Battery pack and a battery charging/discharging circuit incorporating the same
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A battery pack comprising:
- at least one battery cell;
first and second switches configured to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a load for discharging said battery cell and to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a power source for charging said battery cell; and
a switch controller configured to close both of said switches to allow discharging of said battery cell when a discharging current through said cell reaches a predetermined minimum discharge current level and to close both of said switches to allow charging of said battery cell when a charging current through said cell reaches a predetermined minimum charge current level.
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Abstract
A battery pack including at least one battery cell; first and second battery selector switches configured to allow selective coupling of the battery cell to a power source or load for charging/discharging the battery cell; and a switch controller. The switch controller closes both of the switches to allow charging/discharging of the battery cell when a minimum charge/discharge current level is reached. A battery charging/discharging circuit including such a battery pack and a method of controlling the charging and discharging a battery cell in a battery pack are also provided.
36 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A battery pack comprising:
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at least one battery cell;
first and second switches configured to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a load for discharging said battery cell and to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a power source for charging said battery cell; and
a switch controller configured to close both of said switches to allow discharging of said battery cell when a discharging current through said cell reaches a predetermined minimum discharge current level and to close both of said switches to allow charging of said battery cell when a charging current through said cell reaches a predetermined minimum charge current level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A battery pack comprising:
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at least one battery cell;
first and second transistors configured to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a load for discharging said battery cell and to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a power source for charging said battery cell;
a first diode in parallel with said first transistor and in reverse bias with said battery cell, and a second diode parallel with said second transistor and in forward bias with said battery cell; and
a switch controller configured to cause said first and second transistors to conduct for allowing discharging of said battery cell in response to a discharge signal and a discharge current signal, said discharge current signal comprising a first output of a battery current monitor indicating that a discharge current through said cell has reached a predetermined minimum discharge current level;
said switch controller being further configured to cause said first and second transistors to conduct for allowing charging of said battery cell in response to a charge signal an a charge current signal, said charge current signal comprising a second output of said battery current monitor indicating that a charge current through said cell has reached a predetermined minimum charge current level. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A battery charging/discharging circuit comprising:
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a plurality of battery packs, each of said battery packs comprising, at least one battery cell, first and second battery selector switches configured to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a load for discharging said battery cell and to allow selective coupling of said battery cell to a power source for charging said battery cell, and a switch controller configured to close said first and second battery selector switches to allow discharging of said battery cell when a discharging current through said cell reaches a predetermined minimum discharge current level and to close said first and second battery selector switches to allow charging of said battery cell when a charging current through said cell reaches a predetermined minimum charge current level;
a discharge switch for selectively coupling said battery packs to said load along a discharging path for discharging said battery packs; and
a charge switch for selectively coupling said battery packs to said power source along a charging path. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of controlling the charging and discharging a battery cell in a battery pack, said method comprising:
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providing first and second battery selector switches in said battery pack;
closing said first and second battery selector switches to charge said battery pack when a predetermined charge current through said battery cell is achieved; and
closing said first and second battery selector switches to discharge said battery pack when a predetermined discharge current through said battery cell is achieved. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A battery pack comprising:
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at least one battery cell;
battery selector switch means for allowing selective coupling of said battery cell to a load for discharging said battery cell and selective coupling of said battery cell to a power source for charging said battery cell; and
switch controller means for closing said battery selector switch means to allow discharging of said battery cell when a discharging current through said cell reaches a predetermined discharge current level and for closing said battery selector switch means to allow charging of said battery cell when a charging current through said cell reaches a predetermined charge current level.
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Specification