Charging control device

1. A charging control device adapted to control a charging current supplied to a secondary battery, comprising:

a state of charge detection unit adapted to detect a state of charge of the secondary battery;

a storage unit adapted to store a charging pattern in which the state of charge and the charging current are associated in a manner where the charging current decreases as the state of charge approaches full charge; and

a charging control unit adapted to change the charging pattern in accordance with the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated, and to control the charging current in accordance with the charging pattern after having been changed, wherein

the charging pattern is a charging pattern determined by the state of charge when charging is initiated, and

in the charging control unit, in the case that the state of charge when charging is initiated is lower than the state of charge of the charging pattern when charging is initiated, the charging pattern is changed in a manner that the state of charge corresponding to the charging current of the charging pattern is lowered by an amount equal to a difference between the state of charge when charging is initiated and the state of charge of the charging pattern when charging is initiated.

2. The charging control device according to claim 1 , wherein, in the charging control unit, in the case that the state of charge when charging is initiated is lower than the state of charge of the charging pattern when charging is initiated, the charging pattern is changed in a manner where the state of charge corresponding to the charging current of the charging pattern is lowered.

3. The charging control device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting unit adapted to detect a temperature of the secondary battery;

wherein the storage unit stores a plurality of charging patterns in accordance with temperatures of the secondary battery; and

in the charging control unit, the charging pattern in accordance with the temperature of the secondary battery is utilized, and the utilized charging pattern is changed in accordance with the state of charge when charging is initiated.

4. The charging control device according to claim 3 , wherein, in the plurality of charging patterns in accordance with temperatures of the secondary battery, the charging current becomes smaller as the temperature is lower.

5. The charging control device according to claim 1 , wherein, in the charging control unit, in the case that the secondary battery is charged with the charging current which is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the charging current is controlled to be a constant current that is less than or equal to the predetermined value without using the charging pattern.

6. The charging control device according to claim 5 , wherein, in the charging control unit, a magnitude of the constant current is changed in accordance with the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated.

7. A charging control device adapted to control a charging current supplied to a secondary battery, comprising:

a state of charge detection unit adapted to detect a state of charge of the secondary battery;

a storage unit adapted to store a charging pattern in which the state of charge and the charging current are associated in a manner where the charging current decreases as the state of charge approaches full charge; and

a charging control unit adapted to change the charging pattern in accordance with the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated, and to control the charging current in accordance with the charging pattern after having been changed wherein, in the charging pattern:

the state of charge of the charging pattern when charging is initiated is set to a 1st state of charge; and

a 1st charging current is associated from the 1st state of charge until reaching a 2nd state of charge that is closer to full charge than the 1st state of charge, and

in the charging control unit, in the case that the state of charge when charging is initiated is a 1′st state of charge which is lower than the 1st state of charge, the charging pattern is changed to become the 1st charging current until reaching a 2′nd state of charge at which a difference, from the 1′st state of charge, between the 1′st state of charge and the 2′nd state of charge that is closer to full charge than the 1′st state of charge becomes equivalent to a difference between the 1st state of charge and the 2nd state of charge.

8. The charging control device according to claim 7 , wherein, in the charging pattern:

letting n be an integer of 2 or greater,

an (n-1)th charging current is associated from an (n-1)th state of charge until reaching an nth state of charge that is closer to full charge than the (n-1)th state of charge; and

an nth charging current which is smaller than the (n-1)th charging current is associated from the nth state of charge until reaching an (n+1)th state of charge that is closer to full charge than the nth state of charge.

9. The charging control device according to claim 7 , wherein:

in the charging control unit;

letting n be an integer of 2 or greater;

an (n′-1)th state of charge is a state of charge that is lower than an (n-1)th state of charge;

the charging pattern is changed to become:

an (n-1)th charging current, until reaching an n'th state of charge at which a difference, from the (n′-1)th state of charge, between the (n′-1)th state of charge and an n'th state of charge that is closer to full charge than the (n′-1)th state of charge becomes equivalent to a difference between the (n-1)th state of charge and the nth state of charge;

and to become:

the nth charging current, until reaching an (n′+1)th state of charge at which a difference, from the n'th state of charge, between the n'th state of charge and an (n′+1)th state of charge that is closer to full charge than the n'th state of charge becomes equivalent to a difference between the nth state of charge and the (n+1)th state of charge.

10. A charging control device adapted to control a charging current supplied to a secondary battery, comprising:

a state of charge detection unit adapted to detect a state of charge of the secondary battery;

a storage unit adapted to store a charging pattern in which the state of charge and the charging current are associated in a manner where the charging current decreases as the state of charge approaches full charge; and

a charging control unit adapted to change the charging pattern in accordance with the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated, and to control the charging current in accordance with the charging pattern after having been changed wherein:

the charging pattern is a charging pattern determined by the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated;

the storage unit stores a plurality of charging patterns;

in the plurality of charging patterns, the states of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated differ from each other; and

in the charging control unit, a charging pattern selected from the plurality of charging patterns is utilized in which the state of charge of the charging pattern when charging is initiated is both higher than the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated and closest to the state of charge of the secondary battery when charging is initiated, and the utilized charging pattern is changed in accordance with the state of charge when charging is initiated.