Intelligent serial battery charger
First Claim
Patent Images
1. Control means for a serial battery charger, said serial battery charger comprising:
- a charging current source and a plurality of battery charging sections connected in series, each said battery charging section comprising first and second parallel branches,said first parallel branch comprising;
a bypassing switch which forms a low impedance bypassing shunt across said second parallel branch when actuated,said second parallel branch comprising;
an electronic isolation means connected in series with a pair of battery contact terminals for connecting a battery to said battery charging section for battery charging, said electronics isolation means when actuated substantially isolating said battery from said battery charging section, said electronic isolation means providing a low-impedance connection to said battery when de-actuated and a high-impedance connection to said battery when actuated,wherein said control means repetitively actuates the bypassing switches of said plurality of battery charging sections for battery voltage measurements when batteries connected to said battery charging sections are still under battery charging conditions.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fast battery charger in which each one of the battery charging sections comprises a charging branch and a bypassing branch, the battery charger is provided with enhanced charging monitory and control circuitry and method for performance elevation with minimal additional hardware overhead.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. Control means for a serial battery charger, said serial battery charger comprising:
-
a charging current source and a plurality of battery charging sections connected in series, each said battery charging section comprising first and second parallel branches, said first parallel branch comprising; a bypassing switch which forms a low impedance bypassing shunt across said second parallel branch when actuated, said second parallel branch comprising; an electronic isolation means connected in series with a pair of battery contact terminals for connecting a battery to said battery charging section for battery charging, said electronics isolation means when actuated substantially isolating said battery from said battery charging section, said electronic isolation means providing a low-impedance connection to said battery when de-actuated and a high-impedance connection to said battery when actuated, wherein said control means repetitively actuates the bypassing switches of said plurality of battery charging sections for battery voltage measurements when batteries connected to said battery charging sections are still under battery charging conditions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A method of monitoring and controlling the charging of batteries for a serial battery charger, said serial battery charger comprising a charging current source and a plurality of battery charging sections connected in series, each said battery charging section comprising first and second parallel branches, said first parallel branch comprising a bypassing switch which forms a low impedance bypassing shunt across said second parallel branch when actuated, said second parallel branch comprising an electronic isolation means connected in series with a pair of battery contact terminals for connecting a battery to said battery charging section for battery charging, said electronics isolation means when actuated substantially isolating said battery from said battery charging section, said electronic isolation means providing a low-impedance connection to said battery when de-actuated and a high-impedance connection to said battery when actuated, said method comprising the steps:
-
a) actuating the bypassing switches of said battery sections when batteries connected to said battery charging sections are still under battery charging conditions; b) measuring the voltages of said batteries; c) repeating steps a) and b) above until a battery is to be removed from the charging process; and d) isolating said battery from the said battery charging section to which said battery is connected and from the charging current source by actuating the bypassing switch of the battery charging section connected to said battery when the condition of said battery to be isolated fulfils a predetermined criterion. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification