US5757163A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Battery Charger and method for simultaneously charging multiple batteries from a single power supply
Assignee: Black and Decker Inc
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Filing: 1995-09-29
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Granted: 1998-05-26
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Expires: 2015-09-29
Abstract
Abstract A battery charger for simultaneously charging a plurality of batteries from a single power source includes a microcontroller-based circuit that is programmed to multiplex full charging current sequentially to each battery in the charger. Charge termination in the preferred embodiment is determined by monitoring total charge time and by detecting a predetermined drop in battery voltage--i.e., "minus ΔV". The microcontroller is programmed to individually track the actual charge time of each battery in the charger and to adjust the clock rate of each battery accordingly when multiple batteries are charged at the same time. In addition, the minus ΔV charge termination criteria is temporarily disabled for any battery in the charging process when one or more batteries are inserted into the charger to prevent erroneous detection of a full charge condition.
Inventors
- 👤 Daniele C. Brotto
- 👤 William F. Hilsher
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 09:54
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01M; H01M10/00; H01M10/42; H01M10/46; H02; H02J; H02J7/00; H02J7/50; H02J7/52; H02J7/575; H02J7/80; H02J7/82; H02J7/825; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E60/00; Y02E60/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A battery charger having multiple ports for receiving and charging a plurality of batteries, comprising: a power source for supplying charging current to the batteries; and a control circuit for controlling the application of charging current to the batteries and terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the total period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit, and including a clock circuit for separately monitoring the cumulative period of time each of the batteries has been receiving charging current from said power source and means for adjusting the rate at which said clock circuit is incremented based upon the number of batteries being charged by the battery charger.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
118 words
A battery charger having multiple ports for receiving and charging a plurality of batteries, comprising: a power source for supplying charging current to the batteries; and a control circuit for controlling the application of charging current to the batteries and terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the total period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit, and including a clock circuit for separately monitoring the cumulative period of time each of the batteries has been receiving charging current from said power source and means for adjusting the rate at which said clock circuit is incremented based upon the number of batteries being charged by the battery charger.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
55 words
The battery charger of claim 1 wherein said control circuit applies charging current to different ones of the batteries being charged at different times and further wherein said clock circuit adds to said cumulative time period for a particular battery only during the time period when charging current is being applied to said particular battery.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
113 words
A battery charger having a plurality of ports for receiving and charging one or more up to said plurality of batteries, a power source for supplying charging current to the batteries; and a control circuit for controlling the application of charging current to the one or more batteries in the charger by monitoring the voltage of each of the batteries while the batteries are being charged, and including first termination means for terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the voltage of the battery changes in a predetermined manner, and disabling means for temporarily disabling said first termination means whenever an additional battery is initially inserted into the battery charger.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
113 words
A battery charger having a plurality of ports for receiving and charging one or more up to said plurality of batteries, a power source for supplying charging current to the batteries; and a control circuit for controlling the application of charging current to the one or more batteries in the charger by monitoring the voltage of each of the batteries while the batteries are being charged, and including first termination means for terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the voltage of the battery changes in a predetermined manner, and disabling means for temporarily disabling said first termination means whenever an additional battery is initially inserted into the battery charger.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
The battery charger of claim 3 wherein said first termination means terminates the application of charging current to a battery when the voltage of the battery decreases by more than a predetermined amount.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The battery charger of claim 3 wherein said control circuit applies charging current to different ones of the batteries being charged at different times.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
The battery charger of claim 5 wherein said control circuit is adapted to successively apply the charging current from said power source in sequence to each of the batteries being charged.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The battery charger of claim 6 wherein said control circuit applies charging current for an equal predetermined period of time to each of the batteries being charged.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
103 words
The battery charger of claim 7 wherein said control circuit further includes second termination means operative alternatively to said first termination means for terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit, and a clock circuit for separately monitoring the cumulative period of time each of the batteries has been receiving charging current from said power source by adding to said cumulative time period for a particular battery only during said predetermined period of time when charging current is being applied to said particular battery.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
126 words
In a battery charger having a plurality of ports for receiving and charging one or more up to said plurality of batteries from a source of charging current; the method of controlling the application of charging current to the one or more batteries in the charger by sequentially and repetitively supplying the charging current to each of the batteries in succession such that each battery is cyclically charged for predetermined periods of time at spaced time intervals, and further including the steps of monitoring the cumulative period of time each of the batteries has been receiving charging current and terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
126 words
In a battery charger having a plurality of ports for receiving and charging one or more up to said plurality of batteries from a source of charging current; the method of controlling the application of charging current to the one or more batteries in the charger by sequentially and repetitively supplying the charging current to each of the batteries in succession such that each battery is cyclically charged for predetermined periods of time at spaced time intervals, and further including the steps of monitoring the cumulative period of time each of the batteries has been receiving charging current and terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 9 wherein said monitoring step comprises adding to said cumulative time period for a particular battery only during the predetermined time period when charging current is being applied to said particular battery.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 10 further including the steps of monitoring the voltage of each of the batteries while the batteries are being charged, and terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the voltage of the battery changes in a predetermined manner.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 10 further including the step of skipping said last-mentioned termination step whenever an additional battery is initially inserted into the battery charger.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
107 words
In a battery charger having multiple ports for receiving and charging a plurality of batteries from a source of charging current; the method of controlling the application of charging current to the batteries including the steps of: separately monitoring the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to each of the batteries; terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit; and adjusting the rate at which cumulative charge time for each battery is accumulated based upon the number of batteries being charged by the battery charger.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
107 words
In a battery charger having multiple ports for receiving and charging a plurality of batteries from a source of charging current; the method of controlling the application of charging current to the batteries including the steps of: separately monitoring the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to each of the batteries; terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to the battery exceeds a predetermined limit; and adjusting the rate at which cumulative charge time for each battery is accumulated based upon the number of batteries being charged by the battery charger.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 12 further including the steps of: applying charging current to different ones of the batteries being charged at different times; and accumulating charge time for a particular battery only during the time period when charging current is being applied to said particular battery.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
88 words
In a battery charger having multiple ports for receiving and charging a plurality of batteries from a source of charging current; the method of controlling the application of charging current to the batteries including the steps of: monitoring the voltage of each of the batteries while the batteries are being charged; terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the voltage of the battery changes in a predetermined manner; and skipping said last-mentioned termination step whenever an additional battery is initially inserted into the battery charger.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
88 words
In a battery charger having multiple ports for receiving and charging a plurality of batteries from a source of charging current; the method of controlling the application of charging current to the batteries including the steps of: monitoring the voltage of each of the batteries while the batteries are being charged; terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the voltage of the battery changes in a predetermined manner; and skipping said last-mentioned termination step whenever an additional battery is initially inserted into the battery charger.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 14 wherein said termination step comprises terminating the application of charging current to a battery when the voltage of the battery decreases by more than a predetermined amount.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 14 further including the step of applying charging current to different ones of the batteries being charged at different times.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 16 wherein said step of applying charging current comprises the successive application of the charging current from said source in sequence to each of the batteries being charged.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 17 wherein said step of applying charging current further comprises the application of charging current for an equal period of time to each of the batteries being charged.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 18 further including the steps of: separately monitoring the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to each of the batteries; and terminating the application of charging current to a battery whenever the cumulative period of time charging current has been applied to a battery exceeds a predetermined limit.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 19 wherein said monitoring step comprises accumulating charge time for a particular battery only during said period of time when charging current is being applied to said particular battery.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-05-25 | 2001-11-24 | 2002-05-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-05-25 | 2005-11-24 | 2006-05-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-05-25 | 2009-11-24 | 2010-05-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |