| 摘要 |
A method of controllably charging a battery over a charging period comprises: a) connecting a charging voltage to the battery; b) applying a plurality of separate and distinct voltage steps in the charging voltage to the battery with the plurality of voltage steps being distributed over the charging period and each having a step magnitude significantly smaller than the charging voltage applied to the battery and c) for each of the plurality of voltage steps: i) detecting current changes induced by said each voltage step; ii) calculating a ratio from the detected current changes; and iii) varying the charging voltage according to the ratio. Also disclosed is an apparatus for charging a battery comprising: d) a variable DC power supply for providing adjustable charging voltage and charging current to the battery; e) a voltage controller for controlling the charging voltage of the variable DC power supply over a charging period and for applying a plurality of separate and distinct voltage steps distributed over the charging period to the battery for probing charging efficiency, each of the voltage steps having a step magnitude significantly smaller than the charging voltage applied to the battery; f) a current detector for detecting current changes in response to said each voltage step and g) an analyzer for determining a ratio from the detected current changes for said each voltage step with the voltage controller being coupled to the analyzer for varying the charging voltage according to the ratio for said each voltage step. |
