Nickel-cadmium battery monitor

Claim 1

Device for monitoring nickel-cadmium battery which comprises: a sensor for measuring the temperature of the battery, a sensor for measuring the voltage at the terminals of the battery and a sensor for measuring the magnitude of the current being discharged by and being charged to the battery, each of said sensors generating a sensor signal voltage that varies directly with the magnitude of the parameter being measured; a temperature sensor signal voltage conditioning and calibrating means electrically connected to the temperature sensor, and a voltage sensor signal voltage conditioning and calibrating means electrically connected to the voltage sensor, each of said conditioning and calibrating means transforming the sensor signal voltage from the sensor connected thereto to a conditioned analog signal voltage the magnitude of which is in the same relative proportion to a predetermined reference voltage as the actual magnitude of the battery temperature is to a predetermined reference battery temperature and as the actual magnitude of the battery voltage is to a predetermined reference battery voltage; continuous voltage gradient to incremental voltage gradient converter means electrically connected to each of said signal voltage conditioning and calibrating means, said converter means dividing the continuous voltage gradient of the conditioned analog signal voltage into a predetermined number of incrementally increasing analog signal voltage increments, whereby the actual signal voltage from each said signal voltage conditioning and calibrating means is converted to an analog signal voltage increment the magnitude of which corresponds approximately to the actual magnitude of the battery temperature and battery voltage as measured; analog signal voltage increment indicator means electrically connected to each of the continuous to incremental voltage gradient converter means, each of said indicator means having a plurality of electrically energized visual display means, each of said display means corresponding to and being energized by one of said analog signal voltage increments, whereby said indicator means visually indicates the approximate magnitude of the battery temperature and battery voltage as measured; selector switch means also electrically connected to each of the signal voltage conditioning and calibrating means, said selector switch being adapted to select and transmit the conditioned analog signal from the temperature signal or the voltage signal conditioning and calibrating means to an analog to digital converter means; analog to digital converter means electrically connected to said selector switch means, said converter means converting the selected conditioned analog signal to a corresponding multibit digital signal; an array of numeric visual display units electrically connected to said analog to digital converter means, said display units displaying in numeric form the actual magnitude of the battery temperature or the battery voltage, as selected by said selector switch means; charge rate sampling means electrically connected to the battery charge sensor, said sampling means continuously measuring the magnitude of successive samples of the charge current and transmitting an alarm signal to a flash alarm means when the rate of increase of the charge current exceeds a predetermined values; and flash alarm means electrically connected to each of said continuous to incremental voltage gradient converter means and to said charge rate sampling means, said alarm means transmitting a flash alarm signal to the analog to digital converter means when the temperature of the battery exceeds a predetermined value or when the voltage of the battery falls below or exceeds a predetermined value or when an alarm signal is received from the charge rate sampling means.