SCOPE:
The concept is an indicator that can be used on most cylindrical rechargeable batteries as currently manufactured today, also known as cells. The given names are in sizes such as AAA, AA, C, and D. These batteries are manufactured in Nickel Metal Hydride or Nimh and Nickel Cadmium or Nicad. These rechargeable batteries can replace their counterparts being known as Zinc and Alkaline and can be recharged many times over, typically one thousand times, thus saving the user a considerable amount of expense for battery power over the life of these rechargeable types.

My observation has been while utilizing these types of batteries is that the problem of keeping track of the charged batteries and the discharged batteries has till now been very inconvenient. There are battery holder packs that can be marked charged and discharged and a user needs to keep the batteries in these holders to identify their state. There are patents (#6,483,275) and designs that have the batteries themselves indicate their status of charge, a technique that seems a little overkill with circuits onboard and alike to me.

And why so many batteries anyway? There is a growing use of battery power in the world for equipment like digital cameras that use a great deal of power and also need the portability of a small powerful battery. The market is growing very quickly with battery manufactures as well as battery charger manufactures, it would appear that this need for vast amounts of renewable power will continue for some time.

MY INVENTION:
As I indicated the need to identify, a battery’s state of charge would be helpful so as not to place a discharged battery in with freshly charged batteries. This is also not wise due to discharging among themselves to level out the charge state of the group being used in the equipment. What I was looking for was a way to mark each individual battery before and after use in the equipment. It is really not necessary to know the exact state of the battery charge in most cases. The equipment in use typically has built in charge indicators, such as digital cameras to identify the level of the batteries. A typical user only cares that the batteries have been charged fully and if they are discharged after removing them from the equipment in use. This is why each battery needs to have an indicator. I have found a way to provide an indicator with each battery as they are being manufactured for only pennies cost to the manufactures, these pennies would be a wealth of convenience to end users, like myself to have a way of knowing the state of each battery.

HOW IT IS DONE:
All of my research indicates that the rechargeable batteries in discussion are manufactured in typically the same manor. In doing this I am able to take advantage of space in the top portion of the battery where the can is crimped to the top portion of the cell. In this area the two polarities of the battery are separated by a gasket that acts as a seal, and an insulator. In this area, this leaves a pocket around the contact positive button portion of the battery, this area is where venting is done and most manufactures place a insulation cardboard disc on the top and shrink a label over it to prevent shorting of the battery poles by end users. Inherently there is still a pocket left under this disc and I have utilized this circular pocket to provider space for my indicator. I should note that batteries are designed around standards for size and manufactures use the maximum amount of space for the battery material to achieve the most powerful batteries they can for a package size. Taking space for things like indicators and reducing capacity would not be acceptable in the market. Again the space I utilize is a by-product of the manufacturing process and does not interfere with the function or performance aspects of the battery being made.

The indicator is made up of one component, I utilize the current cardboard insulating disc as used in current battery manufacturing, only it is modified. The single component is a plastic or other non-conductive disc that is placed in the void area under the insulating disc as the battery is being finished. This disc has two ink markings on it, for example red and green. On the other side, across the disc, it has either a hole punched in it or a raised section from injection molding or press forming. The insulating disc is now not just a plain flat round piece of cardboard, but a disc that has a unique hole punched in it.

With the one disc residing in the cavity under the uniquely punched cardboard disc, the user is now able to see either a red or a green dot through an area of the punching of the top cardboard disc. Across the cardboard disc is either a hole or the raised section in the bottom disc that protrudes up through the top cardboard disc. This portion now becomes an activator. This activator can rotate along an arch slot that is punched in the top cardboard disc. The reason for the rotation is to allow the user the ability to rotate the bottom disc from side to side and cause either the red dot or the green dot to appear in a window as punched in the top cardboard disc. I feel that it would be better to use a raised portion or injection molded part rather than a flat disc with a hole for adjusting. A flat disc could be less expensive but would require a tool, like a pen to rotate the disc. It would also not have the stops inherent of a raised section like button on the bottom disc and would also act as stops in the arch region, so as not to become lost in a continuous circle rotation under the top disc. Finally, the battery label is applied and captures the two discs in the same way the label captures the one in typical battery production.

WHY DO IT:
One may ask, why make an indicator that is not automated, requires human intervention, and does not really tell the status of the battery? The reasons are simple in that a user of the batteries simply rotates the disc after charging the batteries and is now aware that they have performed the charge operation. The batteries can be transported in any fashion desired and in any holder or camera pack without regard to keeping these separate from discharged batteries. After using the batteries in the equipment the user simply rotates the disc to the discharged position and will be aware of their condition so as not to mix these batteries with other charged batteries. The design and concept is just as robust, cost compliant as the design of the ordinary battery, and should last the life of the rechargeable battery itself.

As for the implementation of smart batteries that monitor themselves, the overall cost of doing that is not logical at this time and some human intervention such as rotating the disc to change the status condition of the battery is very simple and cost effective.