JUMP STARTING DEVICE WITH ENHANCED (TURBO) BOOST MODE

Abstract

Provided is a jump starting device for boosting a depleted or discharged battery having a positive terminal and negative terminal, including a battery device including multiple battery cells connected together in series, a positive battery connector for connecting the positive terminal of the battery device to the positive terminal of the depleted or discharge battery, a negative battery connector for connecting the negative terminal of the battery device battery to the negative terminal of the depleted or discharged battery, and electronics in circuit with the battery device, positive battery connector, and negative battery connector, the electronic configured for selectively connecting at least one or more battery cells of the battery device to the depleted or discharge battery in a normal boost mode or in an enhanced boost mode.

Claims

1. A jump starting device for boosting a depleted or discharged battery having a positive terminal and negative terminal, the jump starting device comprising: a battery device comprising multiple battery cells connected together in series, the battery device having a positive terminal and a negative terminal; a positive battery connector for connecting the positive terminal of the battery device to the positive terminal of the depleted or discharge battery; a negative battery connector for connecting the negative terminal of the battery device battery to the negative terminal of the depleted or discharged battery; and electronics in circuit with the battery device, positive battery connector, and negative battery connector, the electronic configured for selectively connecting at least one or more battery cells of the battery device to the depleted or discharge battery in a normal boost mode, or connecting the one or more battery cells and one or more additional battery cells of the battery device to the depleted or discharged battery in an enhanced boost mode.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the electronics comprises a first relay configured selectively connecting one or more battery cells of the battery device to the depleted or discharged battery, and a second relay for selectively connecting one or more additional battery cells of the battery device to the depleted or discharge battery to increase the voltage delivered to the depleted or discharged battery.

3. The device according to claim 2, further comprising a controller for selectively opening and closing, respectively, the first relay and second relay.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the battery device is a battery pack.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the battery pack is a 16V rechargeable battery pack having at least four (4) individual battery cells.

6. The device according to claim 4, wherein the battery pack is a 16V rechargeable battery pack having four (4) individual 4V battery cells.

7. The device according to claim 5, wherein the at least four (4) individual battery cells are Li-ion battery cells.

8. The device according to claim 6, wherein the four (4) individual 4V battery cells are Li-ion battery cells.

9. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a first charger for charging the one or more battery cells of the battery device, and a second charger for charging the one or more additional battery cells of the battery device.

10. A jump starting device for boosting a depleted or discharged battery having a positive terminal and negative terminal, the jump starting device comprising: a first battery device; a second battery device; a positive battery connector for connecting a positive terminal of the first battery device or second battery to the positive terminal of the depleted or discharge battery; a negative battery connector for connecting a negative terminal of the first battery device or second battery device to the negative terminal of the depleted or discharged battery; and electronics in circuit with first battery device, second battery device, and negative battery device, the electronics configured for selectively connecting the first battery device to the depleted or discharge battery in a normal boost mode, or connecting the second battery device to the depleted or discharged battery in an enhanced boost mode.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the electronics comprises a first relay configured selectively connecting the first battery device to the depleted or discharged battery, and a second relay for selectively connecting the second battery device to the depleted or discharge battery to increase the voltage delivered to the depleted or discharged battery.

12. The device according to claim 11, further comprising a controller connected to and controlling the first relay and second relay for selectively connecting the first battery device to the depleted or discharge battery or the second battery device to the depleted or discharged battery.

13. The device according to claim 10, wherein the first battery device is a 12V battery pack having three (3) individual 4V battery cells and the second battery device is a 16V battery pack having four (4) individual 4V battery cells.

14. A jump starting device for boosting a depleted or discharged battery having a positive terminal and negative terminal, the jump starting device comprising: a first battery device; a second battery device; a positive battery connector for connecting a positive terminal of the first battery device and/or second battery to the positive terminal of the depleted or discharge battery; a negative battery connector for connecting a negative terminal of the first battery device and/or second battery device to the negative terminal of the depleted or discharged battery; and electronics in circuit with the first battery device, second battery device, and positive battery connector for selectively connecting the first battery device to the depleted or discharge battery in a normal boost mode, or connecting simultaneously both the first battery device and the second battery device to the depleted or discharged battery in an enhanced boost mode.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein the electronics comprises a first relay configured selectively connecting the first battery device to the depleted or discharged battery, and a second relay for selectively connecting the second battery device to the depleted or discharge battery to increase the voltage delivered to the depleted or discharged battery.

16. The device according to claim 15, further comprising a controller connected to and controlling the first relay and second relay for selectively connecting the first battery device to the depleted or discharge battery and/or the second battery device to the depleted or discharged battery.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the first battery device is a 12V battery pack having three (3) individual 4V battery cells and the second battery device is a 4V battery pack having one (1) individual 4V battery cell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the jump starting device according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] A jump starting device 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The jump starting device 10 comprises a battery device 12, a relay device 14 having a set of relays 14A, 14B, and conductors (e.g. wires, cables, conductive bars or plates, conductive frame, circuit board, battery terminal connectors, battery clamps, or combination thereof) for connecting the battery device of the jump starting device 10 to the depleted or discharged battery 20.

[0025] The battery device 12, for example, comprises four (4) rechargeable Li-ion 4V battery cells 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D (CELLS #1, 2, 3, 4) connected together in series. The battery device 12 includes a positive terminal and a negative terminal.

[0026] The relay device 14, for example, comprises a 12V relay 14A, a 16V relay 14B, and a controller for selectively operating (e.g. opening and closing) the relays 14A, 14B.

[0027] The battery device 12 of the jump starting device 10 can be charged using a 12V charger 16 and a 4V charger 18, as shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, the 12V charger 16 and charging circuit of the jump starting device 10 is configured to charge the battery cells 12A, 12B, 12C (CELLS #1, 2, 3). The 4V charger 18 and charging circuit of the jump starting device 10 is configured to charge the battery cell 12D (CELL #4).

[0028] The jump starting device 10 can be modified. For example, the battery device 12 shown in FIG. 1 and described above can be replaced with a separate 12V battery and a separate 16V battery selectively connected to the depleted or discharged battery 20 by the jump starting device 10 to provide a normal operating mode (i.e. normal mode) or a Turbo Boost operating mode (i.e. Turbo mode or Turbo Boost mode). Specifically, the separate 12V battery is connected to the 12V relay 14A and the separate 16V battery is connected to the 16V relay.

[0029] Alternatively, the jump starting device can be modified in a different manner. For example, the battery device 12 shown in FIG. 1 and described above can be replaced with a separate 12V battery and a separate 4V battery selectively connected or selectively connected in combination to the depleted or discharged battery 20 by the jump starting device 10 to provide a normal operating mode (i.e. normal mode) or a Turbo Boost operating mode (i.e. Turbo mode or Turbo Boost mode). Specifically, the separate 12V battery is connected or connectable to the 12V relay 14A and the separate 12V battery in combination with the separate 4V battery is connected or connectable to the 16V relay 14B.

Operation

[0030] The jump starting device 10 is connected to the depleted or discharged battery 20, for example, using a positive battery cable having a positive battery clamp, and a negative battery cable having a negative battery clamp of the jump starting device 10.

[0031] During the normal operating mode (i.e. normal mode), for example, the 12V relay is closed by the controller and the 16V relay is opened by the controller. In this manner, electrical power is supplied from the battery cells 12A, 12B, 12C (CELLS #1, 2, 3) to the depleted or discharged battery 20.

[0032] During the Turbo Boost operating mode (i.e. Turbo mode or Turbo Boost mode), for example, the 12V relay is opened by the controller and the 16V relay is closed by the controller. In this manner, electrical power is supplied from the battery cells 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D (CELLS #1, 2, 3, 4) to the depleted or discharged battery 20.

[0033] It is noted that the controller and relays 14A, 14B can be differently configured and/or operated, however, still providing the same connections (i.e. closed relay) or disconnections (i.e. open relay) for selectively operating the normal operating mode and selectively operating the Turbo Boost operating mode.

[0034] Alternatively, the relay 14B can be connected to battery cell 12A (CELL #1) and relay 14A can be connected to battery cells 12B, 12C, 12D (CELLS #2, 3, 4) to also provide a 12V normal operating mode and a 16V Turbo Boost operating mode.

Relay Contact Detection

[0035] It is critical that the relays in FIG. 1 are never closed at the same time. A contact detector circuit can be provided to detect when either relay is closed for safety purposes.

Normal 12V Mode

[0036] In normal jump starter use, the jump starting device will operate in the 12V mode. This will allow the user to successfully jump start most vehicle applications. In this 12V mode, the jump starting device will power up in 12V mode. As stated above, this will allow the jump starting device to successfully jump start more vehicles in one charge.

16V Boost Mode

[0037] A separate “Turbo Boost” switch can be provided that when pressed, allows the 12V relay to be opened (if it is closed), and the 16V relay to then be closed for Turbo or Turbo Boost operation. This will provide the extra energy of the additional cell to provide a total of 16V for the jump start.

Charging

[0038] There are several embodiments for charging this system. FIG. 1 shows a charging method that includes two separate chargers, for example, one charger is a standard 12V charger and the second is an independent 4V cell charger. Another embodiment is a 16V charger and a separate 4V cell charger alone allowing cell balancing to help equalize the 4V cell to the rest of the 12V battery cells.

Dynamic Switching for Higher Power Jumpstarts

[0039] In another embodiment, the switch to higher energy enhanced mode (e.g. Turbo mode or Turbo Boost mode), can be dynamic. This allows for automatically switching to higher energy during the jump start event itself making it transparent to the user.

Timer

[0040] Turbo mode or Turbo Boost mode delivers current to the depleted or discharged battery (e.g. vehicle battery, car or truck battery), and unless it is limited by some function, will completely drain the higher battery that provides Turbo operation. One method of limiting is a simple timer. This timer can be programmed to vary depending on how long the current is provided.

Turbo Full Time

[0041] In another embodiment, a Turbo switch can be used to simply disable the Timer described above. This would have the effect of the Turbo mode or Turbo Boost mode being on full time until the boost battery reaches its low cutoff point.