Battery pack for miner's cap lamp with charging and discharging control module

• US 8,729,851 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2008
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koehler Bright Star LLC (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Koehler-Bright Star Incorporated (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dirsa, Mark, Bobbin, Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Muralidar, Richard V
• Application Number:
  US12/008,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20080169788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,318 Days
• Field of Search: 320/107, 320/112, 320/128, 320134-136, 362/105, 362/106, 362/194, 362/195
• US Class Current: 320/107
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 21/084 Head fittings
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/30 Batteries in portable systems, e.g. mobile phone, laptop
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0029 with safety or protection devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00304 Overcurrent protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00306 Overdischarge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0031 using battery or load disconnect circuits H02J9/002 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A battery pack features a shock-absorbing and sealed construction and an electronic control module that provides automatic recovery circuitry in the event of a short circuit in the load whereby the power is terminated and then restarted at a lower level so that removal of the short circuit may be detected. Full power is restored to the load when the short circuit is removed. In addition, the electronic control module of the battery pack uses the battery pack load, such as a cap lamp, to provide an indication of a low battery charge level. The electronic control module also provides a soft-start feature where the power provided to the bulb is ramped up to avoid current in-rush to the bulb during startup.

Claims

1. A battery pack for powering a cap lamp comprising:

a. a battery pack housing;

b. a battery cell having a lithium-based chemistry positioned within said battery pack housing and having a pair of terminals;

c. an electronic control module positioned within said batter pack housing;

d. a protection circuit electrically attached between the pair of terminals of said battery cell and the electronic control module and positioned within the battery pack housing;

e. a pair of battery pack posts in electrical communication with the electronic control module and adapted to be electrically connected to the cap lamp;

f. said electronic control module controlling discharging of the battery cell when powering the cap lamp and charging of the battery cell when the battery pack is connected to a charger.

2. The battery pack of claim 1 further comprising a cap lamp directly connected to the housing.

3. The battery pack of claim 1 further comprising a cord attached to the pair of terminals and adapted to provide power to the cap lamp.

4. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the battery cell is a Lithium-ion cell.

5. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that, upon connection of the battery pack to the charger, detects whether the battery pack was used after being fully charged and disconnected from the charger, commences charging if so and entirely refrains from providing a charging current to the battery cell if not.

6. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that checks the voltage of the battery cell.

7. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that monitors the charging current during charging of the battery pack.

8. The battery pack of claim 7 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that adjusts the charging current during charging of the battery pack.

9. The battery pack of claim 7 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that terminates charging of the battery pack if the charging current drops below a predetermined level.

10. The batter pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes a timer that the electronic control module references to determine if a timeout value has been reached, said electronic control module terminating charging of the battery pack if the timeout value has been reached by the timer.

11. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that provides a charge ratio whereby the battery cell charges more quickly when the battery pack is connected to a charger than the battery cell discharges when it is powering the cap lamp.

12. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes a microprocessor.

13. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module is in series circuit between the pair of terminals and the battery cell.

14. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module controls both a charging current during charging of the battery cell and a discharging current during discharging of the battery cell.

15. The battery pack of claim 14 wherein the electronic control module includes and uses at least one transistor to control the charging and discharging currents.

16. The battery pack of claim 15 wherein the at least one transistor uses pulse width modulation to control the charging and discharging currents.

17. The battery pack of claim 15 wherein the at least one transistor includes a first transistor to control the charging current and a second transistor to control the discharging current.

18. The battery pack of claim 17 wherein the first transistor uses pulse width modulation to control the charging current and the second transistor uses pulse width modulation to control the discharging current.

19. The battery pack of claim 18 further comprising a microprocessor that controls the first and second transistors.

20. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module controls a discharging current during discharging of the battery cell.

21. The battery pack of claim 20 wherein the electronic control module includes and use a transistor to control the discharging current.

22. The battery pack of claim 21 wherein the transistor uses pulse width modulation to control the discharging current.

23. The cap lamp system of claim 1 wherein the electronic control module includes a capacitor bank that stores energy from the battery cell that is released under the direction of the electronic control module so as to reset the battery pack.

24. The cap lamp system of claim 23 wherein the energy that is stored in the capacitor bank and that is released under the direction of the electronic control module resets the battery protection circuit to reset the battery pack.

25. A cap lamp system comprising:

a. a battery pack housing;

b. a battery cell having a lithium-based chemistry positioned within said battery pack housing and having a pair of terminals;

c. an electronic control module positioned within said battery pack housing;

d. a protection circuit electrically attached between the pair of terminals of said battery cell and the electronic control module and positioned within the battery pack housing;

e. a pair of battery pack posts in electrical communication with the electronic control module;

f. a can lamp attached to the pair of battery pack posts;

g. said electronic control module controlling discharging of the battery cell when powering the cap lamp and charging of the battery cell when the battery pack is connected to a charger.

26. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein said cap lamp is directly connected to the housing.

27. The cap lamp system of claim 25 further comprising a cord attached to the pair of terminals and the cap lamp to provide power from the battery cell to the cap lamp.

28. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the battery cell is a Lithium-ion cell.

29. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that, upon connection of the battery pack to the charger, detects whether the battery pack was used after being fully charged and disconnected from the charger, commences charging if so and entirely refrains from providing a charging current to the battery cell if not.

30. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that checks the voltage of the battery cell.

31. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that monitors the charging current during charging of the battery pack.

32. The cap lamp system of claim 31 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that adjusts the charging current during charging of the battery pack.

33. The cap lamp system of claim 31 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that terminates charging of the battery pack if the charging current drops below a predetermined level.

34. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes a timer that the electronic control module references to determine if a timeout value has been reached, said electronic control module terminating charging of the battery pack if the timeout value has been reached by the timer.

35. The battery pack of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes circuitry that provides a charge ratio whereby the battery cell charges more quickly when the battery pack is connected to a charger than the battery cell discharges when it is powering the cap lamp.

36. The battery pack of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes a microprocessor.

37. The battery pack of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module is in series circuit between the pair of terminals and the battery cell.

38. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes and uses a transistor to control a discharging current when powering the cap lamp.

39. The cap lamp system of claim 38 wherein the transistor uses pulse width modulation to control the discharging current.

40. The cap lamp system of claim 39 wherein the transistor uses pulse width modulation of the discharging current to indicate a low battery charge by dimming the cap lamp.

41. The cap lamp system of claim 39 wherein the transistor uses pulse width modulation to ramp up the discharging current when the cap lamp is first powered on.

42. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes and uses at least one transistor to control a charging current during charging of the battery cell and to control a discharging current when powering the cap lamp.

43. The cap lamp system of claim 42 wherein the at least one transistor uses pulse width modulation to control the charging and discharging currents.

44. The cap lamp system of claim 43 wherein the at least one transistor uses pulse width modulation to keep the charging current constant.

45. The cap lamp system of claim 43 wherein the at least one transistor uses pulse width modulation to check for a fault condition during discharge of the battery whereby the electronic control module detects a short circuit condition indicated by a high discharge current flow.

46. The cap lamp system of claim 25 wherein the electronic control module includes a capacitor bank that stores energy from the battery cell that is released under the direction of the electronic control module so as to reset the cap lamp system.

47. The cap lamp system of claim 46 wherein the energy that is stored in the capacitor bank and that is released under the direction of the electronic control module resets the battery protection circuit to reset the cap lamp system.

48. A battery pack for powering a cap lamp comprising:

a. a housing having an open end and a closed end;

b. a separator positioned within said housing so that an electronic control module compartment is defined on one side of the separator and a battery compartment is defined on an opposite side of the separator;

c. a batter cell having a lithium-based chemistry positioned in the battery compartment and having a pair of terminals;

d. an electronic control module positioned in the electronic control module compartment;

e. a protection circuit positioned in the housing and electrically attached between the pair of terminals of said battery cell and the electronic control module;

f. a pair of battery pack posts in electrical communication with the electronic control module and adapted to be electrically connected to the cap lamp;

g. said electronic control module controlling discharging of the battery cell when powering the cap lamp and charging of the battery cell when the battery pack is connected to a charger;

h. a cover removably attached to and sealing against the open end of the housing so that the pair of battery pack terminals are covered.

49. The battery pack of claim 48 wherein the electronic control module compartment is positioned between the separator and the open end of the housing, and the battery compartment is defined between the separator and the closed end of the housing.

50. The battery pack of claim 48 wherein the cover includes a strain relief adapted to receive a power cord of a cap lamp.

51. The battery pack of claim 48 wherein the cover is removably attached to the housing by screws.

52. A cap lamp system comprising:

a. a battery pack housing;

b. a battery cell having a lithium-based chemistry positioned within said battery pack housing and having a pair of terminals;

c. an electronic control module positioned within said battery pack housing and in electrical communication with the battery cell terminals;

d. a pair of battery pack posts in electrical communication with the electronic control module;

e. a cap lamp attached to the pair of battery pack posts;

f. said electronic control module including and using at least one transistor to control a charging current during charging of the battery cell and to control a discharging current when powering the cap lamp and said at least one transistor using pulse width modulation to dim the cap lamp.

53. The cap lamp system of claim 52 wherein the electronic control module uses dimming of the cap lamp to reflect a charge status of the battery cell.