Patents Examined by Steve T Chung
  • Patent number: 9166429
    Abstract: A universal serial bus charger comprises a universal serial bus connector for providing a connection to a voltage source. An output voltage connector provides a charging voltage to a connected battery. A switching voltage regulator generates the charging voltage responsive to the voltage source. Control circuitry monitors an actual charging current applied to the connected battery and provides a programmed current signal enabling the actual charging current to operate at a programmed level if the actual charging current does not exceed a programmed charging current level. The control circuitry provides a charging current limit signal enabling the actual charging current to operate at a predetermined charge current limit if the actual charging current exceeds the programmed charging current level. PWM control circuitry generates switching control signals to control operation of the switching voltage regulator responsive to the control circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Intersil Americas LLC
    Inventor: Chuck Wong
  • Patent number: 9153972
    Abstract: A battery monitoring apparatus for monitoring a battery condition of an assembled battery. In the apparatus, a monitoring unit is powered by the assembled battery and transitions from a normal mode, in which power supply from the assembled battery to the monitoring unit is maintained, to a dark-current mode, in which the power supply is partially interrupted, in response to a mode-switching instruction signal from a control unit. Upon reception of a mode confirmation signal from the control unit during the normal mode, the monitoring unit transmits a response signal to the control unit. The control unit transmits the mode-switching instruction signal to the monitoring unit, and thereafter transmits the mode confirmation signal to the monitoring unit. Upon reception of the response signal to the mode confirmation signal from the monitoring unit, the control unit determines that the dark-current mode of the monitoring unit is malfunctioning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Takumi Shimizu
  • Patent number: 9122187
    Abstract: An charging device includes: capacitors connected in series; a charging unit that charges the capacitors; bypass units, each respectively connects in parallel to each capacitors, wherein each bypass unit causes, when a charged voltage of any capacitor has reached a set voltage, a charging current to bypass the capacitor whose charged voltage has reached the set voltage; and a control unit that controls the charging unit to charge the capacitors in such a manner that, when a charging voltage of the any capacitor has reached the set voltage, the control unit causes the charging unit to reduce the charging current, and if a predetermined period has elapsed since the charging voltage has reached the set voltage, and if a charging voltage of any of the other capacitors has not reached the set voltage after the predetermined period, the control unit causes the charging unit to increase the charging current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventor: Junichi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 9120393
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the invention, a motor drive circuit includes a first energy storage device configured to supply electrical energy, a bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter coupled to the first energy storage device, a voltage inverter coupled to the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter, and an input device configured to receive electrical energy from an external energy source. The motor drive circuit further includes a coupling system coupled to the input device, to the first energy storage device, and to the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter. The coupling system has a first configuration configured to transfer electrical energy to the first energy storage device via the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter, and has a second configuration configured to transfer electrical energy from the first energy storage device to the voltage inverter via the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert Dean King, Robert Louis Steigerwald
  • Patent number: 9124105
    Abstract: A wireless charging shelf is described where a charging surface with a wireless power transmission structure is coupled with an electrical connector, providing a truly wireless charging solution. The wireless charging shelf may have a plug for installation in an electrical receptacle, or may be part of a cover plate for replacing an existing cover plate with a wireless charging shelf cover plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Inventors: Bryce Robert Gunderman, Robert Dale Gunderman
  • Patent number: 9118059
    Abstract: The electronic equipment disclosed in the present application realizes a battery attachment/detachment mechanism with the reduced number of components, by biasing a slide lever 11 to a protrusion position by a biasing force of a switch lever 13a of a switch 13. More specifically, in the electronic equipment disclosed in the present application, it is unnecessary to provide biasing means for biasing the slide lever 11 to the protrusion position in addition to the switch 13, the number of components is reduced as compared with the configuration provided with biasing means in addition to the switch. By reducing the number of components, the cost is reduced and the assembly time in assembling notebook computers is reduced, thereby improving workability in the assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management, Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Kawada, Masaru Furujiku
  • Patent number: 9104129
    Abstract: An charging device includes: capacitors connected in series; a charging unit that charges the capacitors; bypass units, each respectively connects in parallel to each capacitors, wherein each bypass unit causes, when a charged voltage of any capacitor has reached a set voltage, a charging current to bypass the capacitor whose charged voltage has reached the set voltage; and a control unit that controls the charging unit to charge the capacitors in such a manner that, when a charging voltage of the any capacitor has reached the set voltage, the control unit causes the charging unit to reduce the charging current, and if a predetermined period has elapsed since the charging voltage has reached the set voltage, and if a charging voltage of any of the other capacitors has not reached the set voltage after the predetermined period, the control unit causes the charging unit to increase the charging current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventor: Junichi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 9102238
    Abstract: There are provided an electric charging system and an electric vehicle. The electric vehicle has a battery and is provided with power receiving terminals for charging. A converter is provided between the battery and the power receiving terminals, and relays are provided between the converter and the power receiving terminals. An electric charger is provided with a power converter that outputs charging power and power supply terminals connected to the power converter. When the interruption of charging power supply from the power converter fails during charging, the converter is actuated and the stored electric power of the battery is boosted and supplied to the relays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: FUJI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yosuke Ohtomo
  • Patent number: 9083199
    Abstract: Described is a battery charger circuit for charging a battery. The battery charger circuit comprises a control element having a first input configured to receive an input from a reference source, a second input configured to receive an input from the battery and an output, said control element having an output current response characteristic which varies with respect to the battery input such that said control element implements a saturating function that causes the charging current of the battery to automatically transition between a constant current operating mode and a constant voltage operating mode or a constant voltage operating mode to a constant current operating mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Bruno Guimaraes Do Valle, Christian T. Wentz, Rahul Sarpeshkar
  • Patent number: 9083197
    Abstract: A DC power supply apparatus includes a charging circuit, which charges a secondary battery of a vehicle from an AC power source device or a DC power source device. The charging circuit includes a non-insulating converter circuit and an insulating converter circuit. A breaker relay disconnects the AC power source device and the charging circuit in an initial charging period to supply a large charging current to the secondary battery by the non-insulating converter circuit. As a result, charging can be performed with high efficiency without the insulation transformer. The breaker relay connects the AC power source device and the charging circuit after the initial charging period. Only the insulating converter circuit supplies the charging current to the secondary battery. Thus, adverse effect of stray capacitance of a circuit of the vehicle can be eliminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignees: NIPPON SOKEN, INC., DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Fumio Asakura, Kenji Ochi, Hiroshi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 9077195
    Abstract: A power supply detection circuit detects power feeding to a VBUS terminal from the outside. A charger detection circuit specifies the kind of charger by detecting the voltages of a DP terminal and a DM terminal. The charger detection circuit detects open, pull-up, pull-down of at least one of the DP terminal and the DM terminal or formation of a short circuit between both the terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Atsushi Wada, Hajime Mizukami, Mitsuaki Hatakeyama, Shigeto Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 9035605
    Abstract: This non-contact charging module can be suitably used by suppressing a change of an L value of a coil that is provided in the non-contact charging module, and achieves size reduction, even in the cases where a magnet that is provided in the other non-contact charging module is used or not used. The module is characterized in that: the module is provided with a primary side coil (21a) wherein a conducting line is wound in a substantially rectangular shape, and a magnetic sheet (51) that is provided with a surface on which the primary side coil (21a) is placed; and that a substantially rectangular-shaped hollow portion of the primary side coil (21a) has the short side thereof shorter than the diameter of a circular magnet (30a), and the long side thereof longer than the diameter of the circular magnet (30a).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenichiro Tabata, Tokuji Nishino, Toshiaki Kikui, Tatsunori Tabata
  • Patent number: 9030169
    Abstract: A battery system and method of providing a state of charge of for the system in one embodiment includes at least one first cell, the at least one first cell having a first battery chemistry exhibiting a first open circuit potential, and at least one second cell in series connection with the at least one first cell, the at least one second cell having a second battery chemistry exhibiting a second open circuit potential, wherein the at least one first cell exhibits an open circuit potential with a center slope that is greater than the center slope of the open circuit potential exhibited by the at least one second cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: John F. Christensen, Jasim Ahmed
  • Patent number: 9030166
    Abstract: An electric device including: a connecting unit connected to a connection line supplying an electric power of a predetermined rating and transmitting and receiving an information; a charging unit conducting a charging of a charging battery connected to an own device, by the electric power supplied by the connection line; an electric supplying unit supplying an electric power to a recording medium storing an information; a reading-and-writing unit performing a reading-and-writing operation of the recording medium; and an electronic source controlling unit performing a control of the electric power supplied to the charging unit, when the reading-and-writing unit performs the reading-and-writing operation of the recording medium, according to an access request to the recording medium via the connection line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventor: Goro Kano
  • Patent number: 9030159
    Abstract: To recharge an implanted medical device, an external device, typically in the form of an inductive charger, is placed over the implant to provide for transcutaneous energy transfer. The external charging device can be powered by a rechargeable battery. Since the battery is in close proximity to the charge coil, the large magnetic field produced by the charge coil induces eddy currents that flow on the battery's metallic case, often resulting in undesirable heating of the battery and reduced efficiency of the charger. This disclosure provides a means of shielding the battery from the magnetic field to reduce eddy current heating, thereby increasing efficiency. In one embodiment, the magnetic shield consists of one or more thin ferrite plates. The use of a ferrite shield allows the battery to be placed directly over the charge coil as opposed to outside the extent of the charge coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation
    Inventors: Joey Chen, Robert Ozawa, Daniel Aghassian
  • Patent number: 9024573
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the invention, a motor drive circuit includes a first energy storage device configured to supply electrical energy, a bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter coupled to the first energy storage device, a voltage inverter coupled to the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter, and an input device configured to receive electrical energy from an external energy source. The motor drive circuit further includes a coupling system coupled to the input device, to the first energy storage device, and to the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter. The coupling system has a first configuration configured to transfer electrical energy to the first energy storage device via the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter, and has a second configuration configured to transfer electrical energy from the first energy storage device to the voltage inverter via the bi-directional DC-to-DC voltage converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert Dean King, Robert L. Steigerwald
  • Patent number: 9024592
    Abstract: Auxiliary power supplies include a capacitor (e.g., super capacitor) and a capacitor charging circuit, which is configured to provide a charging current to a first terminal of the capacitor. Enhanced failure detection is provided by a capacitor monitoring circuit, which may be electrically coupled to at least one terminal of the capacitor. The capacitor monitoring circuit is configured to detect when the capacitor is malfunctioning in an open condition as well as when the capacitor is malfunctioning in a short condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sang-hun Jeon, Ho-jun Shim
  • Patent number: 9007032
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a control method for charging a terminal and an apparatus thereof. The method includes steps of: judging whether the terminal is in an operation state or a standby state when the terminal is in a full-charged state (101); controlling a charging circuit of the terminal to be in a switching-on state when the terminal is in the operation state (102); and controlling the charging circuit of the terminal to be in a switching-off state when the terminal is in the standby state. With the control of switching-on or switching-off of the charging circuit based on the states of the terminal, the service life of the terminal is prolonged, a heat emission phenomenon caused by long-time charging of the terminal is avoided, and the charging safety of the terminal is ensured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: ZTE Corporation
    Inventors: Zhifeng Fan, Jingmei Yuan
  • Patent number: 9007025
    Abstract: Systems and methods for simultaneously charging two or more cell strings of a hybrid battery system from a shared input current path to the battery system. An input common charging current may be limited to the smallest maximum allowable charging current value of multiple battery cell strings of a hybrid battery system, or may be provided as the greater of the maximum allowable charging currents of multiple battery cell strings of a hybrid battery system with current supplied to individual cell strings that require less than the maximum current being individually controlled so as not to exceed the maximum allowable current for each of the individual cell strings of the hybrid battery system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Dell Products, L.P.
    Inventors: Bruce A. Miller, Fu-Sheng Tsai
  • Patent number: 8988044
    Abstract: A battery pack including: a bare cell including a cathode and an anode; and a chip on board (COB) module electrically coupled to the cathode and anode of the bare cell. The COB module controls the charging/discharging of the bare cell. The COB module can be commonly used in different types of batteries and can be connected to a variety of electric devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Seokryun Park, Youngho Kim