Monitoring and controlling system for battery and battery charger
DCFirst Claim
1. A battery-operated vehicle comprising:
- a drive system;
a battery for operating the drive system;
battery charger control means;
means for connecting a battery charger to at least one of the battery and the battery charger control means;
circuit means for controlling the operation of the vehicle; and
means for receiving power from the battery charger;
said means for receiving power from the battery charger including means for terminating the flow of energy to the battery from the battery charger before the means for supplying energy to the battery is fully disconnected from at least one of the battery charger control means and the battery.
1 Assignment
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In operating a battery powered vehicle, a battery charger is located at a stationary location but the battery charger control circuit is mounted on the vehicle and powered from the DC battery of the vehicle. During a charging operation, a microprocessor within the battery charger control circuit detects that a charging operation is taking place and locks the vehicle in position and when the battery charger is disconnected, the battery charger is de-energized prior to disconnecting the electrical contact between it and the vehicle to avoid arcing. The microprocessor and its memory within the battery charger control circuit records information about the energy state of the battery and controls the battery both by measuring input and output power to the battery and by measuring the rate of change of charging current. It also controls operations such as trouble lights within the vehicle and may control a speed control circuit within the vehicle as well.
-
Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A battery-operated vehicle comprising:
-
a drive system; a battery for operating the drive system; battery charger control means; means for connecting a battery charger to at least one of the battery and the battery charger control means; circuit means for controlling the operation of the vehicle; and means for receiving power from the battery charger;
said means for receiving power from the battery charger including means for terminating the flow of energy to the battery from the battery charger before the means for supplying energy to the battery is fully disconnected from at least one of the battery charger control means and the battery. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method of operating a battery-operated vehicle comprising the steps of:
-
driving a vehicle including a battery charger control circuit under the power of a battery; periodically connecting one of the battery and the battery charger control circuit to a battery charger not on the vehicle; and receiving power from a battery charger;
said step of receiving power from the battery charger including the steps of terminating the flow of energy to the battery from the battery charger before stopping the flow of energy to the battery. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A portable measuring device, comprising:
-
means for connecting the portable measuring device to a vehicle; means operatively connected to means for connecting to a battery for dissipating energy from the battery at a controlled rate; and cooling means for cooling said means for dissipating energy; said cooling means being battery driven wherein said portable measuring device may measure the amount of energy dissipated from the battery without overheating.
-
-
22. The combination of a portable monitor for batteries and a battery operated vehicle comprising:
-
a microprocessor mounted to said battery operated vehicle; means for measuring and recording the condition of a battery on a battery powered vehicle; said microprocessor including means for calculating the condition of the battery on the vehicle and encoding it; a portable monitor, comprising means for receiving a coded signal containing information about the condition of a battery transmitted with an infrared radiated carrier from the vehicle; and
means for translating said coded information transmitted by the infrared radiated carrier to displayed indications mounted in the portable monitor, wherein the status of the battery may be monitored with the portable monitor.
-
-
23. A battery-operated vehicle comprising:
-
a drive system; a battery for operating the drive system; battery charger control means; means for connecting a battery charger to at least one of the battery and the battery charger control means; and circuit means for controlling the operation of the vehicle; said battery charger being at a station separated from said vehicle and said battery charger control means being on said vehicle, wherein a plurality of vehicles may be served by one charger and a microprocessor may control both the circuit means and the battery charger control means;
wherein the battery charger control means includes means for measuring the amount of energy added to the battery and the amount of energy removed from the battery wherein the state of charge of the battery may be determined and includes means for measuring the rate of change of charging the battery wherein the control of the rate of charging of the battery may be controlled under some circumstances.
-
Specification