Battery-charging technology cuts
charging time for all battery types

Battery charger vendor Advanced Charger Technology (Norcross, GA) has developed a patented charging technology that can charge a cellular-phone battery in as little as five minutes. Called Ultra-Rapid, the charging technology handles all types of batteries used in portable electronic equipment, including nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal-hydride, and lithium-ion, and can triple the life of a battery.

The technology is based on a principle called Dynamic Electrochemical Waveform, which works with the natural electrochemical processes in the batteries. The technique continually monitors the battery's electrochemical state during charging and adjusts the charger's waveform to optimize charging efficiency.

This cellular phone charger is based on
Advanced Charger Technology's Ultra-Rapid
battery-charging technology, which can fully
charge cell phone batteries in as little as five
minutes and more than triple battery life over
conventional charging methods.

By precisely monitoring the battery's state, the charger is able to charge the battery rapidly without overheating or damaging it. Nor does this approach suffer from the memory effects experienced with other chargers. Ultra-Rapid can fully charge a battery even if the battery is only partially drained, unlike conventional chargers that require the battery to be fully drained before a charge.

In independent tests conducted with NiMH batteries, the technology fully charged the batteries in less than 26 minutes–versus the typical one to three hours–and tripled battery life. An independent evaluation with NiCd batteries revealed that those batteries lasted five times longer when charged using the Ultra-Rapid process.

The company currently offers a cellular phone battery charger using its Ultra-Rapid technology that achieves a 20-minute charge, and will offer a five-minute charge capability before the end of the year at a cost about twice that of conventional chargers. Advanced Charger Technology is also offering chargers that use the technology for two-way radios, and the company plans to license the technology to makers of other battery-powered devices. For more information, contact Melissa King of Advanced Charger Technology at 770-582-0001, ext. 308 or e-mail her at mgk@advchgtech.com .