Battery charger with automatic voltage detection
First Claim
1. A battery charger comprising:
- a pair of battery charger terminals;
an automatic voltage detection system for automatically determining a nominal voltage of a battery connected across the pair of battery charger terminals by measuring a first voltage of the battery across the pair of battery charger terminals and, if the first voltage of the battery is less than a first predetermined value, determining the nominal voltage of the battery by measuring a second voltage across the pair of battery charger terminals and comparing the second voltage of the battery to a second predetermined value; and
a charging system for automatically charging the battery as a function of the nominal voltage determined by said automatic voltage detection system.
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Abstract
A battery charger is disclosed that is configured to be connected to an external battery by way of external battery cables. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the battery charger is configured with automatic voltage detection which automatically determines the nominal voltage of the battery connected to its battery charger terminals and charges the battery as a function of the detected nominal voltage irrespective of the nominal voltage selected by a user. Various safeguards are built into the battery charger to avoid overcharging a battery. For battery chargers with user selectable nominal battery voltage charging modes, battery charger is configured to over-ride a user selected battery voltage mode if it detects that the battery connected to the battery charger terminals is different than the user selected charging mode.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A battery charger comprising:
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a pair of battery charger terminals; an automatic voltage detection system for automatically determining a nominal voltage of a battery connected across the pair of battery charger terminals by measuring a first voltage of the battery across the pair of battery charger terminals and, if the first voltage of the battery is less than a first predetermined value, determining the nominal voltage of the battery by measuring a second voltage across the pair of battery charger terminals and comparing the second voltage of the battery to a second predetermined value; and a charging system for automatically charging the battery as a function of the nominal voltage determined by said automatic voltage detection system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for charging a battery connected to a battery charger by way of a pair of battery cables, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) automatically determining the nominal battery voltage of the battery connected to the pair of battery cables as a function of a first voltage and if the first voltage is less than a predetermined voltage, the nominal battery voltage is determined as a function of a second voltage across the battery; and (b) automatically charging the battery in accordance with the nominal battery voltage of the battery connected to the pair of battery cables, as determined in step (a). - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A battery charger comprising:
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a pair of battery charger terminals; an automatic voltage detection system for automatically determining a nominal voltage of a battery connected across the pair of battery charger terminals, wherein the automatic voltage detection system (i) measures a first voltage of the battery, (ii) determines the nominal voltage of the battery based upon the first voltage of the battery if the first voltage is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and (iii) determines the nominal voltage of the battery as a function of a second voltage across the battery if said first voltage is less than said predetermined value; and a charging system for automatically charging the battery as a function of the nominal voltage determined by said automatic voltage detection system. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification