Battery charger and method for charging a battery

• Main Authors: BONKHOFF INGOLF, LIU ANIU
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 13.11.2012
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTINGELECTRIC POWER; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER; ELECTRICITY; GENERATION; PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSIONOF CHEMICAL INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY

The present invention relates to a battery charger for charging a battery (10), said battery charger comprising an AC/DC power supply means (1), a pulse width modulation controlled DC/DC converter (2) and a control unit (3) that is connected to the AC/DC power supply means (1) and the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter (2). The battery charger has a maximum output power while avoiding to blow up small battery packs if the control unit (3) is adapted to measure at least a voltage and a current at terminals of the battery (10) to be charged, calculate a power at the battery (10), compare the calculated power and the nominal maximum power of the AC/DC power supply means (1), and transmit a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter (2) to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery (10) based on the comparison result. A temperature at the battery can also be measured.