BATTERY-CHARGER DEVICE AND RELATED LOAD DUMP PROTECTION METHOD

Battery-charger device (1) comprising: - an input stage (2) including main input terminals electrically connectable to an AC electric power source and a rectification section (20) electrically connected to said main input terminals; - an output stage (5) including main output terminals electrically connectable to a battery and at least an output capacitor electrically connected to said main output terminals; - a DC/DC conversion stage (3) electrically connected to said input stage and said output stage and comprising at least an input capacitor and a DC/DC buck-boost converter comprising a buck-conversion section including a plurality of buck-conversion transistors, a boost section including a plurality of boost-conversion transistors and an inductive section including one or more inductors; - first sensing means adapted to provide first detection signals indicative of one or more coil currents flowing along said inductors; - second sensing means adapted to provide second detection signals indicative of an output current provided by said battery charging device to said battery; - a control unit to control operation of said battery charger device, said control unit being operatively coupled to said first and second sensing means and being adapted to control said buck-conversion transistors and said boost-conversion transistors. [0002] According to the invention, the control unit of the battery-charger device is adapted to carry out a load dump protection method for detecting and managing load dump events.