JPH0393429A - Charging system for secondary battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent degradation of service life or heating due to erroneous setting of charging current by providing a variable constant current circuit for feeding the optimal charging current to a corresponding secondary battery under control of a detecting circuit. CONSTITUTION:Since no electrode is provided to contact 210, 211, there is no electrical connection with terminals 10, 11 when a secondary battery 101 provided with casing is connected with an adapter 1A, and a detecting circuit 4 outputs a control voltage 12A. Consequently, a variable constant current circuit 3 feeds an output current 8A which is the optimal charging current for the secondary battery 101. When the secondary battery 102 provided with casing is mounted, terminals 110 and 210 contact each other to apply voltage onto the terminal 10. The detecting circuit 4 provides a voltage to the terminal 12, and the variable constant current circuit 3 feeds current which is the optimal charging current for the secondary battery 102. In similar manner, optimal charging current is also fed when the secondary battery 103 is mounted.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a charging method for a secondary battery, and particularly to a charging method for a secondary battery that automatically switches charging currents of secondary batteries of different capacities to an optimal value. Regarding the method. [Conventional technology] Normally, when charging a secondary battery, a constant current value determined according to the capacity of the secondary battery is used to maintain safety and complete charging in the shortest time. The most common charging method is a constant current circuit that outputs -=. Therefore, in order to complete charging of secondary batteries of different capacities in the shortest possible time, conventional charging methods either prepare a charger for each capacity of secondary batteries, or use a variable charger as shown in the configuration diagram in Figure 4. A charger 1' has been used which supplies a charging current suitable for each capacity of secondary battery by manually switching a switch 20 that controls the current circuit 3 through control terminals 21 to 24. In other words, the conventional method allows three types of secondary batteries to be charged in the shortest possible time, and operates as follows.
The variable current circuit 3 can select the output current in three ways using the switch 20. The user sets the switch 20 to a predetermined state depending on the capacity of the secondary battery to be charged, and charges the battery in the shortest possible time using the optimum current value. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional charging method for secondary batteries described above, when a plurality of chargers are used, the number of chargers required increases depending on the type of secondary battery, resulting in large equipment costs. Requires. Next, in the case of a charger where the user can set the charging current as necessary, an incorrect charging condition setting may result in insufficient charging current, resulting in longer charging times, or conversely, an excessive charging current may result in a second charge. The disadvantage is that it can shorten the life of the next battery. [Means for Solving the Problems] The charging method for a secondary battery of the present invention is a charging method for a plurality of types of secondary batteries with different capacities, and includes a plurality of types of secondary batteries with cases that output capacity detection voltages; The battery includes a detection unit that detects the capacity detection voltage, a variable constant current circuit that is controlled by the detection unit, and a plug-in adapter that mates with each of the plurality of types of secondary batteries with cases. [Example] Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, there are three types of secondary batteries, and a charging method is shown in which each of the three types of secondary batteries is charged one by one. Here, the variable constant current circuit 3 of the charger 1 can control the output current 8A to be automatically increased or decreased depending on the magnitude of the control voltage 12A at the terminal 12. Also,. Detection circuit 4 is connected to terminal 10.1
A control voltage 12A corresponding to a predetermined voltage is output to the terminal 12 based on the logical condition that voltage is applied to the terminal 1 from any of the secondary batteries 101 to 103 with a case. Secondary battery with case 101, 102.
103 is a battery housed in case 2, and terminals 108 and 109 of case 2 are connected to the positive and negative electrodes of the secondary battery, and are inserted and connected to terminals 208 and 209 of adapter IA, which will be described later. Terminals 110 and 111 of the secondary batteries 102 and 103 are electrodes for detecting battery capacity, and are inserted and connected to terminals 210 and 211 of the adapter IA. now,
The optimal charging currents of the secondary batteries 101, 102, and 103 with cases are Ia, Ib, and Ic, and the terminal 12 at that time is
Let the control voltages of 12A be Va, Vb, and Vc, respectively.
It is assumed that electrodes 110 and 111 are both electrically connected to terminals 108 and 109 of secondary batteries 102 and 103.
In addition, the variable constant current circuit 3 has a terminal 12 whose voltage is Va, Vb,
Vc, the outputs are Ia, Ib. Assume that it is set to Ic. Furthermore, as a logical condition for the detection circuit 4, the terminal 1
0.11 If no voltage is applied to either terminal, the output voltage to terminal 12 is Va. If voltage is applied only to terminal 1o, the output voltage is Vb. If voltage is applied only to terminal 11, the output voltage is Va. The output voltage is Vc. In FIG. 1, the states in which the charger 1 and any of the cased secondary batteries 1o1, 102, and 103 are connected via the adapter IA are shown by solid lines, dotted lines, and dashed-dotted lines, respectively. Second
Figures and Figures 3(a) and (b). (c) shows a perspective view of the case of the adapter IA and the secondary battery. The terminals 208 and 209 in FIG. Terminal 210 contacts terminal 110 and terminal 211 contacts terminal 111. Secondary battery with case 1
01 does not have a control terminal, so it does not come into contact with either of the terminals 210, 211 of adapter IA.

Note that terminals 208 to 211 of adapter IA are connected to terminals 8 to 11 of charger 1, respectively. Returning to FIG. 1, when the secondary battery with case 101 is connected to the adapter 1A as shown by the solid line, it contacts the contacts 210 and 211 of the adapter IA, as can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3(a). Since no electrodes are provided and nothing is electrically connected to the terminals 10 and 11, the detection circuit 4 outputs Va as the control voltage 12A. Therefore, the variable constant current circuit 3 outputs Ia as an output current of 8A, and eventually the secondary battery 1
Ia is optimal for charging current to 01.

Next, when the secondary current with case 102 is installed, the terminal 1
When 10 and terminal 210 come into contact, voltage is applied to terminal 10 in terms of the circuit. Therefore, since the detection circuit 4 outputs the voltage vb to the terminal 12, the variable constant current circuit 3 outputs Ib, and the optimum charging current Ib to the secondary battery 102 is obtained. Similarly, when the secondary battery with case 103 is attached, the charging current becomes Ic. Therefore, it is possible to realize a charging method in which the charger 1 automatically outputs the optimal charging current according to the type of secondary battery even if the batteries have different capacities. Here, there are three types of secondary batteries:
Although the case where the detection electrode has two electrodes is shown as an example, the present invention can be easily applied to many types of secondary batteries. [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention includes a detection circuit that inputs a voltage from a secondary battery according to its type, and a control of this detection circuit that makes it possible to supply an optimal charging current to the corresponding secondary battery. By having a transformation current circuit, even if there are many different capacities of secondary batteries to be charged, it is possible to always charge them with the optimal charging current using the same charger. In addition, switching between charging and charging currents is done automatically using a plug-in method using an adapter, so there is no burden on the user.
It also has the effect of preventing a reduction in the lifespan of the secondary battery and heat generation due to incorrect charging current settings.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Figures 2 and 3 (
a). (b). (c) is a perspective view of the main parts of this embodiment;
The figure is a configuration diagram of a conventional secondary battery charging method. 1,1'...Charger, IA...Adapter, 2...
Case, 3... variable constant current circuit, 4... detection circuit,
5... Secondary battery, 6... Positive electrode, 7... Negative electrode, 8,
9,10.11...terminal, 20...changeover switch, 101-l0 3-...secondary battery with case, 108
~111,208~211...Terminal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In charging methods for multiple types of secondary batteries with different capacities,
A plurality of types of secondary batteries with cases that output capacity detection voltages, a detection unit that detects the capacity detection voltage, a variable constant current circuit controlled by the detection unit, and a plurality of types of secondary batteries with cases that output capacity detection voltages. A charging method for a secondary battery characterized by having a plug-in adapter that mates with each.