Adapters for rechargeable battery packs
First Claim
1. An adapter capable of coupling a rechargeable battery pack for a power tool to a battery charger comprising:
- a first terminal adapted to receive data from the rechargeable battery pack, a second terminal adapted to communicate instructions to the battery charger, a third terminal adapted to communicate a charging current from the battery charger to the rechargeable battery pack, a processor and a memory storing a charging program for the rechargeable battery pack, wherein the processor generates charging current instructions that are communicated to the battery charger in order to control the supply of charging current to the rechargeable battery pack.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Control portion (26) of battery charger (10), for example, may control power source circuit (24) upon receipt of instructions from control portion (41) of adapter (30). Based upon these instructions, adapter (30) can enable charging operations for battery pack (50B) that does not have a memory storing charging parameters and/or information. Moreover, battery charger (10) also may be designed to charge a battery pack (50B) even though battery charger (10) was not originally designed to charge battery pack (50B). Adapter (30) also may enable charging operations for battery pack (50) that contains memory (61) storing charging parameters and/or battery identification information. In this case, adapter (30) can read information stored in memory (61) and generate optimal charging instructions based upon a charging program stored in control portion (41).
170 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An adapter capable of coupling a rechargeable battery pack for a power tool to a battery charger comprising:
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a first terminal adapted to receive data from the rechargeable battery pack, a second terminal adapted to communicate instructions to the battery charger, a third terminal adapted to communicate a charging current from the battery charger to the rechargeable battery pack, a processor and a memory storing a charging program for the rechargeable battery pack, wherein the processor generates charging current instructions that are communicated to the battery charger in order to control the supply of charging current to the rechargeable battery pack. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A battery charger for a power tool comprising:
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a power supply adapted to generate a charging voltage, a switch coupled to the power supply and adapted to generate a charging current to supply to a rechargeable battery and a communication port adapted to receive charging instructions to control the supply of charging current to the rechargeable batteries, the instructions being generated by a processor that is external to the battery charger and the communication port is directly coupled to the switch. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A battery charger comprising:
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a first regulated power supply adapted to generate a regulated voltage to be utilized by a processor and a battery temperature sensor, a second regulated power supply utilized to generate a charging current, a first ground line coupled to the second regulated power supply and a second ground line coupled to the processor and the battery temperature sensor. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification