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:
Mar. 04, 2008
Filed:
Feb. 17, 2005
Akira Sanpei, Fukushima, JP;
Akira Sanpei, Fukushima, JP;
Sony Corporation, , JP;
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for charging a lithium-ion based rechargeable battery in a short time is provided. A terminal voltage of the rechargeable battery is compared with a predetermined first set voltage Vwhile charging the rechargeable battery with a constant current; pulse charging is performed in which charging is halted after the rechargeable battery is charged with the constant current only during a predetermined first set time Twhen the terminal voltage becomes the first set voltage Vor more; both an elapsed time An from the start of the halt and a terminal voltage Bn at the elapsed time An are measured a plurality of times during the halt of charging in the pulse charging and the terminal voltage Bn is compared with a predetermined second set voltage V; whether or not the terminal voltage drops to the second set voltage Vor less is presumed based on measurement results of the elapsed time An and the terminal voltage Bn in the case where the terminal voltage Bn is higher than the second set voltage Vwhen the elapsed time An reaches a predetermined second set time T; both the pulse charging and the presumption of the terminal voltage are repeated when presumed that the terminal voltage drops to the second set voltage Vor less; and charging is ended when presumed that the terminal voltage does not drop to the second set voltage Vor less.