Automobile charger

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10328806-B2
Application number	US-201815923219-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 16, 2018
Priority date	Apr 28, 2014
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

A novel automobile charger comprises a direct current (DC) voltage supply, wherein a positive pole of the (DC) voltage supply is connected with a first end or a first lead of a DC-to-DC module, a first end of a battery voltage detection module and a first end of a load module simultaneously while a negative pole of the DC voltage supply is connected with a second end of the DC-to-DC module, a first end of a microcontroller, a first end of an automobile start control module and a second end of the battery voltage detection module simultaneously. A third end of the DC-to-DC module is connected with a second end of the microcontroller. Third, fourth, and fifth ends of the microcontroller are connected with a third end of the battery voltage detection module, a second end of the automobile start control module and a first end of a load detection module respectively. A second end of the load detection module is connected with a third end of the automobile start control module and a second end of the load module simultaneously.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A charging device, comprising:
a battery connected to a voltage regulator, the battery supplying a charging current;
a battery voltage detector, connected to a microcontroller, to detect a voltage of an automobile battery when the charging device is connected to an automobile;
a load detector, connected to the microcontroller, to detect when the charging device is connected to the automobile battery;
the microcontroller generating, when the charging device is connected to the automobile battery, an output signal based on a detected voltage of the automotive battery;
switching circuitry including a plurality of MOSFETs to selectively connect a negative terminal of the battery to the automobile battery when the microcontroller generates the output signal; and
a boost device for boosting a gate voltage of the plurality of MOSFETs.

2. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the voltage regulator comprises a voltage stabilizer connected to a resistor, a capacitor and the microcontroller, the voltage regulator providing a DC power to the microcontroller.

3. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the load detector comprises a resistor in parallel with a capacitor, the resistor and the capacitor connected to the microcontroller.

4. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller comprises a plurality of ports, the plurality of ports including a power supply port, a ground port, an output signal port, and an automobile start control module.

5. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuitry is connected to the microcontroller via the boost device, and the plurality of MOSFETs are connected in parallel.

6. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller:
generates the output signal to cause the switching circuitry to connect the battery to the automobile battery when the automobile battery is properly connected and a voltage level of the battery is above a threshold; and
generates the output signal to cause the switching circuitry to disconnect the battery from the automobile battery when i) the voltage level of the battery is below the threshold, or ii) the automobile battery is improperly connected.

7. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the battery voltage detector detects a recharging voltage level of the battery.

8. The charging device of claim 7 , wherein the microcontroller generates the output signal to cause the switching circuitry to disconnect the battery from the automobile battery when the recharging voltage level of the battery is greater than a threshold.

9. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the voltage regulator is a direct-current to direct-current (DC-DC) converter.

10. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the load detector prevents improper user operation of the charging device.

11. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the load detector detects a reversed polarity condition.

12. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the load detector is connected to a negative terminal of the plurality of MOSFETs.

13. The charging device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) controlled by the microcontroller.

14. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the load detector is connected in parallel with the plurality of MOSFETs.

15. The charging device of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller causes the charging device to enter a standby mode when a voltage of the battery is less than 9V and allows operation when the voltage of the battery is greater than 10V.

16. A method for a device to charge an automobile battery, the method comprising:
detecting a voltage level of a battery;
detecting a connection and a type of connection between the battery and the automobile battery;
generating, by a microcontroller, an output signal based on the voltage level of the battery, the connection to the automobile battery and the type of connection of the automobile battery;
selectively connecting the battery to the automobile battery using the output signal; and
providing a low voltage protection to prevent damages caused by over discharging of the battery.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising activating a plurality of MOSFETs to connect the battery and the automobile battery, wherein a boost device boosts a gate voltage of the plurality of MOSFETs.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein:
a proper type of connection of the automobile battery is a correct polarity, and
an improper type of connection of the automobile battery is an incorrect polarity.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the generating comprises:
generating the output signal to cause switching circuitry to connect the battery to the automobile battery when the automobile battery is properly connected and a voltage level of the battery is above a threshold; and
generating the output signal to cause the switching circuitry to disconnect the battery from the automobile battery when i) the voltage level of the battery is below the threshold, or ii) the automobile battery is improperly connected.

20. A system for charging an automobile battery, the system comprising:
means for detecting a voltage level of a battery;
means for detecting a type of connection between the battery and the automobile battery;
means for generating, by a microcontroller, an output signal based on the voltage level of the battery and the type of connection of the automobile battery; and
means for selectively connecting the battery to the automobile battery based on the output signal; and
a boost device for boosting a voltage associated with the means for selectively connecting the battery to the automobile battery based on the output signal.

Assignees

• Pilot Inc

Inventors

• Wang Calvin Shiening
• Wang Chung-Hsin

Classifications

• B60L53/53

  Batteries · CPC title

• H02J2207/20

  Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter · CPC title

• H02J2105/33

  exchanging power with road vehicles · CPC title

• H02J7/865

  Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply (H02J7/50 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J7/685

  using connection detecting circuits (H02J7/68 takes precedence) · CPC title