. In an operation stop process of the fuel cell system, the controller causes the oxidizing gas supply unit to supply the oxidizing gas, causes the electric power generation raw material supply unit and the reforming material supply unit to intermittently supply the electric power generation raw material and at least one of the water and the air to the reformer, and causes the ignitor to perform an ignition operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignees: PANASONIC CORPORATION, MORIMURA SOFC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shigenori Onuma, Kunihiro Ukai, Hiroshi Shirahama, Takeshi Saito, Yosuke Akagi, Taiichiro Sakamoto, Toshiharu Ooe, Toshiharu Otsuka
  • Patent number: 11081713
    Abstract: A voltage is applied between an anode and a cathode in a fuel cell. The voltage is increased to a predetermined upper limit, and then decreased to a predetermined lower limit. The voltage increase and decrease are repeated a predetermined number of times. The voltage is applied to the fuel cell while supplying a hydrogen-containing gas to an anode and supplying an inert gas to a cathode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shohei Toyota, Hiromichi Yoshida, Hayato Kaji
  • Patent number: 11063273
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell; a compressor; a supply adjusting valve adjusting an amount of air to be supplied; a bypass valve adjusting a flow rate of the air passing through the bypass flow passage; a flow rate measuring unit measuring a flow rate of the air; a pressure measuring unit measuring a pressure of the air; an opening control unit outputting an opening control signal for controlling degrees of opening of the supply adjusting valve and the bypass valve; a rotation speed control unit outputting a rotation speed control signal for controlling a rotation speed of the compressor; and a determination unit determining that the bypass valve is stuck open when the flow rate is less than a flow rate threshold value, and determines that pipe disconnection has occurred when the flow rate is equal to or greater than the flow rate threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yusuke Katayama
  • Patent number: 11063322
    Abstract: A circuit body includes: a plurality of conductors and a substrate having flexibility and provided with the conductors, in which the substrate includes a battery wiring portion which is routed along each row of electrodes and where one ends of the conductors are respectively connected to bus bars, and a pair of connector connecting portions in which the other ends of the conductors provided in respective battery wiring portions are located, the pair of connector connecting portions include a connector mounting portion where the pair of connector connecting portions are guided from opposite directions, and in the connector mounting portion, the other ends of the conductors of the pair of the connector connecting portions are alternately arranged and an arrangement order corresponds to the potential order of the bus bars connected to the conductors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: YAZAKI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takao Ota, Junya Iwata
  • Patent number: 11056683
    Abstract: An electrode plate processing device is provided. The electrode plate processing device includes: an electrode plate conveying mechanism configured to convey an electrode plate; a cutting mechanism disposed opposite to the electrode plate and configured to cut the electrode plate to form a tab; and a waste adsorption mechanism disposed downstream of the cutting mechanism along a conveying direction of the electrode plate. The waste adsorption mechanism includes an active driving roller, a driven support roller, and a conveyer belt that is coupled to the active driving roller and the driven support roller in a transmission way. The conveyer belt is driven by the active driving roller to rotate and configured to provide an adsorption force to a waste edge produced during the cutting of the electrode plate so as to adsorb the waste edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
    Inventors: Tiefeng Wu, Xiangqiang Huang, Tao Zhang, Nengwu Liao, Shaojun Qiu, Yuhuai Yang
  • Patent number: 11056698
    Abstract: A redox flow battery includes first and second cells. Each cell has electrodes and a separator layer arranged between the electrodes. A first circulation loop is fluidly connected with the first electrode of the first cell. A polysulfide electrolyte solution has a pH 11.5 or greater and is contained in the first recirculation loop. A second circulation loop is fluidly connected with the second electrode of the second cell. An iron electrolyte solution has a pH 3 or less and is contained in the second circulation loop. A third circulation loop is fluidly connected with the second electrode of the first cell and the first electrode of the second cell. An intermediator electrolyte solution is contained in the third circulation loop. The cells are operable to undergo reversible reactions to store input electrical energy upon charging and discharge the stored electrical energy upon discharging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: Michael L. Perry
  • Patent number: 11050128
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a secondary battery and a manufacturing method of the secondary battery, and the secondary battery includes a case; an electrode assembly, accommodated in the case and including a main body and a tab connected to the main body; a cap plate, coupled to the case; an electrode terminal, located on an outer side of the cap plate and provided with a through hole; and a current collecting member, including an extending portion and a connecting portion connected to the extending portion, wherein the connecting portion is located on an inner side of the cap plate and is directly connected to the tab, and the extending portion is adapted to extend toward the electrode terminal and protrude into the through hole, and is connected to the electrode terminal. The configuration of the secondary battery of the present disclosure is conducive to improving an energy density.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited
    Inventors: Yuqun Zeng, Fenggang Zhao, Yong Zhou, Zhijun Guo, Peng Wang
  • Patent number: 11050118
    Abstract: Lithium ion batteries, electrodes, nanofibers, and methods for producing same are disclosed herein. Provided herein are batteries having (a) increased energy density; (b) decreased pulverization (structural disruption due to volume expansion during lithiation/de-lithiation processes); and/or (c) increased lifetime. In some embodiments described herein, using high throughput, water-based electrospinning process produces nanofibers of high energy capacity materials (e.g., ceramic) with nanostructures such as discrete crystal domains, mesopores, hollow cores, and the like; and such nanofibers providing reduced pulverization and increased charging rates when they are used in anodic or cathodic materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Cornell University
    Inventors: Yong Lak Joo, Nathaniel S. Hansen, Daehwan Cho, Kyoung Woo Kim
  • Patent number: 11050115
    Abstract: A tray for accommodating a secondary battery is provided, the tray including a plurality of accommodation parts in which secondary batteries are accommodated, wherein each of the accommodation parts includes a bottom portion on which the secondary battery is mounted, sidewalls protruding from the bottom portion and supporting side surfaces of the secondary battery, and a protrusion protruding towards each of the accommodation parts on the sidewalls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Minhyung Guen, Myungpil Kim
  • Patent number: 11038240
    Abstract: Provided herein are ceramic nanofibers and processes for preparing the same. In specific examples, provided herein are ceramic nanofiber mats for use as separators in batteries, particularly lithium ion batteries. Provided herein is battery separator comprising a nanofiber mat, the nanofiber mat comprising at least one nanofiber, the at least one nanofiber comprising a continuous matrix of ceramic, the continuous matrix of ceramic being continuous along at least 10% of the length of the nanofiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: CORNELL UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Yong Lak Joo, Daehwan Cho, Yong Seok Kim
  • Patent number: 11038244
    Abstract: The subject matter of the invention is a battery module for a motor vehicle having a multiplicity of battery cells, each having a first pole and a second pole and a contact plate which extends in a transverse direction and in a longitudinal direction, wherein a first group of the battery cells are connected via their respective first pole, one after the other to a first side, extending in the longitudinal direction, of the contact plate, and a remaining second group of the battery cells are connected by their respective second pole, one after the other to a second side, extending in the longitudinal direction, of the contact plate, with the result that, by means of the contact plate the first group of the battery cells are connected via the first poles, and the second group of the battery cells are connected via the second poles, in parallel, and the first group of the battery cells and the second group of the battery cells are connected in series, and between adjacent first poles on the first side and/or bet
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: StreetScooter GmbH
    Inventors: Stephan Hartmann, Nils Armbruster, Alejandro Lorca MouliaĆ