FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to an intelligent battery charger. More particularly, the present invention provides a battery charger system with user configurable settings for the charging control and monitoring.
BACKGROUND & PRIOR ART OF THE INVENTION
In the conventional chargers, the time required for recharging has significantly inconvenienced users of batteries when the battery-powered equipment needs to remain in continuous service. "Batteries" refers herein to batteries of greater than about 100 Ahrs capacity. For example, industrial users for battery-powered material handling equipment such as forklifts, electric carts and the like have had to trade out batteries for recharging, removing them from vehicles, typically in a central battery room at some distance across the physical plant. Therefore, conventional charging results in a number of disadvantages for the industrial user: loss of employee time for nonproductive tasks; safety issues due to additional truck travel away from normal work areas within the plant and the need to handle heavy batteries; increased capital expenditures for two or more batteries required per piece of equipment and operation of battery-powered equipment at a low state of charge. Hence higher current, which results in increased vehicle maintenance.
The battery chargers for maintaining a desired charge upon one or more batteries are well known. Such battery chargers are frequently utilized to maintain a charge upon a plurality of series connected batteries by applying a voltage there across. The series connected batteries are thereby charged according to well known principles. However, it is also well known that such a contemporary battery charger does not mitigate the formation of an unbalanced charge upon the series connected batteries and that such an imbalance

substantially reduces the useful life of the batteries. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such imbalances commonly occur due to inherent differences in individual cell construction, such as differences in the internal resistance of each cell.
The power factor, the ratio of real power to apparent power is a basic factor in determining power efficiency of a battery charger. Power factor becomes a very important issue for charging high capacity batteries. Attaining a desirably high power factor is a particularly challenging problem for the charging of high capacity batteries, since fewer components are available that can handle the high currents and frequencies required in such charging regime, where transients and switching losses become more significant. The ideal charger for high capacity batteries has a high power factor regardless of the battery voltage being charged.
Reference may be made to the following known arts:
Publication no GB2419245 is directed to a battery charger of the invention which is operable to charge a first battery having a lithium-based chemistry and having a first nominal voltage in a nominal voltage range, and a second battery having a lithium-based chemistry and having a second nominal voltage outside the nominal voltage range. The batteries may have identification components having values representing battery voltage and chemistry, which the charger may identify. The charger may also monitor battery voltage during charging. The charger uses the identified battery voltage to select a battery voltage threshold for the charging function. User configuration not possible.

US patent no 5,757,163 relates to a battery charger for simultaneously charging a plurality of batteries from a single power source includes a microcontroller-based circuit that is programmed to multiplex full charging current sequentially to each battery in the charger. User configuration not possible.
US patent no 7,446,503 describes method and apparatus for charging batteries includes using an input rectifier to receive an ac input and provide a dc signal. A converter receives the dc signal and provides a converter output. An output circuit receives the converter output and provides a battery charging signal. A controller preferably controls the converter to power factor correct. User configuration not possible.
US patent no 7,301,308 and 6,803,746 relates to a highly efficient fast charger for high capacity batteries and methods for fast charging high capacity batteries. The fast charger preferably comprises a rectified AC input of single or preferably three phases, with an optional power factor corrected input, minimally filtered with high frequency, high ripple current capacitors, which is switched with a power switching circuit in the "buck" configuration into an inductor/capacitor output filter. User configuration not possible.
US publication no 2007145946 discloses an intelligent equalizing battery charger having equalization charging circuitry. The charger comprises an insulating switch-type DC to DC converting circuit, a microprocessor monitoring/calculating control circuit and a charging battery. User configuration not possible.

US publication no 20080238363 is directed to compact ultra fast battery charger device. The charger device includes a housing, defining a volume, that includes a power conversion module to provide output power of between 3-300 W, and a controller configured to determine a current level to direct to one or more rechargeable batteries, and cause the output power to be directed to the one or more rechargeable batteries at a charging current substantially equal to the determined current level. User configuration not possible.
US publication no 20080309286 relates to a battery charger containing circuitry including integrated cell balancing and automatic cell configuration determination is presented. The charger automatically adapts output current to different battery configurations. The charger also ensures that all the cells within a battery configuration are at roughly the same voltage. User configuration not possible.
US patent no 7,202,636 relates to method and apparatus for charging batteries. The battery charger and method includes an input circuit-that receives an AC input having a period of T seconds and provides a DC signal. A converter receives the first dc signal and provides a converter output across a dc bus having a peak voltage of V volts. An output circuit receives the dc signal and provides a battery charging signal having a power of P watts. A controller controls the converter to provide power factor correction. User configuration not possible.
US patent no 7,196,494 relates to a method and apparatus for charging batteries in a system of batteries. The method and apparatus involve producing a set of state of charge signals indicative of the states of charge of each battery in the system, successively identifying, from the state of charge signals, a most discharged battery in the

system and applying a charging current to the most discharged battery for at least part of a first period of time less than a period of time required to fully charge the most discharged battery before identifying a succeeding most discharged battery in said system. User configuration not possible.
US publication no 20060071631 relates to an apparatus for jumping and charging a remote battery. The apparatus includes a charger, positive and negative charge connectors operable to be connected to the remote battery, an auxiliary battery having positive and negative terminals, and positive and negative jumper connectors separate from the positive and negative charge connectors. User configuration not possible.
US patent no 6,204,630 relates to an onboard electric vehicle charger which incorporates a forward converter with dynamic balancing of the primary drive currents of its ferrite core transformer to produce 5,000 watt charging power with a power density of 333 watts per kilogram and full safety isolation between the input power source and the batteries plus small size (approximately 15" by 9" by 6") and weight (less than 15 kilograms) and a power factor correcting boost pre regulator with dynamic adjustment of its compensation networks which produces full correction to substantially unity (99.9+%) for power factor with current total harmonic distortion (THD) of 2% to 3% over the entire power range of 100 watts to 5,000 watts. User configuration not possible.
US publication no 20060033476 relates to a battery charger and method of charging a battery. The charger includes an input circuit that receives an ac input having a period of T seconds and provides a dc signal. A converter receives the first dc signal and provides a

converter output across a dc bus having a peak voltage of V volts. An output circuit receives the dc signal and provides a battery charging signal having a power of P watts. A controller controls the converter to provide power factor correction. User configuration not possible.
Publication no CN101106284 is directed to a positive and negative impulse charge method, which adopts a 220V AC rectified 100Hz pulsation DC to directly carry out the transformation of the positive impulse.
Publication no 20060103350 discloses an equalizing-charge charger, which includes a microprocessor, a pulse width modulator, battery cells, and equalizing charge load-control switches corresponding to the battery cells. When voltage sensors of the microprocessor detected the saturated status of one battery cell during charging mode.
Publication no WOO 195454 discloses an electrical storage battery charger/analyser which utilizes an adapter to house the battery to be processed. A program is stored in a memory device installed in the adapter and the program has a set of instructions which are followed by the charger/analyser to process the battery.
US patent no 6,683,438 is a contactless battery charger that avoids contact failure between a battery pack and the battery charger including a converter and a charging unit. A converter includes a primary side of a printed circuit board (PCB) transformer. The converter converts a commercial electric power to a high-frequency square wave, applies the converted high-frequency square wave to the primary side of the PCB transformer and controls generation of a

charge current depending on charge state information provided. User configuration not possible.
Publication no CN2901662 relates to a battery equalizer charger of intelligent equalized charging circuit.
Publication no TW289925 relates to smart-type battery charger with equalizer circuit
Reference may be made to an article by Demian A. E, et. al, Applied power electronics conference and exposition, 19th Annual IEEE, Vol 3, Page(s) 1407- 1410, 22-26 Feb 2004. The article explains an effective micro-controlled battery charger circuit that monitors the charging process avoiding the battery damage by overcharge is described, where a PWM forward topology with power factor correction is employed in order to provide DC/DC conversion.
Reference may be made to an article by Ningliang M, Boris S, Jon M and Steve T, Curtis Instruments Inc, 2003. The article proposes a single stage AC-DC topology with power factor correction for battery charger applications. Desired features for battery charger such as low cost, fast charging, charge profile programmability, high efficiency and high reliability are fully achieved by means of proposed solution. Additionally, its multiphase operation configuration provides easy power scaling.
Reference may be made to an article by Aguilar C et. al, IEEE transactions on industrial electronics, vol. 44, no5, pp. 597-603, 1997. The article proposes a novel approach of an integrated battery

charger/discharger which offers power-factor correction and battery galvanic isolation in a simple structure. Placing the battery in the primary side overcomes the need of galvanic isolation integration in each one of the DC/ DC on-board converters when this topology is used as part of a distributed power-supply system.
Reference may be made to the products by Xantrex, 2004. The products are true battery charger and battery XC chargers which are versatile enough to be used in a wide variety of conditions and locations. Auto-ranging AC input voltage capability (100-260VAC) makes traveling abroad and handling poor quality power a breeze. The easy-to-read digital display is invertable to accommodate either horizontal or vertical installations, and can be detached and mounted wherever needed. An optional intelligent shunt provides a simple fuel gauge capability that displays amp-hours consumed from a selected battery bank.
Thus, it is beneficial to provide a battery charging circuit with high power factor correction for charging series connected batteries to prevent the formation of an imbalance between the batteries being charged, so as to enhance their life thereof.
Further, reference may be made to the products by Jim Keyser, Ametek Prestolite Power, Dec 21, 2006. The article explains 18-kilowatt equinox charger ideal for a wide range of electric vehicle and material handling environments. The Equinox charger offers greater efficiency (>90%) and active power factor correction (>.95) along with lower total harmonic distortion (<10%) than either ferroresonant- or silicon-controlled-rectifier-based (SCR) power supply systems,

resulting in lower overall energy consumption and charging costs than either competitive system. The equinox also features an intelligent modular design that incorporates state-of-the-art IGBT technology that controls the charger's functions and minimizes downtime.
Reference may be made to the products by Green & Clean Energy, 2009. The article explains a battery charger titled Magnacharger which is designed with a wide input voltage range from 85 - 265V AC, making it an ideal choice for any worldwide application. Power factor correction and 12A maximum current draw ensures the charger will work reliably from any power outlet in the world, even through surges and sags. Standardizing on a single universal model reduces component count, saving manufacturing and service inventory management costs. The charger's microprocessor controller can store up to 10 developed optimized charge algorithms. The charger has designed algorithms for many types of batteries, and is constantly preparing algorithms for new battery types, sizes and chemistries.
Publication no WO2009100725 relates to a two-way battery charger in which the following elements are connected at the ports of a main board, namely: a power supply, a control or monitoring system, a servomotor or electromechanical system and sensors that maintain a constant flow of information relating to the state of the system to a software program which manages and controls the device. The charger can operate with alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC/CC) originating form different sources and operates in two directions, enabling one or more batteries to be charged and discharged. In addition, the charger operates with a high current flow and the stored power can be drained particularly quickly, taking only 1-10 minutes.

US publication no 2009167252 charger that charges a battery unit including a secondary battery, includes a receiving unit, a detection unit, a determination unit, and a control unit. The receiving unit receives, from the battery unit, battery state information indicating a state of the battery unit, if the secondary battery is being charged. The detection unit detects charge state information indicating the state of the battery unit, if the secondary battery is being charged. The determination unit determines, using the battery state information and the charge state information, whether the battery unit is in a normal state. The control unit controls charging of the secondary battery in the battery unit depending on whether the battery unit is in the normal state.
Publication no WO2009069201 relates to a battery management system which comprises plurality of batteries, chargers and a management server constitute a battery management system. A communication unit of the management server receives information indicating the completion of charging the battery assigned identification ID, the information being transmitted from a communication unit of each of the chargers. A management unit of the management server cumulatively counts pieces of received information indicating the completion of charging the battery for each of the identification IDs such that the number of receiving times is regarded as the number of charging times. Each battery life is managed on the basis of the number of charging times cumulatively counted by the management unit.
Publication no JP2009044790 provides a primary battery charger having a simple structure which can be manufactured at low cost. The

primary battery charger comprises a USB interface performing serial data communication with a computer terminal connected via a USB cable; battery sockets, to which primary batteries can be attached, charging circuit sections for charging the primary batteries by applying a charging voltage, based on a DC power supplied from the computer terminal via the USB cable; and a means for transmitting the charging information data, which is required to display information about charging on the computer terminal 10, through the USB interface.
Publication no WO2009143991 relates to a synergistic system made up of a control unit having the function of identifying and monitoring the battery, and transmitting the information regarding the actual state of its energy conditions to a battery charger, made to attain energy saving and well as a greater functionality and efficiency of the identified battery.
Publication no JP2009247195 discloses a battery management system can adjust charging current. The battery management system includes a monitoring circuit and a charger. The monitoring circuit monitors a battery pack equipped with a plurality of cells, and can operate to check the unbalanced conditions of the battery pack in each of the plurality of cycles. The charger is able to control the charging current to the battery pack, receive monitoring data from the monitoring circuit, and adjust the charging current from a fist level in a former stage to a second level lower than the first level, in response to the detection of the unbalanced condition in the present cycle. User configuration of different battery voltage not possible.

US publication no 20090066289 relates to a battery charging system which includes an input circuit configured to receive an input power and provide an output power on a first output terminal and a second output terminal. An output circuit has a first input terminal connected to the first output terminal and a second input terminal connected to the second output terminal to receive the output power and configured to condition the output power for a battery charging process. A first conductive plate with a first bus surface extends between the first input terminal and the first output terminal. An insulator plate has a first insulator surface disposed in an abutting relationship with the first bus surface and a second insulator surface. A second conductive plate has a second bus surface which extends between the second input terminal and the second output terminal and is disposed in an abutting relationship with the second insulator surface. User configuration not possible.
In light of the above, there is the need for an efficient and intelligent battery charger with user configurable settings for the charging control and monitoring. Additionally, there is a need for, switched-mode charger for very low ripple charging which reduces the internal losses of the battery. This in-turn reduces the temperature rise of the battery thus increasing the life of the battery.
The present invention provides a battery charger with monitoring/ control and input power factor correction which reduces input harmonics current. The present invention also provides an intelligent charger which will automatically select the battery banks in a given range and also it can work in the float/ boost modes.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Primary object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent and user configurable battery charger system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a battery charger system with power factor correction
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a switched-mode charger for very low ripple charging
Another object of the present invention is to reduce the temperature rise of the battery, thus increasing the life of the battery.
Yet another object is to provide a battery charger with input power factor correction which reduces input harmonics current.
Another object is to provide a simple and reliable battery charger.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a battery charger system which is cost effective.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent equalizing battery charger having equalization charging circuitry
Another object of the present invention is to provide a battery charger with monitoring/calculating control circuit.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a battery charger which can provide protection against connection in reverse avoiding any damages to the battery cells or charger.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide input power factor correction for any provided voltage or current.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a battery charger which is suitable for any voltage via one circuit only.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide communication with a display device for monitoring, setting and data logging of various system parameters for analysis of system performance.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide settable charging current and voltage for different AH battery bank.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide automatic battery bank selection capability means wherein different battery bank can be connected in a given range of charger which selects the battery bank value according to the user input and charges the battery according to that. Hence, it reduces inventory of chargers for different battery banks.
Still another objective of the present invention is to detect any faulty/damage battery from battery bank by battery status monitoring software.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a battery charger which can be used for large number of combination of batteries and charging current & voltage.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a battery charger with the keypad so that the user can set the charging current,

boost & float voltage, absorption time, number of battery connected & other parameters required for charging.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a battery charger which is used for any type of battery.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a battery charger which can be configured either in constant current or constant voltage charging mode through configuration settings.
At the outset of the description, which follows, it is to be understood that the ensuing description only illustrates a particular form of this invention. However, such a particular form is only an exemplary embodiment, and without intending to imply any limitation on the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the description is to be understood as an exemplary embodiment and teaching of the invention and not intended to be taken restrictively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention discloses an efficient and intelligent battery charger with power factor correction. The present invention provides a switched-mode charger for very low ripple charging which reduces the internal losses and the temperature rise of the battery. This increases the life of the battery. The present invention provides a battery charger with monitoring/ control and input power factor correction which reduces input harmonics current. It displays the parameters/ information of the battery on a display device via communication media. An equalizer equalizes the charge of the batteries during charging. Any number of batteries can be connected for charging.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the intelligent battery charger charging a plurality of batteries from a single power source.
In an another embodiment of the present invention, the intelligent battery charger and the controller checks the battery for such as but not limited to various fault conditions, including high impedance, a shorted battery and logs all the details/ history of the batteries .
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the
intelligent battery charger is used for any type of battery such as but not limited to VRLA, flooded lead acid battery or tubular battery.
STATEMENT OF INVENTION
According to this invention, there is provided an intelligent battery charger comprises a controller, a rectifier with a power factor correction circuit which takes the input from the universal supply voltage, a high frequency DC - DC converter circuit providing isolation between the input and output load, battery equalization circuit to equalize the voltage across at least two batteries connected with charger for charging, communication devices equipped with either wired or wireless device for flexibility to the user, wherein said intelligent battery charger connects battery bank in a given range of charger which selects the battery bank value according to the user input and charges the battery according to value which reduces inventory of chargers for different battery banks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the ensuing description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and wherein:
Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the Intelligent Battery Charger. Figure 2 shows the flowchart, according to the present invention.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
Reference may be made to fig 1 which shows the block diagram of the Intelligent Battery Charger. It comprises of a rectifier with a Power Factor Correction circuit, which takes the input from the universal supply voltage at either 50 or 60 Hz mains. A high frequency DC- DC converter circuit with high efficiency provides isolation between the input and the output load. The Intelligent Battery Charger with input power factor correction reduces input harmonics current and results in unity input power factor.
The charger comprises built-in equalizer which removes the imbalances and increases the battery life. The battery equalization circuit 2 equalizes the voltage across batteries connected for charging. The battery equalization circuit 2 automatically equalizes the voltage level of each battery, hence protects the overcharging of the batteries. It also enhances string (battery bank) efficiency because all the batteries play full role for backup, due to their equal potential. The communication device 5 is equipped with either wired or wireless device. It gives flexibility to the user, so that the user can wirelessly access the charger and set the charging current, mode ( CC or CV ) and other parameters according to requirements. The system can accept the user settings and charge the connected batteries accordingly. The Keypad of the system is user friendly through which

the user can set the charging current, number of battery connected & other parameters required for charging. The controller reads the user setting and controls the charging process by controlling the battery voltage and current. The same charger can be used for large number of combination of batteries and charging current.
The user can set the threshold of different parameters such as but not limited to boost voltage, charging current and time for absorption mode or complete profile of the charging process with respect to time.
The present invention also provides intelligent monitoring software which monitors status of each battery. In case of any faulty/ damaged battery, it indicates the battery, which can be removed without disturbing the entire battery bank of the system.
In an aspect of the present invention, the charger automatically detects the voltage of the connected battery bank and selects the float/boost level according to the connected bank. For example: In case, the charger is of 96 V and battery of 24V, it throws the voltage and senses it whether the voltage is suitable for charging or not. If not, it throws a lower voltage and senses again for the same. This process continues till the appropriate condition is reached and continuous charging is started. The charger can be controlled by computer and all the data are logged in the computer. The data is also communicated to the equalizer.
User can configure the input through remote or local communication or some handheld device.

An intelligent battery charger comprises a controller, a rectifier with a power factor correction circuit which takes the input from the universal supply voltage, a high frequency DC - DC converter circuit with high efficiency and provides isolation between the input and the output load. Using synchronous rectifier to take the input from the isolated DC - DC converter and convert it to DC. The battery equalization circuit equalizes the voltage across at least two batteries connected with charger for charging and the communication devices equipped with either wired or wireless device gives flexibility to the user. So that, the charger can be accessed wirelessly and set the parameters through keypad and the electromechanical way of charging the battery wherein said intelligent battery charger connects battery bank in a given range of charger which selects the battery bank value according to the user input and charges the battery according to a value which reduces inventory of chargers for different battery banks.
The battery charger is suitable for any voltage via one circuit only.
Said charger can be used for large number of combination of batteries and charging current & voltage.
The keypad of the system is user friendly through which the user can set the charging current, boost & float voltage, absorption time, number of battery connected & other parameters required for charging.

The intelligent battery charger indicates faulty battery or damaged battery wherein the above said battery, which can be removed without disturbing the entire battery bank of the system.
The controller according to the present invention checks the battery for such as but not limited to various fault conditions, including high temperature, high impedance, a shorted battery and logs all the details/ history of the batteries.
The charger detects the voltage of the connected battery bank and selects the float/ boost level & absorption time according to the connected bank.
The comparator compares the reference signal to the cell charge signal and effects control of the charging/ discharging circuit.
Said charger is used for any type of battery. The user is able to set charging regime according to the selected battery. Said charger can be configured in constant current or constant voltage.
Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

WE CLAIM:
1. An intelligent battery charger comprises a controller, a rectifier with a power factor correction circuit which takes the input from the universal supply voltage, a high frequency DC - DC converter circuit providing isolation between the input and output load, battery equalization circuit to equalize the voltage across at least two batteries connected with charger for charging, communication devices equipped with either wired or wireless device for flexibility to the user, wherein said intelligent battery charger connects battery bank in a given range of charger which selects the battery bank value according to the user input and charges the battery according to value which reduces inventory of chargers for different battery banks.
2. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the battery charger is suitable for any voltage via a circuit only.
3. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the said charger can be used for large number of combination of batteries and charging current & voltage.
4. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in any of the preceding claims indicates faulty battery or damaged battery, which can be removed without disturbing the entire battery bank of the system.
5. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller checks the battery for such as but not limited to various fault conditions, including high temperature, high impedance, a shorted battery and logs all the details/ history of the batteries.
6. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the charger detects the voltage of the connected battery bank and selects the float/boost level & absorption time according to the connected bank.
7. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the comparator compares the reference signal to the cell charge signal and effects control of the charging/ discharging circuit.
8. An intelligent battery charger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said charger is used for any type of battery and can be configured in constant current or constant voltage in which the user is able to set charging regime according to the selected battery.
9. An intelligent battery charger substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.