CHARGING APPARATUS

• US 20140111137A1
• Filed: 12/30/2013
• Published: 04/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: K&M Corporation
• Original Assignee: K&M Corporation
• Inventors: TANIKAWA, Yoshikiyo
• Application Number:
  US14/143,641
• Publication Number:
  US 20140111137A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/101
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/35 with light sensitive cells
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 9/061 for DC powered loads
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 10/70 Hybrid systems, e.g. uninterruptible or back-up power supplies integrating renewable energies
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/56 Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 70/30 Systems combining energy storage with energy generation of non-fossil origin

Abstract

A charging apparatus may include an increase and decrease unit configured to increase and decrease charging current to the storage battery; a detection unit configured to detect a temporal change of a voltage or current supplied from a power generation source to the power conditioner; and a control unit configured to control the increase and decrease unit to increase the charging current over time, to continue increasing the charging current when a temporal amount of decrease of the voltage or current detected by the detection unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, and to decrease the charging current by a predetermined amount when the temporal amount of decrease of the voltage or the current is equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold.

Claims

1. A charging apparatus capable of charging a storage battery with a power supplied from a self-sustained operation socket of a power conditioner having a self-sustained operational function, the charging apparatus comprising:

an increase and decrease unit configured to increase and decrease charging current to the storage battery;

a detection unit configured to detect a temporal change of a voltage or current supplied from a power generation source to the power conditioner; and

a control unit configured to control the increase and decrease unit to increase the charging current over time, to continue increasing the charging current when a temporal amount of decrease of the voltage or current detected by the detection unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, and to decrease the charging current by a predetermined amount when the temporal amount of decrease of the voltage or the current is equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold.

2. The charging apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the power generation source is a photovoltaic cell, and

the control unit regulates charging current supplied from the photovoltaic cell to the storage battery through the power conditioner.

3. The charging apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit causes the increase and decrease unit to continue increasing the charging current when a rate of decrease obtained by dividing the temporal amount of decrease of the voltage by a voltage value or obtained by dividing the temporal amount of decrease of the current by a current value is smaller than a predetermined threshold, and causes the increase and decrease unit to decrease the charging current by a predetermined amount when the rate of decrease is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold.

4. The charging apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the detection unit detects the temporal amount of decrease or the temporal rate of decrease of the voltage or current from the power generation source by inputting the voltage or the current through circuits having two different time constants and compering outputs from the two circuits.