Apple Inc.

Google Inc.

X Development LLC

Apple Inc. Cupertino

Taisup Hwang

Ramesh C Bhardwaj

Richard M Mank

John Raff

Sheba Devan

Erik L Wang

Stephen Robert McClure

Anurag Gupta

Simon Prakash

Bookeun Oh

Example embodiments relate to multiple battery configurations for space utilization. One embodiment includes a device. The device includes a primary battery. The device also includes an auxiliary battery configured to supply auxiliary electrical power. A first surface of the auxiliary battery is positioned along a first surface of the primary battery. The auxiliary battery is a thin-film battery. The first surface of the auxiliary battery has a smaller area than the first surface of the primary battery.

Multiple battery configurations for space utilization

The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell which includes a set of jelly rolls enclosed in a pouch. Each jelly roll includes layers which are wound together, including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a first set of conductive tabs and a second set of conductive tabs. Each of the first set of conductive tabs is coupled to the cathode of one of the jelly rolls, and each of the second set of conductive tabs is coupled to the anode of one of the jelly rolls. At least one of the first set and one of the second set of conductive tabs extend through seals in the pouch to provide terminals for the battery cell.

Battery with multiple jelly rolls in a single pouch

The disclosure relates to pre-lithiation for batteries having silicon anodes. One example embodiment is a method. The method includes applying a voltage across an anode and a cathode of a battery during a formation charging process. The method also includes transferring lithium ions from the cathode to the anode to perform in situ pre-lithiation. A ratio of a capacity of the anode to a capacity of the cathode is less than 1.0.

Pre-lithiation for batteries having si-anodes

The disclosed embodiments provide a battery pack for use with a portable electronic device. The battery pack includes a first set of cells with different capacities electrically coupled in a parallel configuration. Cells within the first set of cells may also have different thicknesses and/or dimensions. The first set of cells is arranged within the battery pack to facilitate efficient use of space within a portable electronic device. For example, the first set of cells may be arranged to accommodate components in the portable electronic device.

Battery pack with cells of different capacities electrically coupled in parallel

The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell. The battery cell includes a set of layers including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a pouch enclosing the layers, which contains a first layer of polyether ether ketone (PEEK).

Reducing pouch thicknesses in battery cells for portable electronic devices

The disclosed embodiments provide a system that manages use of a battery in a portable electronic device. During operation, the system uses a reference electrode in the battery to monitor an anode potential of an anode in the battery during charging of the battery in the portable electronic device. If the anode potential falls below an anode potential threshold, the system modifies a charging technique for the battery to extend a cycle life of the battery. For example, the system may reduce a charge current of the battery if the anode potential falls below the anode potential threshold to prevent degradation caused by a negative anode potential during charging of the battery.

Using reference electrodes to manage batteries for portable electronic devices

Disclosed are methods for intelligently charging a battery faster. In some embodiments, the method includes determining, by a computing device, a target state of charge (SOC) from a set of predefined SOCs, where at least one of the predefined SOCs is less than a 100% SOC. Further, the method includes determining, by the computing device, a state of a battery, where the state of the battery is indicative of one or more characteristics of the battery. Further, the method includes, based at least on the state of the battery, the computing device determining a pulse time and a rest time of a current for charging the battery to the target SOC. Yet further, the method may include the computing device charging the battery to the target SOC with the pulse time and the rest time of the current.

Fast charging of batteries

The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell. The battery cell includes a set of layers which are wound together to form a jelly roll, including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a pouch enclosing the layers, wherein the pouch is flexible. To increase a current flow in the battery cell, a first set of conductive tabs is coupled to a cathode substrate of the cathode, and a second set of conductive tabs is coupled to an anode substrate of the anode.

Multiple conductive tabs for facilitating current flow in batteries

An apparatus for providing adjustable transparency to an optical element of a head wearable display includes an electro-chromic film disposed across the optical element to adjust a transparency of the optical element to ambient light and a transparency controller coupled to control the electro-chromic film with a drive signal to decrease the transparency of the optical element as the brightness of the ambient light increases. The transparency controller includes a scaling circuit coupled to receive a power signal from a power source and coupled to output the driving signal to the electro-chromic film to control the transparency of the optical element. The scaling circuit scales the power signal to generate the driving signal. The transparency controller further includes a control circuit coupled to the scaling circuit to control the scaling applied by the scaling circuit.

Head wearable display with adjustable transparency

The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell. The battery cell includes a set of layers forming a non-rectangular shape, wherein the set of layers comprises a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a first conductive tab coupled to the cathode and a second conductive tab coupled to the anode. The layers are enclosed in a flexible pouch, and the first and second conductive tabs are extended through seals in the pouch to provide terminals for the battery cell. Furthermore, the non-rectangular shape is created by removing material from one or more of the layers.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Taisup Hwang