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:
Nov. 02, 1993
Filed:
Dec. 09, 1991
Thomas C Hall, Irvine, CA (US);
George A Larchian, Northridge, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A bypass circuit for a rechargeable battery cell has first and second normally open switches in parallel across the cell. The first switch, which can be a backward-biased rectifier, shunts the discharge current between the cell terminals if the battery cell fails but reopens if the battery cell recovers. The second switch shunts the charging current between the cell terminals if the battery cell fails but reopens if the cell recovers. The second switch can be a normally open FET transistor biased to close only when the cell voltage V.sub.C substantially exceeds a normal peak charging voltage V.sub.P. A rechargeable battery system in which the cells are series connected can incorporate a separate bypass circuit across each cell to enable the remaining good cells to continue charging and discharging even if a particular cell fails.