Abstract:
A multi-function computer system that gathers information relating to the operational state of a battery, calculates the health of the battery from the gathered information, provides the health and operational state of the battery to a vehicle operator and includes the means for supporting non-battery related functions.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable 
       FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       SEQUENCE LISTING, TABLE OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING ON CD 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0005]    The present invention relates to the field of computers. In particular it relates to the gathering and analysis of information that describes the health and operational state of batteries, the transfer of this information to an operator and to the economy realized by combining battery monitoring functions with non-related functions. 
         [0006]    2. Prior Art 
         [0007]    All batteries fail. In particular the automobile battery is particularly onerous. Automobile manufactures currently provide only the real-time state of the car&#39;s charging system (alternator) when the engine is running. The battery is only one component of this system. This system warns the motorist when there is a problem with the charging system by using a dash mounted voltmeter, ammeter or more commonly a warning lamp which is often referred to as the “idiot light”. This information should not be confused nor equated with the operating state or the overall health of the battery, itself. Typically a loose or broken alternator belt causes the warning lamp to come on. 
         [0008]    Automobile battery malfunctions are seldom caused by a factory defect; driving habits are the more common culprits. The heavy auxiliary power drawn during a short distance driven never allows the periodic fully saturated charge that is so important for the longevity of a lead acid battery. 
         [0009]    A German manufacturer of luxury cars reveals that of every 400 car batteries returned under warranty, 200 are working well and have no problem. Low charge and acid stratification are the most common causes of the apparent failure. The car manufacturer says that the problem is more common on large luxury cars offering power-hungry auxiliary options than on the more basic models. 
         [0010]    It would be important to know when the health of a battery has deteriorated sufficiently to signal that a failure is impending. In some situations this information could be life-saving such as when operating in combat zones or under severe weather conditions. It would also be important to know that by merely changing the usage pattern of a vehicle such as combining multiple shopping trips into a single extended trip or by knowing when to apply an external battery charger that the life of the battery would be extended and impending failures avoided. 
         [0011]    A system by which the driver of an internal combustion engine automobile, or the skipper of a boat or the driver of a hybrid vehicle or the operator in a control center such as a nuclear facility or the driver of an electric vehicle can know both the operating state and the general health of their batteries would therefore be desirable. 
         [0012]    This invention is cognizant of the economy and facilitation achieved by combining the battery monitor function with non-related systems such as automobile sound systems, tire pressure systems, global positioning systems and alarm systems. All of these different systems contain microprocessors which are typically underutilized. In the $257 billion dollar automotive aftermarket, these systems are sold and installed as single function devices with separate enclosures. Also, given the power requirements of today&#39;s microprocessor technology it is not feasible to build self-powered devices. The installation of these systems therefore becomes problematic in that they typically must be wired into the vehicle&#39;s wiring harness in order to utilize the vehicle&#39;s primary power source. This usually requires the services of a professional installer or skilled technician. Therefore, in order to both economize manufacturing costs and installation costs the combining of battery monitoring with non-battery related functionality in the same enclosure is therefore deemed desirable. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    Per one embodiment, the present invention provides a computer based controller installed proximate to a battery and contains facilities for attaching to the battery&#39;s terminals. This computer system also includes facilities for measuring time and some combination of battery voltage, battery current and battery temperature. This computer system also includes storage facilities for retaining a history of these measurements. In addition, this computer system contains algorithms for diagnosing the general health of the battery based upon the active and historical measurements. Finally this computer system transmits the active state and the health of the battery to a second computer system that either makes this information available to an operator or passes this information on to yet another computer. This second computer system can be a dedicated system whose sole purpose is to display the battery information or more desirably it can be a multi-function system that, in addition to supporting battery information, performs other non-battery related functions. 
         [0014]    Per another embodiment, the present invention takes advantage of any existing systems which are installed proximate to a battery and contains facilities for attaching to the battery&#39;s terminals. An example would be an automobile alarm system which installs under the hood of the car and receives it power through a fused wire attached to the car battery. This embodiment includes a computer system built inside the existing alarm module that measures time and some combination of battery voltage, battery current and battery temperature. This computer system also includes storage facilities for retaining a history of these measurements. In addition, this computer system contains algorithms for diagnosing the general health of the battery based upon the active and historical measurements. Finally this computer system makes the active state and the health of the battery known to the operator by either transmitting this information to a second computer system which contains an operator interface or signals this information in another manner such as the blinking of variously colored light-emitting-diodes or lamps that are installed in the driver&#39;s compartment. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of a dual computer system according to an embodiment of the invention that is dedicated to monitoring the state of the battery, calculating its health and making this information available to a remote operator. 
           [0016]      FIG. 1B  is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken by the structural illustration of  FIG. 1A  when it collects battery data, calculates battery health and sends this information. 
           [0017]      FIG. 1C  is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken by the structural illustration of  FIG. 1A  when it receives and displays battery data and battery health. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2A  is a block diagram of a dual computer system according to an embodiment of the invention that, in addition to monitoring the state of the battery, calculating its health and making this information available to a remote operator also supports a non-battery related function. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2B  is a flow chart illustrating the steps taken by the structural illustration of  FIG. 2A  when it receives and displays battery data, battery health and non-battery related data. 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a single computer system according to an embodiment of the invention that attaches locally to a battery, monitors its state, calculates its health and makes this information available to a remote operator through attachment to remote lamps. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    The following descriptions are provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of three particular embodiments. Various modifications to the embodiments are possible and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to these and other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles, features and teachings disclosed herein. 
         [0022]    In accordance with one embodiment, the present invention provides two dedicated computer systems. One dedicated computer system gathers the voltage, current and temperature from a locally attached battery. This information is both saved in the computer system&#39;s memory and is used to calculated the health of the battery. All of this information is also transmitted to the second computer system. The second computer system is dedicated to displaying the received battery information on its console. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1A  is a block diagram illustrating a dual computer system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Computer system  12  locally attaches to the non-grounded terminal of battery  10  through wire  11 . (The return path from computer system  12  to the grounded terminal of battery  10  has not been illustrated but is apparent to anyone skilled in the art.) Wire  11  attaches to voltage sensor  13 , temperature sensor  14  and current sensor  15 . To be effective, temperature sensor  14  must be attached either inside or in the near proximity of battery  10 . The central processing unit  17  enables sampling to be performed in voltage sensor  13 , temperature sensor  14  and current sensor  15 . The samples are retrieved by central processing unit  17 , and in conjunction with timer  18 , time stamped and saved in data store  19 , The samples are also transferred via transceiver  16  to computer system  21  using transmission media  20 . Transmission media  20  is any media that is suitable for the transfer of digital information such as wired media, wireless media and optical media. Central processing unit  26  receives the samples via transceiver  25  and displays the sample information on display  23  of console  22  when so directed by the console control  24 . By means specified in various software algorithms computer system  12  renders a profile of the current health of the battery. These algorithms make use of the history contained in data store  19 . This history is made rich by a time profile whose creation by central processing unit  17  is facilitated by timer  18  and included with the voltage, current and temperature samples as saved in data store  19 . The time profile permits the means by which the central processing unit  17  can, as an example, estimate driving time in automobiles based upon periodic changes in battery voltage, battery current and battery temperature. This in turn relates directly to the health and well being of the battery. The calculated health report is transferred via transceiver  16  to computer system  21  using transmission media  20 . Central processing unit  26  receives the health report via transceiver  25  and displays the health information on display  23  of console  22  when so directed by the console control  24 . Under those conditions wherein bad health is reported, central processing unit  26  overrides console control  24  and causes the bad health information to be shown immediately and unconditionally to the operator on display  23 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 1B  is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken by computer system  12  ( FIG. 1A ) in order to gather, analyze and transfer the current operating state and the rendered health of a battery. In step  30  the current state of the battery is sampled. In step  31  the current time is obtained. In step  32  the current time is added to the battery samples and saved. The current operational state of the battery as defined by the battery samples taken in step  30  are transmitted in step  33  to a remote console. In step  34  the history of the time profiled battery samples is made available in step  35  to a library of computer algorithms which provide the means by which the health of the battery is calculated. In step  36  the calculated health of the battery is transmitted to a remote console. 
         [0025]      FIG. 1C  is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken by computer system  21  ( FIG. 1A ) in order to display the battery information sent by computer system  12  ( FIG. 1A ). In step  40  a check is made to determine if battery samples which represent the current state of the battery have been received. If no samples have been received, program control is directed to step  42 . If samples are available, this information is displayed on the operator&#39;s console in step  41 . Program control then is directed to step  42  where a check is made to see if the health of the battery has been received. If a health report has not been received program control is directed to step  40 . If a health report has been received, this information is displayed on the operator&#39;s console in step  43 . Program control is then directed to step  40 . 
         [0026]    In accordance with another embodiment, the present invention provides two computer systems. One is a dedicated computer system that gathers the voltage, current and temperature from a locally attached battery. This information is both saved in the computer system&#39;s memory and is used to calculated the health of the battery. All of this information is also transmitted to the second computer system. The second computer system is a multifunction system in that it displays the received battery information on its console and also processes information from an unrelated source. In this embodiment, the unrelated source is a tire pressure system that uses a wireless connection to provide such information. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2A  is a block diagram illustrating a dual computer system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Computer system  12  is the same device described in  FIG. 1A . It gathers, analyzes and transfers battery information to computer system  21 A. Central processing unit  26  receives the battery information via transceiver  25  and displays this information on display  23  of console  22  when so directed by console control  24 . (Central processing  26  has the means to override console control  24  and immediately display battery information of a critical nature.) Computer system  21 A also receives tire pressure information from computer system  52  mounted inside tire  50 . This wireless information  53  is transmitted by computer system  52  using antenna  51 . This wireless information  53  is received by antenna  27  and made available to central processing unit  26  by wireless transceiver  28 . It is displayed on display  23  of console  22  when so directed by console control  24 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 2B  is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken by computer system  21 A ( FIG. 2A ) in order to display both the battery information sent by computer system  12  ( FIG. 2A ) and the tire pressure information sent by computer system  52  ( FIG. 2A ). In step  40 A a check is made to determine if battery samples which represent the current state of the battery have been received. If no samples have been received, program control is directed to step  42 A. If samples are available, this information is displayed on the operator&#39;s console in step  41 A. Program control then is directed to step  42 A where a check is made to see if the health of the battery has been received. If a health report has not been received program control is directed to step  44 . If a health report has been received, this information is displayed on the operator&#39;s console in step  43 A. Program control is then directed to step  44  where a check is made to see if tire pressure information has been received. If tire pressure information has not been received program control is directed to step  40 A. If tire pressure information has been received, this information is displayed on the operator&#39;s console in step  45 . Program control is then directed to step  40 A. 
         [0029]    In accordance with still yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a single computer system that gathers the voltage, current and temperature from a locally attached battery. This information is both saved in the computer system&#39;s memory and is used to calculate the health of the battery. This system also includes the means by which remote lamps can be controlled. 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a single computer system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Computer system  12 A ( FIG. 3 ) is similar to computer system  12  described in  FIG. 1A . It gathers, analyzes and stores battery  10  information. It uses this stored information  19  to calculate the health of the attached battery. The health and operational state of the battery are displayed in a remote location by using driver circuit  61  to send information across wire  60  to lamps  62  that are in the proximity of an operator. 
         [0031]    The foregoing descriptions of multiple embodiments of the present invention are by way of example, only, and other variations and modifications of the above-described embodiments are possible in light of the foregoing teachings. In particular  FIG. 2A  illustrates the dual function computer system  21 A where battery and tire pressure information are combined. Other examples, such as a global positioning system, could as well be included in computer system  21 A. The important teaching of this example is that manufacturing costs and installation expenses are reduced by combining functionality inside the same unit. 
         [0032]    Also of note is the single function, single computing system architecture of the structural block diagram of  FIG. 3 . This embodiment is structurally similar to that of an automobile alarm system. It would therefore be feasible and cost effective to add a vibration sensor (accelerometer) and a wireless controlled kill switch to computer system  12 A ( FIG. 3 ) in order to render a single unit that acts as both a theft deterrent and a early battery-failure warning system.