Nicad battery charger
First Claim
1. A method of charging a battery pack made up of one or more rechargeable cells comprising applying a charging current to said battery pack, reducing charging current when a predetermined value for a battery characteristic which includes temperature, or voltage or combination thereof is sensed, to permit said battery pack to cool for a period to a lower temperature, resuming charging said battery pack when said battery pack has cooled during said period to said lower temperature and selecting effective magnitude of charging current to prevent subsequent significant increase of battery pack temperature beyond a predetermined increment above said lower temperature.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic battery charger for charging various types of dry cells including nickel-cadmium batteries provides for a cool down phase during battery charging cycle once a maximum predetermined temperature or voltage for the battery has been sensed. Subsequent to the cool down phase, a charging current is controlled in a manner such that, as battery temperature continues to decrease, a control device increases the charging current applied to the battery. Once a reheating of the battery is detected, the control device decreases the charging current. In this manner, a maximum charge is achieved in the battery at a temperature close to the ambient temperature.
-
Citations
40 Claims
- 1. A method of charging a battery pack made up of one or more rechargeable cells comprising applying a charging current to said battery pack, reducing charging current when a predetermined value for a battery characteristic which includes temperature, or voltage or combination thereof is sensed, to permit said battery pack to cool for a period to a lower temperature, resuming charging said battery pack when said battery pack has cooled during said period to said lower temperature and selecting effective magnitude of charging current to prevent subsequent significant increase of battery pack temperature beyond a predetermined increment above said lower temperature.
-
19. An electronic battery charger for charging a rechargeable battery, said charger comprising means for sensing a battery characteristic which includes temperature, or voltage, or a combination thereof, during a battery charging cycle, means for charging a battery by applying a charging current to such battery, means for controlling charging current applied by said charging means, said control means reducing charging current in response to said sensing means sensing a predetermined value for the sensed battery characteristic during a charging cycle to permit battery cooling for a period to a lower battery temperature, said control means activating said charging means for a second state of battery charging when such battery has cooled during said period;
- said control means selecting effective magnitude of charging current to prevent subsequent significant increase of battery temperature beyond a predetermined increment above said lower temperature during said second stage of battery charging.
- View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
Specification