Charger, adapter and charging system

1. A charger comprising:

a connector adapted in use to be connected to a battery;

an identification unit configured to perform an identification process of judging whether the battery being connected to the connector is a compliant battery allowed to be directly connected to the connector or a non-compliant battery allowed to be indirectly connected to the connector, and output a result of the identification process;

a main charging unit configured to charge the compliant battery in conformity with a main charging condition appropriate to the compliant battery;

an auxiliary charging unit configured to charge the non-compliant battery in conformity with an auxiliary charging condition which does not cause a harmful effect on the non-compliant battery;

a control unit configured to receive the result from the identification unit, and, when the result shows the compliant battery, activate the main charging unit, and, when the result indicates the non-compliant battery, activate the auxiliary charging unit;

the auxiliary charging condition includes an unspecified battery charging condition for an unspecified battery which is not corresponding to any of plural specified batteries; and

the unspecified battery charging condition indicates a charging current and a charging voltage which are selected such that any unspecified battery does not suffer from a harmful effect.

2. The charger as set forth in claim 1 , wherein:

the charger further comprises a storage unit;

the storage unit is configured to store a plurality of the auxiliary charging conditions;

the plurality of the auxiliary charging conditions include plural specified battery charging conditions respectively corresponding to plural specified batteries included in the non-compliant battery and the unspecified battery charging condition;

the identification unit is configured to, in the identification process, upon concluding that the battery being connected to the connector is the non-compliant battery, further judge whether the battery is any one of the specified batteries or the unspecified battery different from the plural specified batteries; and

the control unit is configured to:

when the result shows the specified battery, retrieve the specified battery charging condition corresponding to the specified battery shown by the result from the storage unit and control the auxiliary charging unit in conformity with the retrieved specified battery charging condition; and

when the result shows the unspecified battery, retrieve the unspecified battery charging condition from the storage unit and control the auxiliary charging unit in conformity with the retrieved unspecified battery charging condition.

3. The charger as set forth in claim 2 , wherein:

the auxiliary charging unit is configured to charge the non-compliant battery by supplying a constant current to the non-compliant battery;

the auxiliary charging condition indicates a value of the constant current; and

the value of the constant current indicated by the unspecified battery charging condition is not greater than a minimum of the values of the constant currents indicated by the respective plural specified battery charging conditions.

4. The charger as set forth in claim 2 , wherein:

the auxiliary charging unit is configured to charge the non-compliant battery by applying a constant voltage to the non-compliant battery;

the auxiliary charging condition indicates a value of the constant voltage; and

the value of the constant voltage indicated by the unspecified battery charging condition is not greater than a minimum of the values of the constant voltages indicated by the respective plural specified battery charging conditions.

5. The charger as set forth in claim 2 , wherein:

the charger comprises a voltage acquisition unit configured to acquire a value of a voltage of the battery being connected to the connector;

the control unit is configured to judge whether or not the value of the voltage acquired by the voltage acquisition unit is not less than a predetermined threshold, and, upon concluding that the value of the voltage acquired by the voltage acquisition unit is not less than the predetermined threshold, terminate an operation of the auxiliary charging unit; and

the auxiliary charging condition indicates the predetermined threshold.

6. The charger as set forth in claim 1 , wherein

the identification unit includes:

an acquisition circuit configured to acquire type information representing a type of the battery in response to connection of the battery to the connector; and

an identification circuit configured to perform the identification process based on the type information acquired by the acquisition circuit.

7. The charger as set forth in claim 6 , wherein:

the connector includes two identification terminals for identifying the type of the battery;

the acquisition circuit is configured to measure a resistance between the two identification terminals; and

the type information is defined as the resistance between the two identification terminals.

8. The charger as set forth in claim 6 , wherein:

the connector includes a single identification terminal for identifying the type of the battery; and

the acquisition circuit is configured to receive an identification signal indicative of the type information via the identification terminal.

9. A charging system comprising:

the charger according to claim 1 ; and

an adapter,

wherein

the adapter comprises:

a first connector configured to allow the connector of the charger to be directly connected thereto;

a second connector configured to allow the non-compliant battery to be directly connected thereto;

a connection circuit interposed between the first connector and the second connector and electrically connecting the first and second connectors to each other; and

an identification part having information indicative of the non-compliant battery allowed to be directly connected to the second connector.