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:
Oct. 08, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 18, 2002
Calvin Edward Coates, Canton, MI (US);
Robert John Mellchar, Dearborn, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, Inc., Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
The invention is a method and system to efficiently ensure functionality of a battery pack during assembly using thermal imaging. After individual battery modules are combined into sections, such as for a high voltage battery pack to power a traction motor for an electric vehicle, a power discharge test using thermal imaging is conducted on each section before combined to form the battery pack. This can determine whether any connections are loose or faulty based on the additional heat generated and detected at the site and allow them to be fixed during assembly. Further tests can include a comparison of voltage among the battery pack and each battery section and a means to adjust any battery pack that exceeds a predetermined voltage variation. The thermal image scan can obtain thermal radiation variation using infrared intensity data that can be digitized, processed, assigned color values, put on a visual display and recorded.