Method and apparatus for monitoring battery capacity
First Claim
1. A battery monitor for being associated with a battery and for monitoring the operating parameters of the battery, comprising:
- a time base generator for generating a time base;
a temperature sensor for monitoring the temperature of the battery;
a processor for determining from said time base generator and the output of said temperature sensor a temperature history of the battery;
a storage device associated with the battery for storing information corresponding to said temperature history; and
an output device for allowing access to said stored temperature history of the battery.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A battery detect circuit (32) is connected to the battery with the current input to the battery and extracted from the battery measured with a sense resistor (50) and then converted to charge and discharge pulses with a V/F converter (52). A microcontroller (64) is operable to increment a Nominal Available Charge (NAC) register (180) during a charge operation, and to increment a Discharge Count Register (DCR) (184) during a discharge operation. The NAC register (180) indicates the available charge, which value is output to a display (34). The maximum value to which the NAC value can rise is limited by a value stored in the last measured discharge register (182). This value represents the value stored in the DCR (184) whenever the battery is discharged from an apparent full state to a fully discharged state. This results in a qualified transfer to the LMD register (182) such that no knowledge of the actual battery charge is necessary.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A battery monitor for being associated with a battery and for monitoring the operating parameters of the battery, comprising:
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a time base generator for generating a time base; a temperature sensor for monitoring the temperature of the battery; a processor for determining from said time base generator and the output of said temperature sensor a temperature history of the battery; a storage device associated with the battery for storing information corresponding to said temperature history; and an output device for allowing access to said stored temperature history of the battery. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A battery-pack for containing a battery, comprising:
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a positive lead; a negative lead; a storage device for storing an available charge value that corresponds to the amount of charge stored in the battery; a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the battery; a compensation device for compensating said available charge value stored in said storage device as a function of the sensed temperature of the battery; and an access device for accessing said stored available charge value. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for monitoring the operating parameters of a rechargeable battery in a battery-pack, comprising the steps of:
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generating a time base in the battery-pack; sensing the temperature of the battery in the battery-pack; processing the time base and sensed temperature of the battery in the battery-pack to generate a temperature history of the battery; and storing the temperature history in a storage device such that it can be accessed at a later time. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 42, 43)
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33. A method for monitoring a battery in a battery-pack having positive and negative leads extending external to the battery and interfaced with the positive and negative terminals of the batteries, respectively, comprising the steps of:
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providing a storage device; storing in the storage device an available charge value that corresponds to the amount of charge stored in the battery; providing a temperature sensor; sensing with the temperature sensor the temperature of the battery; and compensating the available charge value stored in the storage device as a function of the sensed temperature of the battery. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification