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:
Nov. 27, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 17, 2000
Kaoru Someya, Kiyose, JP;
Shinobu Sumi, Tama, JP;
Casio Computer Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a charging device for storing electric energy in a plurality of electrical double layer capacitors, comprising a power source circuit, a capacitor bank having a plurality of capacitors, a control circuit for switching an interconnection state of the plurality of capacitors, and a voltage monitor circuit for monitoring a charged voltage in the plurality of capacitors, which repetitively carries out a step of performing a charging operation by switching the plurality of capacitors in the capacitor bank to a serial connection state, and a step of monitoring a charged voltage by using a voltage monitor circuit by switching the plurality of capacitors to a parallel connection state until the charged voltage reaches a predetermined value. By connecting the plurality of capacitors in series when charging the same, the power source circuit can be downsized as the charging current is reduced, and by connecting the same in parallel when monitoring the voltage, each capacitor can be charged equally as a voltage in each capacitor is leveled. Further, because the voltage monitor circuit can be a single circuit, not only can the size and cost of the charging device be reduced significantly, but also a heat quantity generated from the voltage monitor circuit can be suppressed markedly, thereby making it possible to