Patent Application
20140132069
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of power supplies. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for a multi-functional power supply.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices generally require a certain specific input voltage at a given polarity and maximum current draw. Generally each device will therefore require a separate power supply
There is thus a long felt need to provide a general power supply, capable of supplying power to various devices by one single apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above-mentioned and other problems of the prior art. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.
The invention is a portable power supply having a built in battery, switch matrix, external voltage and impedance sense, inverter, and charging circuitry.
It is within provision of the invention to disclose a portable power supply (10) comprising:
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply (10), further comprising switching (64) means, adapted for switching between recharging said batteries 34 from said power plug (24), and supplying power from said at least one rechargeable battery (34) to said AC socket (12).
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply wherein said rectifier (56) comprises a Wheatstone diode bridge.
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply wherein said inverter (58) comprises polarity-reversing switches.
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply wherein said at least one rechargeable battery (34) comprises a plurality of rechargeable batteries (34), and wherein said portable power supply (10) further comprises:
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply further comprising a voltage meter (40) adapted for measuring voltage of a battery of an external device (50) connected to said power supply (10), and further wherein said switching assembly (44) is adapted to change the switch topology so as to output a voltage that is a desired function of the measured voltage of external device (50).
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply wherein said desired function is
where Vextant is the measured voltage of the device to be powered, Vthreshold is the threshold voltage, Zextant is the measured impedance of the device to be powered, and Zthreshold is the threshold impedance.
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply wherein said at least one rechargeable battery (34) comprises lithium-ion batteries, thereby providing relatively high output currents.
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply further comprising a USB port (18), for outputting voltage supplied by said batteries (34).
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned portable power supply further comprising crocodile clips (30), for outputting voltage supplied by said batteries (34), thereby providing means for starting a car.
It is within provision of the invention to disclose a method for supplying power, said method comprising the steps of:
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned method further comprising steps of:
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned method wherein said step of rectifying is accomplished by means of a Wheatstone diode bridge.
It is further within provision of the invention to disclose the aforementioned method wherein said step of inverting is accomplished by means of polarity-reversing switches.
In one aspect the present invention is directed to a portable power supply comprising:
The portable power supply may further comprise: switching means, for allowing either the at least recharging from the power plug, or the power supplying from the at least one rechargeable battery to the AC socket.
It is further within provision of the invention that the rectifier may comprise a Wheatstone diode bridge.
It is further within provision of the invention that the inverter may comprise polarity-changing switches.
The rechargeable battery may comprise a plurality of rechargeable batteries, and the portable power supply may further comprise:
wherein the switching between the rechargeable batteries may be adapted for supplying desired voltage and current from the batteries, and for charging the batteries from the converter.
The power supply may further comprise a voltage meter, for measuring the voltage of a battery of the external device if it is supplied with one, and for indicating the measurement to the switching assembly.
The at least one rechargeable battery may comprise lithium-ion batteries, thereby providing relatively high output currents.
The power supply may further comprise a USB port, for outputting voltage supplied by the batteries.
The power supply may further comprise crocodile clips, for outputting voltage supplied by the batteries, thereby providing means for starting a car.
In another aspect the present invention is directed to a method for supplying power, the method comprising the steps of:
The method may further comprise the steps of:
The method may further comprise the steps of:
The method may further comprise the steps of:
The foregoing embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in conjunction with systems and methods thereof, which are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting.
In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be implemented in practice, a plurality of embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the figures and/or description herein, the following reference numerals have been utilized throughout the figures:
numeral 10 denotes a power supply according to one embodiment of the present invention;
numeral 12 denotes an AC socket;
numeral 16 denotes a button;
numeral 18 denotes a USB port;
numeral 20 denotes a cover;
numeral 24 denotes a power plug;
numeral 30 denotes a wire and a clip;
numeral 34 denotes a battery;
numeral 36 denotes a circuitry assembly;
numeral 40 denotes a Volt meter or an Ohm meter;
numeral 42 denotes an electrical convertor;
numeral 44 denotes a switching circuitry;
numeral 46 denotes an AC to DC convertor;
numeral 48 denotes a controller;
numeral 50 denotes a load;
numeral 52 denotes a switch;
numeral 54 denotes a transformer;
numeral 56 denotes a rectifier;
numeral 58 denotes a DC to AC inverter;
numeral 60 denotes a secondary winding of the transformer; and
numeral 62 denotes a primary winding of the transformer.
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
The following description is provided, alongside all chapters of the present invention, so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make use of said invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out this invention. Various modifications, however, will remain apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined specifically to provide a means and method for providing a system and method for portably supplying power.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will understand that such embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention.
The term ‘plurality’ refers hereinafter to any positive integer (e.g, 1, 5, or 10).
The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, circuits, and so on, are not described in detail.
The present invention is directed to a portable power supply (10) comprising: a power plug (24), for receiving alternating current (AC) power from a wall electric receptacle; a transformer (54) for transforming relatively high alternating voltage input to a relatively low alternating voltage output; a rectifier (56), for rectifying the relatively low alternating voltage to direct voltage; at least one battery (34) rechargeable by said direct voltage; an inverter (58), for inverting direct voltage supplied by the at least one rechargeable battery (34) to relatively low alternating voltage, which is supplied to the secondary winding (60) of the transformer (54); and an alternating current (AC) socket (12), for receiving relatively high alternating voltage from the primary winding (62) of the transformer (54). Both AC and DC of various voltages may be supplied by this device in a portable manner, which uses a single transformer (54) both for recharging batteries (34) and for supplying AC power produced via the batteries (34).
A power supply 10 includes a plurality of batteries 34, each separately connected to a circuit assembly 36; an AC power plug 24 connected to circuit assembly 36 for charging batteries 34; and power output ports, which may include a USB port 18, an AC socket 12, crocodile clips 30, and others.
Circuit assembly 36 includes a switching assembly 44, which includes an array of switches 52. By felicitous connection of switches 44, batteries 34 may be connected in multiple combinations (series, parallel, and hybrids thereof) so as to obtain a selected voltage and current-draw capability.
Circuit assembly 36 also includes an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) convertor 46 receiving AC power from power plug 24; a converter 42 providing output power to socket 12, 18 and/or 30; and a voltage/resistance meter 40. Preferably, a controller 48 controls the elements of circuit assembly 36.
In this embodiment, power plug 24 supplies AC power via AC-DC convertor 24 (as will be familiar to one skilled in the art) to switching circuitry 44. Switching circuitry 44 switches the batteries 34 to best match the incoming rectified voltage. For example, if the AC-DC convertor 24 supplies 132 volts, batteries 34 of 3.3 volts each may be switched using switching circuitry 44 to a topography of parallel strings of four batteries in series, obtaining 3.3V×4=13.2V. Upon charging batteries 34, plug 24 is removed from the wall socket.
If the batteries 34 are in a charged state, the device may be used (while not being charged itself) to power another device. For this purpose, one of the output ports 18, 12, or 30 is connected to a load 50.
One example of load 50 is a load including its own battery, e.g., a portable telephone including a rechargeable battery.
For purposes of matching supply voltage to device voltage, a Digital Volt Meter (DVM) 40 is supplied that measures the voltage of the battery of portable device 50, e.g. 9.9 volts, connections to the charging terminals of the device.
Once this voltage is determined (by means of the DVM, by manual switch, or by other means as will be known to those skilled in the art) switching circuitry 44 switches batteries 34 to supply the measured voltage, at the proper voltage polarity, to portable device 50. In the case of a DC-powered device the DC-AC convertor (inverter) 42 may be bypassed or shunted.
According to an example of 3.3 volt batteries in the inventive device and 9.9 measured voltage of the load device, switching circuitry 44 switches the batteries to a configuration where strings of three batteries in series are connected in parallel, to supply 3.3×3=9.9 volts.
In a subsequent step, switching circuitry 44 disconnects batteries 34 for an interval, and DVM 40 again measures the voltage across the terminals of portable device 50, e.g. 13.2 volts. This allows the invention to supply a changing voltage when being used to charge external devices, for example a rising voltage as a device charges.
After each DVM voltage measurement, the switching circuitry 44 switches batteries 34 to supply the new desired voltage, which may be the measured load voltage, or a function thereof (for example, a voltage slightly higher than the measured voltage, to allow for charging a depleted device). In this example, switching circuitry 44 switches four batteries in series to supply 3.3×4=13.2 volts, and the other batteries in strings of four in series, each string in parallel to the others.
To continue the example using 2.3AH batteries, twelve such 3.3 volt batteries switched for supplying 13.2 volts provide 6.9 AH.
Another example of portable Device 50 is a load not including its own battery. In this case, Digital Volt Meter (DVM) 40 measures no voltage. Upon measuring no voltage, the DVM 40 is operated as or replaced by a Digital Ohm Meter (DOM).
Upon measuring infinite resistance, the user is invited to manually determine a DC voltage and the polarity thereof according to labeling of the device.
Upon measuring a resistance on the order of hundreds of ohms, the user is invited to confirm supplying AC power to the device, as in this case the device is likely to be one requiring AC power.
Switching circuitry 44 will thereupon switch batteries 34 to supply the voltage required for convertor 42 for converting this DC voltage to AC supply.
For 2.3AH batteries, twelve 3.3 volt batteries switched for supplying 19.8 volts provide 4.6 AH.
Covers 20 (FIG. 7,8) cover the output wires 30, which may be of a length sufficient, for example, for charging a vehicle's battery.
The example of twelve 2.3AH 3.3V batteries switched for supplying 13.2 volts providing 6.9 AH (such as of AI23 lithium-ion batteries) may start a car several dozens of times, if the duration of each start is a matter of seconds.
This configuration may run a screwdriver for an hour, or a portable computer for 12 hours, or a cellular phone for 120 days.
According to one embodiment batteries 34 may be permanently connected one to the other for receiving and for supplying a certain voltage, e.g. 12 volts.
Circuit assembly 36 converts the AC supply received by AC power plug 24 to that certain voltage for charging batteries 34 as connected. Circuit assembly 36 also inverts that certain DC voltage supplied by batteries 34 when charged for supplying AC power to AC socket 12.
According to this example batteries 34 are connected to supply 12 volt, circuit assembly 36 converts the AC supply to 12 volt DC, and also inverts 12 volt DC supplied by batteries 34 to AC power into AC socket 12.
Circuit assembly includes a single transformer both for the AC to DC conversion, and for the DC to AC inversion.
The AC supply from AC power plug 24, e.g. 220 VAC is received by a primary winding 62 of a transformer 54, and is transformed to a lower alternating voltage, such as to 12 VAC to a secondary winding 60 of transformer 54.
The 12 VAC according to this example is rectified by a voltage rectifier 56, such as a Wheatstone diode bridge, to the certain DC voltage, which is 12 VDC according to the example.
This DC voltage is supplied to batteries 34 for recharging them when switch 64, which may be manual, connects batteries 34 to rectifier 56.
Upon changing switch 64 to connect batteries 34 to a DC to AC inverter 58 instead of to rectifier 56, circuit assembly 36 inverts that certain voltage supplied by batteries 34 when charged for supplying AC power to AC socket 12.
The 12 VDC supplied by batteries 34 according to this example is inverted by a DC to AC inverter 58, which may constitute two switches (such as FET switches) connecting batteries 34 to secondary winding 60 of transformer 54. The switches of inverter 58 change the polarity of the batteries connected to secondary winding 60 back and forth, thus supplying a low voltage square wave at the switching frequency of the switches. For example 12 VAC is supplied to secondary winding 60, and is transformed to a high alternating voltage to primary winding 62 of transformer 54.
Thus, transformer 54, which is the heavy element functions for both conversions.
Power plug 24 and AC socket 12 may be separated one from the other by appropriate switching, even though both constitute primary winding 62 of transformer 54.
As has been described above, the extant voltage of the device to be powered may be measured by the inventive device in an attempt to determine the necessary voltage required to power the device to be powered. If a nonzero voltage (e.g. larger than some predetermined threshold) is measured, then that voltage (possibly with some predetermined offset) is output to the device to be powered. If on the other hand the measured voltage is smaller than the predetermined threshold, then the impedance Zextant of the device to be powered is measured. If this impedance is larger than some threshold Zthreshold then an AC voltage (for example 220VAC) is supplied. If both voltage and impedance are lower than their respective thresholds, no automatic setting is applied and the user must use the various switches on the inventive device to set the output voltage.
This may all be summed up in the equation
where Vextant is the measured voltage of the device to be powered, Vthreshold is the threshold voltage, Zextant is the measured impedance of the device to be powered, and Zthreshold is the threshold impedance.
The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form.
Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should be interpreted according to this definition.
The reference numbers in the claims are not a part of the claims, but rather used for facilitating the reading thereof. These reference numbers should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any form.
Although selected embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it is to be appreciated that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 213824 | Jun 2011 | IL | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IL2012/050219 | 6/26/2012 | WO | 00 | 12/30/2013 |
