Bottom based balancing in lithium ion system
First Claim
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1. A method of charging a battery pack comprising:
- providing a battery pack having a plurality of cells, the plurality of cells connected in series;
providing a battery charger;
electrically coupling the battery pack to the battery charger;
upon electrically coupling the battery pack to the battery charger and while maintaining the series connection of the plurality of cells, the battery charger discharging all of the plurality of cells of the battery pack individually and simultaneously;
stopping the discharging of each cell of the plurality of cells when said each cell of the plurality of cells discharges to a predetermined low capacity threshold and continuing to discharge any remaining cells of the plurality of cells that have not discharged to the predetermined low capacity threshold; and
charging all of the plurality of cells only after the discharging has stopped for all of the plurality of cells.
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Abstract
A method comprises discharging each of a plurality of cells of a battery pack, stopping the discharging of a selected cell of the plurality of cells when the selected cell reaches a predetermined capacity, and charging the plurality of cells after the discharging has stopped for all of the plurality of cells.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of charging a battery pack comprising:
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providing a battery pack having a plurality of cells, the plurality of cells connected in series; providing a battery charger; electrically coupling the battery pack to the battery charger; upon electrically coupling the battery pack to the battery charger and while maintaining the series connection of the plurality of cells, the battery charger discharging all of the plurality of cells of the battery pack individually and simultaneously; stopping the discharging of each cell of the plurality of cells when said each cell of the plurality of cells discharges to a predetermined low capacity threshold and continuing to discharge any remaining cells of the plurality of cells that have not discharged to the predetermined low capacity threshold; and charging all of the plurality of cells only after the discharging has stopped for all of the plurality of cells. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A battery charger comprising:
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a housing; a discharging device, in the housing, that discharges each of a plurality of cells of a battery pack, the plurality of cells connected in series; a charging device, in the housing, that charges the plurality of cells; and a control module that, upon electrically coupling the battery pack to the charging device and while the maintaining the series connection of the plurality of cells, selectively instructs the discharging device to discharge all of the plurality of cells individually and simultaneously, that selectively instructs the discharging device to stop discharging each cell of the plurality of cells when said each cell of the plurality of cells discharges to a predetermined low capacity threshold and continuing to discharge any remaining cells of the plurality of cells that have not discharged to the predetermined low capacity threshold, and that selectively instructs the charging device to begin charging all of the plurality of cells only after discharging is stopped for all the plurality of cells. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification