Patent ID: 8653790

Claim:
An electrical combination comprising: a battery pack configured to be interfaced with a hand held power tool, the battery pack including a battery pack housing connectable to and supportable by the hand held power tool, a plurality of terminals configured to be interfaced with corresponding terminals of the hand held power tool, and a plurality of battery cells arranged within and supported by the housing, each of the plurality of battery cells being rechargeable and having a lithium-based chemistry, each of the plurality of battery cells having a respective state of charge, the battery pack having a battery pack state of charge, power being transferable from the plurality of battery cells to the hand held power tool when the battery pack is connected to the hand held power tool; a control component; and a semiconducting switch electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of terminals; wherein the transfer of power from the battery pack to the hand held power tool is controlled by the control component and the switch based on one of the battery pack state of charge and the respective state of charge of one of the plurality of battery cells; and wherein a discharge current of the battery pack is regulated based on the switch being controlled into one of a first state and a second state by the control component to selectively enable the transfer of power from the plurality of battery cells to the hand held power tool.