Appliance with refuelable and rechargeable metal-air fuel cell battery power supply unit integrated therein
First Claim
1. An appliance for use with an external power source, the appliance comprising:
- a system housing with at least one electrical-energy-consuming load device disposed therein;
a refuelable and rechargeable power supply unit integrated into the system housing, the power supply unit comprising;
a metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem comprising at least one metal-air fuel cell capable of generating and storing electrical power, wherein consumed metal-fuel is unloaded from and metal fuel loaded into the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem to thereby refuel the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
a controller that enables electrical connection from the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem to the electrical power-consuming load device in a discharging mode to thereby supply electrical power to the electrical power-consuming load device, that enables electrical connection from the external power source to the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem in a recharging mode to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, and that identifies at least a portion of consumed metal-fuel to be refueled.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device/system having an integrated refuelable and rechargable metal-air FCB based power supply unit for generating and providing electrical power to at least one electrical-energy-consuming load device disposed therein. An external power source is used to recharge the metal-air FCB subsystems embodied therein. A control subsystem automatically transitions between discharging mode (wherein at least one metal-air FCB subsystem supplies electrical power to the electrical power-consuming load device) and a recharging mode (wherein the external power source is electrically coupled to at least one metal-air FCB subsystem to thereby recharge the metal-air FCB subsystem(s). The metal-air FCB subsystem(s) are refueled by manually loading and unloading metal-fuel from the metal-air FCB subsystem(s). Preferably, electrical power provided to the at least one electrical power-consuming load device is supplied solely by electrical power generated by discharging metal-fuel in the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem(s). In addition, the metal-air FCB subsystem(s) preferably has a modular architecture that enable flexible and user-friendly operations in loading of metal-fuel, unloading of consumed metal-fuel, replacement of the ionic-conducting medium, and replacement of the cathode.
119 Citations
46 Claims
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1. An appliance for use with an external power source, the appliance comprising:
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a system housing with at least one electrical-energy-consuming load device disposed therein;
a refuelable and rechargeable power supply unit integrated into the system housing, the power supply unit comprising;
a metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem comprising at least one metal-air fuel cell capable of generating and storing electrical power, wherein consumed metal-fuel is unloaded from and metal fuel loaded into the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem to thereby refuel the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
a controller that enables electrical connection from the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem to the electrical power-consuming load device in a discharging mode to thereby supply electrical power to the electrical power-consuming load device, that enables electrical connection from the external power source to the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem in a recharging mode to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, and that identifies at least a portion of consumed metal-fuel to be refueled. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for operating an appliance comprising a system housing with at least one electrical-energy-consuming load device disposed therein, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a power supply unit integrated into the system housing, the power supply unit having a metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem disposed within a modular housing, the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem comprising at least one metal-air fuel cell capable of generating and storing electrical power, and wherein consumed metal-fuel is unloaded from and metal-fuel is loaded into the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem to thereby refuel the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
providing a control subsystem that operates in a discharging mode to enable electrical connection from the metal-fuel cell battery subsystem to the electrical power-consuming load device to thereby supply electrical power to the electrical power-consuming load device, that operates in a recharging mode to enable electrical connection from an external power source to the metal-fuel cell battery to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, and that identifies at least a portion of consumed metal-fuel to be refueled. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 46)
operating a switching network coupled to the input power bus, the output power bus, and the power terminals of a plurality of metal-air fuel cell battery subsystems, in response to control signals from said controller, to;
selectively couple the input power bus to the power terminals of one or more of the plurality of metal-air fuel cell battery subsystems;
to selectively couple the output power bus to the power terminals of one or more of the plurality of metal-air fuel cell battery subsystems; and
to selectively couple together the power terminals of two or more of the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystems.
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37. The method of 24, wherein the appliance comprises a computer processing apparatus.
- 38. The method of 24, wherein the appliance comprises a portable electronic device.
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40. The method of 24, where the appliance comprises one of the following:
- television, audio equipment, washing machine, refrigerator, freezer, oven, stove, furnace, air conditioner.
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41. The method of 24, wherein the appliance comprises an electrically-powered tool.
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42. The method of 24, wherein the external power source comprises a public electric utility grid.
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43. The method of 24, wherein the external power source derives energy from a public utility grid.
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44. The method of 24, wherein the external power source comprises a wind-driven power generator.
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45. The method of 24, wherein the external power source comprises a generator that derives energy from solar energy.
Specification