Patent ID: 7317297

Claim:
A modified battery, comprising: a housing that includes: a first electromechanical contact associated with a first voltage; a second electromechanical contact associated with a second voltage; and a third electromechanical contact associated with a temperature sense signal; at least one battery cell; and a battery transceiver that is arranged to communicate at least one of a type, a capacity, a charge status, or a protection mechanism of the battery with an external charger employing at least one of the first, second, or third electromechanical contacts, wherein the battery is configured to employ at least one of the first, second, or third electromechanical contacts to receive a charging current determined by the external charger, and further determined, in part, by the communications between the battery transceiver and the external charger of the at least one of the type, the capacity, the charge status, or the protection mechanism of the battery.