The button battery has a long and complex history. The story begins in 1650 when German physicist Otto von Guericke experimented with generating electricity and continues through the first rudimentary battery created in 1800 by the Italian Alessandro Volta. Volta\’s first battery was comprised of a series of copper and zinc rings alternated in an acidic solution. These rings were separated by layers of cardboard that had been soaked in brine and called electrolytes. This was to be known as the first \”wet cell\” battery. This chemical reaction, resulting in an electrical charge is the foundation for nearly all of the batteries we use today. Over the years vast improvements have been made upon this original concept. By using many different conducting and reactive materials while incorporating this same basic designs, inventors have created the variety of batteries we have today.

These first batteries were extremely large by today\’s standards. In addition they were unstable and produced very little current. A variation of Volta\’s battery, modified by Daniel Cell in 1836 was considered a great achievement. But it still only produced 1.1 volts. But this was enough to power for such devices as the telegraph and even early telephones. And this type of battery remained in use for practically one hundred years. Over time, the materials used to produce batteries have changed to become much more stable and vastly more efficient. And just like the products they power, batteries have become smaller and smaller.

In the eerly 1960\’s Eveready brought a silver-oxide button battery to market. Shortly thereafter, during the 1970\’s, with the introduction of Japanese quartz type watches and their subsequent domination of the world watch market, coin-type (button) batteries saw an enormous increase in demand. Around that same time, advances in the computer industry allowed for small hand held electronic calculators with enormous computing power. These and other smaller electronic devices required a batter that was small, had a constant and reliable voltage, and that was relatively stable. The silver-oxide battery is ideally suited for such small electronic devices. However, during the period of 1979 to 1980, there was a massive increase in the price of silver, a major component in silver-oxide batteries. This forced manufacturers to look for alternatives to sliver.

The alkaline manganese button battery had been in production since about the mid 1970\’s. When the price of silver shot up, the demand for these now less expensive batteries shot up as well. Many manufacturers switched over to using the alkaline version of the battery to save costs. And while the alkaline manganese battery eventually saw a drop in demand due to the introduction of solar type batteries for calculators, they are again very popular because of the vast numbesr of small electronic devices currently on the market. These batteries are currently used in a wide variety of electronic devices. This includes everything from inexpensive wrist watches, hearing aids, and even children\’s audio books.

Eventually the price of silver returned to reasonable levels. Since silver-oxide batteries are considered very reliable and stable in a wide range of temperatures, they continue to be used in almost exclusively in wrist watches. There has been another increase in the last couple years due to the recent rise in silver prices.

Another type of button battery is the lithium primary battery. These batteries were developed in the 1950\’s for use in the space program. Matsushita Battery of Japan brought a lithium type coin battery to the market in the 1970\’s. The charge of these batteries can last up to six years, which is almost double the battery life of a silver-oxide battery. Consequently, many watch companies started switching over to the lithium. And the previously mentioned rise in silver prices helped cement the position of the lithium battery. They are ideally suited for use in liquid crystal display watches which became very popular during the 1980\’s. Many of the game systems designed for home use (Nintendo, Atari etc.) started incorporating these batteries as backup power source when the game units were turned off, causing another dramatic increase in production. Currently lithium batteries are used in computers, digital cameras, analog cameras, hearing aids, and a multitude of other small devices that incorporate a computer processor.

With more and more processing power becoming available in small handheld devices, button batteries are an integral part of today\’s electronics landscape. The power demands on them continue to increase. And manufacturers continue to develop better and longer lasting button batteries.

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Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: lr44 button battery, button battery