A123 Systems had 49 patents in batteries during Q3 2023. A123 Systems LLC has filed patents for various battery management systems (BMS) and lithium-ion battery cell technologies. The BMS includes a protection circuit with a cutoff circuit and a short-circuit protection circuit, which redirects excess current away from the cutoff circuit to protect the vehicle battery system from unexpected voltage conditions. The lithium-ion battery cell technology involves forming a pre-lithiated cathode with a pre-lithiation reagent and injecting an electrolyte additive to form a passivation layer, inhibiting the decomposition of the pre-lithiation reagent after the battery cell formation cycle. These innovations aim to improve battery performance, impedance, power during cold cranking, and rate capacity retention. GlobalData’s report on A123 Systems gives a 360-degreee view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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A123 Systems grant share with batteries as a theme is 55% in Q3 2023. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Recent Patents
Application: Protection circuit for battery management system (Patent ID: US20230253780A1)
The patent filed by A123 Systems LLC describes a battery management system (BMS) with a protection circuit. The BMS includes a cutoff circuit connected to a short-circuit protection circuit, as well as a battery pack. The short-circuit protection circuit consists of a diode array, with the cathodes of the diode array connected to the positive terminal post of the battery pack and the anodes connected to the negative terminal post. The cutoff circuit is also connected to a reverse bias protection circuit, which includes a switchable current path between the control input and the output of the cutoff circuit. This configuration allows the BMS to redirect and dissipate excess current away from the cutoff circuit, protecting the vehicle battery system from unexpected voltage conditions.
The patent claims provide further details about the battery management system. Claim 1 describes the BMS as having a protection circuit with a low-current leakage junction transistor and an array of freewheeling diodes. It also includes a MOSFET with a drain terminal connected to the positive supply line of the battery pack, a source terminal connected to the low-current leakage junction transistor and the array of freewheeling diodes, and a gate terminal connected to the low-current leakage junction transistor. The protection circuit is designed to switch the MOSFET from an ON state to an OFF state and maintain the OFF state when a voltage greater than the battery pack voltage is detected.
Other claims describe additional features of the battery management system, such as the configuration of the low-current leakage junction transistor with collector, base, and emitter terminals (Claim 2), the coupling of the collector terminal to the gate terminal of the MOSFET via a resistor and a diode (Claim 3), and the coupling of the emitter terminal to the array of freewheeling diodes via a busbar (Claim 4). The claims also mention the inclusion of a driver integrated circuit and a current detection circuit in the BMS (Claims 5-11), which are responsible for controlling the MOSFET and detecting voltage conditions.
Overall, the patent describes a battery management system with a protection circuit that effectively safeguards the vehicle battery system from unexpected voltage conditions by redirecting and dissipating excess current. The system includes various components such as a cutoff circuit, a short-circuit protection circuit, a reverse bias protection circuit, a low-current leakage junction transistor, an array of freewheeling diodes, a MOSFET, a driver integrated circuit, and a current detection circuit. These components work together to ensure the safe operation of the battery pack.
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GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
