Patent Publication Number: US-2010124687-A1

Title: Fluid Manager Having Fluid Injection Primer for a Fluid Consuming Battery

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to fluid regulating batteries, and more particularly relates to supplying fluid, such as air containing oxygen, to a fluid consuming electrode of the battery. 
     Electrochemical battery cells that use a fluid, such as oxygen and other gases from outside the cell as an active material to produce electrical energy, such as air-depolarized, air-assisted and fuel cell battery cells, can be used to power a variety of portable electronic devices. For example, air enters into an air-depolarized or air-assisted cell, where it can be used as, or can recharge, the positive electrode active material. The oxygen reduction electrode promotes the reaction of the oxygen with the cell electrolyte and, ultimately, the oxidation of the negative electrode active material with the oxygen. The material in the oxygen reduction electrode that promotes the reaction of oxygen with the electrolyte is often referred to as a catalyst. However, some materials used in oxygen reduction electrodes are not true catalysts because they can be at least partially reduced, particularly during periods of relatively high rate of discharge. 
     One type of air-depolarized cell is a zinc/air cell. This type of cell uses zinc as the negative active material and has an aqueous alkaline (e.g., KOH) electrolyte. Manganese oxides that can be used in zinc/air cells are capable of electrochemical reduction in concert with oxidation of the negative electrode active material, particularly when the rate of diffusion of oxygen into the air electrode is insufficient. These manganese oxides can then be reoxidized by the oxygen during periods of lower rate discharge or rest. 
     Air-assisted cells are hybrid cells that contain consumable positive and negative electrode active materials, as well as an oxygen reduction electrode. The positive electrode can sustain a high discharge rate for a significant period of time, but through the oxygen reduction electrode, oxygen can partially recharge the positive electrode during periods of lower or no discharge, so oxygen can be used for a substantial portion of the total cell discharge capacity. This generally means the amount of positive electrode active material put into the cell can be reduced and the amount of negative electrode active material can be increased to increase the total cell capacity. Examples of air-assisted cells are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,383,674 and 5,079,106. 
     A number of approaches have been proposed to control the amount of air entering the cells. For example, valves have been used to control the amount of air such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,947 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0186099 and 2008/0085443. However, conventional valves are typically difficult to implement and typically require relatively complicated electronics or external means to operate the valves. Many valves require electrical power supplied from the battery for purposes of actuating the valve. If the battery power output is extremely low, there may be insufficient power to actuate the valve, and hence the valve may not open, thereby preventing further use of the battery. 
     It is therefore desirable to provide for a supply of fluid, such as air, to a fluid consuming battery sufficient to operate the battery. It is desirable to quickly provide sufficient fluid to a fluid consuming battery following storage, a period of rest or a period of low power output in order to increase the battery voltage and enable the battery to deliver high power output with minimal delay. It is desirable to provide sufficient fluid to a fluid consuming battery for the battery initial electrical actuation to open a fluid manager valve after storage, a period of rest or a period of low power output. It is desirable to provide a means of injecting fluid into a fluid consuming battery to provide a rapid increase in battery power output. It is desirable to provide a temporary increase in the rate of flow or fluid into a fluid consuming battery using a fluid manager that is simple in design, economical to manufacture and does not consume battery capacity. It is desirable to provide a temporary increase in the rate of flow of fluid into a fluid consuming battery using a fluid manager that does not use an electrically operated fan, pump, etc. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a fluid manager is provided for supplying fluid to a fluid consuming battery. The fluid manager includes a housing member defining a plenum adapted to be in fluid communication with a fluid consuming electrode of a fluid consuming battery cell. The fluid manager also includes an air injection primer in fluid communication with the plenum for injecting fluid into the plenum. The fluid injection primer includes a fluid injection portion and a user actuated portion such that the fluid injection portion moves upon user actuation of the fluid actuated portion to inject air into the plenum for use in the fluid consuming battery cell. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a fluid consuming battery is provided. The fluid consuming battery includes a battery housing having one or more openings, a fluid consuming electrode disposed within the battery housing and in fluid communication with the one or more openings, and a fluid manager for supplying fluid to the air consuming cell. The fluid manager includes a fluid manager housing member defining a plenum in fluid communication with a fluid consuming electrode of a fluid consuming battery and a fluid injection primer in fluid communication with the plenum for injecting fluid into the plenum. The fluid injection primer includes a fluid injection portion and a user actuated portion, such that the fluid injection portion moves upon user actuation of the fluid actuated portion to inject fluid into the plenum and to the fluid consuming electrode. 
     These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a device containing a fluid consuming battery and a fluid manager having a fluid injection primer, according to a first embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the device including the fluid manager of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken through line III-III of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a device including a fluid manager having a fluid injection primer and a valve, according to a second embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the device shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded assembly view of the device shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the device taken through lines VII-VII of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the sliding plate valve taken through line VIII-VIII of  FIG. 6 , illustrating the valve in the open position; and 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the sliding plate valve taken through line VIII-VIII of  FIG. 6 , illustrating the valve in the closed position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of this invention include a battery that includes an electrochemical cell that utilizes a fluid (such as oxygen or another gas) from outside the cell as an active material for one of the electrodes. The cell has a fluid consuming electrode, such as an oxygen reduction electrode. The cell can be an air-depolarized cell, an air-assisted cell, or a fuel cell. The battery also has a fluid manager (e.g., air manager) for controlling the passage of fluid to the fluid consuming electrode (e.g., the air electrodes in air-depolarized and air-assisted cells) to provide a sufficient amount of the fluid from outside the cell for discharge of the cell at high rate or high power, while minimizing entry of fluids into the fluid consuming electrode and water gain or loss into or from the cell during periods of low rate or no discharge. The fluid manager includes a user actuated fluid injection primer for injecting fluid into the battery for use by the fluid consuming electrode. 
     As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term “fluid” refers to fluid that can be consumed by the fluid consuming electrode of a fluid consuming cell in the production of electrical energy by the cell. The present invention is exemplified below by air-depolarized cells with oxygen reduction electrodes, but the invention can more generally be used in fluid consuming cells having other types of fluid consuming electrodes, such as fuel cells. Fuel cells can use a variety of gases from outside the cell housing as the active material of one or both of the cell electrodes. 
     As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the term “user actuated” means mechanically actuated, without electrical actuation, by manual operation of the person using the fluid consuming battery. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-3 , a device  10  is generally shown having a fluid consuming battery  30  and a fluid manager  12 , according to a first embodiment. The fluid manager  12  is embodied as an air manager in one embodiment. The fluid manager  12  includes a fluid injection primer  16  for injecting fluid, such as air, into the fluid consuming battery  30 . The device  10  may include any of a number of electrically operated devices including a music player, a cell phone, a hearing aid, a flashlight, a laptop computer or other electronic devices that employ a fluid consuming battery  30 . The device  10  includes a housing  20  generally defining a battery compartment  32  configured to receive the fluid consuming battery  30 . It should be appreciated that any of a number of battery compartments, fluid consuming batteries and devices may be employed in connection with the fluid injection primer  16 . 
     The fluid consuming battery  30  includes at least one electrochemical cell that utilizes a fluid (such as oxygen or another gas) from outside the cell as an active material for one of the electrodes. The battery cell  30  has a fluid consuming electrode, such as an oxygen reduction electrode. It should be appreciated that the fluid consuming battery cell  30  may contain an air-depolarized cell, an air-assisted cell or a fuel cell, and the cell and battery may have other shapes (such as button, cylindrical, and square) and sizes, according to various embodiments. In the exemplary embodiment, the fluid consuming battery cell  30  is an air-depolarized cell that uses zinc as the negative electrode active material and has an aqueous alkaline (e.g., KOH) electrolyte. 
     The air-depolarized cell  30  is best seen in  FIG. 3  including a cell housing which may include a first housing component and a second housing component, which may include a can  34  and a cover  36 , respectively, and may have shapes or sizes differing from what would otherwise be considered a can or cover. For purposes of example, the first housing component is hereinafter referred to as the can  34 , while the second housing component is hereinafter referred to as the cover  36 . The can  34  and cover  36  are both made of an electrically conductive material, but are electrically insulated from one another by means of a gasket  38 . Can  34  generally serves as the external positive contact terminal for the fluid consuming cell  30 , whereas cover  36  serves as the external negative contact terminal. Not shown in  FIG. 3  are electrical contacts for electrically connecting the device to the terminals of the fluid consuming cell  30 . 
     The battery cell  30  further includes a first electrode  40 , which may be the fluid consuming electrode, referred to as an air electrode in the embodiment in  FIG. 3 . The battery cell  30  may also include a second electrode  44 , which may be the negative electrode (i.e., anode), and a separator  42  disposed between the first and second electrodes. The first electrode  40  is electrically coupled to can  34 , whereas the second electrode  44  is electrically coupled to cover  36 . 
     The can  34  generally includes a surface shown in  FIG. 3  as the top surface, in which a plurality of fluid entry ports  48  are provided such that fluid, including air, may pass to the interior of the cell housing so as to reach the fluid consuming electrode  40 . Any of a number of fluid entry ports  48  of various sizes and shapes may be employed to allow fluid to pass to the fluid consuming electrode  40 . 
     The fluid manager  12  includes a housing  14  shown overlaying the battery compartment  32  of device housing  20  and sealed against opposite ends of the top surface of the battery cell  30  by way of a seal  46 . The fluid manager housing  14  may be secured to device housing  20  by way of fasteners, brackets, adhesives or other securing mechanisms. 
     The fluid manager housing  14  has walls that generally define a plenum  28  arranged to be in fluid communication with the fluid consuming electrode  30 , particularly the fluid entry ports  48  that lead to the fluid consuming electrode  40 . The plenum  28  may be of sufficient size to hold fluid for use by the fluid consuming electrode  40 . The fluid manager housing  14  also has a fluid entry opening  24  in fluid communication with the fluid injection primer  16 . The fluid injection primer  16  is assembled to fluid manager housing  14  at opening  24  so that fluid is injected through opening  24  and into plenum  28 . 
     The fluid injection primer  16  is thereby in fluid communication with the plenum  28  for injecting fluid, such as air, into the plenum  28 . The fluid injection primer  16  includes a fluid injection portion  19  which holds fluid and dispenses fluid into the plenum  28 . The fluid injection primer  16  also includes a user actuated portion  17  and has an opening  18  in the middle thereof and is adapted to be engaged by a user&#39;s finger or hand to dispense fluid within the air injection primer  16  into the plenum  28 . The air injection primer  16  is shown and described herein as a bellows, according to one embodiment. The bellows  16  has an accordion-like structure that contracts and expands. Specifically, the bellows  16  contracts when a user engages the user actuated portion  17  over opening  18  and compresses the bellows  16  to pump fluid held in the primer  16  into the plenum  28 . When a user disengages the bellows  16 , the bellows  16  has memory such that it expands back to its normal shape while fluid from the outside environment flows into the primer  16 . 
     A check valve  26  can be included in the primer  16 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , check valve  26 , shown as a flap that pivots or bends inward upon the bellows  16  supplying a sufficient pressure differential, is located within the fluid manager housing  14 . The check valve  26  allows forced or pressurized fluid to pass from the primer  16  into the plenum  28 . When pressurized or forced fluid from the bellows  16  does not exceed a threshold pressure limit, the check valve  26  closes the opening  24  to prevent fluid from flowing in or out of the plenum  28 . Thus, fluid is prevented from flowing in the reverse direction from the plenum  28  to the primer  16  by check valve  26 . 
     To assist in allowing fresh fluid to be injected into the plenum  28  and made available to the fluid consuming battery  30 , the fluid manager  12  further includes a relief valve  22  shown mounted in fluid manager housing  14  near one end of the battery cell  30  opposite the plenum  28 . Thus, fluid is allowed to flow into fluid injection primer  16  through opening  24  and plenum  28  to the battery cell  30  where it may enter fluid entry ports  48  to reach the fluid consuming electrode  40 . Fluid is further allowed to leave the battery cell  30  through ports  48  and to exit the sealed volume of the battery compartment  32  through the relief valve  22  to the outside environment. The relief valve  22  may include a one-way or check valve that allows fluid to only pass from within the sealed volume of the battery compartment  32  to the outside environment and not in the reverse direction. It should be appreciated that the seal  46  serves to provide a sealed closure between the fluid manager housing  14  and the battery cell  30  at opposite ends of the battery  30  such that the plenum  28  and relief valve  22  are within the sealed volume. 
     In operation, the fluid manager  12  is actuated by a user depressing the user actuated portion  17  with a finger or hand by covering opening  18  and compressing the bellows  16  to force fluid through opening  24  and into the plenum  28  through valve  26 , such that fluid is able to pass along fluid flow path  50 . Fluid may flow along air flow path  50  to reach the fluid entry ports  48  and into the fluid consuming electrode of the battery cell  30 . Fluid consumed by the battery cell  30  may then be purged from the sealed volume of the battery compartment  30  by passing through relief valve  22  back to the outside environment. It should be appreciated that the fluid, such as oxygen in the air, may serve as the active material to produce electrical energy within the battery cell  30 . In the present embodiment, user activation of the air injection primer  16  results in a limited amount of fluid entering the battery cell  30  such that a limited amount of electrical energy may be produced by the battery cell  30 . It should be appreciated that the primer  16  may be further actuated to provide additional fluid to the battery cell  30  to generate additional electrical energy. Further, it should be appreciated that the primer  16  and plenum  28  may be of various sizes including a larger size to provide a greater amount of fluid to the battery, such that a greater amount of electrical energy may be produced by battery cell  30  for a given actuation of the primer  16 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4-9 , a device  10 ′ is shown employing a fluid consuming battery  30  and a fluid manager  12  which can include a first fluid manager component including fluid injection primer  16  and a second fluid manager component  70 , including for example an actuatable sliding plate valve, according to a second embodiment. In this embodiment, the device  10 ′ may include any of a number of electrical devices and, as shown, has a battery compartment  32  made up of a battery compartment housing  60  and a lid  64  generally defining the battery compartment for receiving a fluid consuming battery cell  30 . The fluid consuming battery cell  30  may include the battery as disclosed in the first embodiment. The lid  64  can include apertures  66 , through which fluid can enter the battery compartment  32 , in which the battery cell  30  is disposed. 
     In the second embodiment, the fluid manager  12  has the fluid injection primer  16  at one end of the battery cell  30 , assembled to a battery compartment housing  60  as opposed to the location disclosed in the first embodiment. In the example of the second embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4-9 , the sliding plate valve  70  is provided and installed directly above the fluid consuming battery cell  30  as a primary means of controlling fluid supplied to the battery cell  30 . It should be appreciated that fluid, such as air, may be allowed to pass from the outside environment to the fluid consuming battery cell  30  when the fluid regulating system  70  is in the open position. Additionally, fluid may be allowed to pass to the fluid consuming battery from the outside environment through the fluid injection primer  16 . The fluid regulating system  70  requires electrical power to actuate the sliding plate valve. When the voltage of battery cell  30  is sufficiently low, such as when the battery cell is first put into use, the battery cell  30  may not supply sufficient power to actuate the sliding plate valve. In this situation, a user may actuate the fluid injection primer  16  as a secondary means of air introduction to the battery cell  30  so as to inject sufficient fluid through fluid entry opening  68  in the battery compartment housing  60  and into the battery cell  30  to allow for the generation of sufficient electrical power to actuate the sliding plate valve to the open valve position. The fluid injection primer  16  also subsequently serve as a secondary means of introducing fluid to the battery cell  30 , thereby increasing the fluid available so the battery cell  30  which can temporarily provide greater power output. 
     The second fluid management component  70  is shown in  FIGS. 6-9 , according to one embodiment as a valve that includes a fixed first plate  90  having a plurality of apertures  92 , and a movable second plate  76  including a plurality of apertures  78  that can correspond in size, shape, number and position to the apertures  92  formed in the first plate  90 . The size, shape, number and position of apertures  92  and  78  may be optimized to provide the desired volume and distribution of fluid applied to the fluid consuming electrode  40  of the battery cell  30 . 
     The second fluid manager component  70  can further includes a chassis  72  having an annular body portion with an opening  74  in which the movable second plate  76  is disposed. Opening  74  may be shaped and sized to contact elongated size edges of plate  76  while providing excess space at the shorter side of plate  76 , such that plate  76  may be slid linearly along an axis in parallel with its longest dimension. The apertures  78  of second plate  76  may be moved into and out of alignment with apertures  92  of first plate  90  to thereby open and close the valve. The chassis  72  guides and can retain the movable second plate  76  adjacent to the fixed first plate  90 . In addition, a lubricating layer  94  (see  FIGS. 8 and 9 ) made of a low friction material, such as oil or a film or coating of Teflon®, may be disposed between plates  76  and  90  to enable the second plate  76  to more readily slide along the surface of plate  90 . Thus, the lubricating layer  94  enables the valve to be opened and closed requiring less force by the actuator. Additionally, because it may be difficult to get the surfaces of plates  76  and  90  to be sufficiently smooth so as to provide a good seal, the lubricating layer  94  may comprise an oil such as a silicon oil to enhance the sealing characteristic of the valve. It should be appreciated that one of the plates may be made of a magnetic material or other mechanism for holding plate  76  firmly against plate  90 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 6 , the fluid regulating system  70  is shown including an actuator to actuate the valve. According to one embodiment, the actuator may include a control circuit  82 , such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mounted to the surface of the chassis  72  and one or more shape memory alloy (SMA) components for actuating the moving plate  76  between open and closed valve positions. The one or more shape memory alloy components may include a first SMA wire  80   a  and a second SMA wire  80   b  secured at opposite ends of the chassis  72  and electrically coupled to circuit traces  84 . By supplying a control signal that passes a current through the SMA wires  80   a  and  80   b,  the control circuit  82  may cause the SMA wires to heat up, which causes the SMA wires to expand or constrict to a particular length. This, in turn, causes the SMA wires to pull the moving plate  76  in one direction or the opposite direction and thus causes plate  76  to slide in and out of an open or closed position so as to selectively allow fluid to pass into the interior of the battery cell  30  when the plate  76  is in the opened valve position. 
     SMA wires  80   a  and  80   b  may be made with any conventional shape memory alloy. A shape memory alloy is an alloy that can be deformed at one temperature but when heated or cooled returns to its previous shape. This property results from a solid phase transformation, between the Martensite and Austenite phases. Preferred shape memory alloys have a two-way shape memory; i.e., the transformation is reversible, upon both heating and cooling. Examples of shape memory alloys include nickel-titanium, nickel-titanium-copper, copper-zinc-aluminum and copper-aluminum-nickel alloys, with nickel-titanium and nickel-titanium-copper being preferred. The use of nickel-titanium-copper (e.g., with about 5-10 weight percent copper) can be advantageous for actuators that may be operated many times because of its resistance to fatigue. Manufacturers of nickel-titanium and other shape memory alloys include Specialty Metals, Shaped Memory Alloy Division (New Hartford, N.Y., USA), Memry Corporation (Bethel, Conn., USA), and Dynalloy, Inc. (Mesa, Calif., USA). 
     It should be appreciated that contact terminals may be provided on the chassis  72  for connection to positive and negative terminals of the battery cell  30  so as to provide electrical current to actuate the SMA wires  80   a  and  80   b.  Additionally, it should be appreciated that the control circuit  82  may be in communication with other circuitry. Ultimately, the control circuit  82  may be integrated into a controller associated with the device and may include logic for controlling actuation of the valve between open and closed positions. The SMA wires  80   a  and  80   b  may be configured in any of a number of shapes and locations so as to provide actuation of the moving plate  76  between the open and closed positions. While the SMA actuator is shown and described herein for controlling a sliding valve, it should be appreciated that other actuators and other types of valves may be employed as the regulating system  70  for selectively controlling fluid entry to the fluid consuming battery cell  30 . Disposed between the battery cell  30  and second fluid manager component  70  are standoff members  49 , which serve to provide space for fluid to pass between cell  30  and component  70 . 
     During normal operation of a device, the second fluid manager component  70  may operate to actuate the sliding plate valve  76  between open and closed positions to regulate the amount of fluid supplied to the fluid consuming battery cell  30 . When greater power is required to operate a device, the sliding valve plate  76  may be actuated by the SMA wires to open the valve to allow fluid into the fluid consuming battery cell  30  which, in turn, generates increase electrical power. When sufficient electrical power is provided and the device may be turned off, the sliding valve  76  may be closed so as to prevent reduction of battery capacity. In addition, the fluid manager  12  is provided to allow a user to actuate the fluid injection primer  16  by depressing the bellows  16  to pump fluid into the plenum  28  which, in turn, supplies fluid to the battery cell  30  by way of another fluid flow path  50 ′. The fluid manager  12  is of particular significance in the situation when the battery cell  30  has produced insufficient electrical energy to actuate the sliding valve to the open position. In this situation, a user may actuate the primer  16  to pump fluid into the battery cell  30  to rejuvenate the battery cell  30  to generate electrical power sufficient such that the sliding valve  76  may thereafter be actuated to cause added power to be generated by the battery cell  16 . 
     Accordingly, the fluid manager  12  advantageously provides a standalone fluid injection system for injecting fluid into a fluid consuming battery  30 , according to one embodiment. According to another embodiment, the fluid manager  12  advantageously provides a secondary fuel injection system to inject fluid into the battery cell  30  when sufficient battery power is not available to control the primary fluid regulating system. The second fluid manager component  70  shown and described herein in accordance with the second embodiment may include any known fluid regulating system, such as the fluid regulating system disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0085443, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     It should be appreciated that the fluid manager  12  of the present invention provides for a cost-effective and easy to use regulating system for regulating fluid input to a fluid consuming battery. The fluid injection primer  16  advantageously reduces battery air-up time, and can advantageously provide increased power initially, which can be particularly advantageous for devices with a high in-rush current or an initial high power operating mode, and increases the battery rate capability. Additionally, the fluid injection primer  16  can be used after each period of battery rest, for example when the device is turned back on after being off. The fluid manager  12  advantageously avoids the use of a requirement for a fan, pump, etc. that forces air or other fluid through the system during battery use, such as after airing up, resulting in smaller air manager volume, simple design, lower cost and no consumption of battery capacity to operate the fluid injection primer  16 . 
     Alternative embodiments are envisioned. In the embodiments described above the fluid injection primer  16  comprises a manually operated bellows to force fluid into the battery compartment  32 . In other embodiments, other types of manually actuated air movers, such as a manually cranked fan, can be used in the fluid injection primer  16 . In yet other embodiments, a fluid injection primer can be incorporated into a battery housing installed in a device such that the fluid injection primer can be manually operated by the user, before installation in the device in one embodiment and after installation in the device in another embodiment. In the embodiments described above, the fluid consuming battery includes a single fluid consuming cell, but more than one fluid consuming cell can be incorporated into a single battery, and more than one fluid consuming battery may be used in a single device. In embodiments with more than one fluid consuming cell per battery or with more than one fluid consuming battery per device, each cell or battery can have a separate fluid manager, or a single fluid manager can regulate fluid for more than one cell or battery. 
     While the invention has been described in detail herein in accordance with certain preferred embodiments thereof, many modifications and changes therein may be affected by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is our intent to be limited only by the scope of the appending claims and not by way of the details and instrumentalities describing the embodiments shown herein.