Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Toshiba Battery Co., Ltd.

Motoya Kanda

Norio Takami

Hideki Yoshida

Masaaki Yamamoto

Hiroyuki Hasebe

Isao Sakai

Hirotaka Hayashida

Shuji Yamada

Tatsuoki Kohno

Takahisa Ohsaki

Shusuke Inada

Takamichi Inaba

Hiroshi Kitayama

Shinji Tsuruta

Yuji Sato

Takao Sawa

Hideyuki Kanai

Tatsuoki Kono

Fumiyuki Kawashima

Takashi Kuboki

Katsumi Hisano

Hideo Iwasaki

Yuji Satoh

Kiyoshi Mitsuyasu

Asako Sato

Shirou Takeno

Koichi Kubo

Nobukazu Suzuki

Masao Yamamoto

Takashi Kishi

Ken Uchida

Hirokazu Niki

Atsuo Sonai

Akinori Hongu

Hiroyasu Yoshizawa

Yuu Kondou

Kunihiko Sasaki

Yoshiko Kanazawa

Koji Hashimoto

Yoshiyuki Isozaki

Shinji Arai

Ken-ichi Kanno

Kazuta Takeno

Masashi Fujiwara

Takahisa Osaki

Koji Hasimoto

Eriko Shincho

Eriko Yagasaki

Kenichi Kochiwa

The present invention provides a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, comprising an electrode group including a positive electrode, a negative electrode including a material for absorbing-desorbing lithium ions, and a separator arranged between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, a nonaqueous electrolyte impregnated in the electrode group and including a nonaqueous solvent and a lithium salt dissolved in the nonaqueous solvent, and a jacket for housing the electrode group and having a thickness of 0.3 mm or less, wherein the nonaqueous solvent &#x3b3;-butyrolactone in an amount larger than 50% by volume and not larger than 95% by volume based on the total amount of the nonaqueous solvent.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery

A battery pack including: a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery including an external connection terminal; and a discharge control mechanism which controls discharge of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery when a surface temperature of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery exceeds a discharge control temperature T(&#xb0; C.) represented by&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)where Tis an ambient temperature in a range of 0 to 60&#xb0; C., Q is 8 (&#xb0; C./C), and A is a discharge rate (C) of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery in a case where a current required for discharging a nominal capacity of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery in one hour is 1C, and is within a range of 4C to 7C.

Battery pack with a discharge control mechanism

The present invention provides a hydrogen absorbing alloy containing as a principal phase at least one phase selected from the group consisting of a second phase having a rhombohedral crystal structure and a first phase having a crystal structure of a hexagonal system excluding a phase having a CaCutype structure, wherein a content of a phase having a crystal structure of ABtype is not higher than 10% by volume including 0% by volume and the hydrogen absorbing alloy has a composition represented by general formula (1) given below:RMgTNiM1M2Mn&#x2003;&#x2003;(1).

Hydrogen absorbing alloy and secondary battery

A battery-powered vacuum cleaner is provided with a battery pack that generates heat and is capable of efficiently cooling the battery pack. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner comprises a battery pack () including a plurality of secondary batteries, a battery pack container () containing the battery pack, a motor () driven for operation by power supplied by the battery pack, a fan () driven by the motor to suck air, a dust cup () for separating dust from air sucked therein by the fan and storing the dust separated from the sucked air, a housing () containing the battery pack container, the motor, the fan and the dust cup, and provided with a first suction opening () through which external air is sucked, a first airflow duct () for guiding the air sucked in by the fun through the dust cup to the motor, and a second airflow duct (), for guiding air for cooling the battery pack through the battery pack, joined to the first airflow duct at a junction () on the upstream side of the fan.

Battery-powered vacuum cleaner and method of cooling battery-powered vacuum cleaner

The present invention provides a hydrogen absorbing alloy containing as a principal phase at least one phase selected from the group consisting of a second phase having a rhombohedral crystal structure and a first phase having a crystal structure of a hexagonal system excluding a phase having a CaCutype structure, wherein a content of a phase having a crystal structure of ABtype is not higher than 10% by volume including 0% by volume and the hydrogen absorbing alloy has a composition represented by general formula (1) given below:MgTNiM1M2Mn.&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

An overdischarge preventing circuit apparatus according to this invention is an overdischarge preventing circuit apparatus for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, including a discharge control mechanism which controls discharge of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery when a surface temperature of the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery exceeds a discharge control temperature T(&#xb0; C.) represented by&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)where Tis an ambient temperature (&#xb0; C.), Q is 8 (&#xb0; C./C), and A is a discharge rate (C).

Overdischarge preventing circuit apparatus for a nonawueous electrolyte secondary battery, overdischarge preventing circuit apparatus for a battery pack, secondary battery overdischarge preventing method and overdischarge preventing method for a battery pack

A battery-powered vacuum cleaner is provided with a battery pack that generates heat and is capable of efficiently cooling the battery pack. The battery pack of the battery-powered vacuum cleaner is cooled by a vacuum cleaner cooling method. The battery-powered vacuum cleaner comprises a battery pack () including a plurality of secondary batteries, a battery pack container () containing the battery pack, a motor () driven for operation by power supplied by the battery pack, a fan () driven by the motor to suck air, a dust cup () for separating dust from air sucked therein by the fan and storing the dust separated from the sucked air, a housing () containing the battery pack container, the motor, the fan and the dust cup, and provided with a first suction opening () through which external air is sucked, a first airflow duct () for guiding the air sucked in by the fun through the dust cup to the motor, and a second airflow duct (), for guiding air for cooling the battery pack through the battery pack, joined to the first airflow duct at a junction () on the upstream side of the fan.

A battery pack includes an outer case, and a plurality of cylindrical lithium ion secondary batteries accommodated in the outer case in vertical N rows and lateral M rows (N rows&#x2266;M rows), with a gap between the secondary batteries, wherein the outer case has a draft port opened in a first wall facing an outer circumferential surface of the secondary batteries in the first vertical row, and an exhaust port opened in a second wall positioned at the opposite side of the first wall, in each secondary battery in the first vertical row and the second vertical row, a part of the outer circumferential surface, which is at a shorter distance from the first wall than any other parts, faces the draft port of the outer case.

Battery pack and rechargeable vacuum cleaner

The present invention provides a hydrogen absorbing alloy containing as a principal phase at least one phase selected from the group consisting of a second phase having a rhombohedral crystal structure and a first phase having a crystal structure of a hexagonal system excluding a phase having a CaCutype structure, wherein a content of a phase having a crystal structure of ABtype is not higher than 10% by volume including 0% by volume and the hydrogen absorbing alloy has a composition represented by general formula (1) given below:RMgTNiM1M2Mn. &#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

Disclosed is a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprises a sealing unit including a conductive support plate, wherein the conductive support plate contains at least one kind of a conductive material selected from the group consisting of a metal, an alloy and a composite metallic material, each of the metal, the alloy and the composite metallic material has a modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus) at 25&#xb0; C. that falls within a range from 1&#xd7;10Pa to 3.27&#xd7;10Pa, and the conductive support plate has an area resistance value RS at 20&#xb0; C. falling within a range from 0.032 (&#x3bc;&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm) to 1.24 (&#x3bc;&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm).

There is proposed a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having an electrode assembly which is impregnated with a non-aqueous electrolyte solution, wherein the battery can be made thin while maintaining improved capacity, large-current characteristics and cycle life. The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution. The production process of the battery comprises steps of preparing an electrode assembly by interposing a separator between a positive electrode and a negative electrode, impregnating the electrode assembly with an organic solvent which can dissolve the binder of the positive- and/or negative electrodes, bonding the positive electrode and the separator together and bonding the negative electrode and the separator together by drying the electrode assembly, and impregnating the electrode assembly with a non-aqueous electrolyte solution.

Method of binding an electrolyte assembly to form a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

The present invention provides a positive electrode active material containing a composite oxide having a composition represented by a structural formula (1) given below:Li(NiMe1)(OX)+A&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

Positive electrode active material and lithium ion secondary battery

Hydrogen-absorbing alloy, method of surface modification of the alloy, negative electrode for battery and alkaline secondary battery

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Motoya Kanda