The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 26, 1991
Filed:
Jun. 12, 1989
Alan J Klebenow, Brookfield, WI (US);
Thomas J Dougherty, Waukesha, WI (US);
Edward N Mrotek, Grafton, WI (US);
David A Thuerk, Brookfield, WI (US);
Maurice G Michaud, Mequon, WI (US);
Globe-Union Inc., Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
The invention provides a vehicle battery system including a main and a reserve battery disposed within a battery housing (10) having conventional external dimensions and battery terminal locations. An illustrated embodiment includes a main battery, comprising a series of thin, flat cells (38) disposed along a first axis, and a reserve battery, comprising a series of cells (42) diposed along a second axis transverse to the first axis. An electrical circuit facilitates selective communication between the reserve battery and the vehicle starter in accordance with the position of a switch assembly (100). The circuit illustratively includes a diode (110) configured to permit current flow into the reserve battery (104) during recharging, but which prevents reserve battery drain during normal vehicle operation. A variable resistor (112) is disposed in series with the diode to limit the amount of power, and hence the amount of heat, dissipated by the diode. When the main battery becomes drained, switch assembly (100) is actuated to bring the reserve battery (104) into parallel with the main battery (102).