Granted Patent B2

US 8,823,324 · App. 12/973,964 · Granted Sep 2, 2014

Abstract

Claims (24)

1. A battery charging method, comprising:

generating a plurality of charge profiles, each for a different one of a plurality of batteries, wherein a charge profile indicates a charge current as a function of charge time, and at least two of the charge profiles have a different non-zero charge current at a same charge time such that the at least two charge profiles form a staggered charge profile; and

concurrently charging each of the plurality of batteries by continually supplying charge current that fluctuates between at least two non-zero current levels based on the staggered charge profile.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on an available power drawn by a charger using the method.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on an available charge current for charging the plurality of batteries.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on a state of charge of the corresponding battery.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on a temperature of the corresponding charging battery.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on a temperature of at least one adjacent charging battery.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on a number of battery charging bays being used to charge batteries.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on a charge time.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the staggered charge profile is based on a charging priority.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the batteries includes one or more electrochemical cells.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the batteries includes a capacitor.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of charge profiles include a charging current that fluctuates over a charge interval based on factors.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the factors include one or more of the charge capacity of the batteries, the charge state of the batteries, the charge time for the batteries, a power draw, a number of the batteries, temperature, and user defined charging parameters.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising optimizing each of the plurality of charge profiles.

15. A battery charger, comprising:

a charge profile generator that generates a different charge profile for each of a plurality of batteries to be charged, wherein at least two of the charge profiles are staggered in that they include charge current profiles that differ from each other over time; and

charging circuitry that concurrently charges at least two batteries by continually supplying charge current that fluctuates between at least two non-zero current levels based on respective generated charge profiles.

16. The battery charger of claim 15 , further including a state of charge determiner, wherein the charge profile generator generates the charge profiles based on a state of charge of at least one of the batteries.

17. The battery charger of claim 15 , further including a battery temperature determiner, wherein the charge profile generator generates the charge profiles based on a temperature of at least one of the batteries.

18. The battery charger of claim 15 , further including an algorithm bank that includes at least one algorithm used by the charge profile generator to generate the charge profiles.

19. The battery charger of claim 18 , wherein the at least one algorithm is based on one or more of a charge capacity of each battery, a charge state of each battery, a charge time for each battery, a maximum current draw of the charger, a number of batteries being charged, and a temperature of each battery.

20. The battery charger of claim 15 , wherein the charge profile generator generates the charge profiles based on a power draw of the battery charger.

Assignments (8)