Battery module, battery pack, and system comprising a battery module

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery pack for battery powered lighting systems comprising: —an outer wall surrounding the battery module made of a thermally insulating material, —a battery holder disposed within the outer wall comprising a plurality of battery receptacles in which batteries fit, and made of a thermally conductive material, and—a wireless power exchanger, comprising a wireless power tube coupled to the battery holder and disposed in the central opening, the wireless power tube being arranged for exchanging energy wirelessly with a wireless power stick that can be inserted into the wireless tube.

1 . A battery module comprising
 an outer wall surrounding the battery module made of a thermally insulating material,   a battery holder disposed within the outer wall comprising a plurality of battery receptacles in which batteries fit, and made of a thermally conductive material, a central opening, and a heat source disposed in the central opening of the battery module, wherein the heat source is a wireless power exchanger, comprising a wireless power tube coupled to the battery holder and disposed in the central opening, the wireless power tube being arranged for exchanging energy wirelessly with a wireless power stick that can be inserted into the wireless tube.   
     
     
         2 . The battery module of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless power tube comprises a winding for receiving power from the wireless power stick and for transmitting power to the wireless power stick. 
     
     
         3 . The battery module of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless power tube comprises a first winding for receiving power from the wireless power stick and a second winding for transmitting power to the wireless power stick. 
     
     
         4 . The battery module of  claim 1 , comprising a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the batteries in the battery holder. 
     
     
         5 . The battery module of  claim 4 , further comprising a controller arranged for monitoring the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor and for causing the heat source to be activated based on the sensed temperature. 
     
     
         6 . The battery module of  claim 1 , wherein the battery module is shaped like prism or a cylinder, centered around a revolution axis, wherein the central opening is centered around the revolution axis. 
     
     
         7 . The battery module of  claim 6 , further comprising a battery controller, said battery controller extending radially from the revolution axis between the central opening and the outer wall, occupying an arc segment of the base section of the battery holder, the plurality of battery receptacles being spread in a remaining arc segment of the base section of the battery holder. 
     
     
         8 . The battery module of  claim 1 , being shaped so that a plurality of battery modules can be stacked around a wireless power stick. 
     
     
         9 . A battery pack comprising a battery module of  claim 1  and a wireless power exchanger for exchanging power with a load. 
     
     
         10 . A battery pack comprising a plurality of battery modules of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of battery modules comprise each a central opening, the battery pack further comprising a wireless power exchanger formed by a plurality of wireless power tubes being each respectively coupled to the battery holder of each battery module of the plurality of battery modules and disposed in their respective central opening, and a wireless power stick inserted into the wireless power tubes of the battery modules and arranged for exchanging energy wirelessly with the plurality of wireless power tubes. 
     
     
         11 . The battery pack of  claim 9 , further comprising a power channel controller which is adapted to control the energy transfer with the battery modules based on at least one of the following parameters: internal temperature of the respective battery modules, input voltage from an energy harvester, input current from an energy harvester, position of the respective battery module in the battery pack, state of charge of the respective battery module. 
     
     
         12 . The battery pack of  claim 11 , wherein the power channel controller is adapted to control the energy transfer to an operating point having a selected efficiency based on an amount of heat to be injected in the battery module. 
     
     
         13 . Lighting system comprising,
 an illumination unit,   a battery module in accordance with  claim 8  for supplying the illumination unit in power,   an energy source for supplying the battery module or the battery pack in power.