Method and apparatus for testing a battery
First Claim
1. A method of testing an electrical storage battery of the type having a pair of output terminals, to obtain information relating to a fault condition and/or characteristics thereof, said method comprising the steps of supplying to said battery a gradually increasing charging current to increase the voltage of the battery toward and beyond the gas voltage level thereof, followed by a gradually decreasing charging current, said currents being supplied over a predetermined current-level range;
- measuring said voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the increasing and decreasing currents supplied thereto while said currents are being supplied;
obtaining the dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop of said battery as a function of the measured voltage and the increasing and decreasing currents supplied over said predetermined range, said dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop having a first portion produced in response to said increasing charging current and a second portion produced in response to said decreasing charging current; and
determining the operating condition, including a fault condition, and/or characteristics of said battery as a function of the obtained voltage-current characteristic loop.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The operating condition and/or characteristics of a battery is tested by obtaining the dynamic voltage-current characteristic of the battery as a function of the charge condition thereof. A controllably varying charging current is supplied to the battery, and the voltage produced across the battery while that current is supplied is measured. The dynamic voltage-current characteristic is obtained as a function of the measured voltage and supplied current. This voltage-current characteristic is compared to predetermined voltage-current characteristics representing batteries of the type being tested in order to determine the operating condition and/or characteristics of the battery under test.
109 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of testing an electrical storage battery of the type having a pair of output terminals, to obtain information relating to a fault condition and/or characteristics thereof, said method comprising the steps of supplying to said battery a gradually increasing charging current to increase the voltage of the battery toward and beyond the gas voltage level thereof, followed by a gradually decreasing charging current, said currents being supplied over a predetermined current-level range;
- measuring said voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the increasing and decreasing currents supplied thereto while said currents are being supplied;
obtaining the dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop of said battery as a function of the measured voltage and the increasing and decreasing currents supplied over said predetermined range, said dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop having a first portion produced in response to said increasing charging current and a second portion produced in response to said decreasing charging current; and
determining the operating condition, including a fault condition, and/or characteristics of said battery as a function of the obtained voltage-current characteristic loop. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- measuring said voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the increasing and decreasing currents supplied thereto while said currents are being supplied;
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12. A method of testing an electrical storage battery of the type having a pair of output terminals to obtain information relating to the charge condition, fault condition and operating characteristics thereof, said method comprising the steps of supplying a gradually increasing ramp charging current followed by a gradually decreasing ramp charging current to said battery;
- measuring the voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the ramp currents supplied thereto while said currents are being supplied;
comparing the measured voltage to predetermined standard voltages representing batteries of the type being tested and known to be in desirable operating condition; and
determining the charge condition, fault condition and operating characteristics of the battery under test as a function of said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
- measuring the voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the ramp currents supplied thereto while said currents are being supplied;
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15. A method of testing an electrical storage battery of the type having a pair of output terminals, to obtain information relating to a fault condition of said battery, said method comprising the steps of supplying a gradually increasing charging current followed by a gradually decreasing charging current to said battery;
- measuring the voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the charging currents supplied thereto while said charging currents are being supplied;
comparing the measured voltage to predetermined voltages representing predetermined fault conditions in batteries of the type being tested; and
determining the existence of a fault condition in the battery under test as a function of said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (16)
- measuring the voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the charging currents supplied thereto while said charging currents are being supplied;
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17. A method of testing an electrical storage battery of the type having a pair of output terminals, to obtain information relating to the operating characteristics thereof, said method comprising the steps of storing standard voltage level data representing respective battery charge levels;
- storing voltage-current characteristic loop data corresponding to curves of the relationship between changes in battery voltage as current supplied to the battery varies, said voltage-current characteristic data representing respective battery charge capacities;
supplying a controllably varying charging current to said battery;
measuring the voltage produced across said battery output terminals in response to the current supplied thereto while said current is being supplied;
obtaining the dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop of said battery as a function of the measured voltage;
comparing said obtained voltage-current characteristic loop to the stored voltage-current characteristic loop data;
comparing the voltage measured when said charging current is substantially zero to said stored standard voltage level data; and
indicating the charge capacity and charge level of the battery under test as a function of said comparisons.
- storing voltage-current characteristic loop data corresponding to curves of the relationship between changes in battery voltage as current supplied to the battery varies, said voltage-current characteristic data representing respective battery charge capacities;
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18. Apparatus for testing a battery comprising energizing means coupled to said battery to supply energy thereto;
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross and current thereto; and
control means coupled to said energizing means and to said sensing means for supplying a gradually increasing level of energy followed by a gradually decreasing level of energy to said battery and responsive to at least one of the sensed voltage and current to obtain the dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop of said battery, said dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop having a first portion produced in response to said increasing level of energy and a second portion produced in response to said decreasing level of energy, said control means being operative to determine the charge condition of said battery as a function of said dynamic voltage-current characteristic loop. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross and current thereto; and
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25. Apparatus for testing a battery comprising energizing means coupled to said battery to selectively supply current and voltage thereto;
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross; and
data processing means programmed to control said energizing means to supply a gradually increasing current followed by a gradually decreasing current to said battery and to determine the charge condition of said battery as a function of the sensed voltage. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross; and
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32. Apparatus for testing a battery comprising energizing means coupled to said battery to selectively supply current and voltage thereto;
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross; and
data processing means including memory means for storing charge capacity data representing charge capacities of different batteries, gas voltage data representing the gas voltage levels of said batteries, charge level data representing the charge levels of said batteries as a function of the battery voltage thereof, and fault data representing predetermined battery fault conditions as a function of battery voltage;
said data processing means being programmed to control said energizing means to supply a test current having gradually increasing and decreasing portions and to obtain a dynamic voltage-current characteristic as a function of said supplied current and the voltage across said battery sensed by said sensing means while said current is supplied;
said data processing means being further programmed to determine the number of cells included in said battery as a function of said sensed voltage when said current is substantially zero;
said data processing means being further programmed to determine the slope of said dynamic voltage-current characteristic and to derive the charge capacity of said battery as a function of the determined number of cells and determined slope;
said data processing means being further programmed to compare said sensed voltage when said current is substantially zero to said stored charge level data to derive the charge level of said battery; and
said data processing means being further programmed to compare said obtained dynamic voltage-current characteristic to said fault data to indicate the presence of a battery fault condition.
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross; and
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33. A method of testing an electrical storage battery of the type having a pair of output terminals, to obtain information relating to a fault condition of said battery, said method comprising the steps of supplying a gradually increasing charging current followed by a gradually decreasing charging current to said battery;
- measuring the voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the charging currents supplied thereto while said charging currents are being supplied;
deriving the dynamic voltage-current characteristic of said battery as a function of the measured voltage and the supplied current;
comparing the measured voltage to a predetermined gas voltage level;
detecting a discontinuity in the slope of said dynamic voltage-current characteristic when said measured voltage is less than said predetermined gas voltage level; and
determining the existence of a fault condition in the battery under test if a discontinuity n said slope of said dynamic voltage-current characteristic is detected when said measured voltage is less than said predetermined gas voltage level.
- measuring the voltage produced across said pair of output terminals of said battery in response to the charging currents supplied thereto while said charging currents are being supplied;
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34. Apparatus for testing a battery comprising energizing means coupled to said battery to supply energy thereto;
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross and current thereto; and
control means coupled to said energizing means and to said sensing means for supplying an increasing level of energy followed by a gradually decreasing level of energy to said battery and responsive to said sensed voltage and supplied current to obtain the dynamic voltage-current characteristic of said battery, said control means comprising programmed data processing means for determining said dynamic voltage-current characteristic, for comparing said sensed voltage to a predetermined gas voltage level, for detecting a discontinuity in the slope of said determined dynamic voltage-current characteristic when said sensed voltage is less than said predetermined gas voltage level, and for indicating a fault condition if said discontinuity in slope is detected when said sensed voltage is less than said predetermined gas voltage level.
- sensing means coupled to said battery to sense voltage thereacross and current thereto; and
Specification