Power supply
AssigneeFireAngel, Limited
InventorsNicholas Alexander Rutter, Stuart Hart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rechargeable power supply (10) comprises at least one a rechargeable cell (12) connectable to a power source (14), a Zener diode (20) connected to the at least one cell (12), and a bipolar transistor or FET (22) for selectively disconnecting the Zener diode (20) from the cell (12) thereby to reduce any discharge of the cell (12) through the voltage protection means (20). The Zener diode (20) and the transistor (22) are connected together in series and jointly connected across the cell in parallel.
Claims8
A rechargeable power supply (10) comprising;
- at least one a rechargeable cell (12) connectable to a power source (14);
- voltage protection means (20) connected to said at least one cell;
- and
- disconnecting means (22) for selectively disconnecting said voltage protection means (20) from said cell (12) thereby to reduce any discharge of said cell through said voltage protection means (20).
A power supply as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said voltage protection means (20) and said disconnecting means (22) are connected together in series and jointly connected across said cell in parallel.
A power supply as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising at least one diode (23, 24) connected in parallel with said cell (12) or with said disconnecting means (20).
A power supply as claimed in any preceding claim comprising a battery consisting of a plurality of series, parallel or series-parallel connected cells.
A method of protecting a rechargeable cell (12) in a power supply (10), the method comprising:
- during recharging of said cell, selectively connecting voltage protection means (20) to said cell thereby to reduce or eliminate overcharging of said cell;
- and
- after recharging of said cell, selectively disconnecting said voltage protection means from said cell thereby to reduce or eliminate any discharging of said cell through said voltage protection means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.