# Patent

## Title
Battery run down indicator

## Abstract

An automotive vehicle battery monitor includes an electrical connection configured to electrically couple to an electrical system of the vehicle. An output provides a visual indication related to a condition of the battery. A mount mounts the output at a location at which the output is visible from outside of the vehicle.

## Background
The present application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/923,661, filed Apr. 16, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present embodiments relate to automotive vehicles. More specifically, the present embodiments relate to monitoring batteries of automotive vehicles.
Various types of automotive vehicle battery monitors are known. Midtronics, Inc. and Dr. Keith S. Champlin have pioneered a number of technologies shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708, issued Sep. 30, 1975, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768, issued Mar. 28, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170, issued Apr. 25, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038, issued Nov. 14, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416, issued Mar. 27, 1990, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269, issued Aug. 18, 1992, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,380, issued Aug. 30, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136, issued Nov. 5, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355, issued Nov. 12, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,416, issued Dec. 10, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728, issued Dec. 17, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,757, issued Dec. 31, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093, issued Jan. 7, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098, issued Jan. 28, 1997; U.S. Pat. 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No. 09/756,638, filed Jan. 8, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/862,783, filed May 21, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING CELLS AND BATTERIES EMBEDDED IN SERIES/PARALLEL SYSTEMS; U.S. Ser. No. 09/880,473, filed Jun. 13, 2001; entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/042,451, filed Jan. 8, 2002, entitled BATTERY CHARGE CONTROL DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/109,734, filed Mar. 28, 2002, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COUNTERACTING SELF DISCHARGE IN A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/112,998, filed Mar. 29, 2002, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH BATTERY REPLACEMENT OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/263,473, filed Oct. 2, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/310,385, filed Dec. 5, 2002, entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/462,323, filed Jun. 16, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER HAVING A USER INTERFACE TO CONFIGURE A PRINTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/653,342, filed Sep. 2, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER CONFIGURED TO PREDICT A LOAD TEST RESULT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/441,271, filed May 19, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/653,963, filed Sep. 1, 2000, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING POWER GENERATION AND STORAGE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/174,110, filed Jun. 18, 2002, entitled DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT CONTROL USING AN INTELLIGENT POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 10/258,441, filed Apr. 9, 2003, entitled CURRENT MEASURING CIRCUIT SUITED FOR BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 10/681,666, filed Oct. 8, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH PROBE LIGHT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/748,792, filed Dec. 30, 2003, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE REMAINING DISCHARGE TIME OF A BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/783,682, filed Feb. 20, 2004, entitled REPLACEABLE CLAMP FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/791,141, filed Mar. 2, 2004, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Ser. No. 10/864,904, filed Jun. 9, 2004, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/867,385, filed Jun. 14, 2004, entitled ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/896,834, filed Jul. 22, 2004, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/897,801, filed Jul. 23, 2004, entitled SHUNT CONNECTION TO A PCB FOR AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EMPLOYED IN AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/958,821, filed Oct. 5, 2004, entitled IN-VEHICLE BATTERY MONITOR; U.S. Ser. No. 10/958,812, filed Oct. 5, 2004, entitled SCAN TOOL FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 11/008,456, filed Dec. 9, 2004, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING BATTERY CAPACITY AND FITNESS FOR SERVICE FROM A BATTERY DYNAMIC PARAMETER AND A RECOVERY VOLTAGE DIFFERENTIAL, U.S. Ser. No. 60/587,232, filed Dec. 14, 2004, entitled CELLTRON ULTRA, U.S. Ser. No. 11/018,785, filed Dec. 21, 2004, entitled WIRELESS BATTERY MONITOR; U.S. Ser. No. 60/653,537, filed Feb. 16, 2005, entitled CUSTOMER MANAGED WARRANTY CODE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/063,247, filed Feb. 22, 2005, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER OR CHARGER WITH DATABUS CONNECTION; U.S. Ser. No. 60/665,070, filed Mar. 24, 2005, entitled OHMMETER PROTECTION CIRCUIT; U.S. Ser. No. 11/141,234, filed May 31, 2005, entitled BATTERY TESTER CAPABLE OF IDENTIFYING FAULTY BATTERY POST ADAPTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 11/143,828, filed Jun. 2, 2005, entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/146,608, filed Jun. 7, 2005, entitled SCAN TOOL FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 60,694,199, filed Jun. 27, 2005, entitled GEL BATTERY CONDUCTANCE COMPENSATION; U.S. Ser. No. 11/178,550, filed Jul. 11, 2005, entitled WIRELESS BATTERY TESTER/CHARGER; U.S. Ser. No. 60/705,389, filed Aug. 4, 2005, entitled PORTABLE TOOL THEFT PREVENTION SYSTEM, U.S. Ser. No. 11/207,419, filed Aug. 19, 2005, entitled SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY GATHERING BATTERY INFORMATION FOR USE DURING BATTERY TESTER/CHARGING, U.S. Ser. No. 60/712,322, filed Aug. 29, 2005, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, U.S. Ser. No. 60/713,168, filed Aug. 31, 2005, entitled LOAD TESTER SIMULATION WITH DISCHARGE COMPENSATION, U.S. Ser. No. 60/731,881, filed Oct. 31, 2005, entitled PLUG-IN FEATURES FOR BATTERY TESTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 60/731,887, filed Oct. 31, 2005, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/304,004, filed Dec. 14, 2005, entitled BATTERY TESTER THAT CALCULATES ITS OWN REFERENCE VALUES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/751,853, filed Dec. 20, 2005, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/304,004, filed Dec. 14, 2005, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH CALCULATES ITS OWN REFERENCE VALUES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/751,853, filed Dec. 20, 2005, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/352,945, filed Feb. 13, 2006, entitled BATTERY TESTERS WITH SECONDARY FUNCTIONALITY; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,299, filed Feb. 16, 2006, entitled CENTRALLY MONITORED SALES OF STORAGE BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,436, field Feb. 16, 2006, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,443, filed Feb. 16, 2006, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH NETWORK COMMUNICATION; U.S. Ser. No. 11/410,263, filed Apr. 24, 2006, entitled QUERY BASED ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 11/498,703, filed Aug. 3, 2006, entitled THEFT PREVENTION DEVICE FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE SERVICE CENTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 11/507,157, filed Aug. 21, 2006, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SIMULATING A BATTERY TESTER WITH A FIXED RESISTANCE LOAD; U.S. Ser. No. 11/511,872, filed Aug. 29, 2006, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/519,481, filed Sep. 12, 2006, entitled BROAD-BAND LOW-CONDUCTANCE CABLES FOR MAKING KELVIN CONNECTIONS TO ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/847,064, filed Sep. 25, 2006, entitled STATIONARY BATTERY MONITORING ALGORITHMS; U.S. Ser. No. 11/638,771, filed Dec. 14, 2006, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/641,594, filed Dec. 19, 2006, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER OF A VEHICLE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/711,356, filed Feb. 27, 2007, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH PROMOTION FEATURE; which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
Typically, the battery monitor, or tester, is connected to the vehicle battery when the vehicle fails to start. In some instances, the battery monitor is part of the vehicle electrical system such as a voltmeter, which is mounted on the dash of the vehicle. In such automotive vehicle battery monitors, the voltage measurement output, for example, is visible only from within the vehicle. Further, such automotive vehicle battery monitors provide a user-viewable output only after the user has performed an initial action, such as inserting a key into an ignition slot of the vehicle and turning it to an ON position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one embodiment, an automotive vehicle battery monitor includes an electrical connection configured to electrically couple to an electrical system of the vehicle. An output provides a visual indication related to a condition of the battery. A mount mounts the output at a location at which the output is visible from outside of the vehicle. In another embodiment, the automotive vehicle battery monitor communicates the vehicle battery condition information, along with vehicle identification information and/or vehicle location information, to a central receiver.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing an automotive vehicle battery monitor in accordance with one embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing an automotive vehicle battery monitoring system in accordance with one embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram showing how automotive vehicle batteries can be monitored from a remote location.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
The present embodiments relate to monitors of the type used to monitor a condition of a storage battery of an automotive vehicle.
There are many applications in which a large inventory of vehicles are maintained for extended periods of time. For example, on a new or used car lot, vehicles used by rental agencies, and others. In such applications, the battery of the vehicle may discharge while being stored. When this happens, the discharged battery is typically not noticed until service personnel, or customers, attempt to start the vehicle. This can often be inconvenient and requires the battery to be replaced or recharged.
The present embodiments provide an automotive vehicle battery monitor which includes an electrical connection configured to electrical couple to an electrical system of the automotive vehicle. An output is provided which provides a visual indication related to a condition of the battery. A mount is configured to mount the output at a location at which the output is visible from outside of the vehicle. This allows the condition of the vehicle battery to be observed by simply visually reviewing the inventory of automotive vehicles. In various embodiments, the visual indication can be any type of visual indication, the electrical connection can be any type of electrical connection and the mount can be any type of mount. Further, in various embodiments, the condition of the battery can be any type of battery condition. Additionally, in some embodiments, the battery monitor output can be viewed from a remote location.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing an automotive vehicle battery monitor 102 in accordance with one example embodiment. The automotive vehicle battery monitor is shown as being positioned within an automotive vehicle 100 and includes an electrical connection 104 configured to couple to an on-board diagnostic II (OBDII) connection 106 of the vehicle 100. OBDII connections are known in the art and are used to couple to the OBDII databus of modern vehicles. Such a databus can be used to retrieve information related to various parameters, such as engine parameters, of the vehicle. Additionally, the OBDII connection 106 provides a connection to the vehicle battery 108. Through the electrical connection 104, battery test circuitry 110 tests, or otherwise determines a condition of the battery 108. For example, this can be battery voltage. The test circuitry 110 controls a visual output 112. For example, the visual output 112 can be a light emitting diode (LED). In one example configuration, the LED can be controlled to blink in a certain pattern to provide an indication related to the condition of the battery 108. For example, if the battery voltage is above 12.4 volts, the LED is off. However, below 12.4 volts, the LED blinks four times over a predetermined time period, at 12.3 volts, the LED blinks 3 times over the time period. Similarly, at 12.2 volts or less, the LED blinks 2 times over the time period. Below 12.1 volts, the LED blinks one time over the time period. The blinking can be, for example, 25 to 50 milliseconds on and 500 milliseconds off.
The connection to the OBDII system of the vehicle can, in some configurations, be preferential to connecting to a cigarette lighter or the like of the vehicle. For example, some vehicles do not have a cigarette lighter connection whereas all modern mass produced vehicles include an OBDII connection. Further, this connection uses an industry standard coupling.
In general, the circuitry of the monitor 102 uses very little power. In some embodiments, the circuitry of the monitor is “asleep” and periodically “wakes up,” and blinks the LED in short bursts. As noted above, by counting blinks, or other visual indication, the monitor 100 can be used as a voltmeter. Further, preferably, the monitor is built using relatively low cost components and a relatively simple circuit design so that it can be easily implemented in all the vehicles at a particular installation.
Mount 114 can be any appropriate mount including, for example, a simple case designed to rest on the dash of the vehicle. In another example, a suction cup or other adhesive is provided such that the visual output can be mounted on a windshield 116 of the vehicle 100.
Although a simple voltage test is described above, in various embodiments other tests may be implemented and the invention is not limited to such a configuration.
In addition to being able to obtain battery voltage from the OBDII connection, the vehicle identification number (VIN) can also be obtained from the OBDII connection. Thus, in some embodiments, the vehicle battery condition output can be sent along with the automobile VIN to a central receiver where a map that associates storage locations and VINs is available. Such an example embodiment is described below in connection with FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing an automotive vehicle battery monitoring system 200 in accordance with one embodiment. The same reference numerals are used in FIG. 2 for elements that are substantially similar to those included in FIG. 1. Automotive vehicle battery monitoring system 200 includes an automotive vehicle battery monitor 202, which is similar to monitor 102 of FIG. 1, and a receiving system 204, which is capable of receiving information from vehicle battery monitor 202. It should be noted that, although a single automotive battery vehicle monitor 202 is shown in FIG. 2 in the interest of simplification, system 200 typically includes multiple automotive vehicle battery monitors that all communicate with a central receiving system 204.
As can be seen in FIG. 2, monitor 202 includes elements that are similar to those included in monitor 102 (of FIG. 1), but also includes communication circuitry 206, which is coupled to test circuitry 110. Communication circuitry 206 transmits vehicle battery condition and VIN information via communication link 208, which can be a wireless communication link (such as a radio frequency (RF) link, infrared (IR) link, etc.), to receiving system 204.
Receiving system 204 can be implemented as desired. In some embodiments, receiving system 204 can comprise only a receiver/transceiver 210 (optionally including an antenna 211) and an output 212, which may be a display unit, for example. Components 210 and 212 may be integrated as a single unit or be separate units that are coupled together. In other embodiments, in addition to receiver/transceiver 210 and output 212, a computing device 214 can be connected to receiver/transceiver 210 such that it can receive the vehicle battery condition and VIN information and utilize a map (stored in memory 216, for example) that associates storage locations and VINs, and display vehicle location information and corresponding vehicle battery condition information. Any received data can be stored in a database within memory 216 and used as desired. In one implementation, receiving system 204 can be configured to couple into, for example, the Internet or an Intranet to serve a web page, which contains vehicle location information and corresponding vehicle battery condition information. This allows for vehicle location information and corresponding vehicle battery condition information to be viewable by using any web browser coupled to receiving system 204 through a data network. Battery monitor 202 can be “asleep” and periodically “wake up” to obtain and transmit vehicle battery condition and VIN information.
Instead of providing a receiving system and monitors that are capable of wireless communication, monitors such as 102 of FIG. 1, which do not include additional communication circuitry such as 206 (FIG. 2), can be linked to, or integrated with, any suitable separate vehicle location tracking system that includes its own receiving system. In such embodiments, each monitor is configured to provide the respective vehicle battery condition information to a location tracing component (of a vehicle location tracking system) within the vehicle. The vehicle location tracking component in the vehicle, provides its tracking information and the vehicle battery condition information to a central receiving system which, in addition to the vehicle tracking information, is configured to display the respective vehicle battery condition information. FIG. 3 shows a system 300 in which individual vehicle battery monitors 302, 304 are communicatively linked to vehicle tags 306, 308, for example, of a vehicle tracking system. Each vehicle tag 306, 308 includes, for example, circuitry that identifies vehicle locations and communicates the vehicle location information to a central receiver 310, which displays the vehicle locations in any suitable format. Further, the circuitry within the vehicle tag 306, 308 is configured to receive vehicle battery condition information from the respective vehicle battery monitor 302, 304 and communicate this information for display along with the vehicle location. In FIG. 3, item 312 denotes the displayed vehicle location and battery condition information. It should be noted that, in the embodiments of automotive battery vehicle monitors shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vehicle battery condition information is communicated to a central location for viewing and therefore the visual output portion of the individual monitors can be eliminated in such embodiments.
Although the focus of the above description is on the preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

## Claims

1. An automotive vehicle battery monitor, comprising:
an electrical connection configured to electrically couple test circuitry to an electrical system of the vehicle, the test circuitry configured to monitor a condition of the battery during storage of the vehicle;
an output, coupled to the test circuitry, configured to provide a visual indication related to the condition of the battery during storage of the vehicle; and
a mount configured to mount the output at a location at which the output is visible from outside of the vehicle.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the electrical connection is configured to electrically couple to an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD)-II connection of the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the visual output comprises a light emitting diode.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the test circuitry measures a voltage of the battery.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the visual output comprises a flashing light source.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the mount is configured to mount to a windshield of the vehicle.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the mount comprises a suction cup.

8. An automotive vehicle battery monitor, comprising:
test circuitry configured to connect to an electrical system of the vehicle and to provide vehicle battery condition information and vehicle identification information during storage of the vehicle; and
communication circuitry, coupled to the test circuitry, configured to communicate the vehicle battery condition information and the vehicle identification information to a central receiver during storage of the vehicle.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the test circuitry is configured to electrically couple to an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD)-II connection of the vehicle.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the test circuitry is configured to obtain a voltage of the vehicle battery from the OBDII connection of the vehicle.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the test circuitry is further configured to obtain vehicle identification information from the OBDII connection of the vehicle.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the central receiver comprises a map that associates the vehicle identification information with vehicle storage location information.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the central receiver is configured to associate, using the map, the vehicle storage location information with the vehicle battery condition information.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the central receiver is configured to couple to an Internet connection.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the vehicle storage location information with the vehicle battery condition information are accessible using a Web browser.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the central receiver is configured to couple to an Intranet connection.

17. A method comprising:
electrically coupling test circuitry to an electrical system of a vehicle;
obtaining, using the test circuitry, a measurement of the vehicle battery from the electrical system of the vehicle, the obtained measurement indicative of a condition of the vehicle battery; and
providing, using the test circuitry, information related to the condition of the battery to a vehicle storage location tracking system that tracks a vehicle storage location independently of any information provided from the test circuitry.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the vehicle storage location tracking system is configured to output information related to the condition of the battery in addition to the vehicle storage location information.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein obtaining, using the test circuitry, a measurement of the vehicle battery from the electrical system of the vehicle, comprises obtaining, using the test circuitry, the measurement of the vehicle battery from an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD)-II connection of the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the measurement obtained from the OBDII connection is vehicle battery voltage.