Portable device battery charging circuits and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9960618-B1
Application number	US-201514608175-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jan 28, 2015
Priority date	Dec 14, 2014
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

Devices having battery charge control circuits are disclosed. Such devices can include power control circuits operable to receive electrical power at a connector, and provide power to electrical components, including a charge current for a rechargeable battery; and a controller circuit configured to determine and store a maximum charge current setting based on whether a voltage at the connector falls below a predetermined limit as the charge current is increased. Corresponding methods are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
power control circuits operable to receive electrical power at a connector, and provide power to electrical components, including a charge current for a rechargeable battery; and
a controller circuit configured to determine and store a maximum charge current setting at which battery charging continues based on whether a voltage at the connector falls below a predetermined limit as the charge current is increased.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connector is a wired connector.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the connector is configured to provide a power supply and at least one serial data path.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connector is selected from: a Universal Serial Bus connector; an IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connector; a Serial ATA (SATA) connector, a connector compatible with the Thunderbolt standard; and a connector compatible with a wireless power transfer system.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the electrical power received at the connector is DC power.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the connector receives a DC input supply voltage; and
the controller circuit comprises a current limit detection circuit configured to sense the charge current and determine when the DC input supply voltage falls below a voltage limit.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the controller circuit further includes
a current sensing circuit coupled to a charge current path to a battery,
a voltage compare circuit configured to compare an input supply voltage to the voltage limit, and
a store for storing a charge current value corresponding to input supply voltage levels.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the controller circuit comprises a microcontroller.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including:
a plurality of application circuits configured to provide functions of the apparatus, the application circuits having a priority with respect to one another; and
a device controller configured to disable some application circuits based on the priority in response to the maximum charge current setting being below a predetermined current limit.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further including:
a user interface comprising at least one indicator configured to identify when at least one function is disabled by the device controller disabling a corresponding application circuit.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the apparatus is a portable storage device comprising data storage circuits and wireless communication circuits configured to enable access to data stored in the data storage circuits.

12. An apparatus, comprising:
power control circuits operable to receive electrical power at a connector, and provide power to electrical components, including a charge current for a rechargeable battery;
a controller circuit configured to determine and store a maximum charge current setting at which battery charging continues based on whether a voltage at the connector falls below a predetermined limit as the charge current is increased; and
a device controller circuit configured to disable selected functions of the apparatus according to the maximum charge current settings.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:
the controller circuit includes a storage section, and the controller circuit is configured to store the maximum charge current setting.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein:
the device controller is configured to receive the maximum charge current setting from the controller circuit.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:
the apparatus is a portable storage device comprising data storage circuits and wireless communication circuits configured to enable access to data stored in the storage circuits.

16. An apparatus, comprising:
power control circuits operable to receive electrical power at a connector, and provide power to electrical components, including a charge current for a rechargeable battery;
a controller circuit configured to determine and store a maximum charge current setting based on whether a voltage at the connector falls below a predetermined limit as the charge current is increased;
a plurality of application circuits configured to provide functions of the apparatus, the application circuits having a priority with respect to one another; and
a device controller configured to disable some application circuits based on the priority in response to the maximum charge current setting being below a predetermined current limit.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further including:
a user interface comprising at least one indicator configured to identify when at least one function is disabled by the device controller disabling a corresponding application circuit.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein:
the connector receives a DC input supply voltage; and
the controller circuit comprises a current limit detection circuit configured to sense the charge current and determine when the DC input supply voltage falls below a voltage limit.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein:
the controller circuit further includes
a current sensing circuit coupled to a charge current path to a battery,
a voltage compare circuit configured to compare the input supply voltage to the voltage limit, and
a store for storing a charge current value corresponding to input supply voltage levels.

20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein:
the apparatus is a portable storage device comprising data storage circuits and wireless communication circuits configured to enable access to data stored in the data storage circuits.

Assignees

• Seagate Technology Llc
• Seagate Technology Llc

Inventors

• Razdan Ashutosh
• Yin Philip
• Markhovsky Felix

Classifications

• H02J7/94

  in response to battery current · CPC title

• H02J7/933

  the cycle being controlled or terminated in response to electric parameters · CPC title

• H02J7/731

  specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries (H02J7/751 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J7/90 Primary

  Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage · CPC title

• H02J2207/40

  adapted for charging from various sources, e.g. AC, DC or multivoltage · CPC title