Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Co.

Hiroki Takeshima

Hideo Kaiya

Munehisa Ikoma

Nobuyasu Morishita

Kiyoshi Hayashi

Keizo Harada

Shosaku Yamanaka

Tatsuhiko Suzuki

Kenichi Watanabe

Toru Inagaki

Takuma Iida

Yohei Hattori

Katsuhiro Okamoto

Akio Kujirai

Toshitaka Niitsuma

Yasushi Nakamura

Mitsuhiro Tamura

Kazushige Sugimoto

Shunsuke Yasui

Fumio Kato

Hiroyuki Usui

Futoshi Tanigawa

Hideaki Ohyama

Shinichi Sumiyama

Takeo Takayanagi

Akiko Okabe

Masato Tsuji

Hironori Ura

Ikuo Katsumata

Kiyoto Watanabe

Takehiro Chinen

Takeshi Yoshinaka

Naoyoshi Shibuya

Hiroki Saito

Ryoichi Hamasaki

Osamu Aoya

Shogo Yamamoto

Tsuneo Ando

Disclosed is an alloy powder for electrodes for nickel-metal hydride storage batteries having a high battery capacity and being excellent in life characteristics and high-temperature storage characteristics. The alloy powder includes a hydrogen storage alloy containing elements L, M, Ni, Co, and E. L includes La as an essential component. L includes no Nd, or when including Nd, the percentage of Nd in L is less than 5 mass %. The percentage of La in the hydrogen storage alloy is 23 mass % or less. M is Mg, Ca, Sr and/or Ba. A molar ratio &#x3b1; to a total of L and M is 0.045&#x2264;&#x3b1;&#x2264;0.133. A molar ratio x of Ni to the total of L and M is 3.5&#x2264;x&#x2264;4.32, and a molar ratio y of Co is 0.13&#x2264;y&#x2264;0.5. The molar ratios x and y, and a molar ratio z of E to the total of L and M satisfy 4.78&#x2264;x+y+z&#x3c;5.03.

Alloy powder for electrodes, negative electrode for nickel-metal hydride storage batteries including the same, and nickel-metal hydride storage battery including the same

A battery life predicting device and a battery life predicting method capable of accurately predict the lifetime of storage batteries are provided. The expected lifetime value selecting unitselects, as an expected lifetime value, a lifetime value that corresponds to the load power applied by the storage battery during discharge and the ambient temperature of the location where the storage batteryis installed while referring to the lifetime data stored in the lifetime data storing unit, the first diminution in lifetime calculating unitcalculates the first diminution in lifetime based on a natural logarithm function that takes the time obtained by converting the number of discharge cycles of the storage batteryas a variable, the second diminution in lifetime calculating unitcalculates the second diminution in lifetime from the mean value of the storage battery temperatures during charging, discharging or an idle state, the ambient temperature and the time elapsed after the installation of the storage battery, and the remaining lifetime value calculating unitcalculates the remaining lifetime value by subtracting the first diminution in lifetime and the second diminution in lifetime from the expected lifetime value.

Battery life predicting device and battery life predicting method

Data indicating a relationship of life of a battery to a value of load power applied to the battery in discharge and environmental temperature of a place where the battery is installed are prepared beforehand. Next, the load power and the environmental temperature when the battery is discharged are measured, and then a life value corresponding to these measured values is selected from the data so as to be set as an expected life value. Next, a first life reduction amount is calculated from a natural logarithmic function with the number-of-discharges as a variable, and the difference between the expected life value and the first life reduction amount is set to a remaining life value, on the basis of which the life of the nickel-hydride battery is determined. By this method, the life of the nickel-hydride battery as a backup power source can be accurately determined, while correction based on phenomena unique to the nickel-hydride battery is performed.

Nickel-hydride battery life determining method and life determining apparatus

Disclosed are a battery package and a method for charging and discharging secondary batteries including nickel hydrogen batteries by refreshing and suppressing inactivity of the batteries. More concretely, battery package () comprises a group of batteries having a plurality of connected secondary batteries, each forming a unit battery, a plurality of sensors for detecting a temperature and a voltage, a display device for displaying a condition of the group of batteries, a switch for controlling charge and discharge of the group of batteries, and an operational control circuit () for generating a signal based on signals input from the plurality of sensors to make the display device display the condition of the group of batteries and to activate the switch, wherein the battery package () is provided with refreshing demand display device () for displaying a need to initiate a refreshing charge and discharge, and it uses the method of carrying out the refreshing charge and discharge automatically when a recovery voltage of the secondary batteries does not exceed a predetermined voltage after a lapse of a predetermined time from a moment when the secondary batteries come to a final discharge voltage. This invention can thus carry out the refreshing charge and discharge even for secondary batteries that become inactive after having been left unused for a long time.

Battery pack and method of charging and discharging the same

Battery case

A battery pack includes a plurality of cells () stacked on top of one another in tiers; a heat collecting plate () made of a wave-like metal sheet and interposed between tiers of the cells so as to make contact with outer peripheral surfaces of upper and lower tiers of the cells alternately; a heat pipe () having its heating portion () fitted into a fitting groove () formed in the heat collecting plate; a pack case () for accommodating the cells, the heat collecting plate, and the heat pipe; and a heat dissipating member () attached to the pack case so as to close an opening of the pack case and having on its inner-surface side a concavely-formed receiving groove () into which a heat dissipating portion () of the heat pipe is fitted.

Heat dissipating battery pack

The present invention provides a high-capacity sealed nickel-metal hydride storage battery superior in high-current discharge, without extending the injection time of an electrolyte. This battery includes an electrode group, a metal case for accommodating the electrode group, and a seal plate provided with a safety vent, for sealing an opening of the case, and the electrode group has a structure in which, round a non-sintered type cylindrical electrode of one polarity, a non-sintered type hollow cylindrical electrode of the other polarity and a non-sintered type hollow cylindrical electrode of the one polarity are layered alternately in the form of concentric circles with a separator between the electrodes.

Sealed cylindrical nickel-metal hydride storage battery

Battery pack spacer

An apparatus for manufacturing a battery electrode from foamed metal electrode material includes first and second rollers which are parallel to each other at a shaft center, and rotatable in directions opposite to each other, and a guide bar which is between the first and second rollers. A method for manufacturing a battery electrode includes supplying a foamed metal electrode material including voids, and having a filled portion filled with active material and an unfilled portion without the active material, and a boundary line between the filled and unfilled portions. Part of the unfilled portion is folded in parallel to the boundary line passing through the unfilled portion, and at right angle against the unfilled portion. A lead welding portion is formed along the direction of the longer side, by applying, to the unfilled bent portion, a force in the direction perpendicular to the filled portion in a way to crush the voids, and compress the bent portion. Preferably, the height of the unfilled portion is compressed to a thickness no more than about the thickness of the filled portion. The lead welding portion formed this way has high density and high mechanical strength. And a battery electrode includes a foamed metal including voids and partly filled with an active material and having a plane surface, and a lead welding portion.

Electrode for battery, manufacturing method thereof, and apparatus for it

Disclosed is an alkaline storage battery which exhibit exceptional charge/discharge and cycle life characteristics by improved current collection and active material retention of the electrode substrate. The electrode comprises a substrate composed of a conductive core material and fibrous nickel members unitary sintered on both surfaces of the conductive core material, and a layer of an active material filled into the substrate. The fibrous nickel members of the substrate are bent or curved at least at their tip ends inside the active material layer to retain the active material.

Alkaline storage battery and method for producing an electrode used

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Hiroki Takeshima