JP2009240102A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide electronic equipment which can consume the residual capacity of a primary battery to the end, while selectively charging only a secondary battery, when there are a primary battery and a secondary battery in a mixed state. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic equipment is equipped with an internal power supply, consisting of a plurality of batteries 11 and 12 and a charging circuit 6, which can be individually connected to the batteries 11 and 12. A control circuit 5 determines whether the plurality of batteries 11 and 12 are a primary battery or a secondary battery during charging by the charging circuit 6, and allows the battery which is determined as being a secondary battery to be charged by the charge circuit 6. When the residual capacity of the batteries 11 and 12 becomes lower than a predetermined threshold during the operation of the equipment, the control circuit makes the operation of the equipment discontinue. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device that is operated by an internal power source including a plurality of batteries.

As shown in FIG. 5, an electronic device (7) such as an IC recorder incorporates a plurality of batteries (72) and (73), and operates using the batteries (72) and (73) as a power source. As the batteries (72) and (73), not only a primary battery but also a rechargeable secondary battery can be adopted.
In this type of electronic device (7), when a secondary battery is incorporated as the battery (72) (73), the AC adapter (9) is connected to the USB terminal (71), and the AC adapter (9) is used for commercial purposes. The battery (72) (73) can be charged by connecting to a power source.

In addition, by connecting a personal computer (8) to the USB terminal (71), it is possible to charge the batteries (72) and (73) by supplying power from the personal computer (8) to the electronic device (7). It is.
Here, the electronic device (7) such as the IC recorder is a USB mass storage mode device, and the personal computer (8) is the host side. Since such a connection state is based on the standard, the electronic device (7) can be connected to any personal computer (8), and no special driver software is required.

Conventionally, in an electronic device using a plurality of secondary batteries as a power source, charging devices for charging these secondary batteries satisfactorily have been proposed (Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3).
In addition, there has been proposed a charging device that prevents charging when at least one of a plurality of batteries built in an electronic device is a primary battery (Patent Document 4).
JP-A-6-165399 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-23590 JP-A-11-155241 JP 2003-174731 A

However, when the primary battery is included in the multiple batteries built into the electronic device, the charging for all the batteries is stopped in the conventional electronic device, and only the secondary battery is selectively charged. I can't do it.
Therefore, when the primary battery and the secondary battery are mixed in a plurality of batteries built in the electronic device, if the voltage of the secondary battery first decreases due to power consumption, even if the power remains in the primary battery. There is a problem that the remaining capacity of the primary battery cannot be completely consumed while selectively charging only the secondary battery.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to consume the remaining capacity of the primary battery to the end while selectively charging only the secondary battery when the primary battery and the secondary battery are mixed in a plurality of batteries. It is to provide electronic devices that can be used.

An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes an internal power supply including a plurality of batteries and an operation unit that operates by receiving power supply from the internal power supply, and the internal power supply can be charged.
The electronic device further includes
Charging means that can be individually connected to each battery mounted as an internal power source;
Determination means for determining whether each battery is a primary battery or a secondary battery for a plurality of batteries mounted as an internal power source during charging by the charging means;
Charging control means for charging the battery determined to be a secondary battery by the determining means by the charging means;
A determination means for determining whether or not the remaining capacity of a plurality of batteries mounted as an internal power source has fallen below a predetermined threshold during the operation of the device;
And an operation stop means for stopping the operation of the device when the determination means determines that the remaining capacity is below the threshold value.

  Specifically, the charging control unit sequentially connects the charging unit to each battery mounted as an internal power source, and the determination unit includes the one charging unit in a state where the charging unit is connected to one battery. Whether the battery is a primary battery or a secondary battery is determined, and only when the one battery is a secondary battery, the charge control means charges the one battery.

In the electronic device of the present invention, when the device is operating by the power supply from the internal power supply mixed with the primary battery and the secondary battery, when the remaining capacity of the secondary battery first falls below a predetermined threshold, Device operation stops.
Therefore, power is supplied from the external power source to charge the internal power source. At this time, it is determined whether each battery is a primary battery or a secondary battery for a plurality of batteries constituting the internal power supply, and only the batteries determined to be secondary batteries are selectively charged. As a result, the voltage of the internal power source composed of the primary battery and the secondary battery is recovered, and the device can be operated.
Therefore, the remaining capacity of the primary battery is consumed to the end by repeating the above-described device operation and charging.

In a more specific configuration, when the determination unit determines that the remaining capacity is lower than the threshold value, the processing unit executes necessary processing including data storage before stopping the device operation by the operation stop unit. Is further provided.
According to this specific configuration, when the remaining capacity falls below the threshold due to the power consumption of the internal power supply during the operation of the device, the device operation is stopped after the necessary processing including data storage is first executed. Therefore, necessary processing including data storage is reliably executed by the minimum necessary power secured in the internal power source, and data is not lost.

  According to the electronic device of the present invention, when the primary battery and the secondary battery are mixed in a plurality of batteries, the remaining capacity of the primary battery is consumed to the end while selectively charging only the secondary battery. I can do it.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention implemented in an IC recorder will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. The IC recorder has a USB terminal (71) as in the electronic device (7) shown in FIG. 5. For example, by connecting a personal computer (8) to the USB terminal (71) via a USB cable, The internal power supply can be charged using the power supply (5V / 500mA) supplied from the side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the IC recorder according to the present invention incorporates a battery group (1) formed by connecting a plurality of batteries (11) and (12) in series as an internal power source. ) Is connected to the device drive voltage source, and the minus terminal is connected to the ground. Thereby, the electric power of the battery group (1) is supplied to the device drive voltage source, and the device operates.
The illustrated battery group (1) is formed by connecting two batteries (11) and (12) in series, but two or more batteries are connected in series / parallel. It is also possible to configure 1).

An on / off switch (2) is interposed between the two batteries (11) and (12) constituting the battery group (1). The on / off switch (2) is turned on by the control circuit (5). / Off controlled.
A well-known charging circuit (6) is connected to the two batteries (11) and (12) constituting the battery group (1), and the operation of the charging circuit (6) is controlled by the control circuit (5). ing. Thereby, it is possible to charge each battery individually.

Further, the two batteries (11) and (12) constituting the battery group (1) have their positive terminals connected to the voltage detector (4) via the selector switch (3). By switching (3), the voltage of each battery can be measured individually.
The voltage of each battery detected by the voltage detector (4) is supplied to the control circuit (5). In response to this, the control circuit (5) switches the on / off switch (2), the changeover switch (3), And a control signal for the charging circuit (6).

  FIG. 2 shows a procedure for charging the battery group (1) under the control of the control circuit (5). When charging, a personal computer or an AC adapter is connected to the USB terminal of the IC recorder.

First, in step S1, the voltage detector (4) and the charging circuit (6) are connected to only one battery A by opening the on / off switch (2) and switching the changeover switch (3). Next, in step S2, a series of charge control for the battery A is executed.
Thereafter, in step S3, the voltage detector (4) and the charging circuit (6) are connected to only the other battery B by switching the changeover switch (3). Next, in step S4, a series of charge control for the battery B is executed.

FIG. 3 shows a specific process of a series of charge control for each battery.
First, in step S11, an abnormal voltage is checked by determining whether or not the voltage of the target battery is 1.7V or higher. Regardless of whether the battery is a primary battery or a secondary battery, the voltage will not exceed 1.7V as long as it is a normal battery.

  Next, in step S12, charging is started with a constant current of 100 mA, and then a timer is started in step S13. In step S14, it is determined whether or not the voltage of the battery has become 1.8 V or higher. If it is determined that the battery voltage has been exceeded, it is determined whether or not the time is over in step S15. Returns to step S14 and repeats the determination of the voltage.

If the battery is a primary battery such as an alkaline battery, the voltage rapidly rises due to the charging in step S12. Therefore, it is determined as YES in step S14 until the time is over in step S15, and step S25. To finish charging.
On the other hand, if the battery is a secondary battery, the voltage increase due to charging in step S12 is gradual, so that it is determined NO in step S14, the time is over in step S15, and the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, fast charging with a current of 500 mA for the secondary battery is started, and in step S17, a timer is started. Thereafter, in step S18, it is determined whether or not the battery voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value 1.15V.
Here, the full charge of the battery is detected by checking a voltage increase curve after the voltage reaches a predetermined threshold value of 1.15V. That is, when it is determined NO in step S18, it is determined whether or not the time is over in step S19. If NO, the process returns to step S18 to determine the voltage. If the time is over in step S19, it is determined that there is an abnormality, and charging is terminated in step S25.

  When it is determined YES in step S18 due to the voltage rise, the process proceeds to a voltage rise curve check, a timer is started in step S20, and the current voltage is stored in step S21. In step S22, after waiting for a certain time (standby), it is determined in step S23 whether or not the voltage increase ΔV after a certain time exceeds a predetermined constant.

If it is determined as YES in step S23, the voltage is still rising, so it is determined whether or not the time is over in step S24. If NO, the process returns to step S21 to check the voltage increase curve. continue. If it is determined as YES in step S24, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, and charging is terminated in step S25.
Thereafter, when the voltage increase curve reaches the saturation region, it is determined NO in step S23, and the process proceeds to step S25 to end the charging.

  By executing the above series of charging control for each battery, charging for only the secondary battery is sequentially performed. As a result, the voltage of the internal power source composed of a plurality of batteries is recovered.

After charging is completed, the personal computer and AC adapter are disconnected from the USB terminal of the IC recorder, and operations such as recording and playback are performed.
In this case, the on / off switch (2) shown in FIG. 1 is closed, the two batteries (11) and (12) are connected in series, and the power of the battery group (1) is supplied to the device drive voltage source.

FIG. 4 shows a control operation when the IC recorder is operated.
First, in step S31, it is determined whether or not a power-on operation has been performed by the user. If the determination is yes, the internal power supply is turned on in step S32. In step S33, recording or playback is performed. IC recorder control is started.

  Next, in step S34, it is determined whether or not a power-off operation has been performed by the user. If NO is determined in this step, the process proceeds to step S35, in which the internal power supply voltage is a threshold at which the device can operate. It is determined whether or not the voltage is greater than or equal to 2V (eg, 2V). If YES is determined here, the process returns to step S33 to continue IC recorder control such as recording and reproduction.

  In determining whether or not the voltage of the internal power supply exceeds the threshold voltage at which the device can operate, processing such as changing the threshold voltage according to the load state is performed in order to increase the determination accuracy (Japanese Patent No. 1050881). Issue).

Thereafter, when the voltage of the internal power supply decreases due to power consumption and it is determined NO in step S35, a data storage process (a process of saving the data being recorded in the flash memory) is required in step S36. Execute the process. At this point, the power necessary for executing necessary processing such as data storage processing remains in the internal power supply.
After the necessary processing is completed, the internal power supply is turned off in step S37, and the process returns to step S31 to repeat the power-on determination. Here, even if a power-on operation is performed in a state where sufficient power does not remain in the internal power supply, the internal power supply will not be turned on.

According to the above control, even if one of the two batteries constituting the internal power source is a primary battery and the other one is a secondary battery, after charging only the secondary battery safely, By driving the apparatus with two batteries, the power of the primary battery can be effectively consumed to the end.
Further, even when the secondary battery is consumed without replacing the primary battery and the secondary battery is charged again, the primary battery can be used up while being attached to the device.

  Furthermore, in the process of voltage drop due to exhaustion of the internal power supply, data storage processing, which is an important function as an IC recorder, is forcibly executed before the voltage falls below the threshold voltage at which the device can operate. There is no fear and it is safe.

  In addition, each part structure of this invention is not restricted to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the technical scope as described in a claim. For example, the battery group (1) serving as the internal power source is not limited to a configuration in which a plurality of batteries are connected in series to each other, and a configuration in which a plurality of batteries are connected in parallel to each other may be employed.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the internal power supply of IC recorder which concerns on this invention, and a peripheral circuit. It is a flowchart showing the charge procedure with respect to a battery group. It is a flowchart showing a series of charge control with respect to each battery. It is a flowchart showing control at the time of operating an IC recorder. It is a figure explaining the system which charges an electronic device using a USB terminal.

Explanation of symbols

(1) Battery group
(11) Battery
(12) Battery
(2) On / off switch
(3) Changeover switch
(4) Voltage detector
(5) Control circuit
(6) Charging circuit
(7) Electronic equipment
(71) USB terminal
(8) Personal computer
(9) AC adapter

Claims (3)

In an electronic device capable of charging the internal power supply, comprising an internal power supply composed of a plurality of batteries, and an operation unit that operates by receiving power supply from the internal power supply,
Charging means that can be individually connected to each battery mounted as an internal power source;
Determination means for determining whether each battery is a primary battery or a secondary battery for a plurality of batteries mounted as an internal power source during charging by the charging means;
Charging control means for charging the battery determined to be a secondary battery by the determining means by the charging means;
A determination means for determining whether or not the remaining capacity of a plurality of batteries mounted as an internal power source has fallen below a predetermined threshold during the operation of the device;
An electronic device comprising: an operation stopping unit that stops the operation of the device when the determining unit determines that the remaining capacity is below the threshold value.   The charging control means sequentially connects the charging means to each battery mounted as an internal power source. With the charging means connected to one battery, the determining means is configured such that the one battery is a primary battery. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether the battery is a secondary battery, and the charge control unit charges the one battery only when the one battery is a secondary battery.   2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising processing means for executing necessary processing including data storage before the operation stopping means stops the device operation when the determining means determines that the remaining capacity is lower than the threshold value. The electronic device according to claim 1 or claim 2.

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