Charge control device, battery pack, and charger

A battery pack comprising:

• a battery;
• and
• a charge control device comprising:
• a temperature detection unit that detects a battery temperature;
• a storage unit that stores a charging current characteristic indicating relationships between the battery temperature and an upper limit of a charging current, and a charging voltage characteristic indicating relationships between the battery temperature and an upper limit of a charging voltage;
• and
• an upper limit setting unit that sets each of the upper limits of the charging current and the charging voltage from a charger to a battery on the basis of the battery temperature detected by the temperature detection unit and the charging current characteristic and the charging voltage characteristic stored in the storage unit,
• wherein the storage unit stores, as the charging current characteristic, a reference current characteristic and a first current characteristic, which is different from the reference current characteristic, and also stores, as the charging voltage characteristic, a reference voltage characteristic and a first voltage characteristic, which is different from the reference voltage characteristic,
• wherein, in the first current characteristic and the first voltage characteristic, a temperature range in which the upper limits of the charging current and the charging voltage are set to permit charging is wider than a temperature range in the reference current characteristic and the reference voltage characteristic, and
• wherein the upper limit setting unit selects the charging current characteristic and the charging voltage characteristic used to set the upper limits of the charging current and the charging voltage to the battery from among a plurality of the charging current characteristics and a plurality of the charging voltage characteristics stored in the storage unit.

A charger comprising:

• a charge control device comprising:
• a temperature detection unit that detects a battery temperature;
• a storage unit that stores a charging current characteristic indicating relationships between the battery temperature and an upper limit of a charging current, and a charging voltage characteristic indicating relationships between the battery temperature and an upper limit of a charging voltage;
• and
• an upper limit setting unit that sets each of the upper limits of the charging current and the charging voltage from a charger to a battery on the basis of the battery temperature detected by the temperature detection unit and the charging current characteristic and the charging voltage characteristic stored in the storage unit,
• wherein the storage unit stores, as the charging current characteristic, a reference current characteristic and a first current characteristic, which is different from the reference current characteristic, and also stores, as the charging voltage characteristic, a reference voltage characteristic and a first voltage characteristic, which is different from the reference voltage characteristic,
• wherein, in the first current characteristic and the first voltage characteristic, a temperature range in which the upper limits of the charging current and the charging voltage are set to permit charging is wider than a temperature range in the reference current characteristic and the reference voltage characteristic, and
• wherein the upper limit setting unit selects the charging current characteristic and the charging voltage characteristic used to set the upper limits of the charging current and the charging voltage to the battery from among a plurality of the charging current characteristics and a plurality of the charging voltage characteristics stored in the storage unit.