1. A battery fault detecting device comprising at least one heat sensitive member having a heat-dependent conductivity and a controller for disconnecting a faulty battery from a system when the heat-dependent conductivity exceeds a predetermined threshold.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one heat sensitive member is in thermal contact with a battery.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein the conductivity comprises electrical conductivity.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the heat sensitive member comprises a first electrically conductive wire, a second electrically conductive wire, and a polymer, wherein the polymer electrically isolates the first and the second electrically conductive wires from each other.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the polymer is fabricated to melt when exposed to heat at the predetermined threshold, thereby electrically coupling the first and second wires.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein the electrically coupling of the first electrically conductive wire and the second electrically conductive wire is able to cause an electric disconnection from the faulty battery.
7. The device of claim 5, wherein the electrically coupling of the first electrically conductive wire and the second electrically conductive wire is able to cause an electric vehicle to be electrically disconnected from a power source that contains the faulty battery.
8. The device of claim 1, wherein the heat sensitive member comprises at least one electrically conductive wire.
9. The device of claim 8, wherein the at least one electrically conductive wire comprises a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material.
10. The device of claim 9, wherein the PTC material is capable of changing a value of electrical conductivity when exposed to heat above the predetermined threshold.
11. The device of claim 4, wherein the polymer comprises a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) material.
12. The device of claim 11, wherein the NTC material is capable of changing a value of electrical conductivity in response to a fault occurring in the battery.
13. The device of claim 1, wherein the heat sensitive member signally couples with a fault bus, so that the heat generated by the faulty battery received by the heat sensitive member is able to trigger an electricity disconnection signal transmitted through the fault bus to disconnect an electric vehicle from at least a portion of a power supply containing the faulty battery.
14. A faulty battery locating system comprising a heat sensitive member thermally coupling with multiple battery cells, wherein a conductivity of the heat sensitive member is capable of changing in response to heat from a faulty battery of the multiple battery cells, so that a location of the faulty battery is capable of being identified.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the conductivity comprises electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, magnetic conductivity, optical conductivity, or a combination thereof.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein an amount of the conductivity change is related to the location of the faulty battery.
17. The system of claim 15 further comprising a sensing circuit capable of measuring the electrical conductivity of the heat sensitive member.
18. The system of claim 14, wherein the heat sensitive member comprises a first electrically conductive wire, a second electrically conductive wire, and a polymer, wherein the polymer electrically isolates the first and the second electrically conductive wires from each other.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the polymer melts when exposed to a predetermined temperature, so that the first electrically conductive wire is capable of electrically coupling with the second electrically conductive wire.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the electrically coupling of the first electrical conductive wire and the second electrical conductive wire is able to cause an electrical disconnection from the faulty battery.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein the electrically coupling of the first electrical conductive wire and the second electrical conductive wire is able to cause an electrical disconnection of an electric vehicle from a power source containing the faulty battery.
22. A method of detecting a faulty battery comprising detecting a location of a fault in a battery pack from a resistance of a wire in thermal contact with the battery pack.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the location corresponds to an individual battery of multiple batteries, wherein the multiple batteries form the battery pack.
24. The method of claim 22, wherein the fault is heating above a predetermined temperature.
25. The method of claim 22 further comprising disconnecting the faulty battery from the battery pack.
26. The method of claim 22, wherein the resistance comprises electrical conductivity.
27. The method of claim 22 further comprising detecting a change of the resistance of the wire.
28. The method of claim 22, wherein the wire comprises a first conducting wire and a second conducting wire electrically isolated from each other by a first polymer.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein the first polymer has a melting point lower than a melting point of the second polymer.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the melting point is higher than a normal battery cell operating temperature and below an explosion temperature of the faulty battery.
31. The method of claim 29, wherein the first polymer has a melting point above 140\xb0 F.
32. The method of claim 28, wherein the first polymer covers and electrically isolates the first conducting wire from the second conducting wire.
33. The method of claim 28 further comprising a second polymer that electrically isolates the second conducting wire.
34. The method of claim 28 further comprising a third polymer enclosing the first and the second conducting wires.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein the third polymer has a melting point different from a melting point of the first polymer, the second polymer, or both.
36. The method of claim 34, wherein the third polymer has a melting point higher than a melting point of the first polymer, the second polymer, or both.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. Method for determining the consumption by an infant of beverages produced from capsules in a beverage production machine comprising the steps of:
storing in a server at least one user account including personal information about the infant consuming the beverages produced from the capsules;
producing beverages from the capsules and identifying each capsule used therefore by the beverage production machine;
transmitting information on the identified capsule to the server including at least one time-related information when the capsule is identified by the machine; and
making the consumption of beverages based on such information available under at least one application via a communication network on a user terminal.
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the consumption of beverages is made available in an application selected from the group consisting of: a report, a graphic, a calendar, a text, a table and combinations thereof.
3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the calendar is configured to show the number of meals corresponding to the number of capsules identified.
4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the time related information is: a date andor time.
5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the beverage production machine transmits information on the identified capsule to the server each time a beverage is produced from the capsule.
6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the time-related information corresponds to the transmitting time to the server.
7. Method according to claim 1, wherein the information includes the type of capsule identified to the server.
8. Method according to claim 1, wherein the user account is accessed by a consumer terminal connected to the server via internet andor a telecom network.
9. Method according to claim 1, wherein the consumption of beverages is viewable via internet-linked andor telecom terminal to a user.
10. Method according to claim 1, wherein the application is configured to present a warning if an abnormal consumption is determined.
11. System for determining the consumption by an infant of portioned beverages produced from capsules in a beverage production machine comprising:
a remote server;
a beverage production machine including a member for producing a beverage from a capsule and identifying a type of the capsule from a plurality of capsules and a transmitter for transmitting information to the remote server including the date and time when the capsule is identified by the machine; and
the remote server includes storage for storing a user profile including personal information about an infant consuming beverage produced from a capsule and capsule information for a plurality of types of capsules and a member for generating the application on the consumption of beverages based on such information made available via a communication network on a user terminal.
12. System according to claim 11, wherein the capsules have a code having information related to their type and, the beverage production machine comprises a reader to identify the type of capsule that is used for the current preparation of a beverage, such information being transmitted by the reader to a processing unit which is connected to an internet unit of the machine.
13. System according to claim 11, wherein the beverage machine is connected to the server via internet.
14. System according to claim 13, wherein the beverage machine comprises a WI-FI module capable of performing a WI-FI communication with a router of a home network.