Patent for warfighter's wearable battery issued to Inventus Power
NewsMarch 30, 2017
WOODRIDGE, Ill. The U.S. Patent Office issued the Patent Number 9,564,761 B2 to Inventus Power?s Primary Conformable Wearable Battery (P-CWB) with removable command module.
The patent covers a Primary Conformable Wearable Battery (P-CWB) with removable command module. It is a non-rechargeable version of the 148Wh Conformal Wearable Battery (CWB150), which was developed in partnership with the U.S. Army and aims to consolidate soldier equipment and increase energy independence.
According to U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center website, the CWB is "a thin, lightweight, flexible battery that integrates seamlessly into a soldier’s body armor. It conforms to the body and can be worn in either the side or chest/back pouches with the ballistic protective plates, virtually invisible and transparent to the soldier."
The battery born out of the initial comfortable battery led to the next generation system that lowers the size and weight of the battery for the warfighter. Jeff Helm, Business Development Manager for Inventus Power. “While innovative technology like wearable computing can increase soldiers’ capabilities, the increase in weight can conversely hinder mobility and add to fatigue. Soldiers can rely on power for up to 72 hours without having to recharge or replace battery packs.”
The P-CWB was designed to complement the rechargeable 150Wh Conformal Wearable Battery (CWB150) by improving the safety, comfort, and maneuverability of the warfighter.
“The P-CWB offers an ergonomically favorable alternative to the 5590 Primary Battery while still incorporating all of the features required for safety in MIL-PRF-32271,” says Mike Stein, Product Management Director for Inventus Power. “The command module houses the majority of electronics and is removable and reusable with other core packs within a battery matrix. Because the primary battery pack is disposable, overall user load may be reduced with each battery discharged and discarded, ultimately increasing user gear capacity and overall mobility.”
“The modern soldier carries several mobile electronic devices that require a significant number and variety of batteries in the field,” adds Helm. The target goal form the company is to reduce 1/3 of the weight, while having the same amount of run time.
The rechargeable CWP is considered to be ballistically safe. In other words, Helm explains, in a sense the battery can be shot up to three times. It does not explode, but continues to operate, which is critical for the soldier.
This patented technology is being applied in the Inventus Power P-CWB battery, which utilizes LiMnO2 cells, operates at 15 V, provides over 195 Wh capacity, and exceeds the 5590 from a safety and performance perspective. The command module monitors and controls battery discharging, voltage output, and current output.
According to the U.S Patent office, the patent is a "battery assembly [that] has a command module with a power connection interface and a battery matrix interface. A battery matrix has a plurality of battery cells, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), and a command module interface. The battery matrix interface may be removably interconnected with the command module interface, enabling power delivery from the battery matrix through the command module to the power connection interface and review of the EEPROM for capacity feedback with respect to remaining electrical power of the battery matrix."
The P-CWB integrates with standard uniform and armor configurations and eliminates the need to carry bulky, block shaped batteries.
Inventors listed on the patent include: Albert Nicholas Hopfer, III of Rolling Meadows, IL., William Mark Batts of Elburn, IL., and Kenneth Habegger of Naperville, IL.
Inventus Power designs and manufactures battery packs, chargers, and power supplies for the consumer, commercial, medical, military markets. ICCNexergy and Palladium Energy (ICCN+Palladium) merged in 2015 to form Inventus Power to deliver portable power solutions to users.
Read more on power technology:
Power distribution from the ground up
FPGA coprocessors for low-power adaptive beamforming in hybrid VPX HPEC systems
Wide-range DC-DC converters power military electronics
