Abstract: A battery charger includes a housing for accommodating batteries to be recharged, and a plurality of charging channels, each configured to charge batteries of different sizes. Electrical connectors are located within the housing for receiving one or more batteries in each of the charging channels. A battery size detector detects the size of battery inserted in each channel. The charger further includes electronic circuitry for applying, independently to each channel, charging power appropriate to the battery size detected for the channel.

Abstract: A battery charger for simultaneously charging a plurality of rechargeable batteries for example of AA or AAA size. The invention allows such batteries to be fully charged in up to about half the time previously considered to be possible without damaging or destroying the batteries. It has been found that by mounting the batteries on the base of a charger such that they are substantially exposed and spaced apart, an average charging current of up to about twice that previously considered to be possible can be applied without overheating the batteries.