Battery pack having an integrated circuit interfaced between battery cells and a microcontroller
First Claim
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1. A battery pack configured for powering a cordless power tool, comprising:
- a plurality of serially-connected battery cells;
an integrated circuit connected to each of the battery cells and operable to periodically measure cell voltage across each cell in a sequential manner and configured to selectively discharge one or more of the battery cells as the battery pack is being charged; and
a microcontroller configured to receive cell voltage measurements from the integrated circuit and compare cell voltage measurements to a given threshold stored in a memory associated with the microcontroller.
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Abstract
A battery monitoring device of a battery pack configured for powering a cordless power tool may include an integrated circuit connected to a microprocessor of the pack that is external to the integrated circuit, and which is connected to each of N battery cells of the pack. The integrated circuit may be configured to take, singly or sequentially, a sampled reading comprising one of an individual cell voltage or a total pack voltage for all cells in the pack. The sampled reading is filtered in the integrated circuit prior to being read by the microprocessor.
30 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A battery pack configured for powering a cordless power tool, comprising:
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a plurality of serially-connected battery cells; an integrated circuit connected to each of the battery cells and operable to periodically measure cell voltage across each cell in a sequential manner and configured to selectively discharge one or more of the battery cells as the battery pack is being charged; and a microcontroller configured to receive cell voltage measurements from the integrated circuit and compare cell voltage measurements to a given threshold stored in a memory associated with the microcontroller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A battery pack configured for use with a cordless power tool, comprising:
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a plurality of serially-connected battery cells; an integrated circuit connected to each of the battery cells, the integrated circuit configured to periodically measure cell voltage across each cell in a sequential manner and to selectively discharge one or more of the battery cells as the battery pack is being charged; and a microprocessor coupled via a serial communication interface to the integrated circuit, the microprocessor configured to receive cell voltage measurements via the serial communication interface from the integrated circuit and operable to issue commands via the serial communication interface to the integrated circuit to selectively discharge one or more of the battery cells as the battery pack is being charged. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification