Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging inventions 05/07

20070120522 - High power density, ultra-light power generator: High power density generators are formed with a flexible multi-layered structure. The structure includes a fuel layer with a separate fuel cell stack adjacent to each side of the fuel layer. The structure can be flexible and formed into a variety of shapes.... Agent: Honeywell International Inc.

20070120523 - Power supply for electrochemical ion exchange cell: An electrode power supply for an electrochemical ion exchange cell having an ion exchange membrane between a pair of electrodes, has a voltage selector to receive an AC voltage and selectively couple the AC voltage to a voltage supply. The voltage supply produces an output voltage from the AC voltage.... Agent: Janah & Associates A Professional Corp

20070120524 - Battery charger for charging different types of battery pack: A battery charger for charging two different types of rechargeable battery pack. A first type of battery pack comprises two electrical terminals and a second type of battery pack comprises a plug and lead type electrical connector. A first socket is provided in a housing for receiving the first type... Agent: Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen

20070120525 - Electronic device with auxiliary unit that is usable detached from main unit of electronic device: According to one embodiment, the first power supply circuit of a main unit includes a first recharging controller which sets a first battery at a first voltage, and is powered by a second voltage applied by an AC adaptor and higher than the first voltage, and first system power supply... Agent: Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP

20070120526 - Stacked battery module and battery pack: A stacked battery module or a battery pack is formed by laying a plurality of unit batteries of non-aqueous electrolyte batteries in layers with the surfaces thereof having a large area disposed vis-à-vis and electrically connecting them in series and a temperature fuse is arranged in the central part of... Agent: Westerman, Hattori, Daniels & Adrian, LLP

20070120527 - Battery-operated screwdriver: A battery-operated screwdriver, having a housing (12, 18) with a handle (14), in particular bent at an angle like a pistol grip, with a preferably fixedly installed rechargeable battery (40), and with charge contact tongues (37) for charging the battery (4) on a charger shell (22), is always ready for... Agent: Striker Striker & Stenby

20070120528 - Portable electronic device and method to protect same: A portable electronic device and a method to protect the portable electronic device from a battery bounce are provided. The portable electronic device (100) can comprise a free-fall condition sensor (105) enabled to detect a pre-battery bounce condition in the portable electronic device and a processor (110) coupled to the... Agent: Motorola, Inc Intellectual Property Section

20070120529 - Battery control device: The battery control device includes: a state detecting means which acts by receiving electric power from an on-vehicle low-voltage battery having a supply voltage lower than that of an on-vehicle high-voltage battery composed of a plurality of unit cells connected together in series and detects a state of the on-vehicle... Agent: Armstrong, Kratz, Quintos, Hanson & Brooks, LLP

20070120530 - Abnormality monitoring apparatus in load drive circuit: An ECU performs a program. In the program, in the case where a converter is performing an operation for increasing a voltage (i.e., YES in step S 102), when a difference between an estimated battery voltage VBE and a battery voltage VB has continued to be large (i.e., YES in... Agent: Kenyon & Kenyon LLP

20070120531 - Charging control apparatus and method of mobile terminal: Provided are a charging control apparatus and method of a mobile terminal, capable of charging a battery at different charging current rates according to a charging mode of an input power. The charging control apparatus includes: a battery; an external port connector configured to receive power of an external port... Agent: Fish & Richardson P.C.

20070120532 - Driving device and method of driving plasma displays: A driver circuit including first and second transistors between a first power source and a second power source, third and fourth transistors between the second power source and a third power source supplying a third voltage, a first charging power source between the first power source and the first and... Agent: Lee & Morse, P.C.

20070120533 - System, method, and article of manufacture for determining an estimated battery parameter vector: A system, a method, and an article of manufacture for determining an estimated battery parameter vector indicative of a parameter of a battery are provided. The method determines a first estimated battery parameter vector indicative of a parameter of the battery at a first predetermined time based on a plurality... Agent: Cantor Colburn LLP

20070120534 - Method of measuring intrinsic resistance of battery and apparatus of same: The present invention provides a method of measuring an intrinsic resistance of a battery at a low rate discharge and an apparatus of the same. A method of measuring an intrinsic resistance of a battery includes the steps of: measuring periodically a discharge current and a terminal voltage responding to... Agent: Armstrong, Kratz, Quintos, Hanson & Brooks, LLP

20070120535 - Temperature sensitive power converter: The present invention provides a power converter for recreational vehicle (RV) batteries that uses time and ambient temperature to control output voltage. By employing a remote temperature sensor attached to the battery post, temperature information is sent to an output voltage control circuit in the power converter. When the power... Agent: Carstens & Cahoon, LLP

20070120536 - Locomotive having a battery system and method for monitoring a battery: A locomotive, a battery system and a method for monitoring a battery are provided. The battery has a first plurality of cells electrically coupled in series to one another. The first plurality of cells includes a second plurality of cells and a third plurality of cells electrically coupled together at... Agent: General Electric Company Global Research

20070120537 - Controller for rechargeable battery and temperature estimation method and deterioration determination method for rechargeable battery: A controller for a rechargeable battery and a temperature estimation method and a deterioration determination method for a rechargeable battery enabling an accurate battery temperature to be obtained through calculation. The controller calculates a heat generation amount of Joule heat generated in the rechargeable battery and a heat generation amount... Agent: Workman Nydegger (f/k/a Workman Nydegger & Seeley)

20070114967 - Method and apparatus for optical wireless charging: A portable electronic device is recharged by generating light from a light source of a wireless optical charger, converting the light from the charger into an electrical signal using a photovoltaic cell of the portable electronic device and charging the portable electronic device using the electrical signal. The wireless optical... Agent: Agilent Technologies Inc.

20070114968 - Power source switchover apparatus and method: An apparatus for switching from a first power supply to a second power supply. The embodiment may detect the charge or voltage of both the first and second power supply, and power a device from the power supply having the greatest voltage or charge. A single boost converter is used... Agent: Apple Computer, Inc. C/o Dorsey & Whitney LLP

20070114969 - Magnetic electrical daisy connection for simultaneously recharging electronic devices: A rechargeable electronic device (20, 80) employs a magnetic rechargee interface (30, 90), and a magnetic rechargor interface (40, 100) in electrical communication with the magnetic recharges interface (30, 90). In operation, the magnetic rechargee interface (30, 90) and the magnetic rechargor interface (40, 100) simultaneously recharge the rechargeable electronic... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20070114970 - Battery charger and method utilizing alternating dc charging current: A battery charger is disclosed for use with various batteries, such as automotive and marine-type batteries. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the charging current is alternated between non-zero DC charging current levels. By alternating the charging current between non-zero DC charging levels, the battery can be charged... Agent: Patent Administrator Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

20070114971 - Battery remaining capacity calculating method, battery remaining capacity calculating device, and battery remaining capacity calculating program: A battery remaining capacity calculating method, a battery remaining capacity calculating device, and a battery remaining capacity calculating program that make it possible to estimate the remaining capacity of a secondary battery with high accuracy using a relatively simple circuit configuration. An output voltage value of the secondary battery is... Agent: Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, LLP

20070114973 - Battery voltage monitoring apparatus: A battery voltage monitoring apparatus according to the present invention for monitoring a voltage of a battery pack having a plurality of battery cells connected in series includes a first terminal connected supplied with a highest battery voltage of the battery cell, and a voltage clamp circuit for clamping a... Agent: Young & Thompson

20070114972 - Method of calculating aging factor of battery for hybrid vehicle: Disclosed herein is a method of calculating the aging factor of a battery for a hybrid vehicle. The method includes the steps of detecting a first actual SOC value of the battery during operation of the vehicle; storing the first SOC value; initializing accumulated charge and discharge current amounts; determining... Agent: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (sf)

20070114974 - Fm transmitter and power supply / charging assembly for mp3 player: An FM transmitter and power supply/charging assembly is electrically coupleable with an MP3 player. The assembly includes a modular docking unit having a main body portion with a docking cavity therein, wherein the main body portion contains the FM transmitter and power/charging circuitry, with coupling means in the docking cavity... Agent: Intellectual Property / Technology Law

20070114975 - Autonomous robot auto-docking and energy management systems and methods: A method for energy management in a robotic device includes providing a base station for mating with the robotic device, determining a quantity of energy stored in an energy storage unit of the robotic device, and performing a predetermined task based at least in part on the quantity of energy... Agent: Goodwin Procter LLP Patent Administrator

20070108938 - Universal serial bus charger for a mobile device: In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are provided for charging a rechargeable power source in a mobile device through a USB port. A power converter may be used to receive an input voltage from an external power source and generate a charger output having a regulated... Agent: Joseph M. Sauer Jones Day Reavis & Pogue

20070108939 - Battery pack: A battery pack including a compact controller for controlling a battery group. The battery pack includes a battery group, a controller for controlling the battery group, and a case for accommodating the controller. The controller includes a plurality of control devices, and an installation member for fixing the control devices... Agent: Workman Nydegger (f/k/a Workman Nydegger & Seeley)

20070108942 - Method and system for protection of a lithium-based multicell battery pack including a heat sink: A system and method for battery protection. In some aspects, a battery pack includes a housing, a cell supported by the housing, a circuit supported by the housing and operable to control a function of the battery pack, and a heat sink in heat transfer relationship with the circuit and... Agent: Michael, Best & Freidrich LLP

20070108940 - Rechargeable battery pack for a power tool: A battery pack for a power tool of self-contained over-charge protection is proposed. The battery pack includes a battery stack composed of a plurality of series connected secondary cells, and a charge terminal connected through a charge current path to the battery stack for flowing a charge current from a... Agent: Armstrong, Kratz, Quintos, Hanson & Brooks, LLP

20070108941 - Rechargeable battery pack for a power tool: A battery pack for a power tool has a less-current consuming over-discharge protection. The battery pack includes a battery stack composed of a plurality of series connected secondary cells, and a discharge detector configured to monitor a cell voltage across each of the secondary cells and to provide a discharge... Agent: Armstrong, Kratz, Quintos, Hanson & Brooks, LLP

20070108943 - Charger and dc-dc converter: The invention provides a charger capable of keeping a charging current flowing through a cell constant, of reducing the number of components, and of realizing stable charging by controlling supply power on the output side thereof to be equal to supply power on the input side of a fuel cell.... Agent: Rader Fishman & Grauer PLLC

20070108945 - Charging method, charging circuit, and charging device: When charging of a secondary battery is started, a power source section for supplying an electric current for charging the secondary battery gradually increases the supply amount of the current. If the charging current has reached a predetermined first threshold current, the power source section is operative to set the... Agent: Greenblum & Bernstein, P.L.C

20070108944 - Power autonomous portable electric tool set: A power autonomous tool set, for example, pruning scissors, a saw, a fruit picking tool, lawnmower, bush cutter, hedge cutter, impact spanner, pneumatic hammer, comprising at least three distinct functional sub-units, i.e. a first sub-unit handling mechanical operation of the tool by means of an electric actuator; a second sub-set... Agent: Greenblum & Bernstein, P.L.C

20070108946 - Secondary battery module, battery information management device, battery information management system, secondary battery reuse system, secondary battery recovery and sales system, secondary battery reuse method, and secondary battery recovery and sales m: A secondary battery module includes a battery information storage unit for storing electric characteristic information and usage history information of the secondary battery module. A battery information management device and a terminal device respectively include interfaces to be connected to the secondary battery module. The battery information management device is... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20070103108 - Power converter for a solar panel: A solar array power generation system includes a solar array electrically connected to a control system. The solar array has a plurality of solar modules, each module having at least one DC/DC converter for converting the raw panel output to an optimized high voltage, low current output. In a further... Agent: Edwards & Angell, LLP

20070103109 - Method and system of charging multi-cell lithium-based batteries: A method and system for battery charging. In some aspects, a battery charger includes a controller and a charging circuit that is operable to charge Lithium-based batteries of varying nominal voltages and/or number of battery cells.... Agent: Michael, Best & Freidrich LLP

20070103110 - Apparatus and method of wirelessly sharing power by inductive method: An apparatus and method of wirelessly sharing power by an inductive method are provided. The apparatus includes a first battery supplying power; a rectifier supplied with an AC voltage, converts the AC voltage into a DC voltage, and outputs the DC voltage; an inverter supplied with the DC voltage, converts... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20070103111 - Power insert: The Power Insert Device provides a means for extending the operating time of a battery operated tool or device. Removal of the original battery from the tool or device being used and replacing OEM with the Power Insert accomplishes this. The said component is installed in the same manner as... Agent: William Albert Tower Jr. Stephen Paul Baptiste

20070103112 - Battery pack, charger and terminal block arrangements for cordless power tool system: A battery pack, charger, and terminal blocks for the pack, charger and a cordless power tool are provided. The pack includes battery cells disposed between end caps within a bottom housing of the pack, and a potting boat for housing pack electronics electrically connected to the cells between the end... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20070103113 - Methods of charging battery packs for cordless power tool systems: In a method of charging a battery pack, the pack is inserted in a charger and an initial set of checks of cell voltage and pack temperature is performed. Once the initial set of checks is satisfied, the cells may be charged at a first constant current level. The first... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20070103114 - Enhanced portable battery powered electrical appliance: A portable battery powered appliance such as a flashlight accepts at least first and second batteries (1021, 1022). The appliance also includes an electrical load (110) such as a light source. A first circuit (1041) such as a DC to DC converter receives power from the first battery (1021) and... Agent: Michael C. Pophal Eveready Battery Company Inc

20070103115 - Function-switching type linking apparatus: A function-switching type linking apparatus includes a USB linking interface, a data transmission unit, a charging unit and a control unit. The USB linking interface receives an external signal and outputs to the control unit. Based on the external signal, the control unit determines whether to execute the data transmission... Agent: Rosenberg, Klein & Lee

20070103116 - Method and system for battery protection employing sampling of measurements: A system and method for battery protection. In some aspects, a power tool battery pack operable to supply power to a power tool includes a controller. The controller is operable to sample a battery pack condition in at least a first sampling mode and a second sampling mode to produce... Agent: Michael, Best & Freidrich LLP

20070103117 - Charging method and charging units: A method involves storing a change data record with a change data in a network element of a data transmission network; transmitting a service request message for the use of a service by the user; allocating a service termination data for the user according to the service request message; changing... Agent: Mark J Henry Staas & Halsey

20070103118 - Power supply system: A power supply system comprising: a DC power supply apparatus; a load device; a lithium ion battery for backup that is connected in parallel with said DC power supply apparatus and said load device; a charging current limiting circuit that is connected in series with said lithium ion battery and... Agent: Robert E Krebs Thelen Reid & Priest

20070103119 - Switching method and apparatus for ac/dc powered corded/cordless appliance and related apparatus: The present disclosure provides a method, apparatus, and system to switch between direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) power sources for appliances with a third position to allow on-board recharging of the DC power source. The method involves locking out a power source when the other power source is... Agent: Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP Attn. Docketing

20070103120 - System, method, and article of manufacture for determining an estimated battery state vector: A system, a method, and an article of manufacture for determining an estimated battery state vector indicative of a state of a battery are provided. The method determines a first estimated battery state vector indicative of the state of the battery at a first predetermined time based on a plurality... Agent: Cantor Colburn, LLP

20070103121 - Method and system for battery protection: A method and system for battery protection. In some aspects, a battery pack configured to be interfaced with a power tool includes a housing, a cell, a controller, and a circuit. The circuit is operable to enable the controller to operate when the voltage supplied by the cell to the... Agent: Michael, Best & Freidrich LLP

20070096684 - Apparatus for controlling electric power for electric vehicle: A control system providing more stable operation of an electric vehicle. From when the ignition switch is turned on to when the power ratchet period is completed, because the reset signal in the state of active “low” is supplied only once, communications between the MCU and apparatuses connected to the... Agent: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (sf)

20070096685 - Apparatus for charging handheld units: A charger for handheld units is also an automatic backup unit for data stored in the handheld unit. The communication with the handheld unit is performed through a predefined object transfer protocol. By using an object transfer protocol, it is up to the handheld unit how to interact with the... Agent: Albihns Stockholm Ab

20070096686 - Implantable device with heat absorption material: A system for charging a battery associated with an implantable medical device includes an inductive charging mechanism that includes a primary coil and a secondary coil. The primary coil is configured to be provided external to a human body and the secondary coil is configured to be provided within the... Agent: Foley & Lardner LLP

20070096688 - Battery: A battery in which a power generating element is accommodated in a battery case, wherein the battery case is composed of a flexible sheet, and at least part of the power generating element is covered with a cover member. This prevents the inner face of the flexible sheet from being... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20070096689 - Battery analysis system and method: A battery analysis system comprises a test module configured to read at least one battery parameter value from at least one register of a battery and compare the at least one battery parameter value to a predetermined value to determine if the battery is defective.... Agent: Hewlett Packard Company

20070096690 - Charger system for cordless power devices: A battery charger is provided which includes a housing formed by an upper housing half-shell and a lower housing half-shell connected together so that the half-shells align with one another, an opening for inserting a battery pack and an electrical cord extending form the housing. The upper and lower housing... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20070096687 - Repalceable rechargeable battery unit for a power tool, power tool, and charger: b

20070096691 - Wireless battery charger detection and notification: The availability of a charging facility for a portable electronic device is detected by the portable electronic device by establishing a short range wireless communication link between a battery charger and the portable device, and transferring compatibility data over the wireless communication link from the charger to the portable electronic... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20070096693 - Apparatus and method for effecting power distribution to a host system from a voltage source or a battery: An apparatus for effecting power distribution to a host system at a supply locus from one of a voltage source or a battery includes: (a) a current transfer unit having a first and a second connection; the second connection being coupled with the battery; and (b) a control device switchingly... Agent: Texas Instruments Incorporated

20070096692 - Electric power storage device with multiple voltage outputs: An electric power storage device with multiple voltage outputs capable of providing electricity of various voltages for different electronic devices. The device includes a first switch and a second switch that connect to the electronic device; a voltage level-adjusting unit used to output a setting signal of a selected voltage... Agent: Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch

20070096694 - Remote state of charge monitoring: A method and device for the remote interrogation of batteries and individual cells and remote determination of state of charge of such cells and batteries. The device comprises a capacity measurement element (or alternatively a voltage determiner with correlation to capacity) as commonly used with such cells or batteries, with... Agent: Israel Nissenbaum

20070096695 - Battery protecting apparatus and battery protecting circuit: A battery protecting circuit is disclosed that includes a negative voltage terminal voltage detecting circuit that detects when a voltage of a negative voltage terminal decreases to less than a predetermined voltage; an abnormality detecting circuit that detects an abnormality in charge/discharge conditions of a battery; a switch that is... Agent: Ladas & Parry LLP

20070096696 - System and method for charging a battery: A system and method for producing electrochemical conversion in an electrochemical device comprises a power converter, for example, a resonant circuit, connected to the electrochemical device and a triggering circuit connected to the power converter. The triggering circuit comprises a pulse generator to trigger the power converter to generate positive... Agent: Hoffman Warnick & D'alessandro, LLC

20070096697 - Battery fuel gauge circuit: The present invention is a battery fuel gauge circuit for measuring the capacity of a battery pack. The battery fuel gauge circuit includes an amplifier circuit, a correction circuit, a plurality of comparators, and a multiplexer. The amplifier circuit can sense a discharge current flowing through a sense resistor and... Agent: Carlton Fields, Pa