Patent ID: 8792221

Claim:
A docking station which provides electrical protection between a rechargeable battery provided in a handheld meter and an external power supply which charges the rechargeable battery via the docking station, and which mitigates the risk of damage to the handheld meter and a base due to dendrite formation from non-recommended cleaning practices, the docking station being removably connectable to the power supply and comprising: the base which removably accommodates the handheld meter; an electrical system which comprises: a meter interface connector having an output terminal provided in the base which supplies power from the power supply to the rechargeable battery upon both the docking station being connected to the power supply and the handheld meter being accommodated in the base which removably couples the rechargeable battery to the output terminal, a ground terminal provided in the base which grounds the rechargeable battery upon the handheld meter being accommodated in the base which removably couples the rechargeable battery to the ground terminal, protection circuitry which comprises: a current monitoring circuit which is directly connected to the ground terminal which detects an over-current condition of the electrical system upon both the rechargeable battery being coupled to the output and ground terminals and the docking station being coupled to the power supply, and which outputs an over-current fault detection signal responsive to the over-current condition, and a voltage supervisor circuit which monitors for an out-of-range voltage condition of the power supply when connected to the docking station and at least during and after the rechargeable battery is coupled to both the output and ground terminals, and which outputs a voltage fault detection signal responsive to detection of the out-of-range voltage condition both with and without the rechargeable battery being coupled to both the output and ground terminals, a switch responsive to the fault detection signals which inhibits the supply of power from the power supply to the output terminal upon detection of either the over-current condition or out-of-range voltage condition and a visual indicator responsive to the fault detection signals which provides a visual indication upon detection of either the over-current condition or out-of-range voltage condition; wherein the protection circuitry provides protection against dendrite formation on the meter interface connector by being configured to automatically disconnect power from the meter interface connector when the meter and/or the base are oversaturated with a cleaning practice solution.