Method and apparatus for charging a battery and for determining a voltage of the battery during charging

• US 5,760,568 A
• Filed: 07/31/1996
• Issued: 06/02/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nytell Software LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Mobile Phones UK Limited (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Naskali, Matti J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Peter S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHIN, KYUNG E
• Application Number:
  US08/690,055
• Time in Patent Office: 671 Days
• Field of Search: 320/21, 320/19, 320/39, 320/40, 320/5, 320/14, 320/48
• US Class Current: 320/139
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00711 with introduction of pulses during the charging process
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 40/00 Technologies aiming at improving the efficiency of home appliances, e.g. induction cooking or efficient technologies for refrigerators, freezers or dish washers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

The invention is related to a charging device (1) in which the charging current (I_ch) used for charging a battery (2) is chopped according to a certain duty cycle (η). A certain charging voltage reference value (V_ch), which equals the real open circuit voltage of the battery charged, is known to the charging device (1). To achieve a correct duty cycle (η), the terminal voltage of the battery is measured during the charging current pulse (I_on) and between the pulses. The open circuit voltage of the battery is calculated on the basis of the measurement results using the formula

V.sub.batt0 =V.sub.min +K*η*(V.sub.max -V.sub.min)

where η is said duty cycle, V_max represents the voltage between the terminals of said battery (2) during the charging current pulse (I_on), V_min represents the voltage between the terminals of said battery (2) between the charging current pulses and the coefficient K equals 1 or the ratio of the average of the charging current (I_ch) to its peak value. The duty cycle is altered in such a manner that the calculated value (V_batt0) is brought close to said reference value (V_ch).

Claims

1. A charging device (1) for charging a battery (2), including a power supply (5) and a pulse controller (4) for chopping according to a certain duty cycle (η

) a charging current (I_ch) taken from said power supply (5) to the battery (2) being charged, characterized in that said charging device (1) further includes a measuring means (6) for measuring, during a pulse (I_on) of said charging current (I_ch) and between pulses of said charging current (I_ch), a terminal voltage of the battery (2) being charged and a control means (3) for altering the duty cycle (η

) used by said pulse controller (4) on the basis of the measured terminal voltage.

2. The charging device of claim 1, characterized in that it further includes means for delivering measurement data (V_max, V_min) to said control means (3), and means (3) for calculating an open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery (2) being charged, on the basis of said measurement data (V_max, V_min), for the purpose of determining a certain duty cycle (η

), wherein said measurement data (V_max, V_min) indicate the terminal voltage of said battery measured during said pulse (I_on) of said charging current (I_ch) and between said pulses of said charging current (I_ch).

3. The charging device (1) of claim 1, characterized in that it further includes a storage means (9) for saving a charging reference value (V_ch) that corresponds to an open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery (2) at the end of the charging.

4. The charging device (1) of claim 1, wherein said control means are included in a microprocessor.

5. A charging device (1) for charging a battery (2), including a power supply (5) and pulse width controller (4) for chopping according to a certain duty cycle (η

) the charging current (I_ch) taken from said power supply (5) to the battery (2) charged, characterized in that it also includes a measuring means (6) for measuring, during charging, the terminal voltage of the battery (2) charged and a control means (3) for altering the duty cycle (η

) used by said pulse width controller (4) on the basis of the measured terminal voltage, wherein said charging device (1) includes a means (3) for calculating the open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery (2) charged on the basis of said measurement data (V_max, V_min) using the formula

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">V.sub.batt0 =V.sub.min +K*η

*(V.sub.max -V.sub.min)

where η

is said duty cycle, V_max represents the voltage between the terminals of said battery (2) during the charging current pulse (I_on), V_min represents the voltage between the terminals of said battery (2) between the charging current pulses and the coefficient K equals 1, if said power supply (5) is a DC power supply, and it equals the ratio of the average value of the charging current (I_ch) to its peak value during the charging current pulse (I_on), if said power supply (5) is a diode-rectified AC power supply.

6. A method for charging a battery (2) with a charging device (1), comprising the steps of:

applying charging current pulses having a selected duty cycle (η

) to the battery (2);

measuring a first voltage appearing across terminals of the battery (2) during one of the charging current pulses;

measuring a second voltage appearing across the terminals of the battery (2) between a pair of the charging current pulses; and

altering the duty cycle (η

) based on the measured first and second voltages.

7. A method as set forth in claim 6, further including the steps of:

calculating an open circuit voltage of the battery (2) based on the measured first and second voltages, and obtaining a resultant calculated open circuit voltage (V_batt0);

comparing the calculated open circuit voltage (V_batt0) to a reference value (V_ch); and

altering the selected duty cycle (η

) based on a result of the step of comparing.

8. The method of claim 7, characterized in that said reference value (V_ch) is pre-stored in a memory (9) of said charging device.

9. The method of claim 7, characterized in that said reference value (V_ch) corresponds to said battery (2) and is identifiable by said charging device on the basis of a certain electric or mechanical property of said battery (2).

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of altering is performed by either decreasing the selected duty cycle if the calculated open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery (2) is greater than the reference value (V_ch), or increasing the duty cycle if the calculated open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery (2) is smaller than the reference value (V_ch).

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein the battery is a mobile telephone battery.

12. A method according to claim 6, wherein the battery is a mobile telephone battery.

13. A method for charging a battery (2) with a charging device (1) where a charging current (I_ch) pulsed according to a certain duty cycle (η

) is brought to said battery (2), characterized in that in it the terminal voltage of said battery (2) is measured and said duty cycle (η

) is altered on the basis of the measurement result obtained, and wherein the open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of said battery is calculated on the basis of said terminal voltage measurements using the formula

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">V.sub.batt0 =V.sub.min +K*η

*(V.sub.max -V.sub.min)

where η

is said duty cycle, V_max represents the voltage between the terminals of said battery (2) during the charging current pulse (I_on), V_min represents the voltage between the terminals of said battery (2) between the charging current pulses and the coefficient K equals 1, if a DC power supply is used in the charging, and it equals the ratio of the average value of the charging current (I_ch) to its peak value during the charging current pulse (I_on), if a diode-rectified AC power supply is used in the charging.

14. A charging device (1) for charging a battery (2) that is connected to a load, the charging device (1) including a power supply (5) and a pulse controller (4) for chopping according to a certain duty cycle (η

) a charging current (I_ch) taken from said power supply (5) to the battery (2) being charged, said charging device (1) further including a measuring means (6) for measuring, during a pulse (I_on) of said charging current (I_ch) and between pulses of said charging current (I_ch), the terminal voltage of the battery (2), and a control means (3) for altering the duty cycle (η

) used by said pulse controller (4) on the basis of the measured terminal voltage, wherein the charging current (I_ch) charges said battery (2) while said battery (2) is connected to said load.

15. A charging device (1) as set forth in claim 14, wherein (V_max) represents a value of the battery terminal voltage measured during the pulse (I_on) of said charging current (I_ch) , wherein (V_min) represents a value of the battery terminal voltage measured between the pulses of said charging current (I_ch), and wherein said charging device (1) includes means (3) for calculating an open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery (2) on the basis of said values (V_max) and (V_min), using a formula

16. A method for charging a battery (2) with a charging device (1) while the battery (2) is connected to a load, comprising the steps of:

applying charging current pulses having a selected duty cycle (η

) to the battery (2) while the battery (2) is connected to the load;

measuring a first voltage appearing across terminals of the battery (2) during one of the charging current pulses;

measuring a second voltage appearing across the terminals of the battery (2) between a pair of the charging current pulses; and

altering the duty cycle (η

) based on the measured first and second voltages.

17. A method as set forth in claim 16, further comprising a step of:

calculating an open circuit voltage (V_batt0) of the battery based on the measured first and second voltages, in accordance with a formula V_batt0 =V_min +K * η

* (V_max -V_min), wherein η

represents the selected duty cycle, V_max represents the measured first voltage, and V_min represents the measured second voltage; and

wherein K is equal to 1 if a DC power supply is used for applying the charging current (I_ch) to the battery, and wherein K is equal to a ratio of an average value of the charging current (I_ch) to a peak value of the charging current (I_ch) during the charging current pulse (I_on) if a diode-rectified AC power supply is used for applying the charging current (I_ch) to the battery.