Intelligent battery safety management

• US 20090088992A1
• Filed: 09/29/2007
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Nguyen, Don J., Matsumura, Naoki, Otani, Nobuhiro, Hamaji, Kiyohiro, Li, Peter T., Keates, Andrew William
• Granted Patent: US 7,751,994 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/63
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/378 specially adapted for the type of battery or accumulator
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4221 with battery type recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/48 Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00036 Charger exchanging data with battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00047 with provisions for charging different types of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0029 with safety or protection devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A method and apparatus for intelligent battery safety management. Some embodiments of a method for managing battery operation may include receiving a battery pack in a device, where the battery pack is rechargeable and includes a battery cell. In some embodiments data may be collected regarding the operation of the battery cell in the device, and the collected data may be compared with a set of battery reference data. In some embodiments a determination may be made whether the battery cell is non-authentic or defective based at least in part on the comparison between the collected data and the battery reference data.

Claims

1. A method for managing battery operation comprising:

receiving a battery pack in a device, the battery pack being rechargeable, the battery pack including a battery cell;

collecting data regarding the operation of the battery cell in the device;

comparing the collected data for the battery cell with a set of battery reference data; and

determining whether the battery cell is non-authentic or defective based at least in part on the comparison between the collected data and the battery reference data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data collected for the battery cell includes data regarding the charging, discharging, or both charging and discharging of the battery cell.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the reference data via a connection to the Internet, an intranet, or other data source.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference data includes one or more of the group comprising data regarding a battery that is subject to a recall and data regarding a battery that is defective.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising halting charging of the battery pack and allowing the battery pack to discharge to a safe voltage if the battery cell is non-authentic or defective.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the battery pack is authentic for the device using a battery control unit for the battery pack.

6. The method of claim 6, further comprising notifying a user regarding a finding that the battery cell is non-authentic or defective.

8. A battery system for a device comprising:

a battery charger to provide power to a rechargeable battery pack, the battery pack including a battery control unit and one or more battery cells; and

a battery management system, the battery management system to collect data regarding the operation of the one or more battery cells and to determine whether any of the battery cells are non-authentic or defective based at least in part on a comparison of the collected data to a set of reference data.

9. The battery system of claim 8, wherein the battery management system includes a connection to the Internet, an intranet, or other data source, and wherein the battery management system obtains an update to the reference data using the connection.

10. The battery system of claim 9, wherein the update to the reference data includes data regarding recalled batteries or other defective batteries.

11. The battery system of claim 8, wherein the collected data includes charge data, discharge data, or both for the one or more battery cells.

12. The battery system of claim 8, wherein the battery management system is to halt the charging of the battery pack by the battery charger if there is a determination that a battery cell of the one or more battery cells is non-authentic or defective.

13. The battery system of claim 8, wherein the battery management system is to notify an operating system of the device if there is a determination that a battery cell of the one or more battery cells is non-authentic or defective.

14. The battery system of claim 8, wherein the device is a mobile computing device.