Panasonic Wearable Technology

Panasonic’s Flexible Battery Will Be Extremely Slim, Rechargeable, Safe for Use & Contributing to Longer Life of Devices Even with Repeated Bending & Twisting: Ideal for Various IoT Devices Including Wearables

For manufacturers interested in designing wearable devices, Panasonic offers a solution-based approach by providing a wide variety of electronic components for wearable technology including Capacitors, Bluetooth® modules, Connectors, Sensors and Switches.

Panasonic recently announced that it has developed a Flexible Lithium-ion Battery with a thickness of only 0.55mm, or about 0.022 inches.

  • Suitable for use in card-type and wearable devices, this rechargeable battery can retain its characteristics even with repeated bending and twisting.
  • This battery uses newly-developed laminated outer body and internal structure that make it difficult to cause leakage and abnormal heating during repeated bending and twisting. That makes this battery reliable and safe for use in wearable and body-attached devices isuch as smart clothing, wristband wearable devices, etc.
Panasonic: Wearables

Panasonic: Wearables

This new flexible battery was on display at CEATEC JAPAN 2016 in early October.

The following video presents Panasonic announces a new flexible battery:
Panasonic unveils bendable battery
Panasonic announces a new flexible battery
Panasonic has unveiled a new flexible battery which is being showcased at Ceatec, a technology exhibition in Japan.
According to the company, the battery can be bent and twisted up to a radius of 25mm, with a maximum angle of 25 degrees, over 1,000 times, while still retaining 99 percent of its charge.
The battery can potentially be used inside wearable’s or flexible screens.
BBC Click’s Dan Simmons explains what this new piece of tech is made of and how it works.

Sample shipments are scheduled to start by the end of October 2016. Product development will continue towards mass production, with an eye to an even slimmer form factor ideal for various IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as card devices and wearable devices.

The following video presents Transferring Data with a Touch | #Panasonic LIVE@CEATEC 2016
This communication module employs electric-field communication technology to achieve “thing-to-thing, human-to-human and human-to-thing” communication.

PRESS RELEASE

Panasonic Develops Bendable, Twistable,
Flexible Lithium-ion Battery*1

Sep 29, 2016

Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has developed a Flexible Lithium-ion Battery with a thickness of only 0.55mm, or about 0.022 inches. Suitable for use in card-type and wearable devices, this rechargeable battery can retain its characteristics even after repeatedly bent into a radius of 25mm or twisted to an angle of 25 degrees.

Card devices, which are often carried in wallets or pockets, require internal components that can withstand bending and twisting. Slim lithium-ion batteries are used in such devices, but these batteries can degrade when they are bent or twisted, resulting in shorter operating time for the devices.

Panasonic’s new flexible battery can withstand bending and twisting beyond the Japanese Industrial Standards for identification cards*1. When used in card devices such as smart cards and card keys that work on batteries, as well as body worn devices and smart clothing, this battery can retain its characteristics even if the device is frequently bent or twisted.

This new flexible battery will be on display at CEATEC JAPAN 2016 from October 4 to 7 at Makuhari Messe.

*1 Meets JIS Standard for Cards (JISX6305-1) equivalent bending radius R40mm, twisting angle ±15°/85.6mm

Panasonic’s Flexible Lithium-ion Battery has the following features:

  1. The battery can maintain its characteristic even with repeated bending and twisting.
  2. The battery contributes to longer life of devices as it retains charging and discharging characteristics even with repeated bending and twisting.
  3. The battery can be used reliably for devices attached to the human body because of excellent safety.

Suitable applications:

Card devices, devices attached to the human body, smart clothing, wristband wearable devices, etc.

Sample availability:

Sample shipments are scheduled to start by the end of October 2016. Product development will continue towards mass production, with an eye to an even slimmer form factor ideal for various IoT devices such as card devices and wearable devices.

Patents:

25 patents in Japan, 15 patents overseas. (Including patents pending)

[Features]

1. A flexible battery that can maintain its characteristic even with repeated bending and twisting.

Panasonic has developed a Flexible Lithium-ion Battery with a thickness of 0.55mm that uses the company’s unique stacked electrode construction that has resistance to bending and twisting. The battery has demonstrated that it retains its characteristics during bending and twisting tests with severer conditions required by card application standards. This battery can maintain more than 99%*2 of its initial capacity after 1,000 bends with a radius of 25mm, or after twisted 1,000 times with an angle ±25°/100mm, thanks to a newly developed laminated outer layer and newly developed internal structure. This battery can meet various market needs for applications entailing repeated bending and twisting such as card devices and smart clothing.

[Stacked Electrode Construction]

Stacked Electrode Construction

Stacked Electrode Construction

[Flexible battery characteristics example (part number CG-062939, size 28.5mm x 39.0mm)]

-Bending Test Results (1,000 times bending*3)

Bending Test Results (1,000 times bending*3)

Bending Test Results (1,000 times bending*3)

-Twisting Test Results (1,000 times twisting*4)

Twisting Test Results (1,000 times twisting*4)

Twisting Test Results (1,000 times twisting*4)

*2 For part number CG-062939
*3 Bending times: Bending the long and short side of the card forward and back each 250 times for a total of 1,000 times.
*4 Twisting times: Twisting the long side of the card both sides for 1,000 times.

2. Contributing to longer life of devices by retaining charging and discharging characteristics even with repeated bending and twisting.

Current lithium-ion batteries such as prismatic or pouch battery are neither bendable nor twistable. Repeated bending of a rechargeable battery can cause a big impact on the charge and discharge cycle and life of a battery. The new battery has shown 80% initial capacity retention based on the company’s unique testing of 1,000 times of charge and discharge cycle following either 1,000 times of bending or 1,000 times of twisting. This battery can contribute to longer operating time of card devices, wearables and other devices by reducing the battery deterioration due to bending and twisting as well as the charge and discharge cycle.

[Flexible battery characteristics example (part number CG-062939, size 28.5mm x 39.0mm)]

Flexible battery characteristics example (part number CG-062939, size 28.5mm x 39.0mm)

Flexible battery characteristics example (part number CG-062939, size 28.5mm x 39.0mm)

3. The new battery can be used reliably for devices attached to the human body because of excellent safety.

This battery uses newly-developed laminated outer body and internal structure that make it difficult to cause leakage and abnormal heating during repeated bending and twisting. That makes this battery reliable and safe for use in wearable and body attached devices.

[Specifications]

Product Name Flexible Lithium-ion Battery
Part number CG-062939 CG-063555 CG-064065
Size (Max.) *5 28.5mm x 39.0mm 35.0mm x 55.0mm 40.0mm x 65.0mm
Weight Approx 0.7g Approx 1.4g Approx 1.9g
Thickness (Max.) 0.55mm
Nominal Capacity 17.5mAh 40mAh 60mAh
Nominal Voltage 3.8V
Maximum Charging Voltage 4.35V
Maximum Charging Current 17.5mA (1C) 40mA (1C) 60mA (1C)
Bending Radius (Max.) *6 R25mm
Twisting Angle (Max.) *6 ±25°/100mm
  • *5 Except tab length
  • *6 Measured by Panasonic original test

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, enterprise solutions and device industries. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates 474 subsidiaries and 94 associated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.553 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2016. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic:
http://www.panasonic.com/global


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