Portable or hand held vehicle battery jump starting apparatus with battery cell equalization circuit
AssigneeThe Noco Company
InventorsJonathan Lewis NOOK, William Knight NOOK, Sr., James Richard STANFIELD, Derek Michael UNDERHILL
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable or handheld device or apparatus for jump starting a vehicle engine having a depleted or discharged starting battery. The portable or handheld device or apparatus for jump starting a vehicle engine includes a rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack and a battery cell equalization circuit configured to prevent overcharging of one or more individual lithium-ion battery cells, which can cause fire, damage to the battery pack and device or apparatus for jump starting a vehicle, or personal injury to a user.
Claims15
A portable or hand held jump starting apparatus, comprising:
- a battery comprising a plurality of individual battery cells connected in series;
- a battery cell equalization circuit connected to the battery, the battery cell equalization circuit comprising:
- a plurality of individual battery cell equalization circuits provided for each respective battery cell;
- and
- a plurality of load resistors provided for each respective battery cell,
- wherein the individual battery cell equalization circuits are configured to discharge a particular battery cell by its particular load resistor upon the particular cell reaching a cell voltage exceeding a pre-determined upper voltage threshold until the particular cell reaches a pre-determined lower voltage level below the upper voltage threshold or until the battery charging process is terminated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.