Design Library makes battery design easier than ever before

The announcement of the VARTA Design Library comes as VARTA Storage extended its EasyPack series of user-removable li-ion batteries, launching the new EasyPack SLIM model, a 1,590 mAh battery pack which extends the existing capacity range between the EasyPack L and EasyPack XL and is the thinnest EasyPack on offer at 5.2mm thin.

The VARTA Design Library will extend the benefit of the CellPac LITE range of batteries, which VARTA introduced to provide a quick and easy way for manufacturers to implement a light, high-capacity li-ion battery pack in portable products such as handheld point-of-sale terminals, barcode scanners, satellite trackers and portable medical monitors and therapeutic devices. An EasyPack has the added benefit to be user-replaceable with minimum fuss as a complete, encapsulated li-ion battery pack.

All EasyPacks are shipped individually boxed and the new EasyPack SLIM is no different. This allows the OEM to serve its own after-market with battery replacements as effortlessly as possible.

The VARTA Design Library will be rolled out to support all CellPac LITE products during June 2016, enabling designers to begin work with their preferred battery choice the very same day. It goes far beyond the basic electrical specifications found in a typical datasheet. A Technical Handbook provides extended cell performance data and battery design tips so that users can quickly compare options and estimate the pack’s performance in their device over variations of load, temperature and discharge current. Importantly, 3D design files of the selected battery in both .stp and .igs file formats, ready for import into all popular CAD software products, assist the designer in the practical mechanical design and fast proof of concept.

Applicable to relevant models, also provided in the library are the certification files for battery standards like IEC 62133 Second Edition and UL 2054 notice of authorisation, VARTA Storage’s REACH and RoHS statements, battery handling precautions, shipping documentation in line with the latest UN38.3 requirements and a material safety data sheet. For the modern designer, ensuring a battery meets the compliance requirements of their market and their own company is made much more simple.

For a model like the new EasyPack SLIM, this means cash savings as well as convenience for designers of new products. For example,  avoiding the need to pay for battery certification for UL2054 and IEC62133 Second Edition, will typically save them over €10k at the front end.

‘More and more design engineers want access to lithium-ion batteries which satisfy their needs of performance, safety and convenience, but have been put off by the prospect of a long development process for a custom battery pack,’ said Alex Stapleton, product manager for power packs at VARTA Storage. ‘The growing EasyPack range, now enhanced by the availability of the VARTA Design Library, means that OEMs can design a slim, high-energy lithium-ion battery into any portable device almost instantly, dramatically shortening time to market and eliminating all the development risk associated with customisation.’