BATTERY CHARGER

• Main Authors: HORNICK, MIKE, TOCCO, ANTHONY, T, BOYLES, SAMUEL, RAJANI, URNESH
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 21.08.2013
• Subjects: CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTINGELECTRIC POWER; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER; ELECTRICITY; GENERATION; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY

There is a battery charger, comprising a housing including a plurality of charging ports, each of the plurality of charging ports configured to receive a battery pack. The battery charger further comprises a power supply module configured to be electrically connected to a power source and configured to supply power to the battery charger. The battery charger further comprises a controller configured to select one of the plurality of charging ports that is to receive a charging current, and generate a charging signal to enable the selected one of the plurality of charging ports to receive the charging current. The battery charger further comprises at least one protection circuit configured to receive the charging signal from the controller when the at least one protection circuit is in a normal operational mode, the at least one protection circuit including a first semiconductor switch and a second semiconductor switch. The first semiconductor switch allows the charging current to be supplied to the at least one of the plurality of charging ports when the at least one protection circuit is receiving the charging signal from the controller. The second semiconductor switch prevents the charging current from being supplied to the at least one of the plurality of charging ports when the at least one protection circuit is not receiving the charging signal from the controller.