Temperature-compensated thermochromic battery tester
First Claim
1. A battery tester comprising:
- a heating element adapted to be coupled to opposite terminals of a battery for generating heat in response to current supplied from the battery; and
an indicator overlapping a portion of said heating element, said indicator having a visual property that changes in response to the heat generated by said heating element,wherein at least a portion of said heating element is made of a variable resistivity material having a resistivity that changes in response to ambient temperature.
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Abstract
The battery tester of the present invention includes a heating element coupled to opposite terminals of a battery for generating heat in response to current supplied from the battery, and an indicator provided in proximity to the heating element. The indicator has a visual property that changes in response to the heat generated by the heating element. According to the present invention, at least a portion of the heating element is made of a variable resistivity material having a resistivity that changes in response to ambient temperature. By using a variable resistivity material that has a resistivity that increases as ambient temperature increases, a thermochromic on-label battery tester may be provided that is automatically calibrated to provide an accurate indication of the remaining battery capacity regardless of the ambient temperatures at which the battery tester may be used.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A battery tester comprising:
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a heating element adapted to be coupled to opposite terminals of a battery for generating heat in response to current supplied from the battery; and an indicator overlapping a portion of said heating element, said indicator having a visual property that changes in response to the heat generated by said heating element, wherein at least a portion of said heating element is made of a variable resistivity material having a resistivity that changes in response to ambient temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A battery label comprising:
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a label substrate; a conductive element provided on said label substrate and adapted to be coupled to opposite terminals of a battery, said conductive element changes temperature in response to changes in discharge level of the battery and has a resistivity that changes in response to ambient temperature; and an indicator provided on said conductive element and having a visual property that changes in response to changes in temperature of said conductive element. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A battery comprising:
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an electrochemical cell having a positive terminal and a negative terminal; a label substrate adhered to an outer peripheral surface of said electrochemical cell; a conductive element provided on said label substrate and coupled to said terminals of said electrochemical cell, said conductive element characterized by changing temperature in response to changes in discharge level of said electrochemical cell and having a resistivity that changes in response to changes in ambient temperature; and an indicator provided on said conductive element and having a visual property that changes in response to changes in temperature of said conductive element. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A battery comprising:
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an electrochemical cell having a positive terminal and a negative terminal; a label substrate adhered to an outer peripheral surface of said electrochemical cell; a heating element provided on said label substrate having first and second ends coupled to opposite terminals of said electrochemical cell, at least one of the ends is formed as a switch pad, said heating element generates heat in response to current supplied from said electrochemical cell; and a thermochromic indicator layer overlapping a portion of said heating element, said thermochromic indicator layer changes color in response to the heat generated by said heating element, wherein at least a portion of said heating element has a resistivity that increases with increasing ambient temperature. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification