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Programmable battery charge indicator

  • US 5,550,475 A
  • Filed: 04/11/1995
  • Issued: 08/27/1996
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/11/1995
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A programmable battery charge indicator for allowing a user to monitor the condition and charge of a regular and deep cycle 12 volt lead-acid battery comprising, in combination:

  • a hollow rigid box-shaped housing having a bottom wall, a top wall, a pair of opposed side walls, a back wall, and a front panel with a peripheral border therearound;

    a charge indicator circuit disposed within the housing and further comprising;

    a pair of electrically-conductive sheathed terminal wires with one wire designated as a negative terminal wire and the other wire designated as a positive terminal wire, each terminal wire having a base end and a tip end with each tip end extended through the housing and terminated with a spring-loaded battery clip or permanently attached battery terminal connector, each battery clip coupleable to a separate pole of a test battery;

    timer-controlled power delivery circuitry coupled to the base ends of the terminal wires and having an activated mode for allowing transmission of electrical power from a test battery for a period of between about 10 to 15 seconds and further having a de-activated mode for preventing such transmission;

    a first light-emitting diode coupled to the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry for receiving electrical power from a test battery for operation and extended through the front panel of the housing, the first light-emitting diode illuminated when the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry is placed in the activated mode;

    a normally open single pole single throw push button switch coupled between the base end of the negative terminal wire and the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry, the push button switch having a momentarily closed orientation for generating a timer activation signal for placing the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry in an activated mode and further having an open orientation for preventing such generation;

    reference voltage generating circuitry coupled to the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry for receiving electrical power from a test battery for operation and having a standard mode for generating a standard battery reference voltage for comparison with a voltage supplied from a test battery and further having a programmable mode for generating a user-selected battery reference voltage initially set based upon a voltage supplied from a user'"'"'s fully-charged test battery acting as a calibration source, the reference voltage generating circuity including display driver circuitry for generating a sequence of bar graph driver signals that are activated in sequence as a function of a voltage on a test battery;

    comparator circuitry coupled to the reference voltage generating circuitry for receiving a reference voltage therefrom and further coupled to the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry for receiving electrical power from a test battery for operation and a voltage from a test battery for testing, the comparator circuitry generating an overcharged designator signal representing an overcharged battery condition when a voltage on a test battery is greater than the reference voltage, the comparator circuitry generating an undercharged designator signal representing an undercharged battery condition when a voltage on a test battery is less than about 10% of the reference voltage;

    a second light-emitting diode operatively coupled to the comparator circuitry and timer-controlled power delivery circuitry and extended through the front panel of the housing, the second light-emitting diode illuminated for indicating an overcharged battery condition based on the receipt of an overcharged designator signal and further illuminated for indicating an undercharged battery condition based on the receipt of an undercharged designator signal; and

    a set of ten light-emitting diodes coupled to the timer-controlled power delivery circuitry and display driver circuitry and further extended through the front panel of the housing in a linear bar graph-type configuration, a number of diodes from the set selectively illuminated in sequence based upon receipt of the bar graph driver signals and with the number of diodes illuminated indicating a percentage of charge on a test battery ranging from about 10% up to 100%.

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