Abstract: A battery pack with a housing and a plurality of cells disposed in the housing and electrically coupled to provide a storage capacity between about 2.17 and 2.67 ampere hours with an equivalent lithium content between about 6.5 and 8.0. The plurality of cells includes a first battery disposed in the housing and including a first plurality of cells connected in series and a second battery disposed in the housing and including a second plurality of cells connected in series, wherein the first battery and the second battery are operable in a storage mode and a use mode.

Abstract: A cordless power tool has a housing which includes a mechanism to couple with a removable battery pack. The battery pack includes one or more battery cells as well as a system to dissipate heat from the battery pack.

Abstract: A battery pack for a cordless power tool and a cordless power tool and battery pack combination includes the battery pack having a retention member that pivotally engages a retention member of the power tool and a latch system in which one of the battery pack and power tool has a ball and the other of the power tool and battery pack has a latch that engages the ball. Spring biased actuators may be used to open the latch to enable insertion or release of the ball from the latch.

Abstract: A battery pack for a cordless power has a plurality of battery cells disposed in a housing. In an embodiment of the invention, battery cells are interconnected with a laminated plate structure having non-conductive layers interspersed with conductive layers, at least one of the conductive layers connected to the battery cells to interconnect them. In an embodiment of the invention, battery cells in a battery pack are interconnected with a flexible printed circuit board having conductive traces thereon that are attached to the battery cells to interconnect them. In an embodiment of the invention, a cordless power tool has one or the other of the foregoing battery packs. In an embodiment of the invention, the battery cells are Lithium Ion battery cells.

Abstract: A dual-mode system for inexpensively operating electrically powered double-insulated devices (12), such as hand-held power tools and appliances. The system includes a cordless battery power module (14) that supplies the power and current demands of the device (12) in a cordless mode or a chopper module (21) that supplies the necessary power and current demands in a physical envelope commensurate in size and interchangeable with that of the battery power module (14). The chopper module (21) is provided with a non-filtered high efficiency converter circuit that allows the chopper module (21) to generate the power and current required by the driven device (12). The inductance of the motor (11) for the driven device (12) is used to filter the output of the chopper module (21). Eliminating the output filter from the chopper module (16) significantly reduces the cost and size of the module (16).