Patents Examined by Michael L Dignan
  • Patent number: 11667026
    Abstract: A battery tether system for tethering a power tool battery is provided. The battery may include a tether receiver as an integral component of the battery or the battery may be retrofit with a sleeve or bumper including a tether receiver. The sleeve may include a clasp to overlay the retrofit battery and ensure that the tether receptacle remains coupled to the battery. The tether receiver may connect to the tool receiver and provide an electrical connection to the tool and a tether receiver for the battery. The battery system may include tether keys configured to be inserted into a slot and slide into a locking pocket of the sleeve or bumper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
    Inventors: Benjamin T. Jones, Grant T. Squiers, Emelie E. Troedson, Christopher S. Hoppe, Steven W. Hyma, Kyle Reeder, Anthony S. Graykowski
  • Patent number: 11670820
    Abstract: A battery mounting structure of a vehicle includes a battery case, a cable and a shielding member. The battery case includes a lower case and an upper case. In each of plural battery cell groups, plural battery cells are arrayed in a first direction. The battery cell groups are accommodated in the battery case in a state in which the battery cell groups are arrayed along a second direction, which is orthogonal to the first direction in plan view. The cable is routed at an upper face side of the battery cell groups so as to connect the battery cells in series. The shielding member is configured by a conductor so as to form an electrical loop, and is provided at the upper case so as to be overlapped with at least a portion of the cable in plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masayuki Yoshikawa, Kenichi Ichinose, Hiroyuki Nishimura, Hidetoshi Katoh, Kazuhisa Ori
  • Patent number: 11658367
    Abstract: A battery pack includes a battery cell and a bus bar electrically connected to the battery cell, wherein the bus bar includes a rupture portion configured to melt due to electric resistance heat generated by overcurrent and thus to rupture, the rupture portion having a plurality of through-holes therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Inventors: Jae Uk Ryu, Dal Mo Kang, Jeong Oh Moon, Jae Min Yoo, Min Ho Kwon
  • Patent number: 11652256
    Abstract: A battery pack including a plurality of battery cells; a plurality of bus bars, each bus bar electrically connecting two different battery cells among the plurality of battery cells, and including coupling pieces at opposite ends thereof that are coupled to the two different battery cells, and a protruding connecting piece at a center of the bus bar that connects the coupling pieces at the opposite ends; and a circuit board on the plurality of bus bars and electrically connected to at least a portion of the plurality of battery cells, the circuit board having escape holes that expose the protruding connection piece of each bus bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG SDI CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Nohyun Kwag
  • Patent number: 11641027
    Abstract: A secondary battery system includes a secondary battery having a positive electrode including a positive electrode active substance and a negative electrode including first and second negative electrode active substances, and a control device that estimates an internal state of the secondary battery based on an active substance model of the secondary battery. The control device calculates a charge carrier amount in the first negative electrode active substance based on a first active substance model, under a condition that the first and second negative electrode active substances are at the same potential, calculates an amount of change in open circuit potential of the first negative electrode active substance based on surface stress of the first negative electrode active substance, and calculates an open circuit potential of the negative electrode from the open circuit potential and the amount of change in open circuit potential of the first negative electrode active substance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kenji Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11641120
    Abstract: A battery mount device may include a housing to which a battery pack is detachably attached, and a cover attached to the housing so as to cover the battery pack and configured to open and close by rotating around a rotation axis. Force in a direction closing the cover may act on the cover in a state where the battery mount device is placed on a horizontal plane. The battery-mounted device may further comprise a cover holding mechanism capable of holding the cover in an open state. The cover holding mechanism may include a cover holder configured to move, in response to an operation by a user, between a holding position where the cover holder interferes with a rotating motion of the cover and a released position where the cover holder does not interfere with the rotating motion of the cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomokazu Okuoka, Masayoshi Okumi, Takaaki Kato
  • Patent number: 11626635
    Abstract: A partition member has a thickness direction and a surface direction perpendicular to the thickness direction, and which separates single cells that make up an assembled battery in the thickness direction, or a single cell that makes up the assembled battery in the thickness direction and a member other than the single cells. The partition member includes, in the interior thereof, a fluid having a boiling point at normal pressure of 80° C. to 250° C., and a flow channel of the fluid extending along the surface direction. The fluid is held in a fluid holding part, and the fluid holding part is hermetically sealed by a packaging material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Kawai, Yoko Watanabe, Iwao Soga
  • Patent number: 11626630
    Abstract: A battery module includes: a cell stack including a plurality of unit cells arranged in a first direction; and an insulating member around the plurality of unit cells; a plurality of module housings, each of the module housings including a plurality of receiving parts and receiving the cell stack; and a coupling part, and each of the receiving parts includes a fixing wall around the cell stack and having at least a portion which is in contact with the cell stack, and the fixing wall includes end walls at respective sides of each of the receiving parts in the first direction to engage end surfaces of respective sides of the cell stack in the first direction, and the coupling part is configured to be coupled to the coupling part of an adjacent battery module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Junhyung Lee, Sungyong Kim, Jaeho Kim, Soodeok Moon, Daeyeop Park, Jangwoong Bae, Dooyong Lim, Jisoon Lim, Eungi Heo
  • Patent number: 11621454
    Abstract: A battery assembly includes a battery holding unit and a battery unit removably held by the battery holding unit. The battery unit includes a battery, a first engaging portion and a second engaging portion disposed on an end portion of the battery. The battery holding unit includes a holding member selectively engaging with the first engaging portion or the second engaging portion to hold the battery unit at a first position or a second position. When the holding member and the first engaging portion relatively move away from each other, the battery unit moves from the first position to the second position at which the holding member engages with the second engaging portion, and the second engaging portion is allowed to rotate along a surface of the end portion to disengage from the holding member and to remove the battery unit from the battery holding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: DARFON ELECTRONICS CORP.
    Inventor: Chih-Hsien Liu
  • Patent number: 11588197
    Abstract: A cell contacting system for an electrochemical device is provided, which includes a plurality of cell groups having one or more electrochemical cells, each having a first and a second cell terminal. The first cell terminals follow each other along the longitudinal direction in a first cell terminal region of the electrochemical device and the second cell terminals follow each other along the longitudinal direction in a second cell terminal region of the electrochemical device. The cell contacting system includes at least one cell connector extending obliquely to the longitudinal direction and configured for electrically conductively connecting cell terminals of a first cell group in the first cell terminal region to cell terminals of a second cell group in the second cell terminal region, which cell contacting system reliably enables a relative movement between the cell terminals to be electrically connected to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: ElringKlinger AG
    Inventors: Wolfgang Fritz, Stefan Kazmaier
  • Patent number: 11575176
    Abstract: A battery pack including a housing having a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis that extends between the first end and the second end, electrical terminals positioned within the housing and configured to engage and electrically couple with electrical terminals of a power tool, and a latch mechanism including an actuator and a latch member that is spaced apart from the actuator. The actuator has a distal end that is positioned adjacent the first end of the housing, a proximal end that is spaced apart from the distal end, and an actuating surface that extends between the distal end and the proximal end. The actuating surface has a gradually decreasing slope between the distal end and the proximal end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Techtronic Cordlesss GP
    Inventor: Ryan Altenburger
  • Patent number: 11565593
    Abstract: A holding apparatus (15) for current and signal conductors of a traction battery of a motor vehicle has a plate-like base body with longitudinal sides (16), transverse ends (17) and a top (18) and bottom (19) extending between the longitudinal sides (16) and transverse ends (17). Elements (20) are arranged on the top (18) and the bottom (19) for guiding and fixing current conductors (12) of the traction battery, and elements (21) are arranged on the other of the top (18) and the bottom (19) for guiding and fixing at least one signal conductor (14) of the traction battery. The base body provides EMC shielding of the signal conductor (14) from the current conductors (12). The plate-like base body has on the opposite longitudinal sides (16) and/or on the opposite transverse sides (17) sections (22) for securing and grounding the holding apparatus on a frame of the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Dr. Ing. h. c. F Porsche AG
    Inventors: Armin Steck, Felix Brendecke
  • Patent number: 11569535
    Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying thermal run-away events in a battery pack can include using sensing circuits made up of series- or parallel-linked thermistors to measure subsets of the individual battery cells in a battery pack. Using multiple sensing circuits, a monitoring system can positively identify when a threshold temperature of any single battery cell has been reached even though individual temperatures are not monitored, and can generate a signal indicative of a thermal run-away event based on the detected temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: William Mische
  • Patent number: 11563250
    Abstract: A traction battery pack assembly includes, among other things, a foam section of a battery pack enclosure. The foam section provides a recessed area that at least partially receives a traction battery array. A substructure assembly is partially disposed within the foam section. An attachment point is provided by the substructure assembly. The attachment point is outside the foam section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Mohammadreza Eftekhari, Patrick Daniel Maguire, Kanchana Perumalla
  • Patent number: 11563251
    Abstract: A battery module including a plurality of battery cells that prevents the movement of the battery cells due to impact and has excellent cooling performance of the battery cells includes a battery cell group including a laminate of a plurality of flattened rectangular battery cells stacked in a thickness direction of the battery cells, and a housing storing the battery cell group. The battery cell group includes a plurality of cell holders configured to hold the individual battery cells from both sides in the thickness direction, and a plurality of side plates disposed at both ends of the plurality of battery cells in a width direction via the plurality of cell holders. Each of the cell holders has a restriction portion configured to restrict movement of the corresponding battery cell in a direction intersecting the thickness direction, and fixing portions that engage with the side plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: VEHICLE ENERGY JAPAN INC.
    Inventors: Masayuki Nakamoto, Takayuki Nakajima
  • Patent number: 11557809
    Abstract: A battery pack including a plurality of battery cells arranged along a first direction; a holder, the holder including terminal holes exposing terminals of the battery cells, and pairs of first plates separated from each other between adjacent terminal holes and pairs of elastic pieces that are bent from the pairs of first plates in opposite directions along the first direction; and bus bars, each of the bus bars including coupling portions at opposite sides thereof and coupled to adjacent terminal holes, and a central bent portion connecting the coupling portions and extending around corresponding pairs of elastic pieces to surround the corresponding pairs of elastic pieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG SDI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Duseong Jeon, Soomin Ahn, Jeehoon Jeon, Dongsik Kwak, Wunseok Jeong
  • Patent number: 11552351
    Abstract: Disclosed is an electrical cell comprising a negative electrode, a positive electrode, and a deposition layer separating the positive electrode and a gas phase that supplies at least one reactive gas; wherein the deposition layer and the positive electrode are in communication with each other via electrolyte(s). Also disclosed is a battery comprising the electrical cell described above and a battery comprising: a cell comprising a negative electrode in communication with an anolyte and a positive electrode in communication with a catholyte; and a gas-liquid reactor, which is fed with the catholyte from the cell and a gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
    Inventors: Yi-Chun Lu, Zhuojian Liang
  • Patent number: 11545727
    Abstract: A battery module includes a cell stack including stacked pouch-type secondary battery cells, which have electrode leads in opposite directions; a bus bar frame having first and second vertical plates and an upper plate connected to the first and second vertical plates to be hinged to at least one of the first and second vertical plates; and a mono-frame having a rectangular tube shape with an inner space in which the cell stack mounted to the bus bar frame is disposed. A plurality of bus bars are provided at outer surfaces of the first and second vertical plates, and the electrode leads of the cells are electrically connected to the corresponding bus bars through slots formed in the first and second vertical plates. A sensing member electrically connected to the bus bars of the vertical plates to sense electrical characteristics of the cells is disposed at the upper plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Inventors: Kyung-Soo Jang, Jae-Jung Seol, Jun-Hee Jung
  • Patent number: 11524902
    Abstract: A positive electrode material contains a positive electrode active material and a first solid electrolyte material. The first solid electrolyte material contains Li, M, and X; M at least contains yttrium; and X is at least one selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, and I.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Asano, Akihiro Sakai
  • Patent number: 11515564
    Abstract: Disclosed are electrochemical devices, such as sodium ion conducting solid state electrolytes, sodium battery electrodes, and solid-state sodium metal batteries including these electrodes and solid state electrolytes. One example method for preparing a sodium/sodium-??-alumina interface with low interfacial resistance and capable of achieving high current density in an electrochemical cell includes the steps of: (a) providing a precursor electrolyte having a resistive surface region, wherein the precursor electrolyte comprises sodium-??-alumina; (b) removing at least a portion of the resistive surface region; (c) heating the precursor electrolyte thereby forming a solid state electrolyte, and (d) placing a side of the solid state electrolyte in contact with a sodium anode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignees: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, EMPA
    Inventors: Marie-Claude Bay, Corsin Battaglia, Michael Wang, Jeff Sakamoto