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US 8,125,186 B2Granted
Graphic state of charge indicator for a battery charging system and method of use
OwnerSteve Carknerinventor
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OwnerSteve Carknerinventor
Estimating the term…
A graphic state of battery charge indicator is used to provide the user with a visual indication of state of battery charge, magnitude of current flow and direction of current flow by using displays such as multi-segment LCD or LED displays in the shape of a battery. The indicator is able to provide these parameters by sequencing the on/off operation of the segmented displays. A microcontroller is provided battery state data from a battery monitor and converts this information to on/off commands for the segmented displays. There may be up to 10 segmented displays in the indicator with each segment proportionally representing a percentage of the state of battery charge. State of charge is indicated by a single on display at the appropriate location in the display. Current flowing into the battery is represented by a ripple effect in the displays in the positive direction. Current flowing out of the battery is represented by a ripple effect in the display in the negative direction.
A multi-mode display for graphically displaying a state of charge and a rate of charge for a battery connected to at least one load and a battery charging system, wherein said battery charging system comprises at least one source of charging power, a microcontroller for sensing said state of charge and rate of charge, wherein said multi-mode display is connected to said microcontroller, and wherein the multi-mode display comprises a plurality of horizontally stacked display segments commencing at a lowest magnitude segment and ending at a highest magnitude segment for displaying a plurality of indications representing the sensed state of charge and rate of charge;
A method for a multi-mode simultaneous display of a state of charge and a rate of charge of a battery comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.