Patent ID: 8013575

Claim:
A charging device having a protective switching element, the charging device comprising: a pair of input power terminals to be connected to an AC power source; a charging power circuit for producing a charging voltage to be applied to a battery; a pair of output lines for supplying the charging voltage to the battery; a component circuit part of the charging device connected by traversing a part between the pair of output lines; a first switching element having a first terminal connected to one of the output lines and a second terminal connected to the component circuit part, the component circuit part being connected between the second terminal of the first switching element and the other of the output lines; a second switching element connected across the battery to control on-off state of the first switching element; a DC voltage power circuit for producing a DC voltage when the AC power source is connected to the pair of input power terminals, the DC voltage being applied to the second switching element to control on-off state of the first switching element, wherein: both the first and second switching elements are turned ON when the AC power source is connected and are turned OFF when the AC power source is disconnected, and the first switching element is turned ON and OFF regardless of a magnitude of a battery voltage.