Battery charging method

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, said second type of battery being a nickel-cadmium battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, wherein detecting the types of the first and second batteries is undertaken by halting the battery charging and detecting whether a drop in the terminal voltage of a fully charged battery occurs corresponding to as nickel-cadmium battery.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, wherein the first battery is a lithium ion battery and the second battery is a nickel-cadmium battery and wherein the charging is carried out using a constant current circuit and a fixed voltage circuit in series, until a charging voltage has reached a predetermined value, halting the charging operation and detecting the terminal voltage of the battery, and comparing the drop in terminal voltage of the one battery to characteristic values to determine battery type of said first and second types.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, said detecting undertaken by charging said one battery with a constant current until a terminal voltage exceeds a preselected voltage and after said preselected voltage value is reached, determining the rate of change of voltage and comparing said rate of change of voltage to characteristic values to determine a battery type of said first and second types.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, said detecting undertaken by charging said one battery with a constant current, until the battery terminal voltage exceeds a preselected voltage value, and then halting the charging operation and detecting the differences between the voltage across the battery directly before the halting and directly after the halting, and using this difference to determine a battery type of said first and second types by comparing to characteristic values.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, said detecting undertaken by charging said one battery using a constant current and fixed voltage circuit in series, detecting the charging current and comparing the charging current to a predetermined current value, and when the charging current is less than the predetermined current value, detecting a current rate of change and determining a battery type of said first and second types by comparing the current rate of change to characteristic values.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, wherein said detecting is undertaken by charging said one battery at a constant current and a fixed voltage, timing the charging period, and after a prescribed period of time has elapsed detecting the rate of change of the current charging said one battery and determining a battery type of said first end second types of said two types from this rate of change of current by comparing with characteristic values.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, wherein said detecting is undertaken by charging said one battery at a constant current and a fixed voltage, timing the charging period, and after a prescribed period of time has elapsed detecting the amount of the current charging said one battery and determining a battery type from this amount of currents by comparing with characteristic values.

A battery charging method comprising the steps of:

• providing a battery charging circuit to provide a charging voltage to selectively charge a first battery of a first type of battery and a second battery of a second type of battery, charging one of the first or the second batteries by connecting the one battery into the battery charging circuit, and selecting charging profiles for the first and second batteries such that a terminal voltage for the first battery when fully charged is greater than a terminal voltage for the second battery when fully charged, detecting the types of the first and second batteries and charging the first battery and the second battery using different methods in accordance with a detection result, wherein said detecting is undertaken by charging said one battery at a constant current and a fixed voltage in series timing said charging and after a prescribed period of time has elapsed halting the charging, detecting the terminal voltage of the battery and determining a battery type of said first and second types from the detected terminal voltage by comparing to characteristic values.