Battery and Method of a Attaching Same to a Garment

• US 20080220293A1
• Filed: 06/20/2006
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Marmaropoulos, George, Vu, Giang
• Granted Patent: US 10,461,306 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 429/10
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 1/002 adapted to accommodate electronic equipment patients' garments for medical monitoring A41D13/1281; luminous ornaments A41D27/085
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/50 Current conducting connections for cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/51 Connection only in series
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/512 Connection only in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/557 Plate-shaped terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/597 Protection against reversal of polarity
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/46 of flat cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6205 Two-part coupling devices held in engagement by a magnet
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/32 having magnetic fastener

Abstract

A thin battery (100) has a central portion (110) and two end portions (120). One of the two end portions includes a positive voltage connection (121) exposed on both the top and bottom surfaces of the battery. The other one of the two end portions includes a negative voltage connection (122) exposed on both the top and bottom surfaces of the battery. Each of the end portions (120) includes a magnetic element having a north magnetic pole on one of the top or bottom surface of the battery and a south magnetic pole on the other one of the top or bottom surface of the battery. Multiple batteries may be connected to each other through magnetic attraction. The battery may be securely attached and electrically connected to a garment (1000) using positive and negative conductive surfaces/contacts (1010, 1020) on a fiber layer of the garment and a corresponding magnetic element (1050) beneath the conductive surfaces/contacts that attracts and secures the battery in place.

Claims

1. A thin battery (100), comprising:

a central portion (110); and

two end portions (120), one of said two end portions including a positive voltage connection (121) exposed on both the top and bottom surfaces of the battery and the other one of said two end portions including a negative voltage connection (122) exposed on both the top and bottom surfaces of the battery,

wherein each of said end portions (120) includes a magnetic element having a north magnetic pole on one of the top or bottom surface of the battery and a south magnetic pole on the other one of the top or bottom surface of the battery.

2. A thin battery according to claim 1, wherein the thin battery is in the form of a thin strip having at least some flexibility.

3. A thin battery according to claim 1, wherein each magnetic element comprises magnetic particles dispersed throughout the end portion.

4. A thin battery according to claim 1, wherein each magnet element in the end portion comprises a discrete magnet (125).

5. A thin battery according to claim 4, wherein each discrete magnet in the end portion surrounds the voltage connection in the end portion.

6. A thin battery according to claim 1, wherein each magnetic element has a north magnetic pole oriented toward the top surface of said battery and a south magnetic pole oriented toward the bottom surface of said battery.

7. A thin battery according to claim 6, wherein said thin battery includes a removable insulative adhesive covering the top surface of the negative voltage connection and a removable insulative adhesive covering the bottom surface of the positive voltage connection.

8. A method of connecting at least two batteries (100), comprising:

providing two batteries, each battery configured according to claim 1; and

moving at least one end portion of each of the two batteries into a vertically adjacent position so that the magnetic elements in the end portions of the two batteries are magnetically attracted to each other and cause the batteries to come into contact with each other and creating an electrical connection between the voltage connections on the end portions of the two batteries.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the two batteries each further comprise removable insulative adhesive covering a voltage connection on said at least one end portion of the two batteries, the method further comprising:

removing the removable insulative adhesive prior to moving said at least one end portion of the two batteries into said vertically adjacent position.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the two batteries each comprise a second removable insulative adhesive covering the voltage connection on the other end portion of the two batteries,

wherein both end portions of the batteries are moved to be vertically adjacent so that the magnetic elements in the end portions are magnetically attracted to each other and cause the batteries to come into contact such that an electrical connection is made in said one end portion but prevented in the other end portion by the second removable insulative to connect the batteries in series.

11. A method according to claim 8, wherein only one end portion of the first battery having a negative voltage connection is moved into a vertically adjacent position with the end portion of the second battery having a positive voltage connection, without the end portion of the first battery having a positive voltage connection being vertically adjacent to the end portion of the second battery having a negative voltage connection, to connect the batteries in series.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein at least the end portion of a third battery having a positive voltage connection is moved to a position vertically adjacent the end portion of the second battery having a negative voltage connection to connect the first, second and third batteries in series.

13. A garment, comprising:

at least one layer of fabric (1000);

first and second conductive contact surfaces (1010, 1020) on said layer of fabric;

first and second conductive fibers tracks (1030, 1040) connected respectively to said first and second conductive contact surfaces; and

at least one magnetic element (1050) beneath the surface of said first and second conductive contact surfaces, said magnetic element providing a magnetic pole of a first polarity at the location of said first conductive contact surface and a magnetic pole of a second polarity at the location of said second conductive contact surface.

14. A garment according to claim 13, wherein the magnetic element is a single thin magnetic strip.

15. A garment according to claim 13, wherein the magnetic element comprises two different magnets.

16. A method of attaching a battery to a garment, said method comprising:

providing first and second conductive contact surfaces (1010, 1020) on the garment fabric (1000) and first and second conductive fibers tracks (1030, 1040) connected respectively to said first and second conductive contact surfaces; and

moving a battery, said battery having a first end portion (120) including a positive voltage connection (121) exposed on both the top and bottom surfaces of the battery and a second end portion including a negative voltage connection (122) exposed on both the top and bottom surfaces of the battery, such that its end portions are adjacent said first and second conductive contact surfaces,

wherein a magnetic attraction between magnetic elements in said first and second end portions of the battery and a magnetic element beneath the first and second conductive contact surfaces on the garment brings the voltage connections of the first and second end portions of the battery into contact with the first and second conductive contact surfaces on the garment.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the polarity of the magnetic element at the voltage connection of said first end portion of the battery is opposite to the polarity of the magnetic element at the voltage connection of said second end portion of the battery, and the polarity of the magnetic element at the first conductive contact surface of the garment is opposite to the polarity of the magnetic element at the second conductive contact surface, such that the battery can only be attached to the garment with the proper polarity.

18. A method according to claim 16, wherein a plurality of batteries are connected to each other in a vertically stacked arrangement utilizing said magnetic elements in end portions of said batteries, and said plurality of batteries are connected to said garment via said first and second conductive contact surfaces.