Gauge effect battery tester

• US 6,294,284 B1
• Filed: 04/16/1999
• Issued: 09/25/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Duracell U.S. Operations, Inc. (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Gillette Company (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Inventors: Kacprowicz, Mark, Hewes, Jeffrey S., Lynch, Anne T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brouillette, Gabrielle
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alejandro, Raymond
• Application Number:
  US09/293,288
• Time in Patent Office: 893 Days
• Field of Search: 429/90, 429/91, 429/92, 429/93, 429/61, 429/62, 429/64, 429/7, 320/5, 320/10, 320/16, 320/27, 320/30, 324/426
• US Class Current: 429/90
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 15/04 Voltage dividers
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/16542 for batteries charge condition monitoring in G01R31/36
• 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: H01M 10/488 Cells or batteries combined with indicating means for external visualization of the condition, e.g. by change of colour or of light density
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/505 Cells combined with indicating means for external visualization of the condition, e.g. by change of colour or of light intensity
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A battery includes a cell having an outer circumference and a battery tester. The batter tester can be of different types. One type a segmented display tester includes a first voltage divider and a plurality of parallel battery tester elements including a voltage controlled display having a first terminal coupled to the first voltage divider and a second voltage divider coupled in parallel with the first voltage divider and coupled to a second terminal of the voltage controlled display. The second voltage divider also includes a non-linear device. A second type of battery tester is also disclosed. This type is a variable type and has a first voltage divider including a non-linear device coupled to a plurality of resistance elements and a voltage controlled display having a first terminal coupled to the first voltage divider and a plurality of second terminals coupled to the plurality of resistance elements.

Claims

1. A battery tester, comprises:

a first voltage divider; and

a plurality of parallel battery tester elements, comprising;

a voltage controlled display having a first terminal coupled to the first voltage divider; and

a second voltage divider coupled in parallel with the first voltage divider and coupled to a second terminal of the voltage controlled display, with the second voltage divider comprising;

a second voltage divider coupled in parallel with the first voltage divider and coupled to a second terminal of the voltage controlled display, with the second voltage divider comprising;

a non-linear device that switches state based on a voltage across the second voltage divider to electrically control switching of the voltage controlled display for the element of the parallel battery tester,

with the non-linear devices having different switching voltage characteristics to switch the voltage controlled display of each parallel tester element at different voltages.

2. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein the voltage controlled display is an electrophoretic display.

3. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein the non-linear device is a metal-insulator-metal diode.

4. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein the first voltage divider includes a pair of resistors having the same resistance.

5. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein the second voltage divider includes a resistor coupled in series with the non linear device.

6. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein the tester in operation is always on.

7. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein a voltage potential at the first terminal of the display in each battery tester element is about half of a battery cell voltage and a potential at the second terminal of the display in each battery tester element is determined by voltage across the nonlinear element and resistor.

8. The battery tester of claim 7 wherein as current is drawn from a battery due to use or leakage, the voltage of one of the terminals of the display in each battery tester element will vary with respect to the voltage at the other terminal of the display in each battery tester element.

9. The battery tester of claim 8 wherein the metal-insulator-metal diode will switch states causing the voltage at one of the terminal of the display in each battery tester element to become negative with respect to the voltage at the other terminal of the display in said battery tester element, to cause a change in color of the display to indicate that the battery has lost a predetermined amount of capacity.

10. The battery tester of claim 1 wherein the non linear device will switch states causing the voltage at one of the terminal of the display in each battery tester element to become negative with respect to the voltage at the other terminal of the display in said battery tester element, to cause a change in color of the display to indicate that the battery has lost a predetermined amount of capacity.

11. The battery tester of claim 10 wherein as current is drawn from a battery due to use or leakage, the voltage of one of the terminals of the display in battery tester element will vary with respect to the voltage at the other terminal of the display in battery tester element.

12. The battery of claim 6 wherein a voltage potential at the first terminal of the display in each tester element is about half of a battery cell voltage and a potential at the second terminal of the display in each tester element is determined by voltage across the nonlinear element and resistor.

13. The battery of claim 12 wherein as current is drawn from a battery due to use or leakage, the voltage of one of the terminals of the display in each tester element will vary with respect to the voltage at the other terminal of the display.

14. The battery of claim 13 wherein the non linear device will switch states causing the voltage at one of the terminal of the display in each tester element to become negative with respect to the voltage at the other terminal of the display in each tester element to cause a change in color of the display to indicate that the battery has lost a predefined amount of capacity.

15. The battery of claim 13 wherein the non linear device is a transistor.

16. A battery tester comprising:

a first voltage divider including a non-linear device;

a plurality of resistance elements; and

a voltage controlled display having a first terminal coupled to the first voltage divider and a plurality of second terminals connected to the plurality of resistance elements wherein the voltage controlled display is an electrophoretic display.

17. The battery tester of claim 16 wherein the non-linear device is a metal-insulator-metal diode.

18. The battery tester of claim 16 wherein the first voltage divider includes resistor coupled to the non-linear device.

19. The battery tester of claim 16 wherein the tester in operation is always on.

20. The battery tester of claim 16 wherein a voltage potential at the first terminal of the display is about half of a battery cell voltage and a potential at the plurality of second terminals of the display is determined by voltage across corresponding ones of the plurality of the resistor elements.

21. The battery tester of claim 20 wherein as current is drawn from a battery due to use or leakage, the voltage of one of the terminals of the display will vary with respect to the voltage at the plurality of second terminals of the display.

22. The battery tester of claim 21 wherein the non linear device will switch states causing the voltage at one of the second electrodes of the display to become negative with respect to the voltage at the first terminal of the display to cause a change in color of the display to indicate that the battery has lost a predetermined amount of capacity.