Patents Examined by Wyatt McConnell
  • Patent number: 9786946
    Abstract: A solid-state battery comprising a stack including at least one unit cell including a positive electrode layer including a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode layer including a negative electrode active material, and a solid electrolyte layer laminated between the positive and negative electrode layers, and an outer covering accommodating the stack, wherein the solid-state battery further including a pressure receiving member provided on at least a part of a periphery of the outer covering, and wherein the pressure receiving member has a thickness of less than a total thickness of the stack and the outer covering in a stacking direction of the unit cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomoharu Sasaoka, Norihiro Ose, Hajime Hasegawa, Kazuhito Kato, Kengo Haga, Daichi Kosaka
  • Patent number: 9786938
    Abstract: A fuel cell system according to the present invention comprises: a fuel cell including a membrane-electrode assembly in which electrodes, each having a catalyst layer, are arranged on both surfaces of a polymer electrolyte membrane; and a control apparatus that performs performance recovery processing for the catalyst layer by decreasing an output voltage of the fuel cell to a predetermined voltage, wherein the control apparatus predicts a timing of an output increase request being made to the fuel cell and determines the necessity and content of the performance recovery processing based on a result of the prediction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaaki Matsusue, Kotaro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 9721734
    Abstract: A graphene-nanomaterial composite, an electrode and an electric device including the graphene-nanomaterial composite and a method of manufacturing the graphene-nanomaterial composite include a graphene stacked structure including a plurality of graphene films stacked on one another; and a nanomaterial between the plurality of graphene films and bonded to at least one of the plurality of graphene films by a chemical bond.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chong-joon Ryu, Nae-young Jung, Soon-geun Kwon, Jae-young Choi
  • Patent number: 9722277
    Abstract: An energy storage device comprising: an anode; and a solute-containing electrolyte composition wherein the solute concentration in the electrolyte composition is sufficiently high to form a regenerative solid electrolyte interface layer on a surface of the anode only during charging of the energy storage device, wherein the regenerative layer comprises at least one solute or solvated solute from the electrolyte composition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
    Inventors: Jie Xiao, Dongping Lu, Yuyan Shao, Wendy D. Bennett, Gordon L. Graff, Jun Liu, Ji-Guang Zhang
  • Patent number: 9716293
    Abstract: Examples of the present technology may include a method of making a non-woven fiber mat. The wet nonwoven fiber mat may include a first plurality of first glass fibers and a second plurality of second glass fibers. The first plurality of first glass fibers may have nominal diameters of less than 5 ?m, and the second plurality of second glass fibers may have nominal diameters of greater than 6 ?m. The method may further include curing the binder composition to produce the nonwoven fiber mat. The nonwoven fiber mat may have an average 40 wt. % sulfuric acid wick height of between about 1 cm and about 5 cm after exposure to 40 wt. % sulfuric acid for 10 minutes conducted according to method ISO8787, and the nonwoven fiber mat may have a total normalized tensile strength greater than 2 (lbf/in)/(lb/sq) for a sq (100 ft2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: Johns Manville
    Inventors: Zhihua Guo, Souvik Nandi, Jawed Asrar, Albert G Dietz, III
  • Patent number: 9711818
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems for the electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen, having redox mediator/redox catalyst pairs and an electrolyte solution in contact with an electrode. The redox mediator is included in the electrolyte solution, and the redox catalyst may be included in the electrolyte solution, or alternatively, may be in contact with the electrolyte solution. In one form a cobalt redox catalyst is used with a quinone redox mediator. In another form a nitrogen oxide redox catalyst is used with a nitroxyl type redox mediator. The systems can be used in electrochemical cells wherein neither the anode nor the cathode comprise an expensive metal such as platinum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: WISCONSIN ALUMNI RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Shannon S. Stahl, James B. Gerken, Colin W. Anson
  • Patent number: 9698420
    Abstract: The present invention relates to Li-Ni composite oxide particles that exhibit a high initial discharge capacity and are excellent in thermal stability when used as a positive electrode active substance for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, and a process for producing the Li-Nicomposite oxide particles. The Li-Ni composite oxide particles of the present invention have a composition of LixNi1?y?a?bCoyM1aM2bO2 wherein x, y, a and b represent 1.00?x?1.10; 0<y?0.25; 0<a?0.25; and 0?b?0.10, respectively; M1 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al and Mn; and M2 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Zr and Mg, in which a product of a metal occupancy (%) of lithium sites of the Li-Ni composite oxide as determined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction thereof and a crystallite size (nm) of the Li-Ni composite oxide as determined by the Rietveld analysis is not less than 700 and not more than 1400.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: TODA KOGYO CORP.
    Inventors: Kazutoshi Ishizaki, Kazuhiko Kikuya, Takahiko Sugihara, Teruaki Santoki, Takamitsu Harada, Masaki Nishimura, Yuji Mishima, Hideaki Sadamura
  • Patent number: 9692022
    Abstract: A rechargeable battery that reduces a production cost by reducing a number of processes of a case is provided. The rechargeable battery includes: a case that houses an electrode assembly; a cap plate that is coupled to an opening of the case; and an electrode terminal that is electrically connected to the electrode assembly to be provided in the cap plate, wherein the cap plate has an inclined portion at a side surface of an outer edge and a modified groove at a corner of an outer surface and is coupled to the opening with the inclined portion while the modified groove becomes narrow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chi-Young Lee, Myung-Jae Jang
  • Patent number: 9692068
    Abstract: A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell; a coolant path connected to the fuel cell and allowing a coolant that cools the fuel cell to flow therethrough; a temperature detection unit configured to detect a temperature of the coolant in the coolant path; a temperature correction unit configured to calculate a temperature correction value by correcting the temperature of the coolant detected by the temperature detection unit; and a lower limit voltage control unit configured to control a lower limit voltage of the fuel cell based on the temperature correction value, wherein the temperature correction unit calculates the temperature correction value based on a following equation: T filt = T filt ? _ ? old + T - T filt ? _ ? old ? where Tfilt represents the temperature correction value, Tfilt_old represents a last temperature correction value, T represents the temperature of the coolant, and ? represents a coefficient, and the coefficient when the temperature of the coolant is less than a
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yohei Okamoto, Yutaka Tano, Mitsuhiro Nada, Tomohiko Kaneko
  • Patent number: 9692048
    Abstract: A positive electrode collector includes a main body layer and a surface layer. The surface layer is provided at least at a portion of a surface of the main body layer where the positive electrode mixture layer is provided, and is made of a carbon material. A first positive electrode active material is made of first lithium complex oxide having a layered crystal structure. A second positive electrode active material includes a particle made of second lithium complex oxide having an olivine crystal structure, a carbon film provided at least at a part of a surface of the particle, and alginic acid salt provided at least at a part of a surface of the carbon film. A conducting agent in the positive electrode mixture layer includes a carbon particle and alginic acid salt provided at least at a part of a surface of the carbon particle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroya Umeyama, Yusuke Fukumoto, Hideki Sano, Yuji Yokoyama, Tatsuya Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 9680153
    Abstract: A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a power generating element including a positive electrode having a positive electrode active material layer and a negative electrode having a negative electrode active material layer. A main plane having the smaller area, between a main plane of the positive electrode active material layer and a main plane of the negative electrode active material layer, has an approximately rectangular shape with a short side having a length of 132 mm or more. The positive electrode active material layer and the negative electrode active material layer are provided such that the main plane of the positive electrode active material layer and the main plane of the negative electrode active material layer face each other with a separator interposed therebetween, and the positive electrode active material layer contains a binder in an amount of 2 mass % or more and 3.5 mass % or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: AUTOMOTIVE ENERGY SUPPLY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuji Tanjo, Yoshihiro Niida
  • Patent number: 9673466
    Abstract: A fuel cell module includes a first area where an exhaust gas combustor and a start-up combustor are provided, a second area where a reformer and a heat exchanger are provided, and a third area where an evaporator is provided. A stress relaxing portion for relaxing heat stress is provided at least along a border between the first area and the second area, along a border between the second area and the third area, or along an outermost portion of the third area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Yoshimine, Tetsuya Ogawa
  • Patent number: 9660262
    Abstract: A positive electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to the present invention includes particles A of a lamellar type lithium transition metal oxide and particles B of a spinel type lithium transition metal oxide, as a positive active material, at a ratio within the range of A:B=20:80 to 80:20 (weight ratio), in which a particle size distribution of the positive active material has a peak based on the particles A and a peak based on the particles B within the range of 1 to 50 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: GS Yuasa International Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasushi Uebo, Keisuke Anami
  • Patent number: 9658292
    Abstract: A method for abnormality detection in an energy unit includes passively detecting an abnormality in an energy unit by detecting electromagnetic radiation generated by the abnormality, the energy unit comprising at least one of an electrical energy unit and an electrochemical energy unit. A method for detecting an abnormality in an energy unit includes (a) applying a signal to the energy unit, (b) performing a plurality of measurements, at a respective plurality of different locations within the energy unit, of a response of the energy unit to the signal, and (c) processing the plurality of measurements to identify the abnormality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Farshid Roumi, Jamshid Roumi
  • Patent number: 9647303
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an overheat prevention energy storage system preventing self from overheating, comprising a heat dissipating external surface, wherein at least a portion of the external surface is coated with at least one layer of heat dissipation coating of high emissivity. The present invention further discloses a method for preventing overheat of the energy storage system and a method for forming at least one layer of heat dissipation coating of high emissivity onto at least part of an external surface of the energy storage system or assemblies thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignees: National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy, Shenhua Group Corporation Limited
    Inventors: Hong Jin, George H. Brilmyer, Michael T. Nispel, Dongxue Ren
  • Patent number: 9634342
    Abstract: A fuel cell system estimates a characteristic of an electric power generation of a fuel cell before a supply of an electric power is permitted from the fuel cell to an outside load, restricts or prohibits characteristic of the electric power generation of the fuel cell when a temperature of the fuel cell is equal to or lower than a first prescribed temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kiyoshi Hoshi
  • Patent number: 9632143
    Abstract: Method for evaluating the state of charge of a battery including at least one phase of estimating the state of charge of the battery by an estimation algorithm and at least one phase of resetting the estimation algorithm implemented during the estimation phase, which includes (i) detecting a real value of a state of charge of the battery at an instant, by (a) charging or discharging the battery, between first and second levels of state of charge; (b) measuring the voltage across the terminals of the battery during this charging or discharging; (c) evaluating the time derivative of the voltage; (d) detecting at least one particular point of this derivative corresponding to a known and predefined real value of state of charge, and (ii) resetting the estimation algorithm knowing the real value of state of charge at the given instant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventor: Tony Delaplagne
  • Patent number: 9634335
    Abstract: A coated interconnect for a solid oxide fuel cell including an interconnect substrate comprising iron and chromium and a first metal oxide coating formed over an air side of the interconnect substrate. The first metal oxide coating is formed from powder particles, wherein substantially all the powder particles have a particle size less than 22 microns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: BLOOM ENERGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Adil A. Ashary
  • Patent number: 9629270
    Abstract: A vehicle data recording unit for installation in a motor vehicle having a housing. Within the housing is an electronic memory and control unit and a battery receptacle for receiving a buffer battery for the memory and control unit. The battery receptacle has a battery compartment delimited by a first stop and a second stop, situated opposite the first stop, for holding a first buffer battery between the first stop and the second stop. To make it easy to use buffer batteries of different physical sizes, a third stop is arranged between the first stop and the second stop, which has a smaller length than the first buffer battery, in the battery compartment between the third stop and the first stop, such that optionally the first buffer battery or the second buffer battery can be held in the battery compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventor: Torsten Wahler
  • Patent number: 9620764
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes a battery module having a housing with a wall that includes an aperture in the wall. The battery module also includes an electrochemical cell having a terminal end and a base end opposite the terminal end. The electrochemical cell is disposed within the housing such that the base end is positioned proximate to the aperture of the wall. Further, a heat sink of the battery module is engaged with the aperture and includes cooling fins extending outwardly from the heat sink a first distance from an external surface of the wall. The battery module also includes feet of the housing extending outwardly from the wall a second distance from the external surface of the wall. The second distance is greater than the first distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventor: Richard M. DeKeuster