Battery charger with backup charging circuit

• US 7,474,079 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2007
• Issued: 01/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Collabo Innovations, Inc. (Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hashimoto, Yuichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Ullah, Akm E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Muralidar, Richard V
• Application Number:
  US11/680,760
• Publication Number:
  US 20070229028A1
• Time in Patent Office: 677 Days
• Field of Search: 320/103, 320/134, 320/140, 320157-158, 320162-163, 307 43- 48
• US Class Current: 320/138
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007182 in response to battery voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage

Abstract

A charger capable of safely charging an apparatus even when the current limit value of an external power supply is less than the maximum charging current of the charger or when the battery voltage is low. Charger 100 has backup charging circuit 160 that performs charging using a current that is less than the charging current of charging control section 120. Control circuit 170 performs control so that charging control circuit 123 of charging control section 120 fixes charging control transistor 121 to OFF, makes backup charging circuit 160 operate, and performs backup charging using minute current Ichsub when battery voltage Vb is lower than predetermined value Vbx1, and fixes control transistor 111 of DC/DC converter 110 to ON when supply voltage Vc is less than a first supply voltage value.

Claims

1. A charger that receives power supply from an external power supply and charges a secondary battery, the charger comprising:

a DC/DC converter that receives supply voltage from the external power supply, outputs a predetermined DC voltage when the supply voltage is greater than or equal to a first supply voltage value, and sets a low resistance between the input and output when the supply voltage is less than the first supply voltage value;

a charging control section that receives the output voltage of the DC/DC converter and performs control of supplying a predetermined charging current to the secondary battery when the battery voltage of the secondary battery is greater than or equal to a first battery voltage value, and not supplying a charging current when the battery voltage of the secondary battery is less than the first battery voltage value; and

a backup charging circuit that receives supply voltage from the external power supply, and, when the battery voltage of the secondary battery is less than or equal to a second voltage value, performs charging using a current that is less than the charging current of the charging control section.

2. The charger according to claim 1, wherein:

the DC/DC converter comprises a step-down type switching regulator that connects in series the main switch element and inductor between the input and output of the DC/DC converter and comprises a DC/DC control circuit that controls the ON/OFF operation of the main switch element; and

the DC/DC control circuit controls the main switch element so that the output voltage of the DC/DC converter is higher than the battery voltage of the secondary battery by a third voltage value when the supply voltage is greater than or equal to the first supply voltage value, and fixes the main switch element to ON when the supply voltage is less than the first supply voltage value.

3. The charger according to claim 1, wherein:

the charging control section comprises a series regulator that comprises a charging control transistor connected between the input and output of the charging control section, a charging current detection section that detects the current of the charging control transistor, and a charging control circuit that receives the output of the charging current detection section and the battery voltage of the secondary battery to excite the charging control transistor; and

the charging control circuit sets the charging control transistor to OFF when the battery voltage of the secondary battery is less than a first battery voltage value, excites the charging control transistor so that the current of the charging control transistor becomes a constant value when the battery voltage of the secondary battery is greater than or equal to the first battery voltage value and less than a second battery voltage value which is near the full charge voltage, and excites the charging control transistor so that the battery voltage of the secondary battery or the output voltage of the charging control transistor becomes constant when the battery voltage of the secondary battery reaches the second battery voltage value.

4. The charger according to claim 1, wherein the DC/DC converter stops operation by turning OFF the electric current or stops output when the supply voltage is less than the first supply voltage value.

5. The charger according to claim 1, wherein the backup charging circuit receives the supply voltage from the external power supply and does not supply a charging current to the secondary battery when the battery voltage of the secondary battery is greater than or equal to the second voltage value.