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Battery-charging-operation-and-a-detection-of-a-fully-charged-condition-of-the-charged-battery

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Battery charging operation and a detection of a fully charged condition of the charged battery

Details

Inventors: Ishimaru, Kenrou; Takano, Nobuhiro;
Assignee: Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)
Primary Examiner: Wong; Peter S.
Assistant Examiner: Luk; Lawrence
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Woo; Louis

A microcomputer performs a total of 100 sampling actions during a 1 sec sampling period for obtaining a plurality of battery voltage data V. In each sampling period, a minimum value .upsilon.min and a maximum value .upsilon.max are stored in a RAM 53. A peak value VMAX, used for detecting a peak battery voltage in the charging operation, is renewed by a largest data among the sampled minimum values .upsilon.min. A differenc .DELTA.V between the peak value VMAX and the maximum value .upsilon.max is calculated the end of each sampling period. And, when the calculated difference .DELTA.V exceeds a predetermined value, a judgement is made that the battery is fully charged.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An object of the present invention is to provide a battery charging method and a related apparatus for accurately detecting the fully-charged condition of the battery.
In order to accomplish this and other related objects, a first aspect of the present invention provides a battery charging method comprising the following steps.
A plurality of sampling actions are performed during a predetermined sampling period for obtaining a plurality of battery voltage data when a battery is charged.
Among the sampled battery voltage data, a minimum value and a maximum value are stored in each sampling period.
A peak value, used for detecting a peak voltage during the charging operation, is renewed by a largest data among the sampled minimum values.
A difference between the peak value and the maximum value is obtained at the end of each sampling period.
When the obtained difference exceeds a predetermined value, a judgement is made that the battery is fully charged.
A second aspect of the present invention provides a battery charging apparatus comprising a charging means for charging a battery.
A sampling means is provided for performing a plurality of sampling actions during a predetermined sampling period for obtaining a plurality of battery voltage data.
A memory means is provided for storing a minimum value and a maximum value among the sampled battery voltage data in each sampling period.
A peak detecting means is provided for detecting a peak of the battery voltage.
A peak value, used for detecting the peak voltage during the charging operation, is renewed by a largest data among the sampled minimum values.
A decline detecting means is provided for obtaining a difference between the peak value and the maximum value at the end of each sampling period.
And, a full-charge condition detecting means is provided for making a judgement that the battery is fully charged when the obtained difference exceeds a predetermined value.
According to the present invention, it is preferable that the battery voltage data are in a digital form processible in a microcomputer

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