Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging – One cell or battery charges another
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-08
2002-07-30
Tso, Edward H. (Department: 2838)
Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging
One cell or battery charges another
Reexamination Certificate
active
06426606
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the portable power source industry and, more particularly, to the field of portable power sources for providing supplemental power to electrical and mechanical systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The need for a portable power source arises frequently in a variety of circumstances. Among the most common of circumstances is the situation in which a commercial or family vehicle fails to start because of a “dead” battery. A commercial or family vehicles typically is powered by a conventional internal combustion engine which requires a separate electric motor (i.e., “starter”) that rotates the engine crankshaft at a speed sufficient to start the engine. Because the starter is electrically powered by an automobile battery, if the battery goes dead or otherwise loses a substantial amount of stored energy when the vehicle's lights or radio are left on while the engine is off, then the engine will not start. This phenomenon has existed since the introduction of the electric starter and lead acid storage battery on a vehicle, and it is especially prevalent during cold weather when vehicles are generally more difficult to start and extra engine-off loads are left on (e.g., electrical heaters) causing the vehicle's battery to discharge even faster.
In such circumstances, it is necessary to have the benefit of a supplemental source of power to “jump start” the vehicle's engine. With a jump start, because the vehicle battery does not have the needed energy or electrical “push” (i.e., voltage) necessary, supplementary power is applied to the electrical system or starter motors. Jump starts typically have been applied two ways: (1) application of additional battery power in parallel with the existing battery or batteries on the vehicle or machinery; and (2) generation of direct current power produced by a generator or alternator driven by a separate engine.
Thus, with respect to the first method of providing a jump start, most conventional devices still continue to rely on a direct current power source provided by a battery. Recent examples of such devices are U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,519 to Whiting et al. titled Portable Battery Charger Including Auto-Polarity Switch and U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,185 to Prelec et al. titled Jump Starter, which describe power booster devices using a battery. The jump start is performed with the application of extra battery power in parallel with the existing battery on a vehicle and requires that connecting leads, or “jumper cables,” be connected from an external power source, conventionally a separate battery, to the battery on the vehicle. With this method of jump starting, the separate, charged battery provides extra energy to the disabled battery of the vehicle and thus may enable the engine starting operation. In essence, the extra battery is temporarily boosting the voltage, and thus, the available power in the system, so that the starter motor may have sufficient energy to start the engine; that is, this momentary boost in electrical energy to the starter motor may be sufficient to start the engine if the supplemental battery provides sufficient power.
Unfortunately, the supplemental battery does not always provide sufficient power. The amount of power required by the supplemental battery is a function of many factors, including the size of the engine to be started, its temperature, oil, and viscosity, as well as the remaining energy of the disabled vehicle battery. The supplemental battery must provide enough additional energy to equal the normal level of power available from a fully charged battery installed in the vehicle. If, for example, the vehicle battery is completely discharged, the supplemental battery may not have sufficient energy to make the starter motor function properly. Some devices have sought to boost the energy supplied by a supplementary battery used to recharge a disabled battery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,978 to Kellett et al. titled Battery Booster, for example, describes a “boost converter” comprising a switch, diode and inductor to step up the primary power supplied by a battery. Depending on the above-described conditions, however, the additional 2 to 3 volts provided may not be sufficient, especially in attempting to start the heavy engine of a large-sized heavy-duty commercial vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,431 to Winkler titled D.C. Stepped-Up Voltage Transfomerless Battery Charger, steps up the voltage of a direct current battery by applying a supplementary source power via alternating current to a capacitor. While this may be useful for recharging batteries in hand-held devices (e.g., walkie-talkies or radios), it may not be suitable for recharging vehicle batteries stranded away from a source of alternating current and requiring a much greater supplementary power.
Moreover, conventional devices, because of the limited amount of supplementary power delivered in a single, short burst, frequently require significant time durations to recharge the vehicle battery. The level of discharge of the existing vehicle battery, as noted, will determine at least partly the time necessary to recharge a disabled battery, or even whether the vehicle can be jump-started at all. If the supplementary battery power has insufficient power itself, the discharged battery may require significant time to receive the energy flow needed so that it can work with the supplementary battery to start the engine. At lower temperatures for example, the energy flow becomes slower. When temperature is low the chemical properties of a conventional battery do not allow the battery to function as well in any charge condition, but especially when it is severely discharged. If severely discharged, then the vehicle battery may take a significant amount of time to recharge.
Conventional techniques pose other problems as well. Initially, when batteries are connected in parallel, the discharged battery begins to draw energy from the charged battery. If left in a steady state, the discharged battery will eventually drain energy from the charged battery to the point where the combination of the parallel batteries will reach equilibrium with equal electrical energy in each.
Conventional techniques also can create other potential problems as well. Sparks can be generated when the supplementary battery is electrically connected to the existing vehicle battery. If the battery is connected improperly, the likelihood of sparks increases. There is also potential damage to both the vehicle battery and the vehicle electrical system. Gases produced by the battery can be ignited causing explosion and bodily harm to the installer along with damage to the vehicle.
Providing a power boost can alternatively be accomplished by generation of direct current power produced by generators or alternators that are driven by some type of engine. As with providing a supplementary battery to boost power, in order for a standby power generation unit to be effective, it needs the capability to produce sufficient power to either activate the starting motor independently or it must supplement the existing vehicle battery as already described above. It is generally not practical, due to size and cost, to have a generator set large enough to turn the engine by itself. Therefore, a jump start using this method is normally accomplished by boosting output voltage of the generator set beyond normal operating levels in order to charge the existing vehicle battery.
This increased voltage, however, leads to its own set of potential problems. The voltage levels produced are conventionally controlled either manually or by built in voltage regulators. When set manually, an operator must monitor the output of the unit and the charging process. The charging process takes time as described above. This requires that the operator devote full attention to the process. It is costly, though, for an operator to simply watch the unit perform. If the unit performs out of control, however, damage will be caused to the batteries and potentially to the starter motor an
Bracewell & Patterson L.L.P.
Purkey Electrical Consulting
Tibbits Pia
Tso Edward H.
LandOfFree
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