Patent ID: 8427106

Claim:
A reconfigurable battery system comprising: a plurality of battery circuits interconnected to each other, each circuit having: a negative input terminal; a positive output terminal; a battery cell with a positive terminal and a negative terminal interposed between the input terminal and the output terminal; an input switch connected between the input terminal and the negative terminal of the battery cell; a parallel switch connected between the output terminal and the positive terminal of the battery cell; a bypass switch connected between the negative terminal of the battery cell and a negative terminal of an adjacent battery circuit; and a series switch connected between the positive terminal of the battery cell and the negative terminal of the adjacent battery circuit; and a control unit that receives an output criteria and, in accordance with the output criteria, controls the input switch, the parallel switch, the bypass switch and the series switch in the plurality of battery circuits to output a voltage to at least two positive output terminals while substantially maximizing power delivered by the circuit arrangement, where the output criteria defines a number of positive output terminals at which to output a voltage and a voltage requirement for each output.