Universal system for charging at least one portable device

• US 9,559,531 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2013
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ERGYLINK
• Original Assignee: ERGYLINK
• Inventors: Gilbert, Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): GRANT, ROBERT J
• Application Number:
  US14/107,807
• Publication Number:
  US 20140103868A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,142 Days
• Field of Search: 320/108, 320/111
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/22 The load being a portable electronic device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00712 the cycle being controlled or terminated in response to electric parameters

Abstract

A universal system for recharging at least one portable appliance, the dedication of which is being capable from a device (4) of suiting any portable appliance version with at least one adapter (6) which may be specific in all or part of the relevant portable appliance. The system, in its preferred alternative embodiments, allows simultaneous or sequential recharging of a plurality of portable appliances. With the system it is further possible to save electric energy in a stand-by mode and the risks of fire and electrocution in the case of any dysfunction are reduced as compared with the solutions of the state of the art.

Claims

1. A universal system for recharging two or more portable appliances that each have a rechargeable battery and a charging supervisor that manages a recharging current for recharging the rechargeable battery of the respective portable appliance, the universal system comprising:

a recharging device comprised of at least one DC power supply, a start detection element, at least one switching element, and a control circuit, the at least one DC power supply being connectable to and powered by an energy source via the at least one switching element, the control circuit further comprises at least one current-measuring element that measures at least one current for determining a total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device;

at least one first sub-assembly connected to the recharging device, the at least one first sub-assembly operatively connectable to a charging port of each portable appliance,

wherein the at least one DC power supply is configured to provide electric energy at a DC voltage to an input side of the at least one first sub-assembly, and said first sub-assembly is configured to transfer the electric energy to said one or more portable appliances,

wherein, when the charging port of the respective portable appliances is operatively connected to the first sub-assembly for being recharged, and with the at least one switching element closed, the at least one DC power supply is connected to the energy source so the energy source powers the at least one DC power supply to provide the electric energy at a constant DC voltage to the charging port of each of the portable appliances, for recharging the rechargeable battery of each of the portable appliances under control of the charging supervisor of the respective portable appliance,

wherein the start detection element is operatively connected to the control circuit, the start detection element arranged to detect;

a) a direct start command from a user,

wherein the control circuit;

i) when the user activates the start detection element, automatically closes the switching element to automatically connect the at least one DC power supply to the energy source, and

ii) upon an automatic determination that all of said portable appliances are not being charged, opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, and

iii) upon an automatic determination that an end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances has been reached, automatically opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, wherein the reaching of the end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances is automatically determined by way of the measurement of the at least one current by the at least one current-measuring element allowing determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, and

iv) upon an automatic determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, whether the total power being consumed exceeds a capacity of said at least one DC power supply source;

a) when the total power being consumed is less than the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage simultaneously and continuously to all the portable appliances, and

b) when the total power being consumed is greater the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage continuously to only a subset of said portable appliances until said subset is fully charged, and then applying the constant voltage continuously to remaining portable appliances of the portable appliances still to be recharged, until the remaining portable appliances are fully charged, or

c) detect each appliance being operatively connected to the at least first sub-assembly for recharging,

wherein the control circuit;

i) when the start detection element detects the user placing one of the appliance in the position with respect to the at least first sub-assembly to be recharged, automatically closes the switching element to automatically connect the at least one DC power supply to the energy source, and

ii) upon an automatic determination that all of said portable appliances are not being charged, opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, and

iii) upon an automatic determination that an end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances has been reached, automatically opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, wherein the reaching of the end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances is automatically determined by way of the measurement of the at least one current by the at least one current-measuring element allowing determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, and

iv) upon an automatic determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, whether the total power being consumed exceeds a capacity of said at least one DC power supply source;

a) when the total power being consumed is less than the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage simultaneously and continuously to all the portable appliances, and

b) when the total power being consumed is greater the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage continuously to only a subset of said portable appliances until said subset is fully charged, and then applying the constant voltage continuously to remaining portable appliances of the portable appliances still to be recharged, until the remaining portable appliances are fully charged.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising one or more second sub-assemblies, each said second sub-assembly interfacing with a respective one of the first sub-assemblies,

each second sub-assembly comprising an output connection that connects to the charging port of a respective one of the portable appliances, and

each second sub-assembly having an input side that receives electric energy from an output side of the first sub-assembly and provides the constant DC voltage to the charging port of the respective portable appliance.

3. The system according to claim 2, further comprising:

guiding and/or maintaining means configured to position and hold at least one of said one or more second sub-assemblies in correspondence with said first sub-assembly for the interfacing of the one second sub-assembly in correspondence with said first sub-assembly.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said first sub-assembly includes a bearing surface configured to receive the charging port or the second sub-assembly of at least one of said two or more portable appliances to be recharged, said first sub-assembly configured to transfer electric energy to said one portable appliance by direct electric conduction.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein said first and second sub-assemblies comprise contacts and/or inductors configured to be provided in a coupling position suitable for transferring electric energy through the effect of a force controlled by an electric command in connection with the charge condition of the portable appliance.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said first sub-assembly comprises inductors configured to transfer electric energy to at least one of said one or more portable appliances wirelessly by induction.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said first sub-assembly transfers electric energy to at least one of said one or more portable appliances via one or more wires comprising at least two contacts connectable to said one of said one or more portable appliances.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said first sub-assembly further comprises inductors configured to transfer electric energy to at least another of said one or more portable appliances wirelessly by induction.

9. The system according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said one or more second sub-assemblies further comprises a structure specific to one of said one or more portable appliances and configured to at least partly contact on a surface of the one of said one or more portable appliances and/or plugged in one of the charging port of the appliance.

10. The system according to claim 2, wherein said one or more second sub-assemblies comprise a connector configured to electrically connect a corresponding portable appliance with electric circuits of said second sub-assembly, said connector configured such that when interfaced with a power interface of a portable appliance, said connector is received completely within said interface and does not protrude from said power interface, said connector being connected to the electric circuits by a flexible means.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein said means control circuit is also configured to open the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source and thereby disconnect said at least one DC power supply source from the energy source upon a determination that a load corresponding to a power consumed by the recharging of said one or more portable appliances exceeds a predetermined threshold.

12. The system according to claim 2, wherein said one or more second sub-assemblies comprise means for providing access to at least one of the group consisting of:

an indicator, a button, a hole, and a connector of the portable appliance.

13. The system according to claim 2, wherein said one or more second sub-assemblies comprise at least one additional one of the group consisting of:

an indicator, a button, a hole, and a connector of the portable appliance.

14. The system according to claim 3, wherein at least one of said one or more second sub-assemblies comprise at least one contactless identification means enabling identification of a corresponding portable appliance and/or a user associated therewith.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the recharging device comprises at least one socket for recharging at least one of said one or more portable appliances via a cable.

16. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the recharging device comprises an audio recording and playback means for recording a voice message and for playing the recorded voice message upon connection of a portable appliance to said recharging device for recharging the battery of the one or more portable appliances, and

wherein the recharging device further comprises means for recognizing automatically an addressee of the recorded voice message upon initiating charging of a portable appliance associated with the addressee, the initiating of the charging of the portable appliance causing automatic playback of the recorded voice message intended for the recognized addressee.

20. The system according to claim 2, wherein the second sub-assembly comprises a socket for recharging the portable appliance via a standard charger.

17. A method using a universal recharging device to recharge two or more portable appliances that each have a rechargeable battery and a charging supervisor that manages a recharging current to recharge the rechargeable battery demanded by the respective portable appliance, said method comprising the steps of:

connecting an energy source to a recharging device comprised of at least one DC power supply, a start detection element operatively connected to the control circuit, at least one switching element, and a control circuit, the at least one DC power supply being connectable to and powered by the energy source via the at least one switching element, the control circuit further comprises at least one current-measuring element that measures at least one current for determining a total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, wherein at least one first sub-assembly is connected to the recharging device, the at least one first sub-assembly operatively connectable to a charging port of each portable appliance, wherein the at least one DC power supply is configured to provide electric energy at a DC voltage to an input side of the at least one first sub-assembly, and said first sub-assembly is configured to transfer the electric energy to said one or more portable appliances,

bring the portable appliances to respective ones of the first sub-assemblies so that the charging port of the respective portable appliances is operatively connected to the first sub-assembly for being recharged;

wherein, with the at least one switching element closed, the at least one DC power supply is connected to the energy source so the energy source powers the at least one DC power supply to provide the electric energy at a constant DC voltage to the charging port of each of the portable appliances, for recharging the rechargeable battery of each of the portable appliances under control of the charging supervisor of the respective portable appliance,

supplying a constant voltage of electric energy from the at least one DC power supply source to the charging port of each of the portable appliances to be recharged;

operating with the start detection element to detect

a) a direct start command from a user,

wherein the control circuit;

i) when the user activates the start detection element, automatically closes the switching element to automatically connect the at least one DC power supply to the energy source, and

ii) upon an automatic determination that all of said portable appliances are not being charged, opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, and

iii) upon an automatic determination that an end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances has been reached, automatically opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, wherein the reaching of the end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances is automatically determined by way of the measurement of the at least one current by the at least one current-measuring element allowing determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, and

iv) upon an automatic determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, whether the total power being consumed exceeds a capacity of said at least one DC power supply source;

a) when the total power being consumed is less than the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage simultaneously and continuously to all the portable appliances, and

b) when the total power being consumed is greater the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage continuously to only a subset of said portable appliances until said subset is fully charged, and then applying the constant voltage continuously to remaining portable appliances of the portable appliances still to be recharged, until the remaining portable appliances are fully charged, or

c) each appliance being operatively connected to the at least first sub-assembly for recharging,

wherein the control circuit;

i) when the start detection element detects the user placing one of the appliance in the position with respect to the at least first sub-assembly to be recharged, automatically closes the switching element to automatically connect the at least one DC power supply to the energy source, and

ii) upon an automatic determination that all of said portable appliances are not being charged, opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, and

iii) upon an automatic determination that an end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances has been reached, automatically opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, wherein the reaching of the end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances is automatically determined by way of the measurement of the at least one current by the at least one current-measuring element allowing determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, and

iv) upon an automatic determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, whether the total power being consumed exceeds a capacity of said at least one DC power supply source;

a) when the total power being consumed is less than the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage simultaneously and continuously to all the portable appliances, and

b) when the total power being consumed is greater the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage continuously to only a subset of said portable appliances until said subset is fully charged, and then applying the constant voltage continuously to remaining portable appliances of the portable appliances still to be recharged, until the remaining portable appliances are fully charged.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

interfacing one or more second sub-assemblies with a respective one of the first sub-assemblies, wherein each second sub-assembly comprising an output connection that connects to the charging port of a respective one of the portable appliances, and each second sub-assembly having an input side the receives the constant DC voltage from an output side of the first sub-assembly and provides the constant DC voltage to the charging port of the respective portable appliance; and

arranging the charging port of the respective one of the portable appliances with the output connection of one of the second sub-assemblies, in order to provide the constant DC voltage to the charging port of the portable appliance, for recharging the rechargeable battery of the portable appliance under control of the charging supervisor of the portable appliance.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising the step of:

interfacing the portable appliance with the one of the second sub-assemblies using a guiding and/or maintaining means configured to position and hold at least one of said one or more second sub-assemblies in correspondence with said first sub-assembly for the interfacing of the one second sub-assembly in correspondence with said first sub-assembly.