Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – With measuring – testing – or indicating means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-16
2001-09-18
Brouillette, Gabrielle (Department: 1745)
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
With measuring, testing, or indicating means
C429S093000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06291096
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to battery testers that can be incorporated on battery packaging.
Known types of battery testers that are placed on batteries are so called “thermochromic” types. In a thermochromic battery tester there can be two electrodes that are connected by a consumer manually depressing a switch. Once the switch is depressed, the consumer has connected an anode of the battery to a cathode of the battery through the thermochromic tester. The thermochromic tester includes a silver conductor that has a variable width so that the resistance of the conductor also varies along its length. As current travels through the silver conductor, the current generates heat that changes the color of a thermochromic ink display that is over the silver conductor. The thermochromic ink display is arranged as a gauge to indicate the relative capacity of the battery. The higher the current the more heat is generated and the more the gauge will change to indicate that the battery is good.
Sometimes the switch can be hard for people to depress and it can become difficult to tell whether the tester worked or not or whether the battery is good or bad. This can be confusing to a consumer. Depressing the switch makes a direct relatively high conductance connection between the anode and cathode of the cell which can draw significant power and reduce battery lifetime. Battery heat can also give a false indication of the state of charge of the battery.
SUMMARY
According to an aspect of the invention, a battery tester, includes a voltage controlled display, a first voltage divider having a terminal coupled to a terminal of the voltage controlled display and a second voltage divider having a terminal coupled to a second terminal of the voltage controlled display. The second voltage divider includes a non-linear device.
A major advantage of the tester compared to other testers is that a consumer can merely look at the tester on the battery to determine whether the battery is good or not. This tester eliminates the need to hold the battery and depress a switch to engage the battery tester. This tester although always on, uses very little current and hence power. The tester may be more efficient than prior testers depending on how many times a consumer presses the switch on the prior tester. Over the lifetime of a battery, this tester may use less current or be comparable to the thermochromic approach.
The tester includes a voltage sensitive display and a nonlinear element that could be a metal-insulator-metal diode (M-I-M diode) or a transistor. The voltage sensitive display uses a material that switches based on the voltage. The display does not use a large amount of current so it would not significantly drain the battery that is the power source for the display. The battery tester, of course, does not have to be an “always on” tester. The nonlinear element enables switching of the display to indicate a good or bad condition.
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Brouillette Gabrielle
Fish & Richardson P.C.
Ruthkosky Mark
The Gillette Company
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