With word of Apple coming out with devices that are both thinner in profile and more powerful, the battery life might become even more of a concern than it is today. Apple’s current industrial design pretty much prohibits the idea going with a larger battery, so the only option is to pack more power in a smaller pace. This appears to be exactly what the company is taking, as a recently revealed patent showed a new charging method that would increase the capacity of a lithium battery. The patent is called “Increasing Energy Density in Rechargeable Lithium Battery Cells,” and it discusses how a battery’s grvimetric and volumetric energy density would be improved using a multi-step-constant-current constant-voltage (CC-CV) charging technique. CC-CV involves charging at a higher initial constant current until the battery is almost charged, then the charging at a constant voltage until the charge current drops and the battery is fully charged. The patent involves breaking the process down into two steps: first charging to 50% with constant current and following up with a period of constant voltage, repeating in smaller and smaller steps until the battery is charged. Using this method, Apple claims that they can produce batteries with larger charging elements – thereby increasing battery life – while keeping charge time the same. The method of CC-CV charging is not a new discovery, and one of the significant drawbacks with the technique is that it significantly decreases battery life at lower temperature, with significant degradation at just 10° C or below. Leaving the battery attached to a traditional CC-CV charger can reduce the number of charge cycles through overvoltage. Apple’s multi-step technique reports to avoid these obstalces by adusting temperature or voltage using smart sensors. Though the existence of a patent doesn’t mean Apple is going to implement the technology any time soon. It is worth noting that this patent was applied for in August 2009. It’s entirely possible that work on this project has continued, with improvements to come in the near future with a new generation of devices. As usual, stay tuned for more tech news and info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feed. [Source: Electronista] Authors:

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