Control circuit for the charging current of batteries at the end of the charging phase, especially for lithium batteries

• US 6,433,510 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2000
• Issued: 08/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ST-Ericcson SA (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: STMicroelectronics SRL (STMicroelectronics NV)
• Inventors: Milazzo, Patrizia, Pulvirenti, Francesco, Ribellino, Calogero
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Peter S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TIBBITS, PIA FLORENCE
• Application Number:
  US09/697,232
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 320/128, 320/136, 320/137, 320/148, 361/93, 327/540
• US Class Current: 320/128
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007182 in response to battery voltage

Abstract

A control circuit for controlling current of batteries at the end of the charging phase, especially for lithium batteries, including an input/output circuit, placed between a battery charger and a battery, and an output stage, including two transistors, wherein the resistance of one of the two transistors is modulated to increase the value of the total resistance and to cause a lower turning off current of said output stage.

Claims

1. A control circuit for controlling a charge current of batteries, comprising an input/output circuit disposed between a pole of a battery charger and a pole of a battery, the I/O circuit comprising a transconductance operational amplifier having a first input coupled to the pole of the battery and a second input coupled to the pole of the battery charger, a driver circuit, and an output stage comprising a first transistor having a first electrode connected to the pole of the battery and having a second electrode connected to a second electrode of a second transistor, the second transistor also having a first electrode connected to the pole of the battery charger, wherein the second transistor is controlled by the driver circuit and the first transistor is controlled by the transconductance operational amplifier so to increase a value of a total resistance of the output stage as a function of a voltage difference between the pole of the battery charger and the pole of the battery.

2. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 1, wherein the transconductance operational amplifier controls the first transistor such that the total resistance increases as the voltage difference between the pole of the battery charger and the pole of the battery decreases.

3. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 1, wherein the first transistor has a control electrode connected to an output of the operational amplifier, and wherein the second transistor has a control electrode connected to an output of the control circuit.

4. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 3, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are n-channel type MOSFET transistors.

5. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 3, wherein the transconductance operational amplifier comprises a third transistor that has a collector electrode connected to a base electrode and that forms a current mirror with a fourth transistor, the third transistor having an emitter electrode connected by a first resistive device to the positive pole of the battery charger and the collector electrode connected by a reference current generator to a reference potential, the fourth transistor having an emitter electrode connected by a second resistive device to the pole of the battery, the transconductance operational amplifier further comprising a fifth transistor and a sixth transistor that are connected so as to form a current mirror, wherein the sixth transistor has a collector coupled to the control electrode of the first transistor and is coupled by a third resistive device to a voltage supply line.

6. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 5, wherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are pnp type bipolar transistors.

7. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 5, wherein the fifth transistor and the sixth transistor are pnp type bipolar transistors.

8. The control circuit for controlling the charge current of batteries according to claim 1, wherein the transconductance operational amplifier is configured to have a low amplifier gain when a voltage of the battery charger is greater than a voltage of the battery and to also have gain that is sufficient to turn off the second transistor when the voltage of the battery charger is substantially the same as or less than the voltage of the battery.

9. A Control circuit for controlling a charge current to a battery, comprising:

a battery charger having a first terminal;

a battery having a first terminal;

a series configuration of switching devices having a first terminal connected to the first terminal of the battery charger, a second terminal connected to the first terminal of the battery, and first and second control terminals; and

an input/output circuit having a first control terminal coupled to the first terminal of the battery charger that provides a first voltage signal and a second control terminal coupled to the first terminal of the battery that provides a second voltage signal, the input/output circuit having a first output coupled to the first control terminal of the series configuration of switching devices, wherein the input/output circuit provides a third voltage signal to the first control terminal of the switching devices as a function of a voltage difference between the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal.

10. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 9, wherein the input/output circuit is configured to provide the third voltage signal that is linearly proportional to the voltage difference between the first voltage signal and second voltage signal.

11. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 9, wherein the series configuration of switching devices comprises:

a first transistor having a first terminal connected to the first terminal of the battery charger, a control terminal connected to the second output terminal of the input/output circuit and a second terminal connected to a first terminal of a second transistor; and

the second transistor having a second terminal connected to the first terminal of the battery and a control terminal connected to the first output terminal of the input/output circuit.

12. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 11, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are n-channel type D-MOSFET transistors.

13. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 9, wherein the input/output circuit further comprises an operational amplifier having a first input connected to the first terminal of the battery charger, a second input connected to the first terminal of the battery, a supply terminal connected to a supply voltage, and an output coupled to the first control terminal of the series configuration of switching devices.

14. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 13, wherein the first input of the operational amplifier receives the first voltage signal and the second input of the operational amplifier receives the second voltage signal, and the operational amplifier provides the third voltage signal to the first control terminal of the series configuration of switching devices.

15. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 14, wherein the input/output circuit further comprises a driver circuit having a first terminal connected to a supply voltage and a second terminal connected to the second control terminal of the series configuration of switching devices, and wherein the driving circuit provides a fourth voltage signal to the second control terminal of the series configuration of switching devices.

16. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 14, wherein the operational amplifier has a low amplifier gain when the first voltage signal is greater than the second voltage signal and the operational amplifier has a high amplifier gain when the second voltage signal is greater than the first voltage signal.

17. The control circuit for controlling the charge current according to claim 14, wherein the operational amplifier comprises:

a first mirror configuration of active devices having a first terminal coupled to the first terminal of the battery charger by a first resistive device, having a second terminal coupled to the first terminal of the battery by a second resistive device, and having a third terminal coupled to a reference potential by a current source and having a fourth terminal; and

a second mirror configuration of active devices having a first terminal connected to the fourth terminal of the first mirror configuration, a second terminal connected to the first control terminal of the series configuration of switching devices and coupled to the first terminal of the voltage supply by a third resistive device, having a third terminal coupled to the reference potential by a fourth resistive device, and having a fourth terminal connected to the reference potential;

wherein the first mirror configuration provides a first current value that is a function of the first and second voltage value, the second mirror configuration provides a second current value that is a function of the first current value, that is converted to the third voltage value by the third resistive device.

18. The control circuit for controlling charge end current according to claim 17, wherein the first mirror configuration comprises:

a third transistor having a collector terminal that is the third terminal and that is connected to a base terminal, and an emitter terminal that is the first terminal, and wherein the base terminal is connected to a base terminal of a fourth transistor; and

the fourth transistor having an emitter terminal that is the second terminal of the first mirror configuration, and a collector terminal that is the fourth terminal of the first mirror configuration.

19. The control circuit for controlling charge current according to claim 18, wherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are pnp type bipolar transistors.

20. The control circuit for controlling charge current according to claim 17, wherein the second mirror configuration comprises:

a fifth transistor having a collector terminal that is the first terminal of the second mirror configuration and that is connected to a base terminal, and an emitter terminal that is the third terminal of the second mirror configuration and is connected to the fourth resistive device, and wherein the base terminal is connected to a base terminal of a sixth transistor;

the sixth transistor having an emitter terminal that is the fourth terminal of the second mirror configuration and that is connected to the reference potential, and a collector terminal that is the second terminal of the second mirror configuration and that is connected to the third resistive device.

21. The control circuit for controlling charge current according to claim 20, wherein the fifth transistor and the sixth transistor are pnp type bipolar transistors.