Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Wireless battery

Battery without contacts
 
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Many times I have had to clean battery contacts off of dirt and corrosion. Energy transfer without requiring metal to metal contacts would get rid of that particular source of failure.

The battery is encapsulated in plastic together with an inverter and half a transformer. Some means of switching it on and off will have to be incorporated: magnet and reed switch?

The appliance has the other half of the inverter transformer. When the battery is docked into its appliance, the magnetic circuit of the transformer is completed and there is a transfer of energy from the battery to the appliance by the magnetic circuit, without requiring galvanic contact.

The battery may be charged by a similiar mechanism, only transferring the energy the other way this time.

neelandan, Jul 23 2004

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       Yeah, don't know if it could be scaled down for AA's, I think micro transformers are quite expensive to make. The best application would be in large rechargeables that are swapped out reguarly, like in my mum's rechargeable electric lawnmover. It would probably never be cost effective enough to be worth producing - but how many good halfbaked ideas are? Bread.
wagster, Jul 23 2004
  

       Will the battery run flat faster?
scubadooper, Jul 23 2004
  

       Yeah, losses would be higher, but the battery would be a little more user friendly.   

       This might make a good form factor for automotive batteries. Jumper cables would be reduced to two transformers joined by wire, making that process safer.
phoenix, Jul 23 2004
  

       When replacing the battery, it would be a pity to throw away the expensive inverter. So the assembly could be made so that the battery is removable.
Simply unplug the battery from the inverter supply contacts and connect the new battery.....
Ling, Jul 23 2004
  

       Lets see if I got this right. You avoid battery connections to the load by making a magnetic connection via an inverter /transformer which itself is connected to the battery. That means that to avoid making connections to one thing you make them to another. mmm there seems to be some logic missing there or am I missing something
tasman, Jul 23 2004
  

       There will still be some sort of connection to the electrodes of the battery. Making them more permanent might help. I have concerns about the losses, the additional failure points; electronics in the inverter, rectifier/filter on the other side and, to be too practical, the added cost.   

       I dunno about the car battery thing. How big would a 10kW inverter and capable inductor and rectifier be? Would probably add considerably to the cost of the battery.   

       I do like the possibility of safer jumpstarting. I have one car that deals with that problem by placing terminals nowhere near the battery to eliminate the possibility of explosion. Then again, that may have been a convenience thing since the battery is under the back seat.
half, Jul 23 2004
  
      
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