Patents Examined by Yalkew Fantu
  • Patent number: 12283840
    Abstract: Apparatuses, systems, and methods are disclosed for solar-powered battery charging. In a solar battery pack, one or more solar panels may be coupled to a foldable housing. A battery is also coupled to the housing. Charge control circuitry is electrically coupled to the solar panels and the battery. The charge control circuitry is configured to control power flow from the solar panels to the battery based on one or more predetermined characteristics of the solar panels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: INERGY HOLDINGS, LLC
    Inventors: Sean Luangrath, Zachary Blume
  • Patent number: 12283842
    Abstract: A Radio Transceiver is described herein, which according to one embodiment, includes a solar panel, a battery and an advanced power management circuit operably connected to the solar panel and the battery. The advanced power management circuit is configured to receive electrical energy from the solar panel and the battery. A supercapacitor is operably connected to the advanced power management circuit and configured to receive electrical energy from the advanced power management circuit. A communications module is coupled to the supercapacitor. The Radio Transceiver can be powered by measuring a supercapacitor voltage using the advanced power management circuit; determining whether the supercapacitor voltage is above a first threshold voltage and below a second threshold voltage; and charging the supercapacitor using at least one of the solar panel and the battery based on whether the supercapacitor voltage is above the first threshold voltage and below the second threshold voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: CRESCONET, LLC
    Inventors: Marius Chilom, Szabolcs Zigovszki, John Stafford
  • Patent number: 12280485
    Abstract: A battery connector, an electrical combination and methods. The electrical combination may include a battery connector including a housing with a support portion for a battery pack, and a circuit supported by the housing, the circuit including a universal serial bus (USB) input terminal connectable to a USB cable for receiving power, a charging terminal connectable to a pack terminal of the battery pack, and a battery charging portion operable to receive power from the USB input terminal and to output a charging current to the charging terminal to charge the battery pack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew R. Polakowski, Gareth Mueckl, Justin D. Dorman, Patrick S. Lueck, Douglas G. Schwartz
  • Patent number: 12283836
    Abstract: Uses of artificial intelligence in battery technology including a method that includes receiving input data associated with at least one sensor. The method includes executing at least one trained model by a processor. Executing the trained model comprises providing the input data to the at least one trained model to generate a model output. The method further includes determining, based on the model output, whether to initiate or terminate selectively charging a first battery cell of a battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: SPARKCOGNITION, INC.
    Inventor: Syed Mohammad Amir Husain
  • Patent number: 12269355
    Abstract: Provided are a charging device and a vehicle capable of reducing the amount of noise flowing into a quick-charging facility. The pair of charging lines connecting the quick-charging facility (20) to an onboard battery (30) are referred to as quick-charging lines, and each of these quick-charging lines is provided with a relay (16-1, 16-2). Each relay (16-1, 16-2) is used to switch the current flowing in the respective quick-charging line on and off, the current being switched on during quick-charge and being switched off during normal charging. Each quick-charging line has a Y-capacitor (17) connected thereto closer to a QC port (15) than the respective relay (16-1, 16-2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: PANASONIC AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shuhei Chizuwa
  • Patent number: 12272962
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for controlling wireless charging, and a terminal device. The method includes: obtaining a charging power and a temperature of the terminal device; determining an operating mode of the wireless charging system in the terminal device based on the charging power and the temperature according to a preset rule, in which the preset rule includes at least two control rules and operating modes corresponding to the at least two control rules respectively; and controlling the wireless charging system to enter the operating mode corresponding to one of the at least two control rules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yongxiu Hu, Guangshuai Lu
  • Patent number: 12266799
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a monitoring system may monitor a selected number of battery packs residing within a battery energy storage system. The monitoring system may include a plurality of battery pack monitoring devices each configured to monitor a battery pack. In an embodiment, the battery pack monitoring device may include a battery pack monitoring controller having a memory and a processor. The battery pack monitoring device may also include a voltage sensor, an ambient temperature sensor, an electric current sensor, a cell voltage sensor, and a cell temperature sensor, each coupled to the processor of the battery pack monitoring controller. The measured voltages, temperatures, and electric current may be stored in the memory of the battery pack monitoring controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: Powin, LLC
    Inventor: Virgil Lee Beaston
  • Patent number: 12266960
    Abstract: A battery pack charger that includes a housing and a plurality of battery receptacles supported by the housing that are configured to receive a battery pack. The charger includes a plurality of charging circuits connected to the battery receptacles and configured to transmit power to the plurality of battery receptacles. The charger includes at least one sensor to sense available power from a power source. The charger includes a controller operable to receive a signal from the at least one sensor indicative of the available power from the power source, receive signals from the plurality of charging circuits indicative of an amount of power needed by the charging circuits to charge the battery packs, and reduce a charging power to at least one of the plurality of charging circuits when the amount of power needed by the charging circuits is greater than the available power from the power source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
    Inventor: Donald J. Truettner
  • Patent number: 12257914
    Abstract: A system and method for navigating a vehicle automatically from a current location to a destination location without a human operator is disclosed. The method includes identifying a vehicle location using global positioning system (GPS) data regarding the vehicle. Also included is identifying that the vehicle location is near or at a parking location. Then, using mapping data defined for the parking location. The mapping data at least in part is used to find a path at the parking location to avoid a collision of the vehicle with at least one physical structure when the vehicle is automatically moved at the parking location. The method includes instructing the electronics of the vehicle to proceed with controlling the vehicle to automatically move from the current location to the destination location at the parking location. The electronics use as input at least part of the mapping data and sensor data collected from around the vehicle by at least two vehicle sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Emerging Automotive, LLC
    Inventors: Angel A. Penilla, Albert S. Penilla
  • Patent number: 12257918
    Abstract: A charging system for autonomous transport vehicles including at least one charging contact disposed on each pick floor level of a storage and retrieval system, each of the at least one charging contact being located at a transfer station, at least one power supply configured to supply power to the at least one charging contact, and a controller in communication with the transfer station and being configured to communicate information relating to a transfer of items between the transfer station and a predetermined one of the autonomous transport vehicles and to apply power from the power supply to the at least one charging contact for charging the predetermined autonomous transport vehicle corresponding to the transfer and located at the transfer station, wherein the controller is configured to supply power to the charging contacts simultaneously with the predetermined autonomous transport vehicle exchanging items related to the transfer at the transfer station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: SYMBOTIC LLC
    Inventors: Robert Sullivan, Dmitry Vasilyev
  • Patent number: 12255471
    Abstract: A method for operating a contactor (10) is described, wherein the contactor (10) comprises at least two contacts (18, 20, 22) electrically conductively connected to one another in a closed state of the contactor (10), having the method steps of partially charging an DC link capacitance (103) in electrical contact with the contactor (10) and closing the contactor (10).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Gergely Galamb
  • Patent number: 12244169
    Abstract: A charging device, comprising a first power converter configured to provide a first output current, a second power converter configured to provide a second output current, a switch coupled to an output of the first power converter and an output of the second power converter, a first socket coupled to the output of the first power converter, a second socket coupled to the output of the second power converter, and a power delivery (PD) controller configured to control a turn ON of the switch in response to a coupling of the first socket to a first powered device and an absence of coupling of the second socket to a second powered device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: POWER INTEGRATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Eng Hwee Quek, Aditya Jayant Kulkarni, Ran Li, Roland Sylvere Saint-Pierre
  • Patent number: 12230983
    Abstract: A smart battery balancer is provided that monitors the voltage output levels of two battery packs and switches current into a selected one of the batteries to maintain balanced voltage output levels. In one embodiment, first and second batteries are connected in series to generate a high voltage output. Current from the batteries is stored in an inductor that is connected to first and second switches. A switch control circuit is configured to generate drive signals to control the first and second switches. The drive signals close the first switch and open the second switch when an output voltage of the first battery is greater than an output voltage of the second battery. The drive signals open the first switch and close the second switch when the output voltage of the second battery is greater than the output voltage of the first battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2025
    Assignee: Motiv Power Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: James Michael Castelaz, Venkatesh Prasad Hanglur Narasimha
  • Patent number: 12230987
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present application provides a method for pre-charging a power conversion device and a power conversion device. The power conversion device is configured to perform power conversion between a charging pile and a traction battery, and the method includes: receiving, by the power conversion device, a first message sent by a battery management system of the traction battery, and the first message is configured to indicate that the battery management system is ready for charging; performing, by the power conversion device, a pre-charging, and the pre-charging includes: charging a capacitor in the power conversion device; and forwarding, by the power conversion device, the first message to the charging pile after the pre-charging is completed. The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application can ensure a normal charging process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2025
    Assignee: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY (HONG KONG) LIMITED
    Inventors: Weiping Sun, Zhimin Dan, Zhanliang Li, Shuyun Xiong, Yu Yan
  • Patent number: 12224603
    Abstract: Described herein is a battery system that allows a battery pack to operate in different modes at different times. Each of the different modes may provide its own set of functionality that affects how the battery pack operates and/or reacts to external input signals. A mode may change how the battery pack discharges power by, for example, altering whether terminals are enabled or disabled. A mode may change how the battery pack's hardware operates by, for example, disabling or enabling portions of the battery pack's hardware. A mode may change what battery-related services are provided by the battery pack and available to an end user by, for example, enabling or disabling the sending of battery status information from the battery pack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2024
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2025
    Assignee: Inventus Power, Inc.
    Inventors: Patrick James Trippel, William Tenorio, Ilyas Ayub, Tom Nguyen
  • Patent number: 12212180
    Abstract: Provided are a method and system for charging a battery using a fuel cell. The method includes: running the fuel cell; setting a voltage input from the fuel cell as a preset first input adapting voltage (1st IAV), when the input power from the fuel cell is lower than the output power to the battery; detecting whether an output current to the battery reaches a first low detect current (1st LDC) while the battery is being charged based on the first input adapting voltage; and resetting the first input adapting voltage based on a detection result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2024
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Kencoa Aviation
    Inventors: Dong Han Yoon, Hyeong Seog Kim
  • Patent number: 12212174
    Abstract: Recycling of an electrochemical energy storage device is provided. A remaining charge on the electrochemical energy storage device is determined. An impedance profile of the electrochemical energy storage device is determined for the remaining charge. The impedance profile includes an internal impedance of the electrochemical energy storage device at different charge levels from the remaining charge to a complete discharge. A variable discharge load is applied on the electrochemical energy storage device until the complete discharge. The variable discharge load varies with the internal impedance of the electrochemical energy storage device at the different charge levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Inventor: Pieter Adriaan Zwemer
  • Patent number: 12211648
    Abstract: An ultracapacitor assembly is provided. The ultracapacitor assembly includes a plurality of ultracapacitors. The ultracapacitor assembly further includes a first bus bar and a second bus bar. The second bus bar is spaced apart from the first bus bar. The ultracapacitor assembly includes a discharge resistor coupled between the first bus bar and the second bus bar. The ultracapacitor assembly further includes a first plurality of switching devices and a second plurality of switching devices. Each switching device in the first plurality of switching devices is coupled between the first bus bar and a corresponding ultracapacitor of the plurality of ultracapacitors to selectively couple the corresponding ultracapacitor the discharge resistor via the first bus bar. Each switching device in the second plurality of switching devices is coupled between the second bus bar and a corresponding ultracapacitor to selectively couple the corresponding ultracapacitor the discharge resistor via the second bus bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2025
    Assignee: Kyocera AVX Components Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph M. Hock
  • Patent number: 12206264
    Abstract: A charging apparatus includes a charging module, where the charging module is connected to a first terminal of a first selection module; a second terminal of the first selection module is connected to a first terminal of a first battery module, a third terminal of the first selection module is connected to a first terminal of a second battery module, in a case in which a first condition is satisfied, the first terminal of the first selection module is connected to the second terminal of the first selection module, and in a case in which a second condition is satisfied, the first terminal of the first selection module is connected to the third terminal of the first selection module; and a coulometer management module, connected to the first battery module and the second battery module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2025
    Assignee: VIVO MOBILE COMMUNICATION CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yongcheng Lan
  • Patent number: 12206273
    Abstract: A charger operable to charge a battery of an electric vehicle from an electric power grid. The charger includes a first connector unit operable to connect the charger to the electric power grid, an AC/DC converter, a set of filters provided between the first connector unit and the AC/DC converter, a second connector unit operable to connect the charger to the battery, and a configurator provided between the first connector unit and the set of filters, the configurator being provided with a set of switches and/or relays operable to switch between a three-phase operation and a single-phase operation to charge the battery from the electric power grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2025
    Assignee: Watt & Well
    Inventors: Nadim Sakr, Raul Iglesias