Battery charger and charge controller therefor

A battery charger having a supply circuit for supplying a predetermined charging current to a battery and a control circuit for controlling charging of said charging current to said battery, said control circuit of said battery charger comprising:

• battery voltage detection means for detecting the voltage of said battery;
• peak value holding means for holding a peak value of said voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detection means;
• voltage comparison means for subjecting said peak voltage held by said peak value holding means and said voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detection means to a comparison;
• and
• means for shutting said charging current when said voltage comparison means determines that said detected voltage of said battery is smaller than said peak value of said voltage by a predetermined quantity,
• and a first timer which is set to a time which exceeds a time at which an initial voltage drop takes place, said first timer acting to prevent said operation of shutting said charging current performed by said shutting means in said set time, and said first timer actuating said peak value holding means after said set time has elapsed.