GB2598935A - Self loading battery charger - Google Patents

Self loading battery charger Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2598935A
GB2598935A GB2014778.1A GB202014778A GB2598935A GB 2598935 A GB2598935 A GB 2598935A GB 202014778 A GB202014778 A GB 202014778A GB 2598935 A GB2598935 A GB 2598935A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
battery
charger
charging
batteries
charge
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
GB2014778.1A
Other versions
GB202014778D0 (en
Inventor
Gerard Bailey Samuel
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB2014778.1A priority Critical patent/GB2598935A/en
Publication of GB202014778D0 publication Critical patent/GB202014778D0/en
Publication of GB2598935A publication Critical patent/GB2598935A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/0042—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries characterised by the mechanical construction
    • H02J7/0045—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries characterised by the mechanical construction concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/4207—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/4221—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells with battery type recognition
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/4285—Testing apparatus
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/44—Methods for charging or discharging
    • H01M10/441—Methods for charging or discharging for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/44—Methods for charging or discharging
    • H01M10/443—Methods for charging or discharging in response to temperature
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
    • H01M10/48—Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte
    • H01M10/482—Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/00047—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries with provisions for charging different types of batteries
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/0013—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/0047—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries with monitoring or indicating devices or circuits
    • H02J7/0048—Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/007—Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
    • H02J7/00—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
    • H02J7/02—Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries for charging batteries from ac mains by converters
    • H02J7/04—Regulation of charging current or voltage
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Charge And Discharge Circuits For Batteries Or The Like (AREA)
  • Secondary Cells (AREA)

Abstract

A battery charger loads batteries 2 from a pre-charging buffer or hopper 1, charges them if required in a charging station 6 and then dispenses them into a tray or holding buffer 8. The charger may check if the battery is damaged, non-rechargeable or unsuitable for charging, and if so reject it into a separate tray or buffer 9. The charger may check which way round the battery has been inserted and reverse the charging current if necessary or reject the battery. Charging time may be adjusted according to battery temperature, a time limit or variation in battery voltage during charging. Full charge of a battery may be determined by a drop in peak voltage during charging. Batteries of any known type or chemistry may be charged. The charging process may be started automatically or via a user operated button or switch. Charging current may be set automatically according to the battery size, capacity or condition. Charging can be set by the user to rapid/fast or slow charge.

Description

SELF LOADING BATTERY CHARGER
This invention relates to a battery charger which loads itself with depleted batteries.
Rechargeable batteries have many advantages over disposable single use batteries, T hey are cheaper over their I ifeti me, less envi ronmental I y damaging, and do not require users to purchase repeatedly. The increasing preval ence of electroni c devices e.g. remote controls, wireless sensors, toys etc. have increased the demand for batted es.
H owever for devices which do not have a built in charging mechanism or power port when the batteries are depleted, it is usual to have to remove the batteries and replace therrt The user can use rechargeable batteries, however they have to remove the batteries, place them in a charger, wait for them to charge, then replace them in the device. Often they will have multiple batteries for different devices, which will then get mixed up between those that have been charged and those that are depleted. The user then may place depleted batteries in a device, or recharge al ready charged batteries, reducing their I ifespan.
This invention relates to a charger which comprises 1. A hopper or buffer into which batteries (which may or may be charged or depleted, rechargeable or non-rechargable) are loaded by the user, 2 a loading mechanism which loads the batteries into a charging station or point 3 a charging mechanism, comprising the contacts which provide the electrical contact to the battery terminals, the charging circuit which can determine the charging time, current and voltage to charge the battery, and 4, a second hopper or tray, into which batteries are ejected when they are charged so that a user can retrieve them.
Typically a user will own more rechargeable batteries than they use at any onetime. When they find the batteries are depleted on a device, they remove them from the device and place them in the hopper of the charger. There will typically be charged batteries already in the tray. They can then take charged batteries from the tray and put them in the device.
The hopper buffers the batteries until the loading mechanism either loads them individually or in batches into the charger. The charger charges each one, and using technology known in the field, adjusts the charge lime, voltage and current to achieve as full a charge of the battery as is reasonable. When the battery(s) are charged, the loading mechanism releases the charged battery(s) into the tray and loads any waiting depleted batteries into the charger.
The user thus has a near constant supply of ready charged batteries to take from. T hey don't need to swap batteries in and out of a charger. If they reinsert charged batteries in the charger then the charger dispenses them automatically with no effort from the user. The doesn '1 have to worry about whether they have reinserted depleted batteries into an electronic device.
A cross section through a possible embodi ment of the device is shown in Fig 1.
A battery or multi pie batteries 2. are placed in the hopper mechanism, 1. The battery may drop straight into the charging stab on, or a sensor 3, detects the presence of the battery and an electronic control ler, 4 may trigger a loading mechanism, 5, to load the battery into the charging station, 6. The charging station makes electrical contact with the battery termi nal s. The charging station may then determine the polarity of the battery terminals, depending on which way the battery is inserted. This may be performed by measuring the polarity of the residual voltage in the flat battery, or it may be determi ned by another mechanism which senses the shape of the terminals on the battery by either a mechanical means or using other sensors. It may also determine the battery size or type (e.g cyl i ndri cal cells such as AAA, AA, C, D, or other cells e.g. P P3, C R2032 etc) and/or the voltage and/or the capacity of the battery and adjust the charging ti me and current appropriately. The battery charger contacts may be of a sprung type or may be moved mechani carry by a mechanism to make contact with the battery terminals when the battery is in a position to be charged.
The loading mechanism may operate as a rotating mechanism such as a series of paddles, or it may be an osci I I ating mechanism or a sliding mechanism or any other such mechanical arrangement that can manipulate the batteries into position to contact the charging terminals.
In an alternative embodiment the batteries may not be manipulated by the loading mechanism but the charging terminal could be moved to contact each I oaded battery in turn.
The sensor 3, may be a mechanical touch or pressure sensor such as a switch to detect the presence of a battery to be loaded into the charging station by the loading mechanism A lternatively, the sensor may be of any type of proximity sensor known in the field that can detect metal! ic or other objects e.g. opitcal, i nfra-red, inductive, magnetic.
The charging circuit may test the condition and/or the type of the battery using technology known in the field in existing battery chargers based on temperature and voltage characteristics e.g. peak voltage drop, cel I temperature etc and determine if it is al ready charged, in need of charge, damaged and unable to be charged, or not of a suitable rechargeable type to be charged.
In one possible embodiment if the battery is al ready at or near full charge, the loading mechanism can dispense the battery directly into the tray.
In another possible embodiment if the battery is damaged, unabl e to accept a charge, or non-rechargeable, the battery may be rejected. In one possible embodiment it is ejected into a separate tray or container by a sorting mechanism 7. in Fig 1. In this embodi ment the batteries are effectively sorted, such that one tray (8. or 9.) may contain charged batteries ready for use, and the other tray (9. or 8.) contains batteries which cannot be recharged and can be disposed of. If the battery is non-rechargeable, but still has an acceptable level of charge to be reused, then the sorting mechanism may sort them into the ready to use tray; if it does not have an acceptable level of charge it may sort it into the ready to dispose of tray.
The sorting mechanism can be of any mechanical type such as flap, lever, cam, magnet or similar mechanism that redirects the batteries into different trays depending on their state.
In another embodiment it may be rejected directly into the same tray as the charged batted es.
Fig 2. Shows the external view of a possible embodiment. The user connects the power cable 13. to a power source. T hey load one or more batted es of an unknown state of charge and/or rechargeabi I ity into the hopper 10. and leave the battery charger to execute the logic described.
After a period of ti me they can return to the charger, and all the batteries in one exit hopper (11.) are either fully charged rechargeable batted es, or non-rechargeable with sufficient residual charge and are suitable for reuse, and all the batted es in the second exit hopper (12.) can be disposed of or recycled as they are either depleted non-rechargeable batted es, or rechargeable batteries that are no longer capable f holding sufficient capacity to be suitable for use.
If the battery is in need of charge, the battery is charged using a standard technique, e.g. applying a constant current to the battery terminals. The charge rate may be fixed at a known value, or set at a proportion of the battery capacity e.g. C/2, C/4, C/8, C, 2C, 4C, 8C, or any other value suited to charging the battery, where C is the battery capacity. Or the rate may be set by a separate control ler so a user can select a slow charge or a rapid charge, or it may be set automatically by the controller using other criteria, for example if there are a lot of batteries in the hopper, it may rapid charge them.
When the battery is determined to be in a charged state, either because a the voltage has dropped slightly from the peak, or a ti meout has been reached, or a temperature setpoi nt for the battery has been reached, or the charge current has dropped below a setpoi nt or any other indicator has shown the battery is sufficiently charged, the loading mechanism loath the battery from the charging mechanism into the tray.
If another battery is still present in the hopper, the process may be repeated. The battery is loaded, it may be polarity checked, tested for state of charge, charged as required and then placed into the tray.
When all batteries in the hopper have been charged or rejected, the charger may switch off, or return to a wait state where it waits for another battery to be placed in the hopper to 131 gger the charging mechanism to start again.
The charger may measure the capacity of the battery based on the charging voltage rise and adjust the charging current appropriately.

Claims (16)

  1. CLAIMS1. A battery charger which loads battery(s) from a pre-chargi ng buffer of battery(s) to be charged, charges them if required and dispenses them.
  2. 2. A charger as in claim 1 where the charged batteries are dispensed into a separate holding buffer ready for a user to retrieve them.
  3. 3. A charger as in claim 1 which tests the battery before charging and only charges it if it needs charging.
  4. 4. A charger as in claim 1 which can charge one or more batteries simultaneously.
  5. 5. A charger as in claim 1 which checks which way round a battery has been inserted and either reverses the charging current if the battery has been inserted in a different on or rejects the reversed battery.
  6. 6. A charger as in claim 1 which checks if a battery is damaged, none rechargeable or otherwise not suitable for charging.
  7. 7. A charger as in claim 1 and 6 which rejects batteries which are flat and/or not suitable for recharging into a separate buffer.
  8. 8. A charger as in claim 1 which adjusts the charging ti me according to measures based on the battery temperature, a time limit or a variation in the battery voltage during charging.
  9. 9. A charger as in claims 1 and 8 which measures a drop in peak voltage during charging to determine that a battery is fully charged.
  10. 10. A charger as in any other clai ms suitable for any battery type known, e.g. button battery such as C R2032, single cell batteries e.g. AAA, AA, C, D or compound batteries e.g. PP3.
  11. 11. A charger as in any other claims suitable for any battery chemistry known in the art e.g. N iCd, NiMH, Li-Ion, Li Polymer, L ead A cid or any other type.
  12. 12. A charger as in any other claim which waits in a ready state for a battery to be inserted in the holding buffer, and then starts the loading and charging process automatically.
  13. 13. A charger as in any of clai ms 1-11 where a user starts the charging process using a button or other switch or sensor.
  14. 14. A charger as in any other claim where the charge current is set automatically according to the size, capacity or condition of the battery.
  15. 15. A charger as in any other claim where a user can set the charge current to select e.g. a rapid charge or a slow charge.
  16. 16. A charger as in claim 1 where if a battery is inserted, either rechargeable or non-rechargeable, the battery is sorted into different compartments based on its final state of charge, or any i ntermedi ate state, so that a user knows whether the battery is suitable to use or dispose of.
GB2014778.1A 2020-09-18 2020-09-18 Self loading battery charger Pending GB2598935A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB2014778.1A GB2598935A (en) 2020-09-18 2020-09-18 Self loading battery charger

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB2014778.1A GB2598935A (en) 2020-09-18 2020-09-18 Self loading battery charger

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB202014778D0 GB202014778D0 (en) 2020-11-04
GB2598935A true GB2598935A (en) 2022-03-23

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB2014778.1A Pending GB2598935A (en) 2020-09-18 2020-09-18 Self loading battery charger

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2156324A (en) * 1984-02-22 1985-10-09 Peakmicro Ltd Improvements relating to vending machines
US20130320924A1 (en) * 2012-06-01 2013-12-05 The Gillette Company Battery-charging device and method of charging batteries

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2156324A (en) * 1984-02-22 1985-10-09 Peakmicro Ltd Improvements relating to vending machines
US20130320924A1 (en) * 2012-06-01 2013-12-05 The Gillette Company Battery-charging device and method of charging batteries

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB202014778D0 (en) 2020-11-04

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