Patent ID: 7847515

Claim:
A device for charging batteries of medical instruments comprising: at least one electric contact device for connecting a battery, the at least one contact device being connectable through a charging circuit to an electric power source, and whereby batteries having different charge requirements can be connected to the at least one contact device; an identification device for recognizing the different batteries and coupled to the charging circuit for charging the batteries according to their respective charging requirements, wherein the identification device comprises at least one magnetic sensor for detection of at least one magnetic parameter of a magnetic element connected to the connectable batteries, the at least one magnetic sensor being coupled to the charging circuit for relaying an identification signal, and wherein the charging circuit is operable to recognize a connected battery based on the identification signal and to select a charging requirement assigned to the connected battery from among the charging requirements; and a first connecting device for supplying electrical power to the contact device through the charging circuit and a second connecting device electrically connected to the first connecting device and configured for electrically connecting and supplying electrical power to a second device for charging batteries so that the second device for charging batteries can receive electric power via the second connecting device.