Battery charger

• US 7,579,807 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2006
• Issued: 08/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi KOKI Company Limited (Koki Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi KOKI Company Limited (Koki Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Aradachi, Takao, Ishimaru, Kenro, Funabashi, Kazuhiko, Takano, Nobuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Berhane; Adolf
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fantu; Yalkew
• Application Number:
  US11/370,944
• Publication Number:
  US 20060208699A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,265 Days
• Field of Search: 320/106, 320/114, 320/122, 320/137, 320/148
• US Class Current: 320/106
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters

Abstract

A battery charger including a charging power supply circuit connected to an input power supply and adapted to charge a battery to be charged, a charging control circuit adapted to control charging of the battery, and a constant voltage power supply adapted to drive the charging control circuit, wherein the charging control circuit stops an output of the constant voltage power supply when the battery is detached from the charger.

Claims

1. A battery charger comprising:

an Alternating Current (AC) power supply;

a first rectifier smoothing circuit for rectifying and smoothing the AC voltage;

a switching circuit connected across output terminals of the first rectifier smoothing circuit to provide pulse signals;

a second rectifier smoothing circuit for rectifying and smoothing the pulse signals, an output voltage of the second rectifier smoothing circuit being applied to a battery to be charged;

a charging current control unit that detects a charging current flowing through the battery and controls the charging current in accordance with a charging current set value;

trigger means connected across the battery to be charged for generating a first trigger voltage based on a residual voltage of the battery when the battery is connected to the charger;

constant voltage generating means connected to the trigger means to receive the first trigger voltage and adapted to generate a constant voltage which is applied to the charging current control unit as an operating voltage thereof; and

a microcomputer that detects if the battery is connected to the charger and applies a control signal to the constant voltage generating means to stop supplying the operation voltage to the charging current control unit when the battery is detached from the battery charge.

2. The battery charger according to claim 1, which further comprises:

a trigger switch circuit connected between the first rectifier smoothing circuit and the constant voltage generating means to apply a second trigger voltage to the constant voltage generating means.

3. The battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the trigger means is connected to the constant voltage generating means through a diode.

4. The battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the first trigger voltage of the trigger means is stored to generate by the microcomputer after the constant voltage generating means is activated by the trigger means.

5. The battery charger according to claim 2, wherein the constant voltage generating means is activated by the second trigger voltage which is supplied from the first rectifier smoothing circuit through a switch.

6. A battery charger comprising:

an Alternate Current (AC) power supply;

charging power supply means connected to the input power supply and adapted to supply a voltage and a charging current to a battery;

charging current control means electrically connected to the charging power supply means and adapted to control the charging current based on a set value;

main control means adapted to supply the set value to the charging current control means;

a circuit operation triggering means connected across the battery to be charged for generating a first trigger voltage based on a residual voltage of the battery when the battery is connected to the charger; and

a constant voltage power supply connected to the circuit operation triggering means to receive the first trigger voltage and adapted to generate a constant voltage which is applied to the charging current control means and the main control means as an operating voltage thereof,

wherein the main control means detects if the battery is connected to the charger and applies a control signal to the constant voltage power supply to stop supplying the operation voltage when the battery is detached from the battery charger.

7. The battery charger according to claim 6, wherein the constant voltage power supply is connected to the charging power supply means through a switch to receive a second trigger voltage.

8. The battery charger according to claim 7, wherein the first trigger voltage of the circuit operation triggering means is stopped to generate by the main control means after the constant voltage power supply is activated by the circuit operation triggering means.

9. The battery charger according to claim 6, wherein the main control means comprises:

a microcomputer;

wherein a detected voltage of the battery is input to an input port of the microcomputer; and

wherein a control signal, which causes an operation of the constant voltage power supply, is output from an output port of the microcomputer.

10. The battery charger according to claim 7, wherein the main control means comprises a microcomputer;

wherein a detected voltage of the battery is input to an input port of the microcomputer; and

wherein the control signal, which causes an operation of the constant voltage power supply based on the detected voltage, is output from an output port of the microcomputer.

11. The battery charger according to claim 8, wherein the main control means comprises a microcomputer;

wherein a detected voltage of the battery is input to an input port of the microcomputer; and

wherein the control signal, which causes an operation of the constant voltage power supply based on the detected voltage, is output from an output port of the microcomputer.

12. The battery charger according to claim 6, wherein input power of the input power supply is output from the AC power supply and is rectified through a rectifying circuit.

13. The battery charger according to claim 7, wherein input power of the input power supply is output from the AC power supply and is rectified through a rectifying circuit.

14. The battery charger according to claim 8, wherein input power of the input power supply is output from the AC power supply and is rectified through a rectifying circuit.

15. The battery charger according to claim 9, wherein input power of the input power supply is output from the AC power supply and is rectified through a rectifying circuit.

16. The battery charger according to claim 6, wherein the charging power supply means comprises a switching power supply;

and

wherein the input power supply of switching power supply includes a rectifying circuit.

17. The battery charger according to claim 7, wherein the charging power supply means comprises a switching power supply;

and

wherein the input power supply of switching power supply includes a rectifying circuit.

18. The battery charger according to claim 8, wherein the charging power supply means comprises a switching power supply;

and

wherein the input power supply of switching power supply includes a rectifying circuit.

19. The battery charger according to claim 7, wherein the charging power supply means comprises a switching power supply;

and

wherein the input power supply of switching power supply includes a rectifying circuit.

20. The battery charger according to claim 8, wherein the charging power supply means comprises a switching power supply;

and

wherein the input power supply of switching power supply includes a rectifying circuit.

21. The battery charger according to claim 9, wherein the charging power supply means comprises a switching power supply;

and

wherein the input power supply of switching power supply includes a rectifying circuit.