Battery charger with battery state detection
AssigneeSchumacher Electric Corporation
InventorsPatrick J. Clarke, John S. Whiting
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A battery charger and method is disclosed for detecting when a battery has a low state of health while simultaneously charging or maintaining the battery. A battery charger includes a processor; a non-transitory memory device; a power management device to receive an input power and to output a charging current; a pair of electrical conductors to electrically couple with a battery, and a display electrically coupled to the processor. The display being configured to indicate a bad battery indicator when the battery has a low state of health and whether the battery is good to start.
Claims20
A battery charger configured to identify a bad battery condition, the battery charger comprising:
- a processor operatively coupled with a voltage sensor;
- a non-transitory memory device operatively coupled with the processor;
- a power management device to receive an input power and to output current during a charging process;
- a display device electrically coupled to the processor;
- and
- a pair of electrical conductors to electrically couple with a lithium battery,
- wherein the battery charger is configured to:
- measure, via the voltage sensor, a first battery voltage of the lithium battery;
- compare, via the processor, the first battery voltage to a first voltage value stored to the non-transitory memory device;
- supply, via the power management device, a first current from the battery charger to the lithium battery for a first period of time if the first battery voltage is less than the first voltage value;
- measure, via the voltage sensor, a second battery voltage of the lithium battery during the first period of time;
- compare, via the processor, the second battery voltage to a second voltage value stored to the non-transitory memory device;
- supply, via the power management device, a second current from the battery charger to the lithium battery if the second battery voltage is (1) greater than the first voltage value and (2) less than the second voltage value;
- and
- display, via the display device, a bad battery indicator if the second battery voltage is greater than or equal to the second voltage value.
A battery charger configured to identify a bad battery condition, the battery charger comprising:
- a processor operatively coupled with a voltage sensor;
- a non-transitory memory device operatively coupled with the processor;
- a power management device to receive an input power and to output current during a charging process;
- a display device electrically coupled to the processor;
- and
- a pair of electrical conductors to electrically couple with a lead acid battery, wherein the battery charger is configured to:
- determine a state of charge for the lead acid battery connected across the pair of electrical conductors;
- measure, using the voltage sensor, a first battery voltage of the lead acid battery;
- measure, using the voltage sensor, a second battery voltage of the lead acid battery after a first period of time;
- calculate, using the processor, a first rate of change for the first period of time;
- and
- display a bad battery indicator via the display device if the first rate of change is greater than or equal to a first rate of change value stored to the non-transitory memory device.
A method for identifying a bad battery during a charging process of a lithium battery via a battery charger, the method comprising:
- measuring, using a voltage sensor, a first battery voltage of a lithium battery connected to the battery charger across a pair of electrical conductors;
- comparing, using a processor operatively coupled with a memory device, the first battery voltage to a first voltage value stored to the memory device;
- supplying a first current from the battery charger to the lithium battery for a first period of time if the first battery voltage is less than the first voltage value;
- measuring a second battery voltage of the lithium battery during the first period of time;
- comparing, using the processor, the second battery voltage to a second voltage value stored to the memory device;
- supplying a second current from the battery charger to the lithium battery if the second battery voltage is (1) greater than the first voltage value and (2) less than the second voltage value;
- and
- displaying a bad battery indicator if the second battery voltage is greater than or equal to the second voltage value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.