Systems and methods for battery charger with safety component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016285282-A1
Application number	US-201615080010-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 24, 2016
Priority date	Mar 24, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A battery charger with an internal power storage device may be used to facilitate fast charging of a battery by using a high C-rate. A battery charger with an internal power storage device may include a control circuit that receives operating mode instructions to operate in a base charging mode or a fast charging mode. In the base charging mode, the battery charger may be configured to concurrently charge a battery and an internal power storage device at a base C-rate using current supplied from an external power source. In the fast charging mode, the battery charger may be configured to charge the battery at a high C-rate, which is substantially higher than the base C-rate, by using the internal power storage device.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A battery charger, comprising:
a power supply connector configured to connect the battery charger to an external power supply; a battery connector configured to connect the battery charger to a battery; an internal power storage device; a set of switches configured to switch the battery charger between a base charging mode and a fast charging mode; and control circuitry configured to electrically connect to the power supply, the internal power storage device, and the battery, wherein the control circuitry is configured to operate the battery charger in the base charging mode or the fast charging mode.

2 . The battery charger of claim 1 , wherein, in the base charging mode, the control circuitry is configured to supply power at a base C-rate to the battery interface or the internal power storage device.

3 . The battery charger of claim 2 , wherein, in the fast charging mode, the control circuitry is configured to supply power from the internal power storage device to the battery at a high C-rate, where the high C-rate is higher than the base C-rate.

4 . The battery charger of claim 3 , further comprising a battery charging circuit, wherein the battery charging circuit is electrically connected to the battery connector and wherein the battery charging circuit is configured to limit a battery charging characteristic.

5 . The battery charger of claim 4 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive battery-specific input from the user interface; and limit, based at least in part on the received battery-specific input, the battery charging characteristic.

6 . The battery charger of claim 5 , wherein the battery-specific input comprises one or more of (i) battery capacity, (ii) battery voltage, (iii) temperature, (iv) C-rate, (v) battery chemistry, and (vi) cell configuration.

7 . The battery charger of claim 6 , wherein the battery charging characteristic comprises one or more of (i) over-current, (ii) over-voltage, (iii) under-voltage, (iv), over-temperature, (v) over-pressure, and (vi) ground fault.

8 . The battery charger of claim 3 , further comprising an internal power storage device charging circuit, wherein the internal power storage device charging circuit is electrically connected to the power supply connector and the internal power storage device; and wherein the internal power storage device charging circuit is configured to limit an internal power storage device charging characteristic.

9 . The battery charger of claim 4 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive battery-specific input from the user interface; and limit, based at least in part on the received battery-specific input, the internal power storage device charging characteristic.

10 . The battery charger of claim 9 , wherein the battery-specific input comprises one or more of (i) battery capacity, (ii) battery voltage, (iii) temperature, (iv) C-rate, (v) battery chemistry, and (vi) cell configuration.

11 . The battery charger of claim 10 , wherein the internal power storage device charging characteristic comprises one or more of (i) over-current, (ii) over-voltage, (iii) under-voltage, (iv), over-temperature, (v) over-pressure, and (vi) ground fault.

12 . A battery charger, comprising:
control circuitry configured to couple to a user interface and further configured to electrically connect to (i) a power supply, (ii) an internal power storage device, and (iii) a battery, wherein the control circuit is configured to: receive operating mode instructions from the user interface that correspond to a desired operating mode of (i) a base charging mode or (ii) a fast charging mode; receive battery-specific input from the user interface; and operate the battery charger in the desired operating mode to charge a battery in the desired operating mode; wherein, in the base charging mode, the control circuitry is configured to use power from the external power source to concurrently charge (i) the battery at a base C-rate and (ii) the internal power storage device at the base C-rate; and wherein, in the fast charging mode, the control circuitry is configured to use current from the internal power storage device to charge the battery at a high C-rate, where the high C-rate is higher than the base C-rate.

13 . The battery charger of claim 12 , further comprising a battery charging circuit electrically connected to a battery connector, wherein the battery charging circuit is configured to limit a battery charging characteristic.

14 . The battery charger of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to limit, based at least in part on the received battery-specific input, the battery charging characteristic.

15 . The battery charger of claim 14 , wherein the battery-specific input comprises one or more of (i) battery capacity, (ii) battery voltage, (iii) temperature, (iv) C-rate, (v) battery chemistry, and (vi) cell configuration.

16 . The battery charger of claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to limit, based at least in part on the received battery-specific input, an internal power storage device charging characteristic.

17 . The battery charger of claim 16 , wherein the internal power storage device charging characteristic comprises one or more of (i) over-current, (ii) over-voltage, (iii) under-voltage, (iv), over-temperature, (v) over-pressure, and (vi) ground fault.

18 . A method for operating a battery charger, comprising:
receiving operating mode instructions from a user interface, wherein the operating mode instructions correspond to a desired operating mode for charging a battery of (i) a base charging mode or (ii) a fast charging mode; and configuring the battery charger to operate in the desired operating mode, wherein the base charging mode comprises configuring the battery charger to use current from an external power source to concurrently charge both (i) an internal power storage device at a base C-rate and (ii) the battery at the base C-rate, wherein the fast charging mode comprises configuring the battery charger to use current from the internal power storage device to charge the battery at a high C-rate, and wherein the high C-rate is higher than the base charging rate.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
receiving battery-specific input from the user interface; and limiting, based at least in part on the received battery-specific input, a battery charging characteristic.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
limiting, based at least in part on the received battery-specific input, an internal power storage device charging characteristic.

Assignees

• Horizon Hobby Llc

Inventors

• Arends Gregory

Classifications

• H02J7/342

  The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging (with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/68) · CPC title

• H02J7/865 Primary

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

• H02J7/751 Primary

  concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries · CPC title

• H02J7/007 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H02J7/0045

  Electricity · mapped topic