Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging – Cell or battery charger structure – For handheld device
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-09
2001-01-09
Tso, Edward H. (Department: 2838)
Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging
Cell or battery charger structure
For handheld device
Reexamination Certificate
active
06172477
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to charging equipment for use in a radiotelephone system and, in particular, to equipment for charging a portable terminal in a radio-telephone system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a radio-telephone system includes a fixed terminal and a portable terminal. The fixed terminal is wire-connected to a public switched telephone network. The portable terminal is radio-connected to the fixed terminal, The portable terminal is powered by a rechargeable battery which is mounted within the portable terminal so as to enable various functions of the portable terminal such as telephone speech.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a block diagram of conventional equipment for charging a battery which is mounted within a portable terminal
30
of a radio-telephone system is shown. As illustrated, the conventional charging equipment includes an adapter
10
and a charger
20
. In order to charge a portable terminal
30
(i.e., charge a battery in the portable terminal
30
), the adapter
10
and the charger
20
are connected to each other via a plug
4
and a jack
6
(i.e, the power connector elements). The charger
20
, in turn, is connected to the portable terminal
30
via charging terminals
8
a
,
8
b
,
8
c
and
8
d.
There are several disadvantages associated with the conventional charging equipment described above. First, the portable terminal
30
can only be charged by using the adapter
10
and the charger
20
. Specifically, in order to charge the portable terminal
30
, a user is required to connect the adapter
10
and the charger
20
to each other, which results in user inconvenience. Another disadvantage is that the user cannot utilize the portable terminal
30
(i.e., maintain a telephone conversation) while it is being charged since the portable terminal
30
must be connected to the charger
20
via the charging terminals
8
a
,
8
b
,
8
c
and
8
d
in order to be charged. Due to its connection to portable terminal
30
during the charging process, charger
20
physically prevents the placing or receiving a telephone call. In addition, the adapter
10
which is used for charging the portable terminal
30
is a direct current (DC) adapter (for converting alternating current (AC) voltage to DC voltage) which is very expensive and, therefore, uneconomical.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide equipment for charging a portable terminal in a radio-telephone system, which eliminates and/or mitigates user inconvenience in charging the portable terminal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide charging equipment which allows a telephone conversation to be conducted on the portable terminal while the portable terminal is being charged.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide economical equipment for charging a portable terminal in a radio-telephone system.
To achieve these and other objects, equipment for charging a portable terminal in a radio-telephone system according to the present invention includes an alternating current (AC) adapter which is inexpensive and provides charging voltage in both AC and DC directions (i.e., provides an electric power supply through an AC/AC (Alternating current) or AC/DC (Direct current) adapter), and various circuits disposed within the portable terminal, which are operatively connected to the AC adapter, to replace the conventional charger.
In one aspect of the present invention, equipment for charging a battery of a portable terminal in a radio-telephone system comprises a direct current (DC) adapter for converting an alternating current (AC) voltage (e.g., a common usage level of 110/220 V) to a predetermined DC voltage and outputting the DC voltage; a charging circuit disposed within the portable terminal for receiving the DC voltage from the adapter and charging the battery of the portable terminal with the DC voltage; and a charging current control circuit disposed within the portable terminal, which is operatively connected to the charging circuit, for controlling the amount of charging current applied to the battery during the charging of the battery.
In another aspect of the present invention, equipment for charging a battery of a portable terminal in a radio-telephone system includes an alternating current (AC) adapter for converting an AC power source voltage (e.g., a common usage level of 110/220 V) to a predetermined AC voltage; a rectifying circuit disposed within the portable terminal for rectifying the AC voltage provided from the AC adapter and converting the AC voltage into a direct current (DC) voltage; a charging circuit disposed within the portable terminal, operatively connected to the rectifying circuit, for charging the battery of the portable terminal with the DC voltage output from the rectifying circuit; and a charging current control circuit disposed within the portable terminal, operatively connected to the charging circuit, for controlling the amount of charging current provided to the battery.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3601679 (1971-08-01), Braun et al.
patent: 3970912 (1976-07-01), Hoffman
patent: 5075615 (1991-12-01), Dantis
patent: 5268629 (1993-12-01), Franke
patent: 5446364 (1995-08-01), Naskali
patent: 5736830 (1998-04-01), Weng
Dilworth & Barrese
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
Tso Edward H.
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