Smart charging system

1. A system for charging a plurality of batteries, comprising:

a display;

a charging current source;

a controller;

at least one temperature sensor for each respective one of said batteries for detecting a temperature of the respective one of said batteries and for providing resulting temperature data to the controller;

at least one voltage sensor for each respective one of said batteries for monitoring a voltage of the respective one of said batteries and for providing resulting voltage data to the controller; and

at least one current sensor for each respective one of said batteries for monitoring a charge current being provided to the respective one of said batteries and for providing resulting charge current data to the controller, wherein, for each one of said batteries:

said controller executes a program for controlling the charge current provided to the one of said batteries for charging the one of said batteries based on a state of charge determined by the controller using the temperature data, the battery voltage data, and the current data of the one of the batteries, such that the charging of the one of the batteries is independently controlled based on the determined current state-of-charge of the one of the batteries, and wherein

a charge status of each one of the batteries is displayed on the display.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is adapted to accept power from a power source provided at a voltage of about 15V to 16V.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one switch connected to said controller for each respective one of said batteries for disconnecting the respective one of said batteries from the charge current source when the controller determines that charging is complete for the respective one of said batteries.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is adapted such that, once disconnected, the at least one switch does not reconnect the one of said batteries until another battery is provided to replace said one of said batteries.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is adapted to detect when any of the batteries is below a temperature threshold for disconnection from the charge current source to stop charging such battery(s).

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the charge status to be displayed on the display includes indications of when the charging of any of the batteries is complete, when any of the batteries is too cold to charge, and when any of the batteries is currently being charged.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller is adapted to detect when any of the batteries is defective, and wherein the charge status for such defective batteries is indicated by the display.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the system has a plurality of battery stations, such that each one of the plurality of battery stations is adapted to receive a battery for connecting to the system for charging, and wherein the system is adapted to notify the controller whether a battery is installed in each one of the charge stations, and wherein the charge status to be displayed on the display includes indications of when a battery station does not have a corresponding battery installed in the battery station.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system has a plurality of battery stations, such that each one of the plurality of battery stations is adapted to receive a battery for connecting to the system for charging, and wherein the system is adapted to notify the controller whether a battery is installed in each one of the charge stations.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is adapted to detect when any of the batteries is defective.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein said system is adapted to charge all of the batteries that are not defective and not too cold in about one hour.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein said system is adapted to simultaneously charge the batteries even when the batteries have different initial states of charge such that said system is adapted to avoid overcharging any of said batteries.

13. A system for charging a plurality of lead acid batteries, comprising:

a display;

a charging current source;

a controller;

a plurality of battery charging stations;

at least one station detector for each respective one of the battery charging stations for detecting the presence of a respective one of the batteries installed in the respective station;

at least one switch connected to said controller for each respective one of said batteries for disconnecting the respective one of said batteries from the charge current source when the controller determines that charging is complete or the battery is defective for the respective one of said batteries

at least one temperature sensor for each respective one of said batteries for detecting a temperature of the respective one of said batteries and for providing resulting temperature data to the controller;

at least one voltage sensor for each respective one of said batteries for monitoring a voltage of the respective one of said batteries and for providing resulting voltage data to the controller; and

at least one current sensor for each respective one of said batteries for monitoring a charge current being provided to the respective one of said batteries and for providing resulting charge current data to the controller, wherein, for each one of said batteries:

said controller executes a program for controlling the charge current provided to the one of said batteries for charging the one of said batteries based on whether a battery is installed in that station, and also based on a state of charge determined by the controller using the temperature data, the battery voltage data, and the current data of the one of the batteries, such that the charging of the one of the batteries is independently controlled based on the determined current state-of-charge of the one of the batteries, and wherein

said controller is adapted to detect whether any of said batteries is defective based on the determined state of charge, and wherein

a charge status of each one of the battery charging stations is displayed on the display, said charge status indicating whether any given charge station has no battery installed and if a battery is installed, indicating whether the battery is being charged, has been charged, is defective, or is too cold to charge.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is adapted such that, once disconnected, the at least one switch does not reconnect the one of said batteries until another battery is provided to replace said one of said batteries.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is adapted to detect when any of the batteries is below a temperature threshold for disconnection from the charge current source to stop charging such battery(s).

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the station detectors detect a battery being present by detecting a residual voltage of the battery when the battery is electrically connected to the system.

17. A method of charging a plurality of batteries, comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of battery charging stations;

for each one of said battery charging stations, detecting whether a battery is present in the battery charging station;

connecting each one of said batteries to a battery charging source for charging said batteries;

detecting a current being provided to each one of the batteries by the battery charging source;

detecting a current voltage of each one of the batteries;

detecting a current temperature of each one of the batteries;

for each one of the batteries, determining a state of charge of the battery based on the detected current, the detected current voltage, and the detected current temperature;

charging the batteries based on the determined state of charge of each battery, such that any defective batteries are disconnected from charging and any batteries that are too cold are disconnected from charging, while any batteries that are not fully charged continue to be charged until they are fully charged; and

displaying to an operator a charging status of each one of the batteries.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein any batteries that are disconnected because of being too cold are reconnected and charged when their temperature rises above a minimum threshold.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein, when a battery has been disconnected for being a defective battery, that battery station cannot be reconnected until the defective battery is removed and replaced.