Battery charger

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is the object of this invention to overcome these problems by providing an "intelligent" charger which can operate independently of individual cell characteristics or temperature.
Accordingly, our novel battery charger compiles and analyzes a charging curve measured under resistance-free condition by sampling cell voltage at a fixed interval after each current interruption and determining the appropriate value of V.
sub.
REF from the position of one or more points characteristic of the onset of overcharge.
V.
sub.
REF determined by this method will automatically reflect the number of cells, temperature and construction, thus permitting the charging device to recharge any subject battery without prior knowledge of its individual parameters.
A preferred embodiment incorporates a microprocessor to coordinate and perform many of the required functions.