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US 12,113,377 B2Granted
Battery charger with automatic battery type identification
AssigneeCheng USA, Inc.
InventorMichael T. Miles
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A battery charger identifies the type of battery that is connected to it in order to provide the optimum voltage-current-time profile that is needed to safely and optimally charge and maintain the battery. In some embodiments, the battery current or voltage is monitored during charging, and as the current or the voltage changes while the charger is powered, the changes are measured and used to determine the type of battery that is connected so that the optimum charge profile can be applied.
Claims27
A battery charger comprising:
- an electrical charging circuit comprising one or more of a controlled voltage source, a controlled current source or a controlled power source configured to apply electrical power to a battery to be charged;
- a processor electrically connected to the electrical charging circuit, wherein the processor is configured to control one or more of current or voltage of the electrical charging circuit;
- a non-transitory, computer-readable storage media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed, cause the processor to:
- identify the battery to be charged as a first battery type when, after the charge current begins to decrease near charge completion, a rate at which the charge current decreases or a rate at which the charge voltage increases is greater than a threshold value;
- identify the battery to be charged as a second battery type when, after the charge current begins to decrease near charge completion, the rate at which the charge current decreases or the rate at which the charge voltage increases is less than a threshold value;
- and
- control one or more of voltage or current of the electrical charging circuit based on identification of the battery type of the battery to be charged as either the first battery type or the second battery type.
4 more elements
A battery charger comprising:
- a controlled voltage source configured to apply electrical power to a battery to be charged;
- means for identifying the battery to be charged as a first battery type when, after the charge current begins to decrease near charge completion, a rate at which the charge current decreases or a rate at which the charge voltage increases is greater than a threshold value;
- means for identifying the battery to be charged as a second battery type when, after the charge current begins to decrease near charge completion, the rate at which the charge current decreases or the rate at which the charge voltage increases is less than the threshold value;
- and
- means for controlling one or more of voltage or current of the controlled voltage source applied to the battery to be charged based on identification of the battery type of the battery to be charged as either the first battery type or the second battery type.
2 more elements
A method of charging a battery, the method comprising:
- monitoring one or more of charging voltage or charging current of a battery to be charged;
- identifying the battery to be charged as a first battery type when, after the charge current begins to decrease near charge completion, a rate at which the charge voltage increases is greater than a threshold value;
- identifying the battery to be charged as a second battery type when, after the charge current begins to decrease near charge completion, the rate at which the charge voltage increases is less than the threshold value;
- setting a charging profile based on the identified battery type of the battery to be charged as either the first battery type or the second battery type;
- and
- charging the battery to be charged as a function of the charging profile.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.