Fast charging high energy storage capacitor system jump starter

• US 10,110,055 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2017
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vector Products Incorporated (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Vector Products Incorporated (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Inventors: Inskeep, Mathew
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward
• Application Number:
  US15/482,044
• Publication Number:
  US 20170310153A1
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 320103, 320105, 320107, 320114, 320166, 320167
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/527 Voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/529 Current
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/547 Voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/549 Current
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/122 Provisions for temporary connection of DC sources of essentially the same voltage, e.g. jumpstart cables
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/345 using capacitors as storage or buffering devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

A fast charging high energy storage capacitor system jump starter is described. The jump starter apparatus incorporates a method of using reserve energy from a depleted electrical system such as an automobile battery or using energy from another energy source, combined with a fast charging high energy capacitor bank to enable the rapid and effective way to jump start a vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for aiding in starting of a motor vehicle whose vehicle battery has been depleted to an energy level where the vehicle battery is unusable for an intended purpose of starting the vehicle on its own, said system comprising:

a boost or step up circuit adapted for electrical communication with an external energy source originating outside of the system and capable of extracting energy from the external energy source and boosting a voltage potential for the extracted energy to a higher level than a specific voltage potential level of the external energy source;

a current limiter circuit in electrical communication with an output of the boost or step up circuit for controlling an amount of energy demand from the external energy source; and

an integrated single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in electrical communication with an output of the current limiter circuit, said single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank adapted for electrical communication to an external electrical load device and when the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is charged the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is capable and available for delivering all of its stored energy to the external load device such that the delivered stored energy that aids in starting the motor vehicle having the depleted vehicle battery is generated directly from the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank;

wherein the current limiter circuit restricts a maximum current delivered to the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank for charging the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank with the energy extracted from the external energy source and regulates a charging time for the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank with the energy extracted from the external energy source.

2. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the boost or step up circuit includes a high frequency pulse width modulator.

3. The system for aiding of claim 1 further comprising a high power switch in electrical communication with an output line of the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank, wherein the charged single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is permitted to deliver all of its energy to the external load device without reservation to the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank when the switch is closed.

4. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the external load device is the vehicle battery.

5. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the boost or step up circuit is in electrical communication with the external energy source through a pair of transmission lines.

6. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the boost or step up circuit is in electrical communication with the external energy source through a pair of transmission lines and a pair of clamps, a first of the pair of clamps connected to a first of the pair of transmission lines and a second of the pair of clamps connected to a second of the pair of transmission lines.

7. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the boost or step up circuit is in electrical communication with the external energy source through a pair of transmission lines and a DC plug connected to the pair of transmission lines.

8. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the boost or step up circuit further comprising a converter component for converting AC voltage to DC voltage where the external energy source is an AC energy source such that the higher level of voltage potential is a DC voltage potential.

9. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is a supercapacitor bank.

10. The system for aiding of claim 9 wherein the supercapacitor bank is a 58 microfaarad bank capable of generating about 250 to 300 cranking current in about 1 to 2 seconds.

11. The system for aiding of claim 1 wherein the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is adapted to be coupled in parallel to the external load device.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the boost or step up circuit is adapted to extract energy form both external AC voltage sources and external DC voltage sources originating outside of the system.

13. A system for aiding in starting of a motor vehicle whose vehicle battery has been depleted to an energy level where the vehicle battery is unusable for an intended purpose of starting the vehicle on its own, said system comprising:

a boost or step up circuit adapted for electrical communication with an energy source and capable of extracting energy from the energy source and boosting a voltage potential for the extracted energy to a higher level than a specific voltage potential level of the energy source;

a current limiter circuit in electrical communication with an output of the boost or step up circuit; and

a single cell or capacitor bank in electrical communication with an output of the current limiter circuit, the single cell or capacitor bank adapted for electrical communication to an electrical load device and when the single cell or capacitor bank is charged the single cell or capacitor bank is capable and available for delivering energy to the load device;

wherein the current limiter circuit restricts a maximum current delivered to the single cell or capacitor bank from the energy extracted from the energy source and regulates a charging time for the single cell or capacitor bank using the energy extracted from the energy source; and

wherein the energy source is an integrated battery in electrical communication with the boost or step up circuit and a charging circuit for charging the integrated battery.

14. A method for aiding in starting of a motor vehicle having a vehicle battery that has been depleted to an energy level where the battery is unusable for an intended purpose, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) extracting at least a portion of energy from an external outside energy source originating external to the motor vehicle;

(b) boosting or stepping up the specific voltage potential level of the extracted energy to a higher voltage potential level than the specific voltage potential level of the external energy source; and

(c) charging a single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank using the extracted energy boosted or stepped up to the higher voltage potential.

15. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of virtually instantaneously delivering electrical all of the energy stored in the charged single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank to an external load device to assist the external load device in being used for an intended purpose of the external load device.

16. The method for aiding of claim 15 further comprising the step of coupling the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in parallel to the external load device prior to delivering the stored energy to the external load device.

17. The method for aiding of claim 14 wherein the intended purpose of the vehicle battery is for turning over an engine of a motor vehicle.

18. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of directly or indirectly connecting a boost or step up circuit to the external energy source for performing step (a) and step (b).

19. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of regulating the timing of using the extracted energy when charging the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in step (c).

20. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of restricting an amount of current that is provided when charging the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in step (c).

21. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the steps of regulating the timing of using the extracted energy and restricting an amount of current that is provided by a current limiter circuit when charging the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in step (c).

22. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of closing a high power switch in electrical communication with an output line of the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank prior to delivering electrical energy to the external load device from the electrical energy stored by the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank.

23. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of controlling an amount of energy demand from the external energy source by a current limiter circuit in communication with the boost or step up circuit.

24. The method for aiding of claim 14 further comprising the step of converting extracted AC voltage to DC voltage where the external energy source is an AC energy source such that the higher level of voltage potential is a DC voltage potential.

25. The method for aiding of claim 14 wherein the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is a supercapacitor bank.

26. The method for aiding of claim 25 wherein the supercapacitor bank is a 58 microfaarad bank capable of generating about 250 to 300 cranking current in about 1 to 2 seconds.

27. A method for aiding in starting of a motor vehicle having a vehicle battery that has been depleted to an energy level where the battery is unusable for an intended purpose, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) extracting at least a portion of energy from an external energy source that is external to the motor vehicle by a boost or step up circuit;

(b) controlling an amount of energy demanded from the external energy source by a current limiter circuit in communication with the boost or step up circuit;

(c) boosting or stepping up a specific voltage potential level of the extracted energy to a higher voltage potential level than the specific voltage potential level by the boost or step up circuit, the boost or step up circuit directly or indirectly electrically connected to the external energy source;

(d) regulating the timing of supplying the boosted or stepped up extracted energy and restricting an amount of current that is provided to a single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank by the current limiter circuit in electrical communication with the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank;

(e) charging a single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank using the extracted energy supplied by the current limiter circuit;

(f) closing a high power switch in electrical communication with an output line of the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in order to provide electrical communication between the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank and an external load device; and

(g) virtually instantaneously delivering all of the electrical energy stored in the charged single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank to the external load device to assist the external load device in being used for an intended purpose of the load device.

28. The method for aiding of claim 27 wherein the external load device is the vehicle battery.

29. The method for aiding of claim 27 wherein the intended purpose of the vehicle battery is for turning over an engine of a motor vehicle.

30. The method for aiding of claim 27 further comprising the step of converting extracted AC voltage to DC voltage where the external energy source is an AC energy source such that the higher level of voltage potential is a DC voltage potential.

31. The method for aiding of claim 27 wherein the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank is a supercapacitor bank.

32. The method for aiding of claim 31 wherein the supercapacitor bank is a 58 microfaarad bank capable of generating about 250 to 300 cranking current in about 1 to 2 seconds.

33. The method for aiding of claim 27 further comprising the step of coupling the single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank in parallel to the external load device prior to delivering the stored energy to the external load device between step (e) and step (f).

34. The method for aiding of claim 27 wherein the boost or step up circuit, the single supercapacitor and the current limiter circuit are provided as an integrated system.

35. A method for aiding in starting of a motor vehicle having a vehicle battery that has been depleted to an energy level where the battery is unusable for an intended purpose, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) extracting at least a portion of energy from an integrated battery;

(b) boosting or stepping up a specific voltage potential level of the extracted energy to a higher voltage potential level than the specific voltage potential level of the integrated battery; and

(c) charging a single supercapacitor or supercapacitor bank using the extracted energy boosted or stepped up to the higher voltage potential.

36. A method for aiding in starting of a motor vehicle having a vehicle battery that has been depleted to an energy level where the battery is unusable for an intended purpose, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) extracting at least a portion of energy from an integrated battery that is external to the motor vehicle by a boost or step up circuit;

(b) controlling an amount of energy demanded from the integrated battery by a current limiter circuit in communication with the boost or step up circuit;

(c) boosting or stepping up a specific voltage potential level of the extracted energy to a higher voltage potential level than the specific voltage potential level by the boost or step up circuit, the boost or step up circuit directly or indirectly electrically connected to the integrated battery;

(d) regulating the timing of supplying the boosted or stepped up extracted energy and restricting an amount of current that is provided to a single cell or capacitor bank by the current limiter circuit in electrical communication with the single cell or capacitor bank;

(e) charging a single cell or capacitor bank using the extracted energy supplied by the current limiter circuit;

(f) closing a high power switch in electrical communication with an output line of the single cell or capacitor bank in order to provide electrical communication between the single cell or capacitor bank and an external load device; and

(g) virtually instantaneously delivering all of the electrical energy stored in the charged single cell or capacitor bank to the external load device.