Method and electronic circuit for efficient battery wake up charging
First Claim
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1. A method for charging a battery, the method comprising the steps of:
- producing a first signal having a voltage level dependent on the voltage of said battery;
comparing the voltage level of said first signal with a settable voltage representative of a maximum battery charging current; and
producing a second signal representative of a charging current to be provided to said battery, said second signal having a voltage level selected to be the lower voltage level between said first signal and said settable voltage.
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Abstract
A method for efficiently charging a battery. The method includes producing a first signal having a voltage level dependent on the voltage of the battery, comparing the voltage level of the first signal with a settable voltage representative of a maximum battery charging current, and producing a second signal representative of a charging current to be provided to the battery, the second signal having a voltage level selected to be the lower voltage level between the first signal and the settable voltage.
36 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for charging a battery, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing a first signal having a voltage level dependent on the voltage of said battery;
comparing the voltage level of said first signal with a settable voltage representative of a maximum battery charging current; and
producing a second signal representative of a charging current to be provided to said battery, said second signal having a voltage level selected to be the lower voltage level between said first signal and said settable voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A variable wake up level circuit for providing a wake up signal representative of a charging current to be delivered to a battery, said variable wake up level circuit comprising:
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a signal processing circuit receiving a first settable voltage representative of a minimum wake up current and a third signal representative of a battery voltage, wherein said signal processing circuit adapted to produce a first output signal with a voltage level dependent on the voltage levels of said first settable voltage and said third signal;
a comparison circuit adapted to receive said first output signal and a second settable voltage representative of a maximum allowable wake up current and to produce said wake up signal, wherein said wake up signal having a voltage with a lower voltage level selected between said first output signal and said second settable voltage. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A variable wake up current circuit for at least setting and controlling a wake up current delivered to a battery via a current flow controlling device connected in series with a battery charging path, said variable wake up current circuit comprising:
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a variable wake up level circuit, wherein said variable wake up level circuit being responsive to a first signal representative of an instantaneous voltage of said battery, a first settable voltage representative of a minimum wake up current of said battery and a second settable voltage representative of a maximum allowable wake up current of said battery, said variable wake up level circuit generating a wake up signal representative of said wake up current for charging said battery, wherein said wake up signal having a voltage level dependent at least on the voltage levels of said first settable voltage and said first signal;
an error amplifier receiving said wake up signal and a battery current sense signal representative of an instantaneous charging current of said battery, wherein said instantaneous charging current flowing through said current flow controlling device, and said error amplifier generating an error signal in response to a difference between said wake up signal and said battery current sense signal; and
a driving circuit adapted to output a device driving signal in response to at least said error signal, wherein said device driving signal capable of commanding said current flow controlling device to maintain said instantaneous charging current at a level based on said wake up signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A battery charging apparatus for charging a rechargeable battery, comprising:
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a current path toward the rechargeable battery;
a current flow controlling device coupled in series with said current path, wherein said current flowing controlling device being adapted to control a charging current delivered to said battery; and
a variable wake up current circuit, wherein said variable wake up current circuit being adapted to provide a device driving signal to said current flow controlling device in response to at least a first signal representative of an instantaneous voltage of said battery, a first settable voltage representative of a minimum value of a wake up charging current of said battery, a second settable voltage representative of a maximum allowable wake up charging current of said battery, and a battery current sense signal representative of the instantaneous charging current of said battery, wherein said current flow controlling device being adapted to receive said device driving signal on a command terminal and to maintain said charging current at a level dependent on the voltage level of said device driving signal. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification