METHOD AND CIRCUITRY TO DETERMINE THE RELAXATION TIME OF A BATTERY/CELL
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Abstract
The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell using data which is representative of a change in terminal voltage of the battery/cell. In another aspect, the present inventions are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell using data which is representative of partial and/or full relaxation time of the battery/cell. In yet another aspect the present inventions are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to determine whether the data which is representative of partial and/or full relaxation time exceeds a predetermined range and/or is greater than a predetermined value.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A method of controlling at least one characteristic of a charging process for a battery having positive and negative terminals, the method comprising:
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(a) measuring a terminal voltage between the terminals of the battery multiple times or continuously over a period of time; (b) from the measurements of the terminal voltage in (a), determining a relaxation time of the battery; and (c) based on the relaxation time determined in (b), controlling at least one characteristic of a charging process for the battery. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An apparatus to charge a battery including at least two terminals, the apparatus comprising:
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current generation circuitry, coupled to the battery, to; generate a current signal, and apply the current signal to the battery; measuring circuitry, coupled to the battery, to measure a voltage at the terminals of the battery; and control circuitry, coupled to the charging circuitry and the measuring circuitry, and configured to (i) receive data which is representative of the measured voltage, and (ii) output one or more control signals to the current generation circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to; (a) obtain the terminal voltage measured multiple times or continuously over a period of time, (b) from the terminal voltages obtained in (a), determining a relaxation time of the battery, and (c) based on the relaxation time determined in (b), control at least one characteristic of the current signal. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification