MULTI-PORT CHARGING DEVICE

• US 20150263550A1
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Published: 09/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wei-Chung Shih, Yun-Feng Han
• Original Assignee: Wei-Chung Shih
• Inventors: HAN, YUN-FENG, SHIH, WEI-CHUNG
• Granted Patent: US 9,350,182 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/22 The load being a portable electronic device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0014 Circuits for equalisation of charge between batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0049 Detection of fully charged condition

Abstract

A multi-port charging device for charging plural electronic devices simultaneously includes a body containing a circuit board that has plural current-detecting elements, a charging section including plural connecting ports each of which is connected to one of the electronic devices to be charged, wherein each of the connecting ports is associated with a lamp indicator and electrically connected to a current-detecting element, a power inlet port for connecting an external power source, a controlling section for selectively set a charging current for any of the connecting ports, and plural current-detecting elements for detecting charging currents of the electronic device, respectively, and feeding back a signal to the plural lamp indicators, so that each of the lamp indicators shows one of charging states according to the signal. The charging states at least include a fast charging mode, a slow charging mode, an off mode and a mis-connection mode.

Claims

1. A multi-port charging device for charging plural electronic devices simultaneously, the multi-port charging device comprising:

a body, containing therein a circuit board that is provided with a plurality of current-detecting elements thereon;

a charging section, being deposited at one side of the body and including a plurality of connecting ports each of which is connected to one said electronic device to be charged, in which each said connecting port has a lamp indicator provided at one lateral thereof and is electrically connected to one said current-detecting element; and

a power inlet port, being deposited at an opposite side of the body and configured to be connected to an external power source for supplying power to the multi-port charging device,

wherein each said current-detecting element detects a charging current of one said electronic device, and feeds back a signal to the connected lamp indicator, so that the lamp indicator shows one of charging states according to the signal, in which the charging states at least include a fast charging mode, a slow charging mode, an off mode and a mis-connection mode.

2. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, wherein, of the charging states, the fast charging mode refers to outputting a first current in a first time, and the slow charging mode refers to outputting a second current in the first time, in which the first current is greater than the second current, while the off mode refers to in the first time outputting a third current that is smaller than the second current or equal to zero.

3. The multi-port charging device of claim 2, wherein the charging states further include a power-saving mode, so that when the current-detecting element detects that the electronic device is in a power-saving state, the multi-port charging device does not charge the electronic device.

4. The multi-port charging device of claim 3, wherein the charging states further include a battery-protecting mode in addition to the power-saving mode, so that when the current-detecting element detects that the electronic device in the power-saving state has a remaining power level lower than a bottom limit, the multi-port charging device automatically charges the electronic device, thereby preventing the electronic device from battery damage caused by low power.

5. The multi-port charging device of claim 4, wherein when one of the connecting ports of the charging section is not connected to one said electronic device, the multi-port charging device enters the vacant connecting port into the charging state of the power-saving mode, and disables charging thereof.

6. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, further comprising a controlling section, which has a setting element and a displaying element, wherein each said connecting port has a unique port number, so that the one of connecting ports is allowed to be selected by the setting element, and the displaying element then shows the port number of the selected connecting port and a charging current associated therewith.

7. The multi-port charging device of claim 6, wherein the setting element is further configured to set a maximum current and a minimum current for the selected connecting port.

8. The multi-port charging device of claim 6, further comprising a scanning module, which at least includes a scanning element and a scanning indicator, wherein the scanning element serves to perform automatic scanning on the connecting ports in a periodic manner, so as to automatically detect the charging state of each of the connecting ports, and show the port numbers and the charging currents of the scanned connecting ports through the displaying element, and the scanning indicator serves to indicate that the scanning module is performing the automatic scanning.

9. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, further comprising a switch module, which is deposited on the body and has a plurality of toggles, for switching between an automatic scanning function, a power-saving function and a function for setting a maximum current and a minimum current.

10. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, wherein the lamp indicators indicate different said charging states with different colors.

11. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, wherein the lamp indicator flashes for the fast charging mode and the slow charging mode, and constantly illuminates for the off mode, while it keeps dark for the mis-connection mode, in which the lamp indicator flashes more frequently for the fast charging mode than for the slow charging mode.

12. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, wherein all of the connecting ports have a universal serial bus (USB) interface, or some of the connecting ports have the USB interface, while the rest of the connecting ports have a Micro USB interface or are of a dock connector specification.

13. The multi-port charging device of claim 1, wherein the charging section further comprises a wireless charging element that enables the multi-port charging device to charge the electronic devices wirelessly.