Battery pack with a monitoring circuit for a known system
First Claim
1. A removable battery pack for use in a system, the battery pack having first and second terminals which it disables when the system is an unknown system, the system providing a data signal with predetermined battery data when the system is a known system, the battery pack comprising:
- a battery with a voltage and with first and second battery terminals;
a first switch for enabling and disabling the first battery pack terminal of the battery pack, said first switch having a first series switched path and a control terminal for activating the first series switched path, the first series switched path coupled between the first battery terminal and the first battery pack terminal; and
a controller for receiving the data signal and for providing a first control signal to said first switch, the first control signal provided to turn on the first series switched path when the data signal from the system includes predetermined battery data and turn off the first series switched path when the data signal from the system is either nonexistent or does not include predetermined battery data.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A removable battery pack for powering a pen-based or portable computer system in which the battery pack blocks its terminals when inserted into an unknown system. The known system includes a power supply microcontroller which passes battery charge data back and forth between a memory located in the battery pack and the power supply microcontroller. A battery microcontroller, located in the battery pack, eavesdrops drops on the communication between the power supply microcontroller and the memory, and when it validates a known signature of this communication, the battery microcontroller then enables the terminals of the battery pack. A trickle discharge current flows from the battery pack whenever the battery pack is out of the known system to allow the power supply microcontroller to power up in the case of a dead auxiliary battery.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A removable battery pack for use in a system, the battery pack having first and second terminals which it disables when the system is an unknown system, the system providing a data signal with predetermined battery data when the system is a known system, the battery pack comprising:
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a battery with a voltage and with first and second battery terminals; a first switch for enabling and disabling the first battery pack terminal of the battery pack, said first switch having a first series switched path and a control terminal for activating the first series switched path, the first series switched path coupled between the first battery terminal and the first battery pack terminal; and a controller for receiving the data signal and for providing a first control signal to said first switch, the first control signal provided to turn on the first series switched path when the data signal from the system includes predetermined battery data and turn off the first series switched path when the data signal from the system is either nonexistent or does not include predetermined battery data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A removable battery pack for use in a system, the battery pack having first and second terminals which it disables when the system is an unknown system, the system providing a data signal with predetermined battery data when the system is a known system, the battery pack comprising:
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a battery with a voltage and with first and second battery terminals; a first switch for enabling and disabling the first battery pack terminal of the battery pack, said first switch having a first series switched path and a control terminal for activating the first series switched path, the first series switched path coupled between the first battery terminal and the first battery pack terminal; a second switch for enabling and disabling the second battery pack terminal, said second switch having a second series switched path and a control terminal for activating the second series switched path, the second series switched path coupled between the second battery terminal and the second battery pack terminal; and a controller for receiving the data signal from the system and for providing a first control signal to said first switch and a second control signal to said second switch, the first control signal provided to turn on the first series switched path when the data signal from the system includes predetermined battery data and turn off the first series switched path when the data signal from the system is either nonexistent or does not include predetermined battery data, the second control signal provided to turn on the second series switched path when the data signal from the system includes predetermined battery data and turn off the second series switched path when the data signal from the system is either nonexistent or does not include predetermined battery data. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification