The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a battery failure discharge apparatus.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Batteries, such as lithium ion batteries, may be employed in information handling systems for a number of reasons, such as increasing their portability. Issues may arise when these batteries begin to fail.
Batteries may fail for a number of reasons, including when the battery cell experiences an over-voltage condition. An over-voltage condition is usually said to exist when the battery achieves a voltage magnitude that is substantially higher than its nominal value. When a battery enters this failure mode, that battery will no longer charge but may maintain a high charge level until internal resistance can reduce the voltage in the battery. Voltage reduction to a desired level by internal resistance may take a period of months, during which the battery will be unstable. This instability may result in the electrolyte liquid in the battery emitting a gas, which can build up pressure in the battery. In addition, subjecting the battery to high temperatures may cause, or increase, the gas emission. This gas emission can ultimately cause battery failure.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved battery failure discharge apparatus in an information handling system absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.
According to one embodiment, a battery failure discharge apparatus includes a battery discharge device operable to drain power from a battery. A monitoring and control means is coupled to the battery discharge device and operable to detect that a battery is in an over-voltage condition. In response to detecting a battery in an over-voltage condition, the monitoring and control means is operable to discharge a battery through the battery discharge device until the battery charge is below a predetermined value.
a is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a housing for an information handling system.
b is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a housing for an information handling system.
For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
In one embodiment, information handling system 10,
A housing 26,
A battery 48,
In operation,
With battery 48 situated in the housing 26 and connector 46 engaging battery connector 44, battery 48 provides power to the system 10. Battery 48 carries a charge, which can be measured as a percentage of a value called the relative state of charge (RSOC). The RSOC is a close approximation of the remaining capacity of the battery 48 and depends on a number of factors including the age, the number of charge/discharge cycles, the voltage level, the current consumption, and the temperature of battery 48. Coupled to battery 48 is a monitor/controller device 54,
In operation,
Although illustrative embodiments have been shown and described, a wide range of modification, change and substitution is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances, some features of the embodiments may be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein.