US 12,187,143 B2
Portable vehicle battery jump start apparatus with safety protection
Jonathan Lewis Nook, Gates Mills, OH (US); William Knight Nook, Shaker Heights, OH (US); James Richard Stanfield, Glendale, AZ (US); and Derek Michael Underhill, Tempe, AZ (US)
Assigned to The NOCO Company, Glenwillow, OH (US)
Filed by The NOCO Company, Glenwillow, OH (US)
Filed on May 31, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/326,514.
Application 14/619,655 is a division of application No. 14/325,938, filed on Jul. 8, 2014, granted, now 9,007,015, issued on Apr. 14, 2015.
Application 18/326,514 is a continuation of application No. 18/296,441, filed on Apr. 6, 2023.
Application 18/296,441 is a continuation of application No. 16/819,831, filed on Mar. 16, 2020, granted, now 11,667,203.
Application 16/819,831 is a continuation of application No. 15/691,884, filed on Aug. 31, 2017, granted, now 10,604,024, issued on Mar. 31, 2020.
Application 15/691,884 is a continuation of application No. 14/619,655, filed on Feb. 11, 2015, granted, now 9,770,992, issued on Sep. 26, 2017.
Application 14/325,938 is a continuation of application No. PCT/US2014/045434, filed on Jul. 3, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2023/0302928 A1, Sep. 28, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B60L 53/14 (2019.01); H02J 1/10 (2006.01); H02J 7/00 (2006.01); H02J 7/34 (2006.01)
CPC B60L 53/14 (2019.02) [H02J 1/122 (2020.01); H02J 7/0029 (2013.01); H02J 7/0034 (2013.01); H02J 7/0047 (2013.01); H02J 7/342 (2020.01); H02J 7/00 (2013.01); H02J 7/00302 (2020.01); H02J 7/00306 (2020.01); H02J 7/00309 (2020.01); H02J 7/0048 (2020.01); H02J 2310/46 (2020.01)] 34 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A hand held, portable jump starter device, comprising:
a housing having a multi-cell rechargeable battery including at least three battery cells connected in series, a USB input port for receiving a charging current from an external source to recharge the multi-cell rechargeable battery, and an output port for providing jump starting current to an external vehicle;
a USB charge circuit connected to the USB input port, the USB charge circuit including a DC-to-DC converter circuit for upconverting an input voltage on the USB input port to a higher charging voltage for recharging the multi-cell rechargeable battery, and a pair of series connected transistor devices coupled between the DC-to-DC converter circuit and the multi-cell rechargeable battery for controlling current flow into and out of the multi-cell rechargeable battery;
a control circuit for detecting the voltage of the multi-cell rechargeable battery and configured to turn off the USB charge circuit to prevent over charging of the multi-cell rechargeable battery if the detected voltage exceeds a threshold value; and
a battery charge controller coupled to the multi-cell rechargeable battery and the pair of series connected transistor devices and configured to prevent over discharging of the multi-cell rechargeable battery.