Universal wireless charging of power tool battery packs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12068622-B2
Application number	US-202117488551-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2021
Priority date	Sep 29, 2020
Publication date	Aug 20, 2024
Grant date	Aug 20, 2024

Abstract

Communication systems described herein may include a wireless charging device with a plurality of charging stations. The wireless charging device may communicate with a first battery pack via at least one of a wireless communication device and a first battery pack detection sensor of a first charging station. The wireless charging device may communicate with a second battery pack via at least one of the wireless communication device and a second battery pack detection sensor of a second charging station. The wireless charging device may determine that the first battery pack was manufactured by a different manufacturer than the second battery pack. The wireless charging device may communicate status information to an external device for display by the external device. The status information may include a first manufacturer of the first battery pack and a second manufacturer of the second battery pack that is different than the first manufacturer.

First claim

We claim:

1. A communication system comprising:
a wireless charging device including
a plurality of charging stations including
a first charging station including a first type of wireless charging circuitry and a first battery pack detection sensor, and
a second charging station including a second battery pack detection sensor and a second type of wireless charging circuitry different than the first type of wireless charging circuitry,

a wireless communication device,
a charger electronic processor coupled to the plurality of charging stations and to the wireless communication device, wherein the charger electronic processor is configured to
communicate with a first battery pack via at least one of the wireless communication device and the first battery pack detection sensor,
communicate with a second battery pack via at least one of the wireless communication device and the second battery pack detection sensor,
determine, based on communicating with the first battery pack and the second battery pack, that the first battery pack was manufactured by a different manufacturer than the second battery pack, and
communicate first status information of the first charging station and second status information of the second charging station to an external device via the wireless communication device, wherein the first status information includes a first manufacturer of the first battery pack and wherein the second status information includes a second manufacturer of the second battery pack that is different than the first manufacturer;

the external device including
a transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with the wireless communication device of the wireless charging device,
a display,
an external device electronic processor coupled to the transceiver and the display, the external device electronic processor configured to
receive the first status information and the second status information from the wireless charging device via the transceiver, and
control the display to display the first status information and the second status information.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device is configured to use a first wireless communication modality, and wherein at least one of the first battery pack detection sensor and the second battery pack detection sensor is configured to use a second communication modality different than the first communication modality.

3. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the charger electronic processor and a battery electronic processor of the first battery pack is configured to determine a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of at least one of (i) wireless charging of the first battery pack by the first type of wireless charging circuitry and (ii) communication between the first battery pack and the at least one of the wireless communication device and the first battery pack detection sensor;
wherein the first status information includes the RSSI; and
wherein the external device electronic processor controls the display to display the RSSI as an indication of an effectiveness of wireless power transfer from the first type of wireless charging circuitry of the first charging station to the first battery pack.

4. The communication system of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the charger electronic processor, the battery electronic processor, and the external device electronic processor is configured to determine that the RSSI is below a threshold RSSI;
wherein in response to determining that the RSSI is below the threshold RSSI, the external device electronic processor is configured to control the display to provide an alert recommending that a user adjust a positioning of the first battery pack on the first charging station.

5. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first status information indicates that the first charging station is wirelessly charging the first battery pack using the first type of wireless charging circuitry.

6. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first status information indicates a plurality of available types of charging by the first charging station, the plurality of available types of charging including use of the first type of wireless charging circuitry and use of a third type of wireless charging circuitry different than the first type of charging circuitry.

7. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first status information indicates one or more of a plurality of wireless charging modalities through which the first battery pack is configured to be wirelessly charged.

8. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first status information includes at least one of a charge level of the first battery pack, a temperature of the first battery pack, a voltage of the first battery pack, and an energy output capacity of the first battery pack.

9. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to control the display to display a charging type selection interface configured to allow a user to select between (i) serial charging of the first battery pack and the second battery pack and (ii) simultaneous charging of the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to receive, via the display, a user input selecting an option from the charging type selection interface;
wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the selected option to the wireless charging device; and
wherein the charger electronic processor is configured to
receive, via the wireless communication device, the selected option, and
control operation of the first charging station and the second charging station in accordance with the selected option.

10. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to receive, via the display, a selection of one or more battery packs to be charged;
wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the selection of the one or more battery packs to be charged to the wireless charging device; and
wherein the charger electronic processor is configured to
receive, via the wireless communication device, the selection of the one or more battery packs to be charged, and
control operation of the first charging station and the second charging station in accordance with the selection of the one or more battery packs to be charged.

11. The communication system of claim 10 , wherein the selection of the one or more battery packs to be charged includes a selection of a plurality of battery packs to be charged and an order in which serial charging of each of the battery packs in the plurality of battery packs occurs.

12. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to receive, via the display, a selection of a charging modality for the first charging station from among a plurality of charging modalities that are shared by the first charging station and the first battery pack;
wherein the external device electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the selection of the charging modality to the wireless charging device; and
wherein the charger electronic processor is configured to
receive, via the wireless communication device, the selection of the charging modality, and
control operation of the first charging station to charge the first battery pack using the selected charging modality.

13. The communication system of claim 1 ,

Assignees

• Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp

Inventors

• Fieldbinder Douglas R
• Semon Catherine K

Classifications

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/50

  acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H02J7/47 Primary

  Arrangements for checking compatibility or authentication between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source · CPC title

• H02J7/44 Primary

  between battery management systems and power sources · CPC title

• H02J50/40

  using two or more transmitting or receiving devices (H02J50/50 takes precedence) · CPC title