Multi-functional portable power charger

• US 10,135,271 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2018
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bollinger Industries Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Halo International Sezc Ltd. (Evercel, Inc.)
• Inventors: Miller, Garold C., Weinstein, Nathan Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Nha
• Application Number:
  US15/946,212
• Publication Number:
  US 20180233934A1
• Time in Patent Office: 229 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0014 Circuits for equalisation of charge between batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0029 with safety or protection devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00304 Overcurrent protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0031 using battery or load disconnect circuits H02J9/002 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

A portable charger capable of jump starting a 12 V car battery includes a charger battery, a jump start circuit operatively electrically connected with the charger battery and with an ignition power outlet, and a microcontroller for coordinating safety functions to establish or interrupt the operative electrical connection of the jump start circuit with the ignition power outlet. The ignition power outlet comprises a positive power socket, a negative power socket, a positive sensing socket and a negative sensing socket. The sensing sockets are electrically isolated from the power sockets, and the microcontroller senses voltage across the sensing sockets and is configured to interrupt the operative electrical connection of the jump start circuit to the ignition power outlet until proper voltage is sensed across the sensing sockets.

Claims

1. A portable charger capable of jump starting a 12 V car battery, comprising:

a charger battery;

a jump start circuit operatively electrically connected with the charger battery and with an ignition power outlet; and

a microcontroller configured to establish or interrupt the operative electrical connection of the jump start circuit with the ignition power outlet,

wherein the ignition power outlet comprises a positive power socket, a negative power socket, a positive sensing socket and a negative sensing socket;

wherein the sensing sockets are electrically isolated from the power sockets, wherein the microcontroller senses voltage across the sensing sockets and is configured to interrupt the operative electrical connection of the jump start circuit to the ignition power outlet until proper voltage is sensed across the sensing sockets.

2. The portable charger according to claim 1, further comprising:

a USB power circuit operatively electrically connected with the charger battery and with a USB power outlet; and

an AC inverter circuit operatively electrically connected with the charger battery and with an AC power outlet;

wherein the microcontroller is further configured to establish or interrupt the operative electrical connections of the USB power circuit and/or the AC inverter circuit in response to system parameters.

3. The portable charger according to claim 1, wherein proper voltage is greater than about 2.8 V positive to negative.

4. The portable charger according to claim 3, wherein proper voltage is less than about 13.2 V positive to negative.

5. The portable charger according to claim 1, wherein the ignition power outlet is configured as a modified EC5 socket with the positive and negative sensing sockets disposed symmetrically across the midline of the positive and negative power sockets.

6. The portable charger according to claim 1, wherein the positive and negative power sockets are of different shapes.

7. The portable charger according to claim 1, wherein the power sockets and the sensing sockets are arranged to enforce polarity of the ignition power outlet.

8. The portable charger according to claim 1, wherein the microcontroller senses voltage across the sensing sockets via an opto-isolator.