(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,181,102 Bi
Andrews et al. (45) Date of Patent: Jan. 30,2001
(54) BATTERY PACK CHEMISTRY DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
(75) Inventors: Jonathan Neal Andrews; Gregory
Dean Brink, both of McMinnville, OR
(US)
(73) Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
( * ) Notice: Under 35 U.S.C. 154(b), the term of this patent shall be extended for 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/191,685
(22) Filed: Nov. 13, 1998
(51) Int. C I. IKI2J 7/00
(52) U.S. CI 320/106; 307/125
(58) Field of Search 320/106, 110;
307/125
(56) References Cited
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(List continued on next page.)
Primary Examiner—Peter S. Wong
Assistant Examiner—Pia Tibbits
(57) ABSTRACT
A battery chemistry identification system and method that identifies the chemistry of an installed battery pack which may be one of a number of battery packs having different battery chemistries. The battery packs have electrical and physical interfaces that are functionally interchangeable. The battery packs include one or more distinguishing features in either or both aspects of the interface. The identification system includes a sensor appropriate for detecting the feature(s) and, based on the presence or absence of those distinguishing feature(s), determines which battery pack and, hence, which battery chemistry, is installed in the battery-powered device. In one particular embodiment, the system determines whether a battery installed in a batterypowered device having multiple use models is a commonly available industry standard battery pack or a customized battery pack. The industry standard battery pack has a first battery chemistry and a standard mechanical and electrical battery interface. The standard mechanical interface enables the battery pack to mechanically interoperate with an appropriately configured battery pocket while the standard electrical interface enables the battery pack to electrically interoperate with the battery pocket, typically including terminals through which energy is delivered to the device. The customized battery pack has a second battery chemistry different than the first battery chemistry and a custom interface. The custom interface includes the standard mechanical and electrical battery interfaces with the addition of one or more distinguishing feature(s). The system detects the presence or absence of the feature(s) and generates a battery chemistry indication accordingly.
18 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
