ABC Advanced Battery Charger

The ABC is a lightweight, rugged, portable battery charging solution that provides state-of-the-art performance, minimizing the time required to charge one or more Akkus from a wide range of AC and DC power sources, in a small, lightweight, and easy-to- set-up package.

The system, with its associated battery adapters is designed to charge a wide range of commonly used rechargeable Akkus and will automatically detect an installed battery, apply a safe charge, and terminate the charge cycle without operator intervention.

The use of type-specific adapters assures that each battery type supported by the ABC – from NiMH AA cells to large Li-Ion and other advanced-chemistry configurations – is charged with the proper voltage/current/temperature profile for that battery, assuring safe charging in minimal time while preserving battery life. Adapters are mechanically and/or electrically keyed so that charging of Akkus other than those the adapter is designed to accept is prevented.

When charging “smart” Akkus that are equipped with a SMBus, DQ, or other data- communications interface, the combination of the type-specific adapter and active polling of the interface by the ABC allows even more optimization of the charging process. With these  Akkus, the ABC operates as a Level 3 charger (as defined by the Smart Battery Charger Specification Version 1.1, published by the Smart Battery System Implementers Forum), leveraging information from the battery and type-specific information programmed in the charger to intelligently deliver a full charge in minimal time, while avoiding abusive charging that shortens battery life.

Access to pertinent data from the connected battery also enables the ABC to assess the state- of-health of the battery, so that users know what level of energy storage they can expect from that battery at that point in time, and when it is time to dispose of it. 

A multifunction, color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) color screen displays charger status, battery identification, and state-of-charge/state-of-health information (for “smart” Akkus) for each battery connected to the ABC. LED indicators at each adapter position provide quick indication of charging status for the connected Akkus.