The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 17, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 17, 2000
Daniel D. Lionberg, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Thomas P. Becker, Kenosha, WI (US);
Daniel M. Eggert, Kenosha, WI (US);
Snap-on Technologies, Inc., Lincolnshire, IL (US);
Abstract
A charging circuit for a lead-acid battery pack includes a sacrificial battery with a voltage less than that required to charge the lead-acid battery and connected across the input terminals of a power converter, which boosts the sacrificial battery voltage to an output voltage sufficient to charge the battery pack. A processor operating under stored program control is connected across the lead-acid battery and monitors its voltage and produces an output signal when the voltage drops below a predetermined level, for triggering the power converter to apply its boosted voltage to the lead-acid battery for charging. The processor program ignores normal battery voltage conditions which occur during normal operation of an associated device powered by the lead-acid battery and will activate the power converter only when the lead-acid battery voltage has reached a significantly low level or has reached a low level for a sufficiently long period of time, to be consistent with a deep discharge condition of the lead-acid battery.