Patent ID: 9559531
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: H02J

Claim:
1. A universal system for recharging two or more portable appliances that each have a rechargeable battery and a charging supervisor that manages a recharging current for recharging the rechargeable battery of the respective portable appliance, the universal system comprising: a recharging device comprised of at least one DC power supply, a start detection element, at least one switching element, and a control circuit, the at least one DC power supply being connectable to and powered by an energy source via the at least one switching element, the control circuit further comprises at least one current-measuring element that measures at least one current for determining a total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device; at least one first sub-assembly connected to the recharging device, the at least one first sub-assembly operatively connectable to a charging port of each portable appliance, wherein the at least one DC power supply is configured to provide electric energy at a DC voltage to an input side of the at least one first sub-assembly, and said first sub-assembly is configured to transfer the electric energy to said one or more portable appliances, wherein, when the charging port of the respective portable appliances is operatively connected to the first sub-assembly for being recharged, and with the at least one switching element closed, the at least one DC power supply is connected to the energy source so the energy source powers the at least one DC power supply to provide the electric energy at a constant DC voltage to the charging port of each of the portable appliances, for recharging the rechargeable battery of each of the portable appliances under control of the charging supervisor of the respective portable appliance, wherein the start detection element is operatively connected to the control circuit, the start detection element arranged to detect: a) a direct start command from a user, wherein the control circuit: i) when the user activates the start detection element, automatically closes the switching element to automatically connect the at least one DC power supply to the energy source, and ii) upon an automatic determination that all of said portable appliances are not being charged, opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, and iii) upon an automatic determination that an end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances has been reached, automatically opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, wherein the reaching of the end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances is automatically determined by way of the measurement of the at least one current by the at least one current-measuring element allowing determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, and iv) upon an automatic determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, whether the total power being consumed exceeds a capacity of said at least one DC power supply source: a) when the total power being consumed is less than the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage simultaneously and continuously to all the portable appliances, and b) when the total power being consumed is greater the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage continuously to only a subset of said portable appliances until said subset is fully charged, and then applying the constant voltage continuously to remaining portable appliances of the portable appliances still to be recharged, until the remaining portable appliances are fully charged, or c) detect each appliance being operatively connected to the at least first sub-assembly for recharging, wherein the control circuit: i) when the start detection element detects the user placing one of the appliance in the position with respect to the at least first sub-assembly to be recharged, automatically closes the switching element to automatically connect the at least one DC power supply to the energy source, and ii) upon an automatic determination that all of said portable appliances are not being charged, opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, and iii) upon an automatic determination that an end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances has been reached, automatically opens the switching element to automatically disconnect the at least one DC power supply from the energy source, wherein the reaching of the end of the recharging of all of said portable appliances is automatically determined by way of the measurement of the at least one current by the at least one current-measuring element allowing determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, and iv) upon an automatic determination of the total power being consumed by all loads connected the recharging device, whether the total power being consumed exceeds a capacity of said at least one DC power supply source: a) when the total power being consumed is less than the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage simultaneously and continuously to all the portable appliances, and b) when the total power being consumed is greater the capacity of said DC power supply source, applying the constant DC voltage continuously to only a subset of said portable appliances until said subset is fully charged, and then applying the constant voltage continuously to remaining portable appliances of the portable appliances still to be recharged, until the remaining portable appliances are fully charged.