Battery management system with runtime reserve analysis

• US 7,915,860 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Askality, LLC
• Original Assignee: BatteryCorp, Inc.
• Inventors: Quint, Jonathan B., Dworkin, Steven H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso; Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fantu; Yalkew
• Application Number:
  US11/980,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20090281928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,246 Days
• Field of Search: 320/132, 702/63
• US Class Current: 320/132
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/392 Determining battery ageing or deterioration, e.g. state of health
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/06 Lead-acid accumulators semi-lead accumulators H01M10/20
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/42 Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells H01M10/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4207 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4221 with battery type recognition
• 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: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

The invention relates to the management of large stationary batteries. The invention is a comprehensive system and process for the management of stationary batteries that are used for backup power and are deployed in widely dispersed locations. The system may be comprised of a plurality of batteries and web-based software. The system software can automatically analyze, determine and report the number of batteries and total cost based on required runtime reserve by computing the power of batteries currently in a system and available batteries for installation.

Claims

1. A battery managing and reporting method comprising the steps of:

creating a unique identifier for a battery, the battery having a plurality of attributes;

acquiring test results from the battery;

the test results comprising a set of battery values associated with the battery;

storing the test results from the battery in a database;

storing a set of battery specifications for a plurality of battery types in the database;

generating a set of business rules, the set of business rules comprising a set of baseline values for the plurality of attributes associated with the battery;

specifying a runtime reserve requirement;

querying the database for a result set, the result set including the test results and the set of battery specifications;

applying the business rules and the specified runtime reserve requirement to the result set;

generating a runtime reserve report, the report being stored on a computer readable medium.

2. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 1, further comprising the step of examining each battery for physical indicia of damage.

3. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes of the battery comprises an age value, an impedance value, and a conductance value.

4. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 3, wherein the baseline value of the age attribute is within a range of about 24 to about 48 months.

5. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 1, further comprising the step of compiling the test results for a plurality of batteries and generating a runtime reserve report based on an estimation of battery life left in the plurality of batteries combined.

6. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 1, wherein the business rules further comprise a schedule for generating an automated runtime reserve report at the end of a period.

7. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 6, wherein the period is 12 months.

8. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating a runtime reserve report further comprises the step of:

generating a list of components that can support the specified runtime reserve requirement.

9. The battery managing and reporting method of claim 1, wherein the runtime reserve report comprises recycling instructions.

10. A battery managing and reporting method comprising the steps of:

creating a unique identifier for a battery, the battery having a plurality of attributes;

acquiring test results from the battery;

the test results comprising a set of battery values associated with the battery;

storing the test results from the battery in a database;

storing a set of battery specifications for a plurality of battery types in the database;

generating a set of business rules, the set of business rules comprising a set of baseline values for the plurality of attributes associated with the battery;

prompting for a runtime reserve requirement via a user interface;

receiving the runtime reserve requirement as an input parameter;

querying the database for a result set, the result set including the test results and the set of battery specifications;

applying the business rules and the input parameter to the result set;

generating a runtime reserve report, the report being stored on a computer readable medium.

11. A battery managing and reporting method comprising the steps of:

creating a unique identifier for a battery, the battery having a plurality of attributes;

acquiring test results from the battery;

the test results comprising a set of battery values associated with the battery;

storing the test results from the battery in a database;

storing a set of battery specifications for a plurality of battery types in the database;

generating a set of business rules, the set of business rules comprising a set of baseline values for the plurality of attributes associated with the battery;

prompting for a runtime reserve requirement and a geographic region via a user interface;

receiving the runtime reserve requirement and the geographic region as a set of input parameters;

querying the database for a result set, the result set including the test results and the set of battery specifications;

applying the business rules and the set of input parameters to the result set;

generating a runtime reserve report, the report being stored on a computer readable medium.