Method and circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell
First Claim
1. A method to adaptively charge a battery, wherein the battery includes at least two terminals, the method comprising:
- applying a charge signal to the terminals of the battery, wherein the charge signal includes at least one pulse;
measuring a voltage at the terminals of the battery, in response to the at least one pulse of the charge signal, including a first voltage;
determining data which is representative of a relaxation time of the battery, wherein the relaxation time is an amount of time corresponding to when the voltage at the terminals of the battery, in response to the at least one pulse, decays to at least the first voltage; and
adapting one or more characteristics of the charge signal based on or using the relaxation time of the battery.
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Abstract
The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell using data which is representative of a change in terminal voltage of the battery/cell. In another aspect, the present inventions are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell using data which is representative of a partial relaxation time of the battery/cell. In yet another aspect the present inventions are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell using data which is representative of an overpotential or full relaxation time of the battery/cell. In another aspect the present inventions are directed to techniques and/or circuitry to adaptively charge a battery/cell using data which is representative of a state of charge and/or data which is representative of a state of health of the battery/cell.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method to adaptively charge a battery, wherein the battery includes at least two terminals, the method comprising:
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applying a charge signal to the terminals of the battery, wherein the charge signal includes at least one pulse; measuring a voltage at the terminals of the battery, in response to the at least one pulse of the charge signal, including a first voltage; determining data which is representative of a relaxation time of the battery, wherein the relaxation time is an amount of time corresponding to when the voltage at the terminals of the battery, in response to the at least one pulse, decays to at least the first voltage; and adapting one or more characteristics of the charge signal based on or using the relaxation time of the battery. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method to adaptively charge a battery, wherein the battery includes at least two terminals, the method comprising:
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applying a charge signal to the terminals of the battery, wherein the charge signal includes a plurality pulses including first and second pulses; measuring voltages at the terminals of the battery including at least one voltage in response to a first pulse of the charge signal and at least one voltage in response to a second pulse of the charge signal; determining data which is representative of a first relaxation time of the battery, wherein the first relaxation time is an amount of time corresponding to when the voltage at the terminals of the battery decays to at least a first voltage; determining data which is representative of a second relaxation time of the battery, wherein the second relaxation time is an amount of time corresponding to when the voltage at the terminals of the battery decays to at least a second voltage, wherein the first relaxation time is substantially less than the second relaxation time; adapting one or more characteristics of the charge signal based on or using the data which is representative of the first relaxation time; and adapting one or more characteristics of the charge signal based on or using the data which is representative of the second relaxation time. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus to charge a battery, wherein the battery includes at least two terminals, the apparatus comprising:
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charging circuitry, coupled to the battery, to generate a signal and apply the signal to the terminals of the battery, wherein the signal includes a first pulse; measuring circuitry, coupled to the battery, to measure a voltage at the terminals of the battery in response to the first pulse of the signal; and control circuitry, coupled to the charging circuitry and the measuring circuitry, and configured to (i) receive data which is representative of the measured voltage and output one or more control signals to the charging circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to; determine data which is representative of a relaxation time of the battery, wherein the relaxation time is an amount of time for the voltage at the terminals of the battery to decay to a first voltage in response to the first pulse of the signal, and generate the one or more control signals based on or using the data representative of the relaxation time of the battery. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An apparatus to charge a battery, wherein the battery includes at least two terminals, the apparatus comprising:
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charging circuitry, coupled to the battery, to generate a signal and apply the signal to the terminals of the battery, wherein the signal includes a plurality of pulses; measuring circuitry, coupled to the battery, to measure a voltage at the terminals of the battery in response to at least first and second pulses of the plurality of pulses; and control circuitry, coupled to the charging circuitry and the measuring circuitry, and configured to (i) receive data which is representative of the voltage at the terminals of the battery from the measuring circuitry and output one or more control signals to the charging circuitry to change one or more characteristics of the signal, wherein the control circuitry is configured to; determine data which is representative of a first relaxation time of the battery, wherein the first relaxation time is an amount of time for the voltage at the terminals of the battery to decay, in response to a first pulse, to a first voltage, determine data which is representative of a second relaxation time of the battery, wherein the second relaxation time is an amount of time for the voltage at the terminals of the battery to decay, in response to a second pulse, to at least a second voltage, wherein the second relaxation time is substantially greater than the first relaxation time, and generate the one or more control signals based on or using data which is representative of the first relaxation time and/or data which is representative of the second relaxation time. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification