Patents Examined by Stephan J Essex
  • Patent number: 11127943
    Abstract: A device for extending the life of a battery, including an electrode having a metal portion, wherein the metal portion is selected from the group including lithium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and combinations thereof, an electrolyte permeable membrane, and a metal dendrite seeding material disposed between the electrode and the membrane. The electrode, the membrane and the metal dendrite seeding material are positioned in an electrolyte matrix. At least one dendrite extends from the electrode toward the electrolyte permeable membrane combines with at least one dendrite extending from the dendrite seeding material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Jian Xie
  • Patent number: 11121402
    Abstract: An alternative grid energy storage system is described herein. In one embodiment, an electrochemical cell comprises a high specific surface area cathode (e.g., a cathode comprising a carbon nanofoam paper, a carbon nanotube mesh, a particulate carbon material, electrolytic manganese dioxide, or a manganese dioxide film), a zinc or lead anode (e.g., Zn or Pb foil), a selective ion-conductive separator that does not conduct zinc ions (e.g., a NAFION sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene based fluoropolymer-copolymer separator) between the anode and the cathode, and an aqueous electrolyte comprising a manganese salt (e.g., aqueous manganese sulfate) contacting the electrodes and the separator. A battery comprising two or more of the electrochemical cells electrically connected together in series, parallel, or both, also is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: UChicago Argonne, LLC
    Inventors: Sanja Tepavcevic, Nigel Hajj Becknell, Pietro Papa Lopes, Dusan Strmcnik, Vojislav Stamenkovic
  • Patent number: 11121353
    Abstract: Various methods and techniques for enhancing a silicon-containing anode for a battery cell are presented. The methods may include providing a silicon-containing anode having reversible electrochemical capabilities including a silicon-containing material and an anode material compatible with a lithium-ion battery chemistry having porous and conductive mechanical properties. The methods may also include enriching a surface layer of the silicon-containing anode with sodium ions to intersperse the sodium ions between silicon atoms of the silicon-containing matieral. The methods may also include displacing the sodium ions with potassium ions to form a comrpession layer in the silicon-containing anode. The potassium ions may place the silicon atoms of the silicon-containing material in a pre-compressive state to counteract internal stress exerted on the silicon-containing material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignees: Chongqing Jinkang New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., SF Motors Inc.
    Inventors: Scott Monismith, Brennan Campbell, Ying Liu, Yifan Tang
  • Patent number: 11097635
    Abstract: A battery heat management integration system is provided. The system includes a battery cooler that connects a battery in which battery cooling water is circulated and an air conditioning system in which air conditioner refrigerant is circulated. A heat exchange effect thus occurs between the battery cooling water and the air conditioner refrigerant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Jung-Min Seo
  • Patent number: 11101517
    Abstract: A battery installation method in a shelter or cabinet includes responsive to placing one or more batteries in the shelter or cabinet, connecting terminals on each of the one or more batteries to associated terminal plates with associated security screws; and connecting a bracket to a housing in the shelter or cabinet with associated security screws, wherein the bracket spans across the one or more batteries and wherein the bracket comprises raised edges which deter cutting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: ETAK Systems, LLC
    Inventors: Joe Hummer, Anthony Gentile, George Praschil, Lee Priest
  • Patent number: 11091058
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes a FC, a TRC, an oxygen-containing gas supply apparatus, a battery, and an ECU. The ECU is capable of performing power consumption control which allows the oxygen-containing gas supply apparatus to consume electrical energy during regeneration of the TRC. The ECU is configured to determine a charge margin with respect to a charge limitation value of the battery, in a manner that the charge margin set after the power consumption control starts becomes smaller than the charge margin set before the power consumption control is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shingo Takamoto, Akio Futatsudera, Akihiro Matsui, Kuniaki Ojima, Takuto Nakagawa, Takuya Shirasaka, Kosuke Higashitani
  • Patent number: 11088373
    Abstract: A sealed membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and a method of sealing the MEA comprises the steps of providing a frame around a periphery of the MEA to form a framed MEA; providing a through-hole in the frame; placing the framed MEA into a seal mold, the seal mold comprising a reservoir region, a seal bead region, and at least one runner region; feeding a flow-processable seal material into the reservoir region in the seal mold that is aligned with the throughhole in the frame; feeding the flow-processable seal material from the reservoir region to the seal bead region through the at least one runner region; wherein a hydraulic diameter of the at least one runner region is less than a hydraulic diameter of the reservoir region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS INC.
    Inventors: Ian Stewart, Darcy McGowan, Emerson Gallagher
  • Patent number: 11088375
    Abstract: A fuel cell purging method is provided to effectively prevent fuel cell deterioration and degradation of durability of the fuel cell by performing hydrogen purging at a point in time at which negative pressure of an anode peaks after a fuel cell vehicle is stopped. The fuel cell purging method includes stopping the driving of a fuel cell vehicle and continuously measuring pressure of an anode of a fuel cell after the fuel cell vehicle is stopped. Additionally, hydrogen is supplied to the anode when the measured pressure of the anode reaches a negative pressure peak time point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Hyun Jae Lee, Jong Hyun Lee, Deuk Kuen Ahn, Yei Sik Jeon
  • Patent number: 11088366
    Abstract: The present invention provides a positive electrode active material for lithium secondary batteries including: secondary particles obtained by aggregating primary particles capable of being doped and de-doped with lithium ions, in which the secondary particles have pores, and pore distribution obtained by a mercury intrusion method satisfies requirements (1) and (2) below: (1) pores that are present in any one or both of the secondary particles or spaces between the secondary particles have a pore peak within a range of a pore radius of equal to or greater than 10 nm and equal to or less than 200 nm; and (2) a total surface area of pores that have pore radii of equal to or greater than 100 nm and equal to or less than 10 ?m among the pores that are present in any one or both of the secondary particles or spaces between the secondary particles is less than 1.1 m2/g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignees: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED, TANAKA CHEMICAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun-ichi Kageura, Hiroyuki Kurita, Kimiyasu Nakao, Ryota Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11081741
    Abstract: A battery module includes a plurality of individual electrical cells which are arranged within a common housing, wherein an end side of the housing has mechanical connecting elements for connecting the battery module to a temperature-control element which is provided outside the battery module in order to thereby enable good heat transfer between the battery module and the temperature-control element. The mechanical connecting elements are provided as corresponding upper and lower cutouts in the end side of the housing, which upper and lower cutouts are connected to one another by a through-passage, for receiving a connector of which the head can be positioned in the one cutout. The connector can extend vertically along the through-passage and can be connected to a mating piece which can be positioned at least partially in the other cutout and is fixedly connected to the temperature-control element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Inventors: Armin Steck, Felix Brendecke, Johannes Foth, Tamas Gyulai
  • Patent number: 11081752
    Abstract: A square secondary battery includes an electrode body including a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate, a square outer package housing the electrode body, a metal sealing plate sealing an opening of the square outer package, and a positive electrode collector electrically connected to the positive electrode plate and the sealing plate. The positive electrode collector includes a base portion disposed to oppose the sealing plate, and a lead portion extending from an edge portion of the base portion towards the electrode body. In a short direction of the sealing plate, a boundary between the base portion and the lead portion is positioned on a first side with respect to a center of the sealing plate, and a connection between the sealing plate and the base portion of the positive electrode collector is offset to a second side with respect to the center of the sealing plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: SANYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yohei Muroya, Shinichirou Yoshida, Hiroshi Maesono
  • Patent number: 11075405
    Abstract: An electrolyte according to the invention includes a first electrolyte portion, in which one or more types of elements among the elements constituting a crystalline lithium composite metal oxide represented by the compositional formula (1) are substituted with a first metal element having a crystal radius of 78 pm or more, and an amorphous second electrolyte portion, which contains Li and one or more types of second metal elements contained in the first electrolyte portion other than Li. Li7(La3?xNdx)Zr2O12??(1) In the formula, x satisfies the following formula: 0.0<x?0.6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hitoshi Yamamoto, Tomofumi Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 11075423
    Abstract: A battery submodule carrier includes a monolithic cell tray configured to accommodate a plurality of aligned battery cells; a plurality of cell retainers configured to retain the battery cells within the cell tray; and a plurality of tray fasteners configured to mount the cell tray to a battery system carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ralph Wuensche, Stephan Klomberg, Thomas Brandner, Thomas Renger
  • Patent number: 11063261
    Abstract: Provided are an electrode capable of maintaining electrical conductivity during elongation and shrinkage, a method for manufacturing the same, and electrochemical device including the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignees: UNIST(ULSAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY), POSTECH ACADEMY-INDUSTRY FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Soo Jin Park, Woo Jin Song, So Hyeon Bae, Un Yong Jeong, Jun Hyuk Song
  • Patent number: 11056727
    Abstract: Many embodiments involve rechargeable battery assemblies that are forklift-battery-sized but that comprise multiple removable battery modules. The removable battery modules are individually rechargeable and are interchangeable with each other. A housing contains six battery modules installed vertically on the front side of the assembly, with their electrical and data connections occurring within the housing on the rear side. Assemblies will be two sided so that the system has two racks with six modules per rack. The handles of each module are collapsible and on the top edges of the overall assembly so that they are readily accessible during removal. Each battery module has an integrated battery supervisor system (BSS). A Battery Operating System Supervisor (BOSS) module processor serves as a battery management system for the all the battery modules. The BOSS module grants permissions to battery modules to enable them to connect and disconnect from busbars at the appropriate times to prevent electrical issues.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: EControls, LLC
    Inventors: Kennon Guglielmo, Adam Schumann, Brent Ludwig, Matthew Martin
  • Patent number: 11056721
    Abstract: There is provided a method for producing an electrode body including a current collection foil, an electrode mixture layer, a heat resistant layer, and a separator layer are laminated in this order. The method includes applying a liquid heat resistant material forming the heat resistant layer to the electrode mixture layer on an electrode plate that is obtained by forming an electrode mixture layer on the current collection foil and disposing the porous separator layer on the liquid heat resistant material before the liquid heat resistant material according to the application is dried after applying the liquid heat resistant material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masakazu Umehara
  • Patent number: 11038210
    Abstract: A battery system includes a cell, and an integrated circuit and flexible circuitry on and electrically isolated from a container of the cell. The flexible circuitry is arranged with the cell and integrated circuit to form a dipole antenna that wirelessly transmits signals from the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Benjamin A. Tabatowski-Bush, John Paul Gibeau, Chingchi Chen
  • Patent number: 11031604
    Abstract: Provided is a catalyst having excellent gas transportability. Disclosed is a catalyst comprising a catalyst support and a catalyst metal supported on the catalyst support, wherein the catalyst includes pores having a radius of less than 1 nm and pores having a radius of 1 nm or more, wherein a pore volume of the pores having a radius of less than 1 nm is 0.3 cc/g support or more or a mode radius of a pore distribution of the pores having a radius of less than 1 nm is 0.3 nm or more and less than 1 nm, and wherein the catalyst metal is supported inside the pores having a radius of 1 nm or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Mashio, Yoshihisa Furuya, Ken Akizuki, Atsushi Ohma
  • Patent number: 11024898
    Abstract: A method of performing a high-temperature aging process of a rechargeable cell (10) comprising an anode (12), a cathode (16), an electrolyte (22) and a separator (20), is provided. The method includes heating a solid electrolyte interface (24) formed on the anode (12) to a predetermined temperature at which a saturated ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte interface (24) is elevated, and holding the solid electrolyte interface (24) at the predetermined temperature for a predetermined minimum time at which ionic conductivity of the SEI becomes saturated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignees: TOYOTA MOTOR EUROPE, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashi Miura, Stephane Cotte, Kitayoshi Masanori
  • Patent number: 11024913
    Abstract: A battery module according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an array of battery cells, a compression structure including a first wall and a second wall, at least one conduit configured to convey fluid adjacent the array, and a tension member connected to the first wall and the second wall. The tension member is adjacent the at least one conduit. This disclosure also relates to an electrified vehicle and a method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Rajaram Subramanian, Yongcai Wang, Pax Daniel Maguire, Bhaskara Boddakayala, John Jardine