International Components Unveils New Li-Ion Charging Technology
International Components Corp. (ICC) announced the introduction of its proprietary Virtual Voltage Termination (VVT™) technology. Over the past several years, a number of leading device manufacturers have been forced to issue Li-Ion battery recalls. Within the last few weeks, two major computer companies announced voluntary recalls of Li-Ion batteries. Under improper charging or extreme environmental conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, resulting in a thermal runaway condition, which could pose a fire risk.
"Our goal with VVT was to introduce a much safer and controlled Lithium Ion charging solution without adding costly components or hardware," said Michael Davis, Executive Director of Global Marketing and Sales. "With VVT, we actively measure the open circuit voltage of the battery cells within a battery assembly throughout the charge cycle. Conventional CC/CV chargers simply measure the voltage at the battery's terminals without regard to the charge state of the internal cells which can result in extended, incomplete, or in some cases un-safe charging." VVT is able to accomplish this by extremely accurate measurement of the actual cell voltage, negating error caused by series circuit elements such as safety circuits, connecting straps or dirty contacts.
The VVT-enabled charger performs a low frequency switching (on/off) control of the power supply, allowing for an extremely precise open circuit voltage (OCV) measurement of the cell/cell pack. Once the cell/cell pack OCV reaches a predetermined maximum voltage, the charger switches to constant voltage mode and the charger monitors the current level to the battery. Charge termination is based on conventional end-of-charge current measurement and termination value based on cell manufacturer recommendation. The VVT technology provides accurate measurement of cell voltage preventing a cell pack from going into an overcharge state.
