To me this seems like another product trying to solve a problem that doesn't really exist in the first place! As Dave mentioned, I believe it will probably cause more confusion than anything else!
I'm stumped by one thing, namely how to get a circuit like this to work with more than two batteries in series. I've been sketching different variations for about 20 minutes and I can't see any way to make the loop without shorting it out at some point once you go to three batteries. Anyone else know how it's done?
I been keeping tabs on Microsoft and actually there first product to use this Insta-Load is going to be there Mice, Wireless Keyboards, IIS 8 Server Loading Control. Actually there will be software written by a few Microsoft people, and battery loading will eventually take the laptop market, assuming that apple keeps off.
~~~~Great Dave~~~~
Here is a few links: There main market is keyboards + mice but using a Solid State drive and more digital; they can work on the netbooks first and work there way up the line. More are more are coming and jumping in like Sony + Dell Laptop Company.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/jul10/07-01instaloadpr.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/licensing/instaloadoverview.mspx
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34072/microsoft-plan-change-battery-insertion
Thanks! I used an old DOS based 'palmtop' that was powered by AA and it worked very well for early modem-BBS things, I got about 6-8h of battery life. But haven't seen anything like those since.
Thanks! I used an old DOS based 'palmtop' that was powered by AA and it worked very well for early modem-BBS things, I got about 6-8h of battery life. But haven't seen anything like those since.
http://www.open-pandora.org/
Each cell has it's own pair of dual polarity contacts and hence it's own + and - output, so you simply wire them in series just like you would any other single cell battery holder.
As you said, you can't go two cells in series end-on-end as in common is 2+ cell cylindrical torches for example.
Dave.
Each cell has it's own pair of dual polarity contacts and hence it's own + and - output, so you simply wire them in series just like you would any other single cell battery holder.
As you said, you can't go two cells in series end-on-end as in common is 2+ cell cylindrical torches for example.
Dave.
That's just it... I can see how to do it if the batteries are wired parallel, which maintains the single cell voltage, but if you wanted 4 cells in series for 6V or 6 cells for 9V, will this invention work or will the products be limited to 1.5V at some greater A/hr rating?
Each cell has it's own pair of dual polarity contacts and hence it's own + and - output, so you simply wire them in series just like you would any other single cell battery holder.
As you said, you can't go two cells in series end-on-end as in common is 2+ cell cylindrical torches for example.
Dave.
That's just it... I can see how to do it if the batteries are wired parallel, which maintains the single cell voltage, but if you wanted 4 cells in series for 6V or 6 cells for 9V, will this invention work or will the products be limited to 1.5V at some greater A/hr rating?
It works either way, series or parallel, as I said. But it requires a set of these dual polarity contacts at each end.
These contacts do exactly as they say, they give you +/- output terminals whichever way you insert the battery. So you are free to wire them in series or parallel after that.
Dave.
I would be surprised if they would get the patent approved due to this (5,431,575) older and very similar patent: http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=TGYgAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,431,575
I would be surprised if they would get the patent approved due to this (5,431,575) older and very similar patent: http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=TGYgAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,431,575
I have 2 computers that take AA batteries...
a Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 (maxed to 32k ram and has an assembler option rom installed) which According to Gates, "part of my nostalgia about this machine is this was the last machine where I wrote a very high percentage of the code in the product".
and an HP 200LX that has PC-GEOS installed on it. Both still work great
A lot of laptops take A/AA cell batteries (and other sizes) they're just packed into a single unit, my vaio tr2a extended is like 9 of them if i recall.
Even some car batteries are just a whole stack of D cells.
To add to Alms comment, Li are not made AA or AAA to avoid accidentally selling them aftermarket or putting them in an AA or AAA required device by mistake. The base voltage of Li is ~ 3.6V per cell, 3x that of single NiMH, which is the most common form for AA and AAA.
. . . PC-GEOS . . .
It would be cool to have a laptop which takes standard AA batteries but it would need quite a lot of them, say 14V for a nominal voltage of 16.8V, 21V hot off the charger. The trouble is it would need to be quite large to accomodate all those batteries and it would need some protection to prevent the user doing something stupid like using ordinary alkaline cells. Still I like the idea of not having to go to a specialist supplier to replace the batteries.
I guess i can't see the desire for wanting AA's over 18600 or packs. They're going to be workable for at least 6 months, then its typically just lower capacity. Which AA's aren't a good density anyway. In most places i've been you can find a store that'll have some of the most common packs if you get stuck.
he smaller the difference between required and supplied voltage, the more efficient the conversion is.
The real problem with AA is mostly the form factor than the power density.
The mass market is driven equally but style, rather than economy of use.
he smaller the difference between required and supplied voltage, the more efficient the conversion is.Only if it uses a buck or boost topology.
Using a transformer based topology means that the efficiency can be the same regardless of the input-output voltage differential.QuoteThe real problem with AA is mostly the form factor than the power density.Are you sure?
I thought NiMH has a similar Wh/L as Li-ion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_metal_hydride_battery
"NiMH has a volumetric energy density of about 300 W·h/L (1080 MJ/m³), significantly better than nickel-cadmium at 50–150 Wh/L, and about the same as Li-ion at 250-360 W·h/L."QuoteThe mass market is driven equally but style, rather than economy of use.
That's true, people are expected to upgrade fairly often.
I don't know, perhaps Li-ion is cheaper per Wh than NiMH.
I don't think i'd want an iPhone that ran off AA's , in a laptop with alkaline AA's i doubt you'd make it to the boot screen. Even my old nikon c900 lasts a very short time on 4 alkaline AA's. You could always just make a battery box with a hydra lead that could take AA's and use that for emergencies, i'm sure such things exist, solar chargers etc.
I think I'D rather AA went away , or at least something else became more common. But it seems that for that convience of uniformity and mass availability you're giving up stuff thats taller.