The current source formed by IC1a and T1 is active when the batteries are discharging and IC1b and T2 is active when the batteries are being charged. In each case the inactive opamp will have 0V at its output and the corresponding transistor will be switched off. IC1d amplifies the voltage across R5, which is proportional to the sense current. The component values given in the diagram produce an amplification factor or 10. A sense current of 0.1 A will produce an output voltage of +1 V. The supply voltage to the circuit is +5 V so this will be the maximum value that the output can achieve. This corresponds to a maximum charge/discharge current of 0.5 A To display currents from 0 to 5.0 A, resistor R7 can be omitted to give IC1d a voltage gain of 1.Higher currents can be displayed by using a lower value of sense resistor R8. A DVM or analogue meter can be used at Vout to give a display of the charge/discharge current. The constant current sources can only function correctly when the supply to the voltage regulator circuit (UBatt. e.g. 6V or 12V) is greater than the operating voltage of the opamps (+5 V). The supply voltage to the LT1639 can be in the range of +3 V and +44V and voltages up to 40V over the supply voltage are acceptable at the inputs to the opamp. IC1c controls the charging/discharging LED output. The inputs to this opamp are connected to the outputs of the current source opamps and its output goes high when the battery is being charged and low when it is discharging.
