Battery charger with battery state detection
AssigneeSchumacher Electric Corporation
InventorsPatrick J. Clarke, John S. Whiting
Life of this patent
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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 for a lead acid battery, 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 the lead acid battery, wherein the battery charger is configured to:
- monitor, using the voltage sensor, a voltage measured across the pair of electrical conductors to identify a voltage drop suggesting an ignition process of an engine coupled to the lead acid battery, wherein the voltage measured across the pair of electrical conductors is stored to the non-transitory memory device;
- apply an external load to the lead acid battery;
- monitor, using the voltage sensor, a loaded voltage measured across the pair of electrical conductors with the external load applied to the lead acid battery;
- and
- display a bad battery indicator via the display device if the loaded voltage drops below a voltage value stored to the non-transitory memory device.
A battery charger configured to identify a bad battery condition for a lead acid battery, 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 the lead acid battery, wherein the battery charger is configured to:
- 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 a difference between the first battery voltage and the second battery voltage to determine a voltage increase for the first period of time;
- and
- display a bad battery indicator via the display device if the voltage increase is less than a voltage value stored to the non-transitory memory device.
A method for identifying a bad battery condition via a battery charger having a display device during a charging process of a lead acid battery, the method comprising:
- determining a state of charge for the lead acid battery connected to the battery charger across a pair of electrical conductors;
- measuring, using a voltage sensor, a first battery voltage of the lead acid battery;
- measuring, using the voltage sensor, a second battery voltage of the lead acid battery after a first period of time;
- calculating, using a processor operatively coupled with the voltage sensor and a memory device, a first rate of change as a function of the first battery voltage, the second battery voltage, and the first period of time;
- comparing, using the processor, the first rate of change to a first rate of change value stored to the memory device, wherein the first rate of change value is associated with the state of charge;
- and
- displaying a bad battery indicator via the display device if the first rate of change is greater than or equal to the first rate of change value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.