Texas Instruments Corporation

Joseph D Farley

Frank R Fattori

A boost regulator that comprises a capacitor adapted to couple in parallel with a load, a switch coupled to the capacitor and to a diode, a comparator coupled to the load and receiving a reference voltage, and a circuit logic component that receives an output of the comparator and an output of a duty cycle signal generator. An output of the circuit logic component couples to the switch and is capable of activating and de-activating the switch.

Fast boost regulator

A power switching circuit including an MOS power switching transistor (P) is disclosed. The power switching transistor (P) has a body node that is selectably biased to either its source or its drain, depending upon a comparison of the voltage at the circuit input (IN) relative to the voltage at the circuit output (OUT). In a reverse voltage situation in which the output voltage exceeds the input voltage, a first body node switching transistor (P) connected between the body node of the power switching transistor (P) and its source is turned off by a voltage corresponding to the output voltage, as conducted from the drain of the power switching transistor (P) through a pull-down device (P) in an inverter. Also in this reverse voltage situation, the gate of the power switching transistor (P) is isolated from a control input (ON_/OFF) by series pass transistors (N, N; P, P), and the power switching transistor (P) is held off by a bias transistor (P), with a gate voltage also corresponding to the output voltage.

Power switching circuit with controlled reverse leakage

This device includes, connected in parallel with each of the elements (I, II), corresponding shunt regulators (S11, R11, S21, R21) linked together in series, and the control electrodes of which are connected to networks of resistors which represent voltages of the elements which can be applied to respective comparators (C11, C12, C21, C22) of the lower and upper threshold voltages (Vth11, Vth12, Vth21, Vth22) of the elements with a reference voltage delivered by a reference voltage source (Vref), a switching MOSFET transistor (4), with low conduction resistance and with defined off-state impedance, connected between the most negative terminal of the set of elements (II) in series and the negative terminal (Vbat-) of the protection device and means of control of the MOSFET transistor from output signals from the comparators (C11, C12, C21, C22) in order to alter the state of the said MOSFET transistor (4) for the purpose of regulating the state of charge and of discharge of the elements (I, II). It makes it possible to use a common charger for NiCd and NiMH elements.

Lithium electronic-mechanical automatic protection system (LEAPS)

Battery pack which includes rechargeable battery cells in conjunction with a charge protection circuit to prevent damage to the battery pack. The battery pack further includes a component in which predetermined battery parameters definitive of a battery pack characteristic may be stored, together with a battery parameter sensor, and a micro-controller responsive to the sensing of a battery parameter for controlling the battery pack characteristic based upon the sensed parameter. In one aspect, the sensed parameter may be the onset of substantially full charge as provided by a current source operably connected to the battery pack and subject to being disconnected when a predetermined cell temperature is reached which is indicative of full charge.

Batteries and battery systems

The present invention relates to a supply battery arrangement having 3 terminals, for example a battery for a video camera recorder. This arrangement permits employing the battery both as an intelligent battery and as a non-intelligent battery capable of operating normally on devices of the standard video camera recorder type and also capable of communicating with a equipment or an intelligent device and displaying the state of charge with no additional terminals. The battery arrangement comprises a negative terminal (24) and a positive terminal (22) for supplying the equipment or the device with a voltage coming from the battery, a universal 'T' terminal (26) operating as a thermal measuring means and a data terminal or a charge control output when it is employed by a computer, a charger or some other intelligent equipment or device.

Supply batteries

Battery pack arrangement having a control module 305 in the form of a programmed microcontroller and associated components on a printed circuit board, one or more battery cells 21 in which the respective cells are interconnected by metal conductive straps 22, wherein one of the interconnecting straps has a portion 309 of reduced width so as to serve as a current sensing element in conjunction with the control module 305. The reduced width of the interconnecting conductive strap 22 provides increased electrical resistance to the current flowing therein, with the value of the current sensing element 309 being measurable and storable in memory. The microcontroller and a regulating component of the control module are arranged to be located in intercellular space between successive cells in the cell array 21. The battery pack arrangement further includes electronic circuitry operably associated with the processor 38 of the microcontroller 16 including an input terminal 45 for accommodating a charger such that three different charging regimes are possible. The three charging regimes are respectively determined by the status of switching transistors Q1 and Q2 and resistors R1 and R2 to provide a trickle charge path, a quick charge medium current path, and a full current fast charge path depending upon whether the switching transistors Q1 and Q2 are 'off' or are conductive.

Relating to battery pack arrangements

An integrated circuit having a first group of semiconductor components which use potentials which are positive with respect to the substrate and a second group of components which use potentials which are negative with respect to the substrate. A negative voltage regulator circuit suitable for use in telephone circuits is described in which the regulated output is produced at the substrate so that noise can be prevented from being capacitatively coupled from the substrate to the input stages of amplifiers in the same integrated circuit. The exemplary circuit is produced by the so-called BIDFET process and use both bipolar and field effect transistors. One semiconductor component described includes an enhancement mode MOSFET with a channel in the surface of an epitaxial layer and a drain region forming the base of a bipolar transistor using the epitaxial layer as a collector region, there being a highly doped buried layer of the same conductivity type as the epitaxial layer at the interface between it and the substrate which is of the opposite conductivity type.

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Villeneuve Loubet, France

Joseph D Farley