Battery overcharge protection system
First Claim
1. A battery charging system for charging a battery bank having a plurality of cells, said battery charging system comprising;
- a battery charging current source coupled electrically to said battery bank,a charger control circuit connected to only one of said plurality of cells including means for monitoring the voltage across said one cell, said charger control circuit also being connected to said battery charging current source for controlling the charging current from said source to said battery in response to the monitored voltage of said one battery bank cell, said charger control circuit including an overcharge sensor circuit portion and a shorted cells sensor circuit portion said overcharge and shorted cell sensing circuit portions being coupled to said battery bank for determining the condition of said battery bank by monitoring the potential of said one monitored cell.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A battery charging system having a charger control circuit which monitors one cell of a battery bank and controls the operation of a charging current source in accordance with the terminal voltage of the monitored cell. The charger control circuit includes an overcharge sensing circuit and a shorted cell sensing circuit, each being capable of triggering a separate output driver to interrupt current flow from the charging current source to the battery bank. The overcharge sensing circuit employs a time delay network to avoid nuisance charger system interruptions. The shorted cell sensing circuit also employs a time delay network to allow charging of heavily discharged or zero voltage batteries.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A battery charging system for charging a battery bank having a plurality of cells, said battery charging system comprising;
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a battery charging current source coupled electrically to said battery bank, a charger control circuit connected to only one of said plurality of cells including means for monitoring the voltage across said one cell, said charger control circuit also being connected to said battery charging current source for controlling the charging current from said source to said battery in response to the monitored voltage of said one battery bank cell, said charger control circuit including an overcharge sensor circuit portion and a shorted cells sensor circuit portion said overcharge and shorted cell sensing circuit portions being coupled to said battery bank for determining the condition of said battery bank by monitoring the potential of said one monitored cell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification