Refuelable and rechargeable metal-air fuel cell battery power supply unit for integration into an appliance
First Claim
1. A refuelable and rechargeable power supply unit for integration into an appliance comprising a system housing with at least one electrical-energy-consuming load device disposed therein, the power supply unit comprising:
- a modular housing for integration into the system housing;
a metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, disposed within the modular housing, comprising at least one metal-air fuel cell capable of generating and storing electrical power, wherein the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem is configured to allow unloading of consumed metal fuel and loading of metal-fuel to refuel the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
a controller, disposed within the modular housing, that enables electrical connection from the metal-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, and that enables electrical connection from an external power source to the metal-fuel cell battery subsystem in a recharging mode to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A refuelable and rechargable metal-air FCB based power supply unit for integration into a device/system 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.
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Citations
96 Claims
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1. A refuelable and rechargeable power supply unit for integration into an appliance comprising a system housing with at least one electrical-energy-consuming load device disposed therein, the power supply unit comprising:
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a modular housing for integration into the system housing;
a metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, disposed within the modular housing, comprising at least one metal-air fuel cell capable of generating and storing electrical power, wherein the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem is configured to allow unloading of consumed metal fuel and loading of metal-fuel to refuel the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
a controller, disposed within the modular housing, that enables electrical connection from the metal-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, and that enables electrical connection from an external power source to the metal-fuel cell battery subsystem in a recharging mode to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system comprising:
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an appliance having an integrated refuelable and rechargable power supply unit, a system housing and wherein the power supply unit comprises a modular housing for integration into the system housing;
a metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, disposed within the modular housing, comprising at least one metal-air fuel cell capable of generating and storing electrical power, wherein the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem is configured to allow unloading of consumed metal fuel and loading of metal-fuel to refuel the meal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
a controller, disposed within the modular housing, that enables electrical connection from the metal-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, and that enables electrical connection from an external power source to the metal-fuel cell battery subsystem in a recharging mode to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for supplying power to 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 for integration 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 subs to thereby refuel the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem; and
providing a control subsystem within the modular housing programmed to operate 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, and programmed to operate in a recharging mode to enable electrical connection from an external power source to the meal-fuel cell battery to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 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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47. A method for supplying power to 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 for integration 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, said modular housing including at least one recess into which metal-fuel is manually loaded into the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem and from which consumed metal-fuel is manually unloaded from the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem, the metal-fuel being disposed on card structure that is manually loaded into and unloaded from the recess the card structure including a plurality of distinct metal-fuel elements integrated therein; and
providing a control subsystem programmed to operate 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, and programmed to operate 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. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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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63. A method for supplying power to a computer processing apparatus 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 for integration 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 susbsystem 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 programmed to operate 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, and programmed to operate 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. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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 celll 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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80. A method for supplying power to a power tool 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 for integration 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 programmed to operate in a discharge 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, and programmed to operate in a recharge mode to enable electrical connection from external power source to the metal-fuel cell battery to thereby recharge the metal-air fuel cell battery subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96)
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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Specification