Abstract:
A method for shipping a battery assembly includes providing a plurality of battery subassemblies. The plurality of battery subassemblies are operable to be mechanically and electrically connected together to form a battery assembly. The battery subassemblies are designed to be shipped such that an additional shipping fee that would be incurred due to a battery characteristic that is not based on the weight of the battery assembly is not incurred. The method includes shipping a first battery subassembly and a second battery subassembly such that the additional shipping fee that would be incurred due to the battery characteristic that is not based on the total weight of the battery assembly is not incurred.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to and is a divisional of co-owned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/721,450 (Attorney Docket No. 16356.827) filed Nov. 25, 2003, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The disclosures herein relate generally to information handling systems and more particularly to battery assemblies which can be used in such systems and other devices requiring portable electrical power. 
         [0003]    As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system (IHS) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. 
         [0004]    Portable battery-powered IHSs continue to progress with ever increasing information handling capabilities. However, concurrent with this performance increase, the amount of power which portable IHSs draw from their power supply systems continues to increase as well. Batteries are called upon to produce higher amounts of electrical energy with each new portable IHS generation. New regulatory requirements have dramatically increased the shipping charges for batteries which exceed certain thresholds, for example a power capacity of more than approximately 98 watt hours or a lithium content of more than 8 grams for lithium ion battery chemistry. Because batteries with capacities in excess of 98 watt hours are now needed to power today&#39;s high performance portable IHSs, the fees paid for shipping batteries are increasing substantially. 
         [0005]    What is needed is a way to package batteries in a manner which results in more cost effective shipping for batteries with high watt hour ratings. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    Accordingly, in one embodiment, a method for shipping a battery assembly is disclosed. The method includes providing a plurality of battery subassemblies. The plurality of battery subassemblies are operable to be mechanically and electrically connected together to form a battery assembly. The battery subassemblies are designed to be shipped such that an additional shipping fee that would be incurred due to a battery characteristic that is not based on the weight of the battery assembly is not incurred. The method includes shipping a first battery subassembly and a second battery subassembly such that the additional shipping fee that would be incurred due to the battery characteristic that is not based on the total weight of the battery assembly is not incurred. 
         [0007]    A principal advantage of the embodiments disclosed herein is that battery subassemblies can be shipped at significantly lower cost than batteries which exceed certain regulatory thresholds. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the disclosed battery assembly. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the upper battery subassembly of the battery assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the lower battery subassembly of the battery assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4A-4F  show several views illustrating an embodiment of the disclosed battery assembly. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5A and 5B  are perspective views illustrating an embodiment of the battery assembly in open and partially closed positions, respectively. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a portable IHS showing a bay for receiving a battery assembly. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the an IHS using the disclosed battery technology. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment steps taken to fabricate and ship the battery subassemblies and assemble the completed battery assembly. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a battery  100  which can be used to supply power to an IHS or other electrical devices. For purposes of this disclosure, an IHS may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an IHS may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The IHS may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the IHS may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The IHS may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment, battery assembly  100  is formed from 2 or more battery subassemblies. In this manner, the power capacity of each battery subassembly can be made to be less than the threshold power capacity or threshold chemical mass at which increased shipping rates begin to apply. For example, in  FIG. 1  battery assembly  100  includes an upper battery sub-assembly  200  which mechanically mates and electrically connects with a lower battery subassembly  300 . A perspective view of upper battery subassembly  200  is shown in  FIG. 2  and a perspective view of lower battery subassembly  300  is shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0018]      FIG. 4A  is a top plan view of battery assembly  100  showing the top  105  of upper battery subassembly  200 . The left side  110  of battery assembly  100  is shown in  FIG. 4B  while the front side  115  and rear side  120  of battery assembly  100  are shown in  FIG. 4C and 4D  respectively. To more clearly illustrate how battery subassemblies  200  and  300  fit together, cross sections are taken of battery assembly  100  along section lines  4 E- 4 E and  4 F- 4 F.  FIG. 4E  shows a cross section of battery assembly  100  taken along section line  4 E- 4 E and  FIG. 4F  shows a cross section of battery assembly  100  taken along section line  4 F- 4 F. 
         [0019]    As seen in the cross sections of  FIG. 4E and 4F , upper battery subassembly  200  includes 8 cells  205  and lower battery subassembly  300  includes 8 cells  305 . In this particular embodiment, the cells of upper battery subassembly  200  are electrically coupled together in series such that the voltage of the cells is cumulative. When lithium ion chemistry is used for the 8 cells  205  in upper battery subassembly  305  the cumulative voltage is approximately 33.6 volts. In this particular embodiment, the cells of lower battery subassembly  300  are also electrically coupled together in series such that the cumulative voltage of the cells is 33.6 volts. When upper battery subassembly  200  is mechanically mated with lower battery subassembly  300 , the connection is made in parallel such that the voltage of the combined assembly is still 33.6 volts. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that internal to subassemblies  200  and  300 , the cells may be connected in series, in parallel or in a combination of series and parallel according to the output voltage and current rating desired for the combined structure. While in this embodiment, upper battery subassembly  200  is connected in parallel with lower battery subassembly  300 , other embodiments are possible wherein these structures are connected in series. 
         [0020]    In more detail, upper battery subassembly  200  includes chambers  210  and  215 . In this particular embodiment, chamber  210  exhibits a first size which accommodates 3 cells and chamber  215  exhibits a second size which is larger than chamber  210  and which accommodates 5 cells therein. Other embodiments are possible wherein the chambers are configured to enclose a greater or lesser number of cells. Immediately below battery subassembly  200 , lower battery subassembly  300  includes chambers  310  and  315  which correspond to chambers  210  and  215  which were already described. Chambers  310  and  315  include 3 and 5 cells, respectively, although again chambers with a greater or lesser number of cells are possible. 
         [0021]    As mentioned earlier, upper battery subassembly  200  and lower battery subassembly are both mechanically and electrically connected together. The two subassemblies are mechanically connected together as follows. Upper battery subassembly  200  includes a lower surface  220  which mates with the upper surface  320  of lower battery assembly  300  as seen in the side view of  FIG. 4B . Whatever geometric pattern selected for lower surface  220 , the inverse pattern is selected for upper surface  320  so that one mates with the other. In the particular embodiment of  FIG. 4B  wherein lower surface  220  exhibits 3 valleys  225  it is seen that upper surface  320  exhibits 3 peaks  325 . The peaks mate with the valleys and help hold upper battery subassembly  200  and lower battery subassembly  200  laterally in position with respect to one another. 
         [0022]    Lower battery subassembly  300  includes recesses  330 , seen in  FIG. 3  and later in  FIG. 5A-5B , into which corresponding protrusions  230  of upper battery subassembly  200  fit. Once upper battery subassembly  200  is mated with lower battery subassembly  300 , screws  235  seen in  FIG. 4A  are threaded through threaded holes  237  in upper battery subassembly  200  and through corresponding respective threaded holes  337  seen in  FIG. 3  in lower battery assembly  300  therebelow. This screw arrangement, together with the above described mating valleys  225  and peaks  325 , and together with the mating protrusions  230  and recesses  330 , firmly holds upper battery subassembly  200  to lower battery subassembly  300  together to form a unitary battery module. Lower battery assembly  300  also includes latches  340  to help hold battery assembly  100  together inside a battery powered device. 
         [0023]      FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of battery assembly  100  showing battery subassemblies  200  and  300  in an open position before being mated together.  FIG. 5B  is a perspective view of battery assembly  100  showing battery subassemblies  200  and  300  in a partially closed position prior to complete mating of the two subassemblies together. When protrusions  230  of upper battery subassembly  200  are situated in recesses  330  of lower battery subassembly  300  as shown in  FIG. 5B  the protrusion  230 —recess  330  pairs form respective hinges about which upper battery subassembly  200  and lower battery subassembly  300  rotate while the are mated with one another to from completed battery assembly  100 . 
         [0024]    While the mechanical connection of upper battery subassembly  200  to lower battery subassembly  300  has been described above, the electrical connection of these two subassemblies together is now described. As seen in  FIGS. 5A and 5B , upper battery subassembly  200  includes a battery connector  505  which mates and electrically connects with a battery connector  510  on lower battery subassembly  300 . The cells of upper battery subassembly  200  are connected in parallel with the cells of lower battery subassembly  300  in this particular embodiment. Other embodiments are contemplated wherein the cells are connected in series as desired for the particular application. Lower battery subassembly  300  includes main power connector  350  as seen in  FIGS. 5A and 5B . Main power connector  350  is used to connect the completed battery assembly  100  to other devices such as IHSs and other power consuming devices. Main power connector  350  includes multiple contacts such as positive, negative, ground as well as control signal contacts for a battery management unit (not shown) which may be situated in either of, or both of, upper battery subassembly  200  and lower battery subassembly  300 . It is also possible to locate main power connector  350  in upper battery subassembly  200  if desired. 
         [0025]    In one embodiment, after battery subassemblies  200  and  300  are connected together to form the completed battery assembly  100 , battery assembly  100  is placed in a battery chamber or battery bay  605  formed in the housing  610  of an battery powered device  600  such as a notebook computer type IHS, for example, as shown in  FIG. 6 . Battery bay  605  includes an electrical connector  615 , as seen in  FIG. 6 , which mates with main electrical connector  350  of lower battery subassembly  300  seen in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 7  is a representation of an electrical power consuming device  600  to which battery assembly  100  can be connected to supply power thereto. In this particular embodiment, electrical power consuming device  600  is an IHS such as a laptop or notebook computer. However, virtually any power consuming device can be adapted to receive power from battery assembly  100 . Power consuming devices such as battery powered appliances, consumer electronics goods, electric cars, and toys are just a few examples of battery powered devices in which battery assembly  100  can be employed. 
         [0027]    In more detail,  FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a portable or notebook IHS system such as a notebook, laptop, PDA or other portable, battery-powered system. IHS  600  includes a processor  705  such as an Intel Pentium series processor or one of many other processors currently available. An Intel Hub Architecture (IHA) chipset  710  provides IHS  600  with glue-logic that connects processor  705  to other components of IHS  600 . Chipset  710  carries out graphics/memory controller hub functions and I/O functions. More specifically, chipset  710  acts as a host controller which communicates with a graphics controller  715  coupled thereto. Graphics controller  715  is coupled to a display  720 . Chipset  710  also acts as a controller for main memory  725  which is coupled thereto. Chipset  710  further acts as an I/O controller hub (ICH) which performs I/O functions. Input devices  730  such as a mouse, keyboard, and tablet, are also coupled to chipset  710  at the option of the user. An expansion bus  735 , such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, PCI Express bus, SATA bus or other bus is coupled to chipset  710  as shown to enable IHS  600  to be connected to other devices which provide IHS  600  with additional functionality. A universal serial bus (USB)  740  or other I/O bus is coupled to chipset  710  to facilitate the connection of peripheral devices to IHS  600 . System basic input-output system (BIOS)  745  is coupled to chipset  710  as shown. BIOS software  745  is stored in nonvolatile memory such as CMOS or FLASH memory. A network interface controller (NIC)  750  is coupled to chipset  710  to facilitate connection of system  600  to other IHSs. A media drive controller  755  is coupled to chipset  710  so that devices such as media drive  760  can be connected to chipset  710  and processor  705 . Devices that can be coupled to media drive controller  755  include CD-ROM drives, DVD drives, hard disk drives and other fixed or removable media drives. IHS  600  includes an operating system which is stored on media drive  760 . Typical operating systems which can be stored on media drive  760  include Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000 and the Linux operating systems. (Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.) 
         [0028]    IHS  600  includes a power management controller (PMC)  765  which is coupled to chipset  710  as shown. PMC  765  controls power supply functions within IHS  600  under the direction of control software stored in nonvolatile FLASH memory  770 . One output of PMC  765  is a system management bus (SMBUS)  775  which is coupled to DC power regulation circuit  780 . Battery assembly  100 , including upper battery  200  and lower battery subassembly  300  are connected via electrical connectors  350  and  615  to DC power regulation circuit to provide a source of DC power. DC power regulation circuit  780  includes an output  785  which provides the main DC regulation power for the components of IHS  600  or other electrical power consuming device. 
         [0029]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating the building process for a battery powered device utilizing battery assembly  100 . Prior to shipment of a battery  100 , the battery is portioned into 2 or more subassemblies which can be later mechanically and electrically connected to one another after shipping. In one embodiment, upper and lower battery subassemblies are fabricated as per block  805 . In one embodiment, each battery subassembly exhibits a power rating, chemical weight or other factor which is less than a threshold amount needed to trigger increased shipping cost due to regulations or shipping liability concerns. When a battery exhibits a characteristic which exceeds a regulatory or other threshold the cost of shipping goes up. This characteristic could be the watt hour rating, the weight of a chemical element or other battery characteristic. Other embodiments using more than two battery subassemblies are possible as long as the battery subassemblies mechanically mate with one another and electrically connect to one another. The unmated upper and lower battery subassemblies are placed in a shipping container as per block  810 . Each battery is then shipped at a fee per battery subassembly which is less then the increased fee encountered by batteries which exceed the regulatory threshold or other threshold as per block  815 . A battery powered device, such as a notebook IHS for example, is then fabricated to include a battery receiving bay or chamber as per block  820 . The IHS and the still separate upper and lower battery subassemblies are placed in a shipping package as per block  825 . The package is then sent to the customer or reseller and the appropriate shipping fee is paid as per block  830 . The shipping fee is at the reduced rate for smaller batteries that do not trigger the threshold for increased shipping fees. When the customer, reseller or other person receives the package, the customer, reseller or other person mechanically and electrically connects the upper and lower battery assemblies to form a complete battery assembly as per block  835 . The complete battery is then placed in the battery bay of the IHS device as per block  840 . The complete battery assembly is mechanically and electrically connected to the IHS device to provide power thereto. In one embodiment, an IHS configuration facility or reseller or other entity may connect the upper and lower battery assemblies to complete the battery assembly and then place the battery assembly in the battery bay of an electrically powered device. In this embodiment, the customer would pick up the completed electrically powered device from the configuration facility, the reseller or other entity. 
         [0030]    It is noted that an IHS is just one example of a battery powered device to which the disclosed technology applies. The disclosed technology can be applied to fabricate and ship a battery which can be used in virtually any battery powered device. In one embodiment, the chemistry of the individual battery subassemblies is the same. For example, the upper battery subassembly and the lower battery subassembly each employ nickel metal hydride chemistry. Alternatively, both subassemblies employ lithium ion or nickel cadmium chemistry or other battery chemistries. In another embodiment the battery subassemblies employ different chemistries. For example, one battery subassembly employs lithium ion chemistry and the other mating battery subassembly employs nickel metal hydride chemistry. In this embodiment, the lithium ion battery subassembly includes a battery management unit, safety controls and housing appropriate for lithium ion chemistry and the nickel metal hydride battery subassembly includes a battery management unit, safety controls and housing appropriate for nickel metal hydride chemistry. 
         [0031]    Advantageously, the disclosed technology allows a customer to upgrade the battery used in the customer&#39;s battery powered device. Initially the customer can purchase just one battery subassembly to power the device. Later the customer can, at his or her convenience, purchase a second battery subassembly. The customer then mates the first battery subassembly with the second battery subassembly to form a battery which exhibits increased power and energy capacity. 
         [0032]    The disclosed technology advantageously partitions a battery into multiple battery subassemblies resulting in substantial savings when batteries are shipped from place to place. The terms “upper” and “lower” as applied to upper battery subassembly  200  and lower battery subassembly  300  are used for convenience and are not intended to limit the battery subassemblies to these particular orientations. Likewise, terms such as top, bottom, front and rear are also used for convenience and are not intended to limit elements of battery assembly  100  to a particular orientation. 
         [0033]    Although illustrative embodiments have been shown and described, a wide range of modification, change and substitution is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances, some features of an embodiment may be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in manner consistent with the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein.