Battery Protection Method and Structure Therefor
AssigneeSemiconductor Components Industries, LLC
InventorsPatrick Bernard, Pierre Daude, Pascal Debaty, Christian Perrin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one embodiment, a circuit is formed to couple a battery to a charging voltage at least a portion of a time when the charging voltage is greater than zero volts and is less than a first voltage value. The circuit is also formed to decouple the battery from the charging voltage approximately when the charging voltage is greater than the first voltage and also approximately when the charging voltage is no greater than zero volts.
Claims20
A battery protection method comprising:
- providing a battery and a voltage source configured to provide a charging voltage;
- coupling the battery to the charging voltage at least a portion of a first time when the charging voltage is greater than zero volts and is less than a first voltage;
- decoupling the battery from the charging voltage at least a portion of a second time when the charging voltage is no greater than zero volts;
- and
- decoupling the battery from the charging voltage at least a portion of a third time when the charging voltage is no less than the first voltage.
A battery protection circuit comprising:
- a plurality of transistors of a first conductivity type having a control electrode, having a first current carrying electrode commonly connected together, and having a second current carrying electrode wherein the second current carrying electrode of at least one transistor of the plurality of transistors is configured to receive a voltage from a battery and a second current carrying electrode of another transistor of the plurality of transistors is configured to receive a charging voltage for the battery.
A method of forming a battery protection circuit comprising:
- configuring a plurality of transistors of a first conductivity type to receive a charging voltage from a voltage source and responsively couple a battery to the charging voltage at least a portion of a first time when the charging voltage is greater than approximately zero volts and is less than a first voltage;
- configuring the plurality of transistors to responsively decouple the battery from the charging voltage at least a portion of a second time when the charging voltage is less than approximately zero volts;
- and
- configuring the plurality of transistors to responsively decouple the battery from the charging voltage at least a portion of a third time when the charging voltage is no less than the first voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.