Patent ID: 8084154

Claim:
A battery pack, comprising: one or more battery cells; a pack positive electrical contact; a pack negative electrical contact; a fuse; a fuse receptacle; said fuse removably inserted into said fuse receptacle; said fuse protecting said battery cells when said fuse is inserted in said receptacle; said fuse rendering said battery cells in safe mode when said fuse is removed from said fuse receptacle; a microcontroller; said microcontroller measuring when said fuse is inserted in said receptacle; said microcontroller measuring when said fuse is removed from said receptacle; said microcontroller communicates with an external controller in regard to insertion status of said fuse in said receptacle and removal status of said fuse from said receptacle; said battery pack includes hazardous material; said microcontroller determines the amount of hazardous material in said battery pack; and, said microcontroller communicates said amount of hazardous material in said battery pack to said external controller.