Intelligent battery system - Patent Review 4965738

Claims

We claim:

1. A battery system comprising a battery pack, said battery pack including:

a plurality of battery cells;

positive and negative terminals serially coupled to said battery cells, said positive terminal delivering output current to a load and receiving input current in the direction of charging current;

sensing means for sensing current and data pulses flowing through said battery cells and said positive and negative terminals;

an output port outputting data from said battery pack;

memory means for storing battery parameter data; and

electronic means, coupled to the sensing means and said memory means, for transmitting said battery parameter data to said output port in response to said sensing means sensing said current input through said positive terminal in the direction of charging current.

2. A battery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said output port of said battery pack is separate from said positive and negative terminals.

3. A battery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the sensing means comprises a resistor in series with said positive and negative terminals and said battery cells, and an amplifier coupled across the series resistor to measure the voltage across said series resistor, the output of said amplifier being provided to said electronic means.

4. A battery system as set forth in claim 3 wherein:

said sensing means further comprises a comparator having a first input connected to the output of said amplifier, a second input connected to a source of threshold voltage, and an output connected to said electronic means, whereby said electronic means receives a binary signal corresponding to the level of said input current; and

said electronic means includes means for reading said binary signal.

5. A battery system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said electronic means responds to the sensing means sensing data pulses input through said positive terminal in the direction of charging current, and transmits specific battery parameter data over said output port in response to said data pulses.

6. A battery system as set forth in claim 2 wherein said data pulses initiate transmission of battery parameter data by the electronic means describing the state of charge of said battery cells.

7. A battery system as set forth in claim 5 further comprising:

a battery charger, said battery charger including means releasably coupled to said positive and negative terminals of said battery pack for delivering substantial charging current and the data pulses to said positive terminal and battery cells.

8. A battery system as set forth in claim 7 wherein said battery charger further comprises means coupled to said output port of said battery pack for reading and processing said battery parameter data, and controlling the means for delivering substantial charging current in accordance with said battery parameter data.

9. A battery pack comprising:

a plurality of battery cells having a state of charge;

sensing means for sensing current flowing through said battery cells;

processor means coupled to the sensing means, said processor means powered by said battery cells and functional in a relatively high power consumption mode to determine the state of charge of said battery cells based on the amount of current flowing through said battery cells;

first means for rendering said processor means into the functional, relatively high power consumption mode at times when the battery is being charged or discharged to monitor the amount of current flow and determine the state of charge of said battery cells; and

second means for automatically rendering said processor means into a non-functional relatively low power current consumption mode at other times to conserve power;

wherein said flow of current is due to discharge of said battery cells, and said processor means determines the state of charge based at least in part on the amount of ampere-hours of the discharge current.

10. A battery pack comprising:

a plurality of battery cells having a state of charge;

sensing means for sensing current flowing through said battery cells;

processor means coupled to the sensing means, said processor means powered by said battery cells and functional in a relatively high power consumption mode to determine the state of charge of said battery cells based on the amount of current flowing through said battery cells;

first means for rendering said processor means into the functional, relatively high power consumption mode at times when the battery is being charged or discharged to monitor the amount of current flow and determine the state of charge of said battery cells; and

second means for automatically rendering said processor means into a non-functional relatively low power current consumption mode at other times to conserve power;

wherein said flow of current is due to charging of said battery cells, and said processor means determines the state of charge based at least in part on the amount of ampere-hours of the charge current.

11. A battery pack comprising:

a plurality of battery cells having a state of charge;

sensing means for sensing current flowing through said battery cells;

processor means coupled to the sensing means, said processor means powered by said battery cells and functional in a relatively high power consumption mode to determine the state of charge of said battery cells based on the amount of current flowing through said battery cells;

first means for rendering said processor means into th