Patent ID: 7068012

Claim:
A battery protection circuit, comprising: a. at least one rechargeable cell; b. a lithium ion protection IC coupled to the at least one rechargeable cell, the lithium ion protection IC comprising a voltage monitoring circuit and a current monitoring circuit; c. at least one disconnect element coupled serially with the at least one rechargeable cell; d. a current monitoring circuit; e. a circuit for simulating an overcurrent condition within the lithium ion protection IC when the current monitoring circuit determines that the current flowing from the at least one rechargeable cell exceeds a predetermined current threshold; f. a transistor coupled serially with the at least one rechargeable cell; g. a resistor having an impedance less than 100 Ohms coupled in parallel with the transistor, wherein when the current flowing from the at least one rechargeable cell exceeds the predetermined current threshold, the current monitoring circuit causes the transistor to enter a high-impedance state; h. a pair of current blocking elements coupled serially between a charger terminal and the at least one rechargeable cell, wherein the pair of current blocking elements are in a conducting state when the battery protection circuit is coupled to a charger, further wherein the pair of current blocking elements is in a non-conducting state when the battery protection circuit is not coupled to the charger; and i. at least a third current blocking element coupled serially between the charge terminal and the at least one rechargeable cell.