Battery charger usable with plural different power supplies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9960622-B2
Application number	US-201615053606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2016
Priority date	Mar 12, 2015
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A battery charger comprises: a housing having at least one cradle; a connector port for receiving at different times electrical plug connectors having different contact configurations; electrical receptacles in the connector port for receiving at different times electrical plug connectors associated with different electrical power supplies, plural electrical receptacles having different contact configurations; the plural electrical receptacles being closely adjacent such that an electrical connector inserted into one electrical receptacle physically prevents an electrical connector from being inserted into the other electrical receptacle; and an electrical circuit coupling electrical power received at the electrical receptacles to the at least one cradle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery charger comprising:
a housing having at least one cradle including electrical contacts for receiving a rechargeable battery;
a connector port on said housing for receiving at different times at least two electrical plug connectors having different electrical contact configurations;
first and second electrical receptacles disposed in the connector port of said housing for receiving at different times respective first and second electrical plug connectors that are respectively associated with first and second electrical power supplies;
said first electrical receptacle having a contact configuration that is different from the contact configuration of said second electrical receptacle;
said first and second electrical receptacles being closely adjacent each other such that an electrical plug connector inserted into one of said first and second electrical receptacles physically interferes with and prevents an electrical plug connector from being plugged into the other of said first and second electrical receptacles; and
an electrical circuit disposed in said housing for coupling electrical power received at the first and second electrical receptacles to the electrical contacts of the at least one cradle of said housing.

2. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the connector port defines an opening that includes a substantial part of an outline of a first electrical plug connector and a substantial part of an outline of a second electrical plug connector, wherein parts of the respective outlines of the first and second electrical plug connectors overlap within the opening of the connector port.

3. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein one of said first and second electrical receptacles includes a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.

4. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the at least one cradle of said housing includes: a pair of spring biased arms for retaining an electronic device including the rechargeable battery therein, and optionally includes a second cradle for receiving a second rechargeable battery therein.

5. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the at least one cradle of said housing includes: a guide member for locating an electronic device including a rechargeable battery therein and a pair of spring biased arms for retaining the electronic device therein.

6. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the rechargeable battery is included in an electronic device that is configured to be retained in the at least one cradle of said housing.

7. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the at least one cradle of said housing includes first and second cradles, the first cradle being configured to receive an electronic device including a rechargeable battery therein and the second cradle being configured to receive a rechargeable battery therein.

8. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein said electrical circuit includes a DC converter having an input coupled to one of the first and second receptacles and an output coupled to the electrical contacts of the at least one cradle.

9. The battery charger of claim 8 wherein said DC converter coupled to the electrical contacts of the at least one cradle by a circuit providing a constant current to charge a battery connected to the electrical contacts of the at least one cradle.

10. The battery charger of claim 9 wherein the constant current provided to a rechargeable battery connected to the electrical contacts of the at least one cradle has a magnitude determined as a function of an open circuit voltage of the rechargeable battery.

11. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein one or more guides extend from said housing adjacent at least one of said first and second electrical receptacles for aligning a mating connector with respect to the at least one of said first and second electrical receptacles.

12. The battery charger of claim 11 wherein said one or more guides extending from said housing has a groove:
for aligning a rib of a mating connector with respect to the at least one of said first and second electrical receptacles, or
for receiving a raised guide of a mating connector for defining a single physical orientation for mating the mating connector, or
for aligning a rib of a mating connector with respect to the at least one of said first and second electrical receptacles and for receiving a raised guide of a mating connector for defining a single physical orientation for mating the mating connector.

13. The battery charger of claim 1 in combination with an electronic device including a rechargeable battery therein that is rechargeable in the at least one cradle of said battery charger.

14. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the at least one cradle of said housing includes:
one or more electrical contacts configured for making electrical connection to a rechargeable battery; or
one or more electrical contacts configured for making electrical connection to an electronic device including a rechargeable battery; or
one or more electrical contacts configured for making electrical connection to a rechargeable battery and one or more electrical contacts configured for making electrical connection to an electronic device including a rechargeable battery.

15. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein:
a first of the at least two electrical plug connectors is of a male gender or female gender; or
a second of the at least two electrical plug connectors is of a male gender or female gender; or
the first electrical receptacle is of a male gender or female gender; or
the second electrical receptacle is of a male gender or female gender; or
any compatible mate-able combination thereof.

16. The battery charger of claim 1 in combination with a power supply having an electrical plug connector that is insertable into one of said first and second electrical receptacles of said battery charger.

17. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a sensor responsive to a temperature thereof and coupled to said electrical circuit.

18. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein said electrical circuit is configured to charge a rechargeable battery disposed in the at least one cradle by:
a) setting an initial charge current level that is substantially lower than a charge current that the rechargeable battery can accept;
b) repetitively interrupting charging of the rechargeable battery at a predetermined timing to define a periodic cycle, and for each periodic cycle:
measuring an open circuit voltage of the rechargeable battery when charging of the rechargeable battery is interrupted,
determining from the measured open circuit voltage of the rechargeable battery a corresponding predetermined level of charging current to be applied to the rechargeable battery;
applying charging current to the rechargeable battery at the predetermined level of charging current; and

c) repeating the periodic cycle at least until the open circuit voltage of the rechargeable battery is at a predetermined voltage indicative of the rechargeable battery being fully charged or until the rechargeable battery is disconnected from the at least one cradle.

19. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein one of said first and second electrical receptacles includes a connector guide and wherein an electrical connector configured to mate therewith comprises:
an elongated connector body defining a longitudinal direction and having an electrical cable extending from the elongated connector body;
an electrical connector frame at one end of said elongated connector

Assignees

• Streamlight Inc

Inventors

• Ziegenfuss Peter J
• Zeisler Jon C
• Sharrah Raymond L
• Boris Thomas D

Classifications

• H02J7/975

  in response to temperature · CPC title

• H02J7/963

  in response to battery voltage gradient · CPC title

• H02J7/825

  Detection of fully charged condition · CPC title

• H02J7/751

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

• H02J7/663

  using battery or load disconnect circuits (H02J9/002 takes precedence) · CPC title