초록 ▼

A power supply charger for charging battery cells divided into at least two battery cell groups, each battery cell group having an associated protector circuit module. The power supply charger comprises, for each battery cell group, a power converter, a constant-current and constant-voltage device c

A power supply charger for charging battery cells divided into at least two battery cell groups, each battery cell group having an associated protector circuit module. The power supply charger comprises, for each battery cell group, a power converter, a constant-current and constant-voltage device connected to the power converter for selectively applying a voltage from the power converter across the battery cell group and a current sensing circuit. The power supply charger further comprises, for each battery cell of a battery cell group, a voltage sensing circuit and a balancer circuit. Finally, the power supply charger comprises a micro-controller operatively connected to the various components and is so configured as to, for each battery cell group, selectively apply a voltage across the battery cell group or decrease the voltage of individual battery cells in the battery cell group in response to sensed battery cell voltage and battery cell group current.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method of charging battery cells divided into at least two battery cell groups, each battery cell group having an associated protector circuit module, the method comprising the steps of: (a) for each battery cell group, applying a voltage across the battery cell group until

What is claimed is: 1. A method of charging battery cells divided into at least two battery cell groups, each battery cell group having an associated protector circuit module, the method comprising the steps of: (a) for each battery cell group, applying a voltage across the battery cell group until one condition selected from the group consisting of the voltage of one of the battery cells exceeding a first threshold and the current across the battery cell group dropping below a second threshold, is met; (b) for each battery cell group, verifying that each of the of battery cells of the battery cell group has a similar voltage; (c) when the verification of the battery cells voltage in step b determines that at least one battery cell of the battery cell group has a voltage departing from the voltage of the other battery cells of the battery cell group by more than a predetermine value, decreasing the voltage of the other battery cells and returning to step a. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first threshold is set to 4.2V. 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the second threshold is set to C/l0, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: (d) for each battery cell group, applying a voltage across the battery cell group until the current across the battery cell group drops below a third threshold and stays below the third threshold for a predetermined period of time. 5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the third threshold is set to C/l0, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 6. A method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined period of time is set to 10 minutes. 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein step c is repeated up to a predetermined maximum number of times. 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined maximum number of times is 3. 9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising before step a the steps of: (i) detecting the presence of at least one battery cell; (ii) when the detection of the presence of at least one battery cell of step i fails, reporting an error condition and terminating the charging of the power supply. 10. A method according to claim 1, further comprising before step a the steps of: (i) measuring the voltage of each battery cell group; (ii) when the measured voltage of at least one battery cell group of step i meets one condition selected from a group consisting of the voltage of a battery cell group being below a fourth threshold and the voltage of a battery cell group exceeding a fifth threshold, reporting an error condition and terminating the charging of the power supply. 11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the fourth threshold is set to 1V. 12. A method according to claim 10, wherein the fifth threshold is set to 4.235V. 13. A method according to claim 1, further comprising before step a the steps of: (i) measuring the temperature of the battery cells; (ii) when the measured temperature of step i meets one condition selected from a group consisting of the temperature being below a sixth threshold and the temperature exceeding a seventh threshold, reporting an error condition and terminating the charging of the power supply. 14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the sixth threshold is set to 0° C. 15. A method according to claim 13, wherein the seventh threshold is set to 45° C. 16. A method according to claim 1, further comprising before step a the steps of: (i) measuring the current through each battery cell group; (ii) when the measured current of at least one battery cell group of step i is below an eight threshold, reporting an error condition and terminating the charging of the power supply. 17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the eighth threshold is set to C/l0, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 18. A method according to claim 1, further comprising before step a the steps of: (i) measuring the current through all battery cell groups; (ii) when the measured current through all battery cell groups of step i exceeds a ninth threshold, reporting an error condition and terminating the charging of the power supply. 19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the ninth threshold is set to 0.6C, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 20. A power supply charger for charging battery cells divided into at least two battery cell groups, each battery cell group having an associated protector circuit module, the power supply charger comprising: a power source input configured to be connected to a power source; for each battery cell group: a power converter connected to the power source input; a constant-current and constant-voltage device connected to the power converter for selectively applying a voltage from the power converter across the battery cell group; a current sensing circuit for sensing the current through the cell group; terminals configured to connect the constant-current and constant-voltage device and the current sensing circuit to the battery cell group; for each battery cell of the battery cell group: a voltage sensing circuit for sensing the voltage across the battery cell; a balancer circuit for decreasing the voltage of the battery cell; terminals configured to connect the voltage sensing circuit and the balancer circuit to the battery cell; a micro-controller operatively connected to the constant-current and constant-voltage devices, current sensing circuits, voltage sensing circuits and balancer circuits, the micro-controller being so configured as to: (a) for each battery cell group, activate the constant-current and constant-voltage device to apply a voltage from the power converter across the battery cell group until one condition selected from the group consisting of the voltage sensing circuit of one of the battery cells of the battery cell group sensing that the voltage exceeds a first threshold and the current sensing circuit of the battery cell group sensing that the current has dropped below a second threshold, is met; (b) for each battery cell group, activate the voltage sensing circuits to verify that each of the battery cells of the battery cell group has a similar voltage; (c) when the verification of the voltage of the battery cells in step b determines that at least one battery cell of the battery cell group has a voltage departing from the voltage of the other battery cells of the battery cell group by more than a predetermine value, activate the balancer circuits to decrease the voltage of the other battery cells of the battery cell group and return to step a. 21. A power supply charger according to claim 20, wherein the first threshold is set to 4.2V. 22. A power supply charger according to claim 20, wherein the second threshold is set to C/l0, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 23. A power supply charger according to claim 20, the microcontroller being further so configured as to: (d) for each battery cell group, activate the constant-current and constant-voltage device to apply a voltage from the power converter across the battery cell group until the current sensing circuit of the battery cell group senses that the current has dropped below a third threshold and stays below the third threshold for a predetermined period of time. 24. A power supply charger according to claim 23, wherein the third threshold is set to C/l0, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 25. A power supply charger according to claim 23, wherein the predetermined period of time is set to 10 minutes. 26. A power supply charger according to claim 20, wherein step c is repeated up to a predetermined maximum number of times. 27. A power supply charger according to claim 26, wherein the predetermined maximum number of times is 3. 28. A power supply charger according to claim 20, further comprising a user interface operatively connected to the micro-controller for operating the power supply charger and reporting a status of the power supply charger to the user. 29. A power supply charger according to claim 28, the micro-controller being further so configured as to: (i) detect the presence of at least one battery cell; (ii) when the detection of the presence of at least one battery cell of step i fails, report an error condition through the user interface and terminate the charging of the power supply. 30. A power supply charger according to claim 28, the micro-controller being further so configured as to: (i) activate the voltage measuring circuits to measure the voltage of each battery cell group; (ii) when the measured voltage of at least one battery cell group of step i meets one condition selected from a group consisting of the voltage of a battery cell group being below a fourth threshold and the voltage of a battery cell group exceeding a fifth threshold, report an error condition through the user interface and terminate the charging of the power supply. 31. A power supply charger according to claim 30, wherein the fourth threshold is set to IV. 32. A power supply charger according to claim 30, wherein the fifth threshold is set to 4.235V. 33. A power supply charger according to claim 28, further comprising a temperature sensor operatively connected to the micro-controller, the micro-controller being further so configured as to: (i) activate the temperature sensor to measure the temperature of the power supply charger; (ii) when the measured temperature of step i meets one condition selected from a group consisting of the temperature being below a sixth threshold and the temperature exceeding a seventh threshold, report an error condition through the user interface and terminate the charging of the power supply. 34. A power supply charger according to claim 33, wherein the sixth threshold is set to 0° C. 35. A power supply charger according to claim 33, wherein the seventh threshold is set to 45° C. 36. A power supply charger according to claim 28, the micro-controller being further so configured as to: (i) activate the current sensing circuits to measure the current of each battery cell group; (ii) when the measured current of at least one battery cell group of step i is below an eight threshold, report an error condition through the user interface and terminate the charging of the power supply. 37. A power supply charger according to claim 36, wherein the eighth threshold is set to C/l0, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 38. A power supply charger according to claim 28, the micro-controller being further so configured as to: (i) activate the current sensing circuits to measure the current through all battery cell groups; (ii) when the measured current through all battery cell groups of step i exceeds a ninth threshold, report an error condition through the user interface and terminate the charging of the power supply. 39. A power supply charger according to claim 38, wherein the ninth threshold is set to 0.6C, C being a current corresponding to a nominal capacity of the battery cells. 40. A power supply charger according to claim 20, further comprising an in-rush limiter connected between the power source input and the power converter of each battery cell group. 41. A power supply charger according to claim 20, further comprising a fan connected to the power source input for reducing the temperature of the power supply charger. 42. A power supply charger according to claim 41, wherein the fan is operatively connected to the micro-controller.