A system for charging a plurality of cordless power tool batteries includes charging circuitry and a plurality of docking stations. The charging circuitry includes a plurality of electrical connectors connectable to up to j>1 electrical loads, and primary control circuitry to direct DC output power to kj of the electrical connectors that are connected to kj electrical loads, separately and in succession. The plurality of docking stations are connectable to the plurality of electrical connectors as the kj electrical loads. Each docking station includes charging ports to receive up to m>1 of the cordless power tool batteries, and secondary control circuitry to direct the DC output power to recharge nm of the cordless power tool batteries that are received by the plurality of charging ports, separately and in succession under control of the primary control circuitry.

An energy supporting device for a power transmission system is disclosed, the energy supporting device comprising: a first energy supporting arrangement including at least a first string of two or more cells connected in series; a second energy supporting arrangement including at least a second string of two or more cells connected in series, wherein said first string and said second string are at least electrically connectable in series, wherein each cell of the second string comprises a power electronics building block, wherein the energy supporting device is configured to regulate voltage in the energy supporting device at least temporarily by means of one or more cells of the second string when said energy supporting device is operated in one of said at least one charging mode. A power transmission system, a method of providing energy support for a power transmission system, and a control device are also provided.

A system for an electric bicycle includes an energy storage device. The energy storage device includes a housing that is mountable to a frame of the electric bicycle, battery cells disposed within the housing, and output power terminals supported by the housing and electrically connectable to the battery cells. The energy storage device includes a processor and a first wireless communication device. The system includes a human/machine interface (HMI) electrically connected to the energy storage device via the output power terminals. The HMI includes a second wireless communication device. The processor is configured to change a mode of the energy storage device based on a signal received by the first wireless communication device from the second wireless communication device.

An embodiment of this application provides an energy storage system and an energy storage system control method. The energy storage system includes N battery clusters and N-X first conversion units, where N is a positive integer greater than 1 and X is a positive integer less than N. A first side of each of N-X first conversion units is connected in series to a power transmission circuit of one of N-X first battery clusters among the N battery clusters, so as to combine with a corresponding first battery cluster to form a series branch circuit. The N-X series branch circuits are connected in parallel to X second battery clusters in the N battery clusters.

According to some embodiments, a battery cluster controller includes a serial interface configured to receive waveform data and a rank over a serial communication bus, a processor configured to generate a switching parameter based on the rank and the waveform data, and a modulation unit configured with the switching parameter to generate a bridge configuration signal to control a bridge for selectively connecting a battery element to an output terminal to generate a first component of a waveform.

The present invention generally relates to automatic charging systems and methods for mobile devices that require more power than is possible with inductive chargers. A mobile device charging cabinet is provided, wherein each mobile device inserted for charging contains a charging receiver that is attached to a cover, such as a laptop cover. The cabinet further comprises a multiplicity of base stations, each of which provides a grid of conductive alternating polarity connection plates, spaced to accept two prongs similarly spaced on the bottom of the charging receiver. Power flows from the base station automatically through the charging receiver to the mobile device when it is placed on a surface containing a base station within the cabinet. Computer software is included to control and monitor all functionality of the system, such as optimal power flow and battery charging; and further provides key asset management tools to allow a user to know, for example, the number and exact location of all devices using the invention and under his or her control.

The power supply device performs one-side charge control for controlling the system main relay, the charging relay, the series connection relay, the parallel connection relay, and the first and second neutral point relays so that only the first power storage unit is charged using the external DC power until the voltage of the first power storage unit becomes equal to or higher than the voltage of the second power storage unit before the first and second neutral point relays are turned on and the power storage device is charged using the external DC power.

In order to ensure continued charging of electric vehicles when a charging station is not currently received an input power from an external power source, the systems and methods disclosed herein provide for operation of the charging station in a resilient operating mode in which an operating current is derived from a charge previously stored in a battery of the charging station. The operating current is produced by a resilient power subsystem within the charging station using the stored charge and is provided by the resilient power subsystem to one or more system components within the charging station in order to enable continued operation of the charging station, including enabling continuing vehicle charging during a time interval in which the charging station is not receiving input power from an external power source.

A battery management apparatus includes: an inverter connected to a battery cell and configured to convert a DC current output from the battery cell into an AC current according to an operation state of a plurality of switches provided therein; a measuring unit connected to a diagnosis line at which the AC current converted by the inverter is output, the measuring unit being configured to measure a voltage of the diagnosis line and output the measurement result; and a control unit having a plurality of capacitors connected to the diagnosis line and configured to control the operation state of the plurality of switches, receive the measurement result output from the measuring unit and diagnose a state of the plurality of capacitors based on the received measurement result.

During parallel charging, a control device sets a minimum value of first allowable input power of a first battery and second allowable input power of a second battery as common requested power of the first and second batteries, sets total requested power based on the common requested power, requests charging equipment for the total requested power or a total requested current that is based on the total requested power, and controls first and second inverters using the common requested power or a current command for the second battery that is based on the common requested power. The control device requests the charging equipment to stop the parallel charging when a difference between the common requested power and charging power of the second battery or between the current command for the second battery and a charging current of the second battery is equal to or larger than a predetermined value.