Low cost current and temperature sensor
First Claim
1. Apparatus for determining battery prognosis comprising:
- a ferrite disc having an axial opening through which a current carrying conductor of the battery passes;
a Hall-effect sensor interposed within the ferrite disc;
a coil surrounding the disc;
a unit for varying current in the coil to produce observable variations in temperature-dependent magnetic properties of the disc; and
a processor for continually analyzing signals from the Hall-effect sensor to determine current in the conductor and to determine temperature as a function of variations in magnetic properties of the disc.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A battery health or prognosis system may employ a ferrite disc embedded in a printed wiring board (PWB) to perform both a battery current sensing role and a temperature sensing role. The ferrite disc may be surrounded with a coil that may be comprised of surface conductors and electrically conductive vias of the PWB. Excursions of coil current may be produced to generate observable hysterisis loops in the ferrite disc. The generated hysterisis loops may be compared to a temperature-dependent family of hysterisis loops for the magnetic material from which the ferrite disc is constructed. A processor mounted on the PWB may collect and process outputs from a Hall-effect sensor to develop both temperature and battery current information to produce a prognosis for the battery.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. Apparatus for determining battery prognosis comprising:
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a ferrite disc having an axial opening through which a current carrying conductor of the battery passes; a Hall-effect sensor interposed within the ferrite disc; a coil surrounding the disc; a unit for varying current in the coil to produce observable variations in temperature-dependent magnetic properties of the disc; and a processor for continually analyzing signals from the Hall-effect sensor to determine current in the conductor and to determine temperature as a function of variations in magnetic properties of the disc. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A battery condition detector comprising:
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a PWB through which a conductor of the battery current passes; a ferrite disc surrounding the conductor of the battery; a coil surrounding the ferrite disc; a coil-current unit for varying current in the coil; a sensor producing an output that varies as function of the varying current in the coil; a processor comprising stored reference data relating to temperature dependent magnetic properties of the ferrite disc; the ferrite disc, the coil, the coil-current unit, the sensor and the processor being attached to the PWB; the processor receiving varying output from the sensor responsive to the varying current in the coil; and the processor comparing the varying output from the sensor with the stored reference data to determine a temperature of the ferrite disc. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for producing a prognosis for a battery comprising the steps of:
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passing current from the battery though an opening in a ferrite disc; sensing magnetic reaction to the current from the battery; varying current in a coil surrounding the ferrite disc; sensing temperature-dependent magnetic reaction to the varying coil current; comparing the sensed magnetic reaction to coil current with processor-stored magnetic property data for the ferrite disc to determine temperature of the ferrite disc; and processing the determined temperature and the sensed magnetic reaction to battery current to produce a prognosis of the battery. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification