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US 11,894,528 B2Granted
Fast-charging battery pack
AssigneeMilwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
InventorsDouglas R. Fieldbinder, Matthew R. Polakowski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
One embodiment provides a battery pack including a housing, a plurality of battery cells supported by the housing, and a terminal block. The terminal block is configured to be coupled to a power tool to provide operating power from the plurality of battery cells to the power tool. The terminal block has a positive power terminal, a charging terminal, and a ground terminal. The battery pack also includes a charging circuit provided between the charging terminal and the plurality of battery cells. The charging circuit is configured to receive and transfer charging current above 12 Amperes to the plurality of battery cells during charging. The charging circuit includes a charging switch and a fuse coupled between the charging terminal and the charging switch.
Claims20
A battery pack system, comprising:
- a first battery pack including:
- a first housing,
- a first plurality of battery cells supported by the first housing, the first battery pack having a nominal capacity of up to about 6 Amp-hours (Ah),
- a first terminal block configured to be coupled to a power tool to provide operating power from the first plurality of battery cells to the power tool, the terminal block having a first positive power terminal, a first charging terminal, and a first ground terminal, and
- a first charging circuit provided between the first charging terminal and the first plurality of battery cells, the first charging circuit configured to receive and transfer charging current above 12 Amperes to the first plurality of battery cells during charging;
- and
- a second battery pack including:
- a second housing,
- a second plurality of battery cells supported by the second housing, the second battery pack having a nominal capacity of between about 6 Ah and about 27 Ah,
- a second terminal block configured to be coupled to the power tool to provide operating power from the second plurality of battery cells to the power tool, the second terminal block having a second positive power terminal, a second charging terminal, and a second ground terminal, and
- a second charging circuit provided between the second charging terminal and the second plurality of battery cells, the second charging circuit configured to receive and transfer charging current above 12 Amperes to the second plurality of battery cells during charging, wherein the second battery pack is configured to receive a charging current of about 18 Amperes for charging the second plurality of battery cells.
8 more elements
A battery pack charging system comprising:
- a charger configured to provide a charging current between about 6 Amperes and about 20 Amperes;
- a first battery pack detachably connectable to the charger and configured to be charged by the charger, the first battery pack having a nominal capacity of up to about 6 Amp-hours (Ah) and including:
- a first plurality of battery cells;
- a first terminal block configured to be coupled to a power tool to provide operating power from the first plurality of battery cells to the power tool, the first terminal block having a first positive power terminal, a first charging terminal, and a first ground terminal;
- and
- a first charging circuit provided between the first charging terminal and the first plurality of battery cells, the first charging circuit configured to receive and transfer charging current above 12 Amperes to the first plurality of battery cells during charging;
- and
- a second battery pack detachably connectable to the charger and configured to be charged by the charger, the second battery pack having a nominal capacity of between about 6 Ah and about 27 Ah including:
- a second plurality of battery cells;
- a second terminal block configured to be coupled to the power tool to provide operating power from the second plurality of battery cells to the power tool, the second terminal block having a second positive power terminal, a second charging terminal, and a second ground terminal;
- and
- a second charging circuit provided between the second charging terminal and the second plurality of battery cells, the second charging circuit configured to receive and transfer charging current above 12 Amperes to the second plurality of battery cells during charging, wherein the second battery pack is configured to receive a charging current of about 18 Amperes for charging the second plurality of battery cells.
9 more elements
A method for fast charging battery packs comprising:
- connecting a first charging switch between a first charging terminal of a first battery pack and a first plurality of battery cells of the first battery pack, the first battery pack having a nominal capacity of up to about 27 Amp-hours (Ah);
- connecting a second charging switch between a second charging terminal of a second battery pack and a second plurality of battery cells of the second battery pack, the second battery pack having a nominal capacity of between about 6 Ah and about 27 Ah;
- transferring a charging current of 12 Amperes or more to the first plurality of battery cells during charging;
- and
- transferring a charging current of 18 Amperes or more to the second plurality of battery cells during charging.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.