designideas Automatic latch-off circuit saves batteries Kieran O'Malley, On Semiconductor, West Kingston, RI Although rechargeable batter- ies offer many advantages, they | the user manually turns on the light can suffer damage and shortened ser- | using switch S,. vice lives if they're fully drained of their charge. The circuit in Figure 1 shuts off a battery-powered appli- ance—in this instance, an LED flash- light receiving power from NiMH (nickel-metal-hydride) cells—when the battery voltage falls below a preset limit. Although intended for an LED flashlight, this circuit can apply to any battery-powered application. With- cout ensuring that the user will remove the batteries for recharging, this circuit latches the flashlight off when the bat- tery voltage falls below the usable limit and thus provides a strong hint that it may be time to recharge. ‘Although a simple nonlatching volt- age comparator can switch off power, removing the battery's load causes a voltage rebound, and the comparator restores power, forcing the light into a flashing mode. This circuit turns off r ‘On the input side, IC/’s LBI connects tothe battery thew | ge-divider network formed by resistors | R,R, and R,,. The NCP1421 remains | enabled while the voltage on LBI/EN | exceeds 1.2V. When the voltage on | i the flashlight, and it remains off until | LBYEN falls below 1.2V, the LBO- derector pin goes low, switching on Q, and supplying current to Q,’s base. When Q, switches on, ('s base goes ow and latches the virtual SCR (sili- con-controlled rectifier) formed by Q, and Q,, an MBT3946DW 1 integrated dual transistor, IC,. In addition, Q, latches the LBVEN ‘A. 600-mA'NCP1421 PEM step- up synchronous-rectifier de/de-con- verter, IC,, from On Semiconductor (wwwonsemi.com) forms the heart of the circuit, but the basic design ap- plies to many other converters offer- ing similar features (Reference 1). | pin low to prevent IC, from tuming on The NCP1421’s key features include again upon load removal. To restart the an integrated LBI/EN (low-battery | circuit, switch S, must interrupt the inputfenable) and an open-drain LBO | circuit's power. Resistors R,, Ry, and (low-battery output). Operating from | R,, set the battery-voltage trip point two AA-size NiMH batteries, the cir- | for the LBO detector. R, also sets the cuit comprises the components of a | current drawn from the battery when normal boost regulator: an inductor, | the SCR activates. The circuit switch- input and output capacitors, and a cur- | esoff when the battery voltage drops to rent-sense circuit to the right of IC,. | approximately 1.3V, a point at which ‘A combination of the LED's forward | the LBYVEN pin reaches 1.7V.E0N voltage, which R, and R, divide down, | and voltage across current-sense resis- tor R, produces a feedback voltage for REFERENCE ME NCP1421 data sheet, www. | discharge. comparison with the NCP1421's 1.2V | onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/ nominal reference voltage. NCP1421-DPDF. uy | esa woo | | io, 1 | noptka1 . | . Zheven uf? atk mee | a lo i Bo ND eo, | NS | Aree arf L Ry ; 10k | | 8, | 2 | | Figure 1 This circuit extends the lives of rechargeable batteries by removing power ata preset voltage and preventing over- |