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:
Jan. 10, 2012
Filed:
May. 28, 2009
Weston Arthur Hermann, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Paul Bryan Kreiner, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Scott Ira Kohn, Redwood City, CA (US);
Dorian West, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Jonathan Louis Hall, San Mateo, CA (US);
Weston Arthur Hermann, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Paul Bryan Kreiner, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Scott Ira Kohn, Redwood City, CA (US);
Dorian West, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Jonathan Louis Hall, San Mateo, CA (US);
Tesla Motors, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus is provided for determining when a battery, or one or more batteries within a battery pack, undergoes an undesired thermal event such as thermal runaway. The system uses an optical fiber mounted in close proximity to, or in contact with, an external surface of the battery or batteries to be monitored. A source of light is optically coupled to the input facet of the optical fiber and a detector optically coupled to the output facet of the optical fiber. Battery health is determined by monitoring the light transmitted through the optical fiber.