Pre-qualified batteries for medical and industrial devices

Called VR420, “they are UL-recognised [UL2054], and tested to IEC62133 which is mandatory for medical equipment and becoming important in other markets”, technical marketing manager Neil Oliver told Electronics Weekly.

To meet transportation regulations, stored energy is less than 100Wh and the products have been independently certified to the Manual of Tests and Criteria ST/SG/AC.10/11/Rev5 section 38.3.

For smart battery applications and charging, SMBus is included, as is an SBS (smart battery system)-compliant impedance tracking fuel gauge.

“When configured in a product, the host equipment is able to request dynamic information from the battery such as run-time to empty, cycle count and discharge current as well as static information such as serial number, manufacturer name and part number,” said Accutronics.

A five bar LED display on the battery case allows the user to manually determine the state of charge in 20% increments.

There are two versions, both 14.4V: VR420A (6.2Ah) and VR420B (4.4Ah). While the A version has more capacity, the B version is optimised for higher discharge applications such as motor-driven ventilators.

Inside are active and passive protection devices which prevent the battery from being over-charged, over-discharged or overloaded.

The casing is black flame retardant plastic, and includes a polarised guide rail down either side allowing it to be slid into place.

As well as the two standard versions, case colour, labelling and software can be customised for OEM customers, and external packaging can be changed.

“If you want the labels to read so-and-so Medical Company, we can do that, and we can add an authentication key in software so that only that custom version will work in that company’s devices,” said Oliver.

“As the product has already been designed, tooled and certified, the times and costs usually involved for customisation are far less than for a purely customised design,” said marketing manager Michele Windsor.

Operating since 2009, Accutronic manufactures in the UK using cells from “tier-1 suppliers in Korea and Japan”, said Oliver. “The business used to be Chinese owned and to manufacture in China. We bought manufacturing back to the UK four years ago.”

Electronic and plastic parts are designed and manufactured in the UK.

Historically, Accutronics has some roots in Moltech Power Systems, which was once part of Enegizer.

It is also a distributor of Inspired Energy power products.