초록 ▼

A built-in battery integrated circuit (50) in the form of a flexible circuit board (70) of a consumer battery (10) senses a voltaic cell electrode (32′, 34′) voltage, and when the voltage is indicative of a low state of charge, activates an indicating system (11), alerting a user to the impending ba

A built-in battery integrated circuit (50) in the form of a flexible circuit board (70) of a consumer battery (10) senses a voltaic cell electrode (32′, 34′) voltage, and when the voltage is indicative of a low state of charge, activates an indicating system (11), alerting a user to the impending battery failure. In addition, a tester actuator button (15) is placed exteriorly on the battery container (12) to manually activate the indicating system (11) to verify that the battery has not become so low of charge as to prevent the indicating system from functioning. Advantageously, the tester actuator button (15) may further enable the built-in battery integrated circuit, thus having all internal electronics unpowered until a user decides to use the battery (10). The indicating system (11) includes an analog indicator such as a bargraph and/or a pulse indicator (64) such as an LED or LCD.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A battery comprising:a primary voltaic cell including a positive electrode and a negative electrode, said primary voltaic cell storing electrical charge resulting in an electrode voltage across said positive and said negative electrodes; an indicating system including an indicator and an indicato

1. A battery comprising:a primary voltaic cell including a positive electrode and a negative electrode, said primary voltaic cell storing electrical charge resulting in an electrode voltage across said positive and said negative electrodes; an indicating system including an indicator and an indicator controller, said indicator controller interposed between said electrodes and said indicator, said indicator controller responsive to said electrode voltage for controlling said indicator; a container substantially enclosing said primary voltaic cell and said indicating system; and, wherein said indicator controller includes a voltage threshold detector electrically coupled to said electrodes, said voltage threshold detector responsive to said electrode voltage declining to a voltage threshold whereupon said voltage threshold detector activates said indicating system to thereby activate said indicator.