Battery cover assembly having integrated battery condition monitoring
First Claim
1. A battery cover assembly, comprising:
- a current measuring terminal assembly for measuring electrical current to and from a battery post, wherein the current measuring terminal assembly comprises an electrically conductive first collar coupled to a first battery post of a battery;
an electrically conductive first terminal for coupling to an electrical load;
a resistor having a known resistance, the resistor being connected between the first collar and the first terminal, wherein current flow from the first battery post travels through the resistor in a first direction and current flow to the first battery post travels through the resistor in a second direction;
a first lead electrically coupled to a first end of the resistor proximate to the first collar, and a second lead electrically coupled to a second end of the resistor proximate to the first terminal;
an electrically conductive second collar coupled to a second battery post of the battery;
an electrically conductive second terminal for coupling to the electrical load;
a first electrical conductor connected between the second collar and the second terminal;
a third lead electrically coupled to the first electrical conductor approximate to the second collar; and
a current measuring device coupled to the first and second leads.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A battery cover assembly having integrated battery condition monitoring for measuring electrical current passing to and from a battery post, including an electrically conductive collar for connecting to a post of a battery, and an electrically conductive terminal for receiving a connector of a load. An electrically conductive resistor having a known resistance extends between outer surfaces of the collar and the terminal. The battery cover assembly is incorporated into a battery, which may also include a voltage measuring device connected between the outer surfaces of the collar and the terminal for measuring the voltage drop across the resistor, memory for storing the known resistance of the resistor, and a digital processor programmed to receive the measured voltage drop from the voltage measuring device, retrieve the known resistance from the memory, and calculate current flow through the resistor based on the measured voltage drop and the known resistance, whereby current flow to and from the battery can be measured. A temperature measuring device may also be incorporated to measure temperature of the resistor located between the outer surfaces of the collar and the terminal. A resistance-temperature table may be stored in the memory and used to calculate the actual resistance of the resistor and then to compensate the current value from the voltage measured across the resistor.
121 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A battery cover assembly, comprising:
a current measuring terminal assembly for measuring electrical current to and from a battery post, wherein the current measuring terminal assembly comprises an electrically conductive first collar coupled to a first battery post of a battery;
an electrically conductive first terminal for coupling to an electrical load;
a resistor having a known resistance, the resistor being connected between the first collar and the first terminal, wherein current flow from the first battery post travels through the resistor in a first direction and current flow to the first battery post travels through the resistor in a second direction;
a first lead electrically coupled to a first end of the resistor proximate to the first collar, and a second lead electrically coupled to a second end of the resistor proximate to the first terminal;
an electrically conductive second collar coupled to a second battery post of the battery;
an electrically conductive second terminal for coupling to the electrical load;
a first electrical conductor connected between the second collar and the second terminal;
a third lead electrically coupled to the first electrical conductor approximate to the second collar; and
a current measuring device coupled to the first and second leads. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
Specification