Compact multifunctional battery booster

• US 9,397,513 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2015
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schumacher Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Schumacher Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Butler, Brian F., Nguyen, Linh, Clarke, Patrick, Zhu, Shenzhong, Chen, Xiao Ping
• Primary Examiner(s): Berhanu, Samuel
• Application Number:
  US14/826,805
• Publication Number:
  US 20160049819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 340 Days
• Field of Search: 320/105
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/20 characterised by converters located in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/25 by controlling the electric load
• CPC Class Codes: F02N 11/12 Starting of engines by means of mobile, e.g. portable, starting sets
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4271 Battery management systems including electronic circuits, e.g. control of current or voltage to keep battery in healthy state, cell balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/40 adapted for charging from various sources, e.g. AC, DC or multivoltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0047 with monitoring or indicating devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters
• 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: H02J 7/345 using capacitors as storage or buffering devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/155 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/1557 Single ended primary inductor converters [SEPIC]

Abstract

A compact battery charger for charging a battery comprising: a microprocessor; a set of terminals operatively coupled to said microprocessor and configured to electrically couple with an automotive battery; and an internal lithium ion battery, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is a lithium ion battery, wherein a single-ended primary-inductor converter may be configured to receive an input voltage of 5 VDC to 20 VDC and output a predetermined DC charge voltage to said internal lithium ion battery.

Claims

1. A compact battery booster comprising:

a processor;

a display device operatively coupled to the processor, wherein the display device is configured to display a status of the compact battery booster;

a storage capacitor and an internal lithium ion battery, each of said storage capacitor and said internal lithium ion battery being rated to jump start a vehicle coupled to an external battery;

a direct current (DC) output terminal to electrically couple with the external battery;

a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive a variable input voltage between 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said storage capacitor and said internal lithium ion battery;

a reverse polarity sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the reverse polarity sensor to detect a polarity of said external battery;

a temperature sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the temperature sensor to detect a temperature of said internal lithium ion battery;

a voltage sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the voltage sensor to detect a voltage of said internal lithium ion battery; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to each of the processor, the storage capacitor, and the internal lithium ion battery, the power management circuit to provide a boosting energy to the vehicle via the DC output terminal.

2. The compact battery booster of claim 1, wherein the storage capacitor is a supercapacitor.

3. The compact battery booster of claim 1, wherein the storage capacitor draws a charging current from the external battery.

4. A compact battery charger comprising:

—

a supercapacitor;

an internal lithium ion battery, said internal lithium ion battery being rated 3.00 mAh or more;

a processor operatively coupled with (1) a reverse polarity sensor to detect a polarity of an external battery, (2) a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of said internal lithium ion battery, and (3) a voltage sensor to detect a voltage of sensor to detect a voltage of said internal lithium ion battery;

a display device operatively coupled to the processor, the display device to display a status of the compact battery charger;

a direct current (DC) output terminal to couple with the external battery;

a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive an input voltage within an input voltage range of 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said internal lithium ion battery and said supercapacitor; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to the processor and the internal lithium ion battery, the power management circuit to provide a predetermined output energy to said external battery via the DC output terminal.

5. The compact battery charger of claim 4, further comprising a supercapacitor, wherein the supercapacitor is configured to draw current from the external battery to charge the supercapacitor.

6. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the predetermined charge voltage is greater than the input voltage.

7. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the predetermined output energy is a boosting energy for starting an engine coupled to the external battery.

8. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the predetermined output energy is a charging energy for charging the external battery.

9. The compact battery charger of claim 4, further comprising a removable internal data storage device.

10. The compact battery charger of claim 4, further comprising an internal induction coil, wherein the internal induction coil to receive energy from an electromagnetic field created by an external induction coil and to convert the electromagnetic field to produce the input voltage.

11. The compact battery charger of claim 4, further comprising a second DC output terminal, wherein the DC output terminal is configured to provide a boosting energy for starting an engine coupled to the external battery, and wherein the second DC output terminal is configured to provide a charging energy to a portable electronic device.

12. The compact battery charger of claim 11, wherein said second DC output terminal is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port.

13. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the display device is configured to enter a sleep mode after a predetermined time period of inactivity.

14. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the power management circuit is configured to run a predetermined current through the external battery via the DC output terminal to preheat the external battery.

15. The compact battery charger of claim 4, further comprising a DC to alternating current (AC) converter coupled between the internal lithium ion battery and an AC output terminal.

16. The compact battery charger of claim 4, further comprising an internal data storage device to back, up digital content stored to a portable electronic device via a USB port.

17. The compact battery charger of claim 14, wherein the power management circuit is configured to run a predetermined current through the external battery via the DC output terminal for a predetermined period of time.

18. The compact battery charger of claim 14, wherein the power management circuit is configured to run the predetermined current through the external battery until the external battery reaches a predetermined temperature.

19. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the power management circuit selectively provides the boosting energy to the DC output terminal as a function of an output from at least one of the reverse polarity sensor, the temperature sensor, or the voltage sensor.

20. The compact battery charger of claim 4, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is rated between 3,000 mAh and 20,000 mAh.

21. A compact battery charger comprising:

an internal lithium ion battery;

a direct current (DC) output terminal to couple with an external battery;

an internal induction coil to receive energy from an electromagnetic field created by an external induction coil and to convert the electromagnetic field to produce an input voltage;

a DC to DC converter to receive the input voltage and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said internal lithium ion battery; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to the internal lithium ion battery, a reverse polarity sensor;

a temperature sensor, and a voltage sensor to detect a voltage of said internal lithium ion battery,

wherein the power management circuit is configured to electrically couple the DC output terminal with said internal lithium ion battery, thereby providing a predetermined output energy from said internal lithium ion battery to said external battery.

22. The compact battery charger of claim 21, further comprising a removable data storage device.

23. The compact battery charger of claim 21, wherein the predetermined output energy is a boosting energy for starting an engine coupled to the external battery.

24. The compact battery charger of claim 21, wherein the predetermined output energy is a charging current for charging the external battery.

25. An apparatus for charging or starting a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a storage capacitor;

an internal lithium ion battery;

a set of output terminals to electrically couple with a vehicular battery;

a single-ended primary-inductor converter to receive a variable input voltage between 5 volts DC and 20 volts DC and to output a predetermined charge voltage to said storage capacitor and said internal lithium ion battery;

a reverse polarity sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the reverse polarity sensor to detect a polarity of said vehicular battery;

a temperature sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the temperature sensor to detect a temperature of said internal lithium ion battery;

a voltage sensor operatively coupled to the processor, the voltage sensor to detect a voltage of said internal lithium ion battery; and

a power management circuit operatively coupled to each of the processor, the storage capacitor, and the internal lithium ion battery, wherein the power management circuit is configured to provide a boosting energy to the vehicle via the set of output terminals.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the supercapacitor draws current from the vehicular battery to charge the supercapacitor.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the internal lithium ion battery is rated between 10,000 mAh and 20,000 mAh.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising a direct current (DC) output terminal to provide a charging energy to a portable electronic device.