The present invention relates to battery maintenance systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to charging and maintenance of strings of storage batteries.
Storage batteries are used to directly power or provide a backup power source for many types of installations. For example, storage batteries are used as a backup power source in telecommunications (for example cellular sites, computing facilities, water treatment facilities, power distribution facilities, etc.).
In such facilities, a large number of individual storage batteries are connected in an array referred to as a “string.” The string may have any number of series or parallel connected batteries to provide the desired storage capacity and voltage. The batteries may be charged by applying a constant voltage charger across the entire string. However, this may lead to inefficient charging and may even be a source of accelerated degradation for good batteries in the string.
Various examples of battery maintenance devices and related technology are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708, issued Sep. 30, 1975, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768, issued Mar. 28, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170, issued Apr. 25, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038, issued Nov. 14, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416, issued Mar. 27, 1990, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269, issued Aug. 18, 1992, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,380, issued Aug. 30, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136, issued Nov. 5, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355, issued Nov. 12, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,416, issued Dec. 10, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728, issued Dec. 17, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,757, issued Dec. 31, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093, issued Jan. 7, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098, issued Jan. 28, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,920, issued Aug. 12, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,192, issued May 26, 1998; U.S. Pat. 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No. 09/780,146, filed Feb. 9, 2001, entitled STORAGE BATTERY WITH INTEGRAL BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/756,638, filed Jan. 8, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/862,783, filed May 21, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING CELLS AND BATTERIES EMBEDDED IN SERIES/PARALLEL SYSTEMS; U.S. Ser. No. 09/880,473, filed Jun. 13, 2001; entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/109,734, filed Mar. 28, 2002, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COUNTERACTING SELF DISCHARGE IN A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/263,473, filed Oct. 2, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 09/653,963, filed Sep. 1, 2000, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING POWER GENERATION AND STORAGE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/174,110, filed Jun. 18, 2002, entitled DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT CONTROL USING AN INTELLIGENT POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 10/258,441, filed Apr. 9, 2003, entitled CURRENT MEASURING CIRCUIT SUITED FOR BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 10/681,666, filed Oct. 8, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH PROBE LIGHT; U.S. Ser. No. 60/587,232, filed Dec. 14, 2004, entitled CELLTRON ULTRA, U.S. Ser. No. 60/653,537, filed Feb. 16, 2005, entitled CUSTOMER MANAGED WARRANTY CODE; U.S. Ser. No. 60/665,070, filed Mar. 24, 2005, entitled OHMMETER PROTECTION CIRCUIT; U.S. Ser. No. 60,694,199, filed Jun. 27, 2005, entitled GEL BATTERY CONDUCTANCE COMPENSATION; U.S. Ser. No. 60/705,389, filed Aug. 4, 2005, entitled PORTABLE TOOL THEFT PREVENTION SYSTEM, U.S. Ser. No. 11/207,419, filed Aug. 19, 2005, entitled SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY GATHERING BATTERY INFORMATION FOR USE DURING BATTERY TESTER/CHARGING, U.S. Ser. No. 60/712,322, filed Aug. 29, 2005, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, U.S. Ser. No. 60/713,168, filed Aug. 31, 2005, entitled LOAD TESTER SIMULATION WITH DISCHARGE COMPENSATION, U.S. Ser. No. 60/731,881, filed Oct. 31, 2005, entitled PLUG-IN FEATURES FOR BATTERY TESTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 60/731,887, filed Oct. 31, 2005, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 60/751,853, filed Dec. 20, 2005, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 60/751,853, filed Dec. 20, 2005, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,443, filed Feb. 16, 2006, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH NETWORK COMMUNICATION; U.S. Ser. No. 60/847,064, filed Sep. 25, 2006, entitled STATIONARY BATTERY MONITORING ALGORITHMS; U.S. Ser. No. 60/950,182, filed Jul. 17, 2007, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR HYBRID VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 60/973,879, filed Sep. 20, 2007, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER FOR TESTING STATIONARY BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/992,798, filed Dec. 6, 2007, entitled STORAGE BATTERY AND BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 61/061,848, filed Jun. 16, 2008, entitled KELVIN CLAMP FOR ELECTRONICALLY COUPLING TO A BATTERY CONTACT; U.S. Ser. No. 12/697,485, filed Feb. 1, 2010, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 12/712,456, filed Feb. 25, 2010, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING CELL DETERIORATION IN AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 61/311,485, filed Mar. 8, 2010, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH DATABUS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 61/313,893, filed Mar. 15, 2010, entitled USE OF BATTERY MANUFACTURE/SELL DATE IN DIAGNOSIS AND RECOVERY OF DISCHARGED BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 12/769,911, filed Apr. 29, 2010, entitled STATIONARY BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 61/330,497, filed May 3, 2010, entitled MAGIC WAND WITH ADVANCED HARNESS DETECTION; U.S. Ser. No. 61/348,901, filed May 27, 2010, entitled ELECTRTONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S Ser. No. 61/351,017, filed Jun. 3, 2010, entitled IMPROVED ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY MODULE BALANCER; U.S. Ser. No. 12/818,290, filed Jun. 18, 2010, entitled BATTERY MAINTENANCE DEVICE WITH THERMAL BUFFER; U.S. Ser. No. 61/373,045, filed Aug. 12, 2010, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER FOR TESTING STATIONARY STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 61/411,162, filed Nov. 8, 2010, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 13/037,641, filed Mar. 1, 2011, entitled :MONITOR FOR FRONT TERMINAL BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 13/098,661, filed May 2, 2011, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER OF A VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 13/152,711, filed Jun. 3, 2011, entitled BATTERY PACK MAINTENANCE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 61/558,088, filed Nov. 10, 2011, entitled BATTERY PACK TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 13/357,306, filed Jan. 24, 2012, entitled STORAGE BATTERY AND BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 61/665,555, filed Jun. 28, 2012, entitled HYBRID AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY MAINTENANCE DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 13/668,523, filed Nov. 5, 2012, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 13/672,186, filed Nov. 8, 2012, entitled BATTERY PACK TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 61/777,360, filed Mar. 12, 2013, entitled DETERMINATION OF STARTING CURRENT IN AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 61/777,392, filed Mar. 12, 2013, entitled DETERMINATION OF CABLE DROP DURING A STARTING EVENT IN AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 13/827,128, filed Mar. 14, 2013, entitled HYBRID AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY MAINTENANCE DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 61/789,189, filed Mar. 15, 2013, entitled CURRENT CLAMP WITH JAW CLOSURE DETECTION; U.S. Ser. No. 61/824,056, filed May 16, 2013, entitled BATTERY TESTING SYSTEM AND METHOD; U.S. Ser. No. 61/859,991, filed Jul. 30, 2013, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITRING A PLURALITY OF STORAGE BATTERIES IN A STATIONARY BACK-UP POWER SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 14/039,746, filed Sep. 27, 2013, entitled BATTERY PACK MAINTENANCE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 61/915,157, filed Dec. 12, 2013, entitled BATTERY TESTER AND BATTERY REGISTRATION TOOL; U.S. Ser. No. 61/928,167, filed Jan. 16, 2014, entitled BATTERY CLAMP WITH ENDOSKELETON DESIGN; U.S. Ser. No. 14/204,286, filed Mar. 11, 2014, entitled CURRENT CLAMP WITH JAW CLOSURE DETECTION; U.S. Ser. No. 14/276,276, filed May 13, 2014, entitled BATTERY TESTING SYSTEM AND METHOD; U.S. Ser. No. 62/024,037, filed Jul. 14, 2014, entitled COMBINATION SERVICE TOOL; U.S. Ser. No. 62/055,884, filed Sep. 26, 2014, entitled CABLE CONNECTOR FOR ELECTORNIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 14/565,689, filed Dec. 10, 2014, entitled BATTERY TESTER AND BATTERY REGISTRATION TOOL; U.S. Ser. No. 14/598,445, filed Jan. 16, 2015, entitled BATTERY CLAMP WITH ENDOSKELETON DESIGN; U.S. Ser. No. 62/107,648, filed Jan. 26, 2015, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 62/137,491, filed Mar. 24, 2015, entitled BATTERY MAINTENANCE SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 62/154,251, filed Apr. 29, 2015, entitled CALIBRATION AND PROGRAMMING OF IN-VEHICLE BATTERY SENSORS; U.S. Ser. No. 62/155,045, filed Apr. 30, 2015, entitled CALIBRATION AND PROGRAMMING OF IN-VEHICLE BATTERY SENSORS; U.S. Ser. No. 62/161,555, filed May 14, 2015, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER, U.S. Ser. No. 14/799,120, filed Jul. 14, 2015, entitled AUTOMOTIVE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 14/861,027, filed Sep. 22, 2015, entitled CABLE CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 62/233,614, filed Sep. 28, 2015, entitled KELVIN CONNECTOR ADAPTOR FOR STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 15/006,467, filed Jan. 26, 2016, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 15/017,887, filed Feb. 8, 2016, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER OF A VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 15/049,483, filed Feb. 22, 2016, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE; all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
A battery maintenance system for performing maintenance on a string of storage batteries includes a plurality of battery monitors each of which is configured to electrically couple to a battery in the string of batteries and measure a parameter of the string of batteries. A plurality of controllable electrical loads, each of which are configured to electrically couple to a battery within the string of batteries. The electric loads are controlled during charging of the string of batteries as a function of the measured parameters measured by the plurality of battery monitors.
A method is provided for performing maintenance on a string of batteries includes measuring an electrical parameter of each battery in the string of batteries using a battery monitor connected to batteries in a string of batteries. A charging voltage is applied across the string of batteries. A controllable electric load is applied to at least one of the batteries in the string of batteries based upon an output from a battery monitor.
A battery maintenance system for maintaining a plurality of batteries connected to a battery charger includes at least one sensor module connected to at least one of the plurality of batteries. The sensor module includes first and second electrical connectors which are configured to electrical couple respective positive and negative terminals of the at least one of the plurality of batteries. Battery test circuitry couples to the first and second electrical connectors to measure an electrical parameter of the at least on battery. A controllable electrical load couples to the first and second connectors to apply an electrical load to the at least one battery. A controller coupled to the battery test circuitry and the controllable electrical load controls the controllable electrical load to thereby apply the electrical load to the at least one battery as a function of the measured electrical parameter and thereby control a charging voltage applied to the at least one battery during charging of the plurality of batteries by the battery charger.
Standby batteries (used as a back-up power source for telecommunications, computing and other power-sensitive applications) are typically arranged in an array, or string, to create a desired voltage level. These strings consist of single or multiple cell modules and the connection may be parallel, series and/or series/parallel. Research has demonstrated that these like units, when in the application, will often reach a state where there is variation among the voltage or charge levels of the battery modules. This phenomenon, called voltage imbalance, has been demonstrated to reduce the useable life of the modules in the string as the imbalance results in uneven charge requirements that drive degradation within the modules. The invention includes of a method for intelligent battery management of a battery string consisting of a sensing device (sensor also referred to herein as sensor module, battery test circuitry and battery monitor), connected to the batteries individually through a four-point Kelvin connection. The sensor measures individual battery dynamic parameters such as dynamic conductance using Kelvin battery monitoring and statistically derives battery information from voltage discharge battery equalization to identify and manage weak or bad batteries. The sensor then selectively applies an integrated current load during charging to drive a charging response from the connected battery charging system to create a balancing effect and thereby extend battery life and maximize charging of the array.
Preferably, a battery string comprised of N series connected batteries are “float” charged by a constant voltage charger, such that all batteries in the series string “float” to the same string voltage average and thus all batteries have the same voltage measurement reading. However, weak or partially charged batteries create a string battery voltage imbalance that increases the remaining battery voltages from the string battery voltage average, while the weak or partially charged battery has a battery voltage which is less than the string battery average. Historically, batteries with a voltage beyond a defined “float” voltage tolerance limit from the string battery voltage average experience a reduced service life. The problem to solve is to control the battery voltage from exceeding the “float” voltage tolerance for the purpose of preventing a sub-average battery service life.
A method and apparatus for controlling and managing a battery voltage in a string comprising of N series batteries while the batteries are “float” charged with a constant voltage charger is provided. A battery voltage control mechanism for decreasing higher voltage batteries from the “float” average includes of a switchable (variable) load with Kelvin wired connections. The switchable load is applied for a fixed time interval to partially discharge the targeted battery through the wired Kelvin connections, thus reducing the target battery voltage from the string average. In on configuration, the switchable load comprises is adjustable (either continuously or in one or more steps) and may comprise loads of differing resistance values. The adjustments may be continuous or may be stepped and may include more than one fixed resistance level. The remaining unloaded battery voltages will increase proportionally since the constant voltage charger maintains a constant average battery voltage (across the string). Low voltage batteries will thus have an incremental voltage rise while the battery voltage decreases on the targeted battery that was partially discharged with a switchable load.
In One Example Battery Maintenance System Capabilities Include:
The system 100 can measure any electrical parameter of the batteries 102. In one specific example, the measured parameter comprises a dynamic parameter in which a forcing function is applied to a battery and a response measured. The forcing function can include a time varying component including transient as well as periodic components. The forcing function can be large or small relative to the voltage of the battery 102 or the current flowing through the battery 102. The resultant signal (i.e. voltage) change across terminals of a battery is measured using differential sense amplifier 112. The forcing function can be active source in which power is applied to the battery, for example, using a transistor driven source. Similarly, the forcing function may comprise a passive source in which power is drawn from the battery, for example using such as a load resistance, etc. The forcing function signal can be any signal having a time varying component including periodic and transient signals. Microprocessor 118 can calculate a dynamic parameter based upon the forcing function and the measured response. Note in another example configuration the microprocessor 140 as shown in main controller 134 can be used to determine the dynamic parameter. Additionally, in other configurations, analog circuitry can be used to measure the dynamic parameter. For example, dynamic conductance can be calculated as follows:
ΔG=ΔI/ΔV Equation 1
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No. 61/859,991, filed Jul. 30, 2013, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITRING A PLURALITY OF STORAGE BATTERIES IN A STATIONARY BACK-UP POWER SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 14/039,746, filed Sep. 27, 2013, entitled BATTERY PACK MAINTENANCE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 61/915,157, filed Dec. 12, 2013, entitled BATTERY TESTER AND BATTERY REGISTRATION TOOL; U.S. Ser. No. 61/928,167, filed Jan. 16, 2014, entitled BATTERY CLAMP WITH ENDOSKELETON DESIGN; U.S. Ser. No. 14/204,286, filed Mar. 11, 2014, entitled CURRENT CLAMP WITH JAW CLOSURE DETECTION; U.S. Ser. No. 14/276,276, filed May 13, 2014, entitled BATTERY TESTING SYSTEM AND METHOD; U.S. Ser. No. 62/024,037, filed Jul. 14, 2014, entitled COMBINATION SERVICE TOOL; U.S. Ser. No. 62/055,884, filed Sep. 26, 2014, entitled CABLE CONNECTOR FOR ELECTORNIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 14/565,689, filed Dec. 10, 2014, entitled BATTERY TESTER AND BATTERY REGISTRATION TOOL; U.S. Ser. No. 14/598,445, filed Jan. 16, 2015, entitled BATTERY CLAMP WITH ENDOSKELETON DESIGN; U.S. Ser. No. 62/107,648, filed Jan. 26, 2015, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 62/137,491, filed Mar. 24, 2015, entitled BATTERY MAINTENANCE SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 62/154,251, filed Apr. 29, 2015, entitled CALIBRATION AND PROGRAMMING OF IN-VEHICLE BATTERY SENSORS; U.S. Ser. No. 62/155,045, filed Apr. 30, 2015, entitled CALIBRATION AND PROGRAMMING OF IN-VEHICLE BATTERY SENSORS; U.S. Ser. No. 62/161,555, filed May 14, 2015, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER, U.S. Ser. No. 14/799,120, filed Jul. 14, 2015, entitled AUTOMOTIVE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 14/861,027, filed Sep. 22, 2015, entitled CABLE CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 62/233,614, filed Sep. 28, 2015, entitled KELVIN CONNECTOR ADAPTOR FOR STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 15/006,467, filed Jan. 26, 2016, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 15/017,887, filed Feb. 8, 2016, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER OF A VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 15/049,483, filed Feb. 22, 2016, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE; all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
As discussed above, the system 100 can be configured to apply a switchable or variable load to individual batteries 102 based upon dynamic measurements, or even static voltage measurements, during charging in order to achieve a desired voltage across individual batteries 102 in the string of batteries. For example, forcing function 110 shown in
During operation, the voltage source 109 shown in
The system 100 determines which battery or batteries 102 to load based upon measured parameters of the batteries 102. For example, in one configuration, voltage measurements are made during charging and/or operation of the batteries 102. If a battery is identified which has a higher voltage, the switchable load 110 may be applied as desired. The application may be periodic and continued measurements of the individual batteries may be taken during this period. Once a voltage on a particular battery reaches a particular level, application of the switchable load 110 may be stopped. The particular level may be determined based upon thresholds including fixed values as well as based upon the voltage measured with respect to other batteries 102 within the string of batteries. The voltage across a battery 102 may be monitored using differential amplifier 112. Other types of measurements may also be made to determine application of the switchable load 110. For example, current measurements may be used to measure the current flowing through a battery as well as dynamic parameter measurements may be used directly or for use in determining state of health and/or state of charge of a particular battery 102. The application of the switchable load may be controlled by individual battery monitors 130 or may be controlled by the main controller 134. Although
As discussed above, the communication between modules 130 and/or main controller 134 may be a wired or wireless communication.
In another aspect, the switchable load 110 may be used to prevent a thermal runaway condition in a battery 102. In such a configuration, if a particular battery is receiving an excessive current level, the battery may be caused to overheat and thereby have its resistance reduced such that additional current is drawn. The switchable load 110 may be used as a current shunt to thereby reduce the current level applied to an individual battery 102. The determination of excessive current draw and/or thermal runaway may be detected by measuring current or voltage levels as well as detecting using a temperature sensor such as temperature sensor 210A and 210N showing in
The switchable load may be controlled based upon any appropriate technique. For example, parameters of individual batteries can be measured and the variable or controllable load can be applied based upon the measured parameters. The parameters may be static parameters such as a voltage across a battery or a current through a battery, as well as dynamic parameters such as dynamic conductance, resistance, inductance, admittance, etc. Although the configuration discussed herein uses the same forcing function to operate as a fixable load, in other example configurations these elements may be separated into two separate components. Depending upon the amount of current drawn by a switchable load, additional heat sinking or other thermal dissipation techniques may be required. The forcing function and sense amplifier provide one example of battery test circuitry which may optionally include an analog to digital converter and a microprocessor. The various charging and loading techniques may be implemented in software, for example software stored in memory 120 or 142. Diagnostic information may be provided to a user, for example through I/O 126 or display 146 shown in
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The above methods and capability procedures are integrated and performed in the Wireless Battery Management System in which a Base Coordinator orchestrates the methods.
The present application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/137,491, filed Mar. 24, 2015, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62137491 | Mar 2015 | US |