JPH07220763A - Charger - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Structure] In the charging device, the current outputs of the constant current circuit 31 and the constant current circuit 32 are combined by the combiner 33 so that they can be output as a charging current, and also combined with the constant current circuit 32. The detection switch 4 is provided between the containers 33. Then, the detection switch 4 is arranged in the power pack mounting portion 2 of the charging device so that the detection switch 4 is turned on / off according to the presence or absence of the identification hole 24 of the power adapters 10 and 20. [Effect] Since the level of the charging current changes according to the charging capacity of the rechargeable battery, the charging time can be made almost constant regardless of the difference in the charging capacity of the rechargeable battery, and the usability is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charging device, and more particularly to a charging device suitable for charging a plurality of types of secondary batteries having different charging capacities corresponding to the same electronic equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in various portable electronic devices such as camcorders, portable cassette players and disk players, a rechargeable secondary battery is generally usable as a power source for driving the devices.

As such a secondary battery, a battery pack in which a plurality of rechargeable single cells such as nickel cadmium batteries (nickel cadmium batteries) are connected in series is housed in one casing to constitute a power pack. Many things are known. Further, in order to be able to drive the electronic device for a long time, a power pack having a charging capacity larger than that of a normal power pack is also prepared. Such a power pack having a large charge capacity should be housed in a single housing, for example, by connecting a plurality of sets of secondary batteries in parallel so that a required DC power supply voltage corresponding to the electronic device can be obtained. Can be obtained by

Therefore, in a charging device for charging a plurality of types of secondary batteries having different capacities as described above, the power pack of the secondary battery is usually mounted at a specified mounting position and the power is turned on. As a result, a constant current of a predetermined level is supplied to the secondary battery as a charging current for charging the secondary battery.

[0005]

By the way, when charging the secondary batteries having different capacities as described above, the charging capacities also differ. However, on the charging device side, in order to supply a charging current at a preset constant level to the secondary battery regardless of the charging capacity of the secondary battery, a secondary battery with a small capacity and a secondary battery with a large capacity are almost Depending on the capacity ratio, the time until full charge will vary. As described above, it is possible to charge a plurality of types of secondary batteries having different capacities by one charging device, but there is a disadvantage that the charging time varies due to the capacity difference of each secondary battery, which is preferable in terms of usability. It wasn't that.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention solves the above problems by changing the charging current level for the secondary battery and outputting the variable charging current, and the charging capacity of the secondary battery. And a constant current variable output unit configured to output the charging current at a current level corresponding to the charging capacity of the secondary battery detected by the charging capacity detecting unit. did. Further, the charging current variable output section is provided with two or more constant current output sections each having a predetermined current level set, and any one of the two or more constant current output sections is output alone or in combination to output the charging current. Therefore, the charging current can be changed. Further, the charge capacity detection unit is configured as a detection mechanism capable of detecting the presence or absence of the charge capacity identification unit formed according to the difference in charge capacity based on the number of assembled batteries of the secondary battery.

[0007]

According to the above structure, when charging the secondary battery, it is possible to change the amount of current according to the charge capacity of the secondary battery and supply it as the charging current.

[0008]

EXAMPLE An example of the charging device of the present invention will be described below. In this case, there are two types of secondary batteries having different charge capacities that can be charged by the charging device of the present example. I will explain.

The perspective views of FIGS. 3 and 4 show specific examples of secondary batteries which can be charged by the charging device of this embodiment. In FIG. 3A, 10 indicates a power supply pack as a secondary battery. For example, as shown in the figure, the power pack 10 contains five rechargeable secondary batteries E such as a nickel-cadmium battery connected in series inside a housing 11. Therefore, for example, if the voltage of one of the secondary batteries E is 1.2V, the power pack 10 has 1.2V.
The DC power supply voltage is V × 5 = 6V. The perspective view of FIG. 3B is a front view of the lower surface of the 6V power pack 10, and the lower surface 12 is provided with a plus electrode 13a and a minus electrode 13b as shown in the drawing. . Note that the power pack 10 is actually provided with a mounting mechanism for the electronic device, a mounting mechanism for the charging device of the present embodiment described later, and the like, but these are not shown here. .

Next, the power pack 20 shown in FIG.
In the case 21, ten secondary batteries E are housed in the state shown in the figure. However, in this case, for example, a set secondary battery in which the upper five secondary batteries E are connected in series and a set secondary battery in which the lower five secondary batteries E are connected in series are connected in parallel. To be taken. Therefore, this power pack 20
In this case, a DC power supply voltage of 1.2V × 5 = 6V can be obtained, and in addition to the power supply pack 10 shown in FIG.
It will have double the capacity. That is, this power pack 2
0 makes it possible to drive the electronic device for a long time, which is almost twice as long as that of the power pack 10. As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4B, the lower surface portion 22 of the power pack 20 is provided with a plus electrode 23a and a minus electrode 23b having the same structure as in the case of FIG. 3B. Further, in the case of this power pack 20, an identification hole 24 for identifying that the capacity of this power pack 20 is, for example, twice the capacity of the power pack 10 shown in FIG. 3 is formed. That is, it is possible to identify the type of each power pack by the detection mechanism on the charging device side, which will be described later, based on the presence or absence of the identification hole 24. This identifies the charging capacity of the power pack on the charging device side. It is nothing but a thing.

The perspective view of FIG. 2 shows the external appearance of the charging device of this embodiment. In the charging device 1 shown in this figure, 2 which is formed as a concave portion on the upper surface shows a power pack mounting portion, for example, the lower surface portion 12 shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 4 (b), Power pack 1 with 22 facing
0 and 20 are attached. As shown in the figure, the charging-side plus electrode 3a and minus electrode 3b are provided at positions corresponding to the plus electrodes (13a, 13b) and minus electrodes (23a, 23b) of the power packs 10, 20. Further, in the power pack mounting portion 2, reference numeral 4 is a detection switch for detecting the type of the power pack, and when the power pack is mounted in the power pack mounting portion 2, the power is provided at a position corresponding to the identification hole 24. It is provided as a pressing pin so as to project to the outside from the hole 5 formed in the pack mounting portion 2, and is turned on and off with respect to the charging circuit by vertically pressing and releasing it as shown by the arrow in the figure. / Is turned off. In this case, in the state shown in the figure, the state where the detection switch 4 is not pressed is turned on, and conversely, when the detection switch 4 is pressed, it is turned off. In addition, 6 is a power indicator for indicating ON / OFF of the power source, 7 is a charge indicator for indicating that the battery is being charged during the charging operation, and 8 is a power outlet.

FIG. 1 conceptually shows the internal structure of a charging device 1 of this embodiment. In the figure, reference numerals 31 and 32 denote constant current circuits capable of outputting the outputs of rectifier circuits (not shown) as direct currents of a constant level. Further, in the case of the present embodiment, both the constant current circuits 31 and 32 output constant currents at the same current level. Reference numeral 33 denotes a combiner to which the current outputs of the constant current circuits 31 and 32 are supplied and which can combine these and output as a charging current. Further, in the case of this embodiment, for example, the constant current circuit 32 and the combiner 33 are used.
The detection switch 4 shown in FIG. 2 is provided so as to be interposed between and.

Therefore, the charging device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
When charging the small-capacity power pack 10 shown in (1), first, the small-capacity power pack 10 is mounted in the power pack mounting portion 2 of the charging device 1. As a result, the plus electrode 13a and the minus electrode 13b of the small-capacity power pack 10 are respectively connected to the plus electrode 3 of the power pack mounting portion 2.
A state is brought into contact with a and the negative electrode 3b to enable charging. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3B, since the identification hole is not formed in the lower surface portion 12 of the small capacity power pack 10, the detection switch 4 is pressed and turned off. Therefore,
The current output of one of the constant current circuits 32 is no longer supplied to the combiner 33, and the current output of only the constant current circuit 31 becomes the combiner 3
3 is supplied. For example, if each of the constant current circuits 31 and 32 can supply a current of 2 A (Max), in this case, the charging current is supplied only from the constant current circuit 31, so that the power pack 10 has a current of 2 A. (Max) charging current will be supplied.

On the other hand, the large capacity power pack 2 shown in FIG.
0 is charged, but since the identification hole 24 is formed in the lower surface portion 22 of the large-capacity power pack 20 as shown in FIG. When it is attached to the device, the detection switch 4 is positioned in the identification hole 24, is not pressed, and is turned on. Therefore, in this case, the current output of the constant current circuit 32 is also the combiner 3
Since it is supplied to 3, the current outputs of the constant current circuits 31 and 32 are combined as the charging current output at this time. For example, when the constant current circuits 31 and 32 each output a constant current of 2 A (Max), 2
A charging current of A × 2 = 4 A (Max) is obtained, which is twice as large as when charging the small capacity power pack 10.

As described above, the small capacity power pack 1
The charging capacity of the large-capacity power pack 20 is almost 2 compared to 0.
However, in the present embodiment, the charging current amount when charging the large capacity power pack 20 is twice as large as that when charging the small capacity power pack 10. By the way, the charging time is almost proportional to the amount of charging current. Therefore, if the large-capacity power pack 20 is charged by 2 A as in the case of charging the small-capacity power pack 10 and if it is charged by 4 A as in the case of the present embodiment, In this case, the charging time is reduced to about 1/2. As a result,
In the present embodiment, the time required for full charge of the small capacity power pack 10 and the large capacity power pack 20 can be made substantially equal.

In the above embodiment, two constant current circuits are provided and explained as a charging device corresponding to two kinds of power packs, but the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, a constant current circuit is added. At the same time, an identification mechanism for the charging capacity of the power pack may be further provided to configure a charging device corresponding to three or more kinds of power packs.
At this time, the current level of each constant current circuit does not necessarily have to be the same, and various changes can be made according to the capacity difference of the power pack to be charged. The mechanism for detecting the type (capacity) of the power pack is not limited to the configuration shown in the above embodiment, and can be changed as long as it can be identified according to the charge capacity of the power pack. . Furthermore,
Although the charging device of the above embodiment is described as a single device,
For example, it is conceivable that the electronic device in which the power pack can be used is equipped with the charging device of the present invention.
Also, to control the change in constant current output, 1
A variable constant current circuit may be provided, and the variable constant current circuit may be controlled by the detection switch 4 according to the capacity of the secondary battery to be charged.

[0017]

As described above, since the charging device of the present invention is configured so that the charging current also increases as the capacity of the secondary battery increases, the charging capacity of the secondary battery It is possible to make the charging time almost constant regardless of the difference, which has the effect of improving the usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing the internal structure of a charging device that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the charging device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a power pack (small capacity) as a secondary battery.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a power pack (large capacity) as a secondary battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Charging device 2 Power pack mounting part 3a Positive electrode 3b Negative electrode 4 Detection switch 5 Hole 24 Identification hole 31, 32 Constant current circuit 33 Combiner

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A charging current variable output section for varying and outputting a charging current level for a secondary battery, and a charging capacity detecting section for detecting a charging capacity of the secondary battery, wherein the charging current variable output section is provided. The charging device is configured to output a charging current according to a current amount corresponding to the charging capacity of the secondary battery detected by the charging capacity detection unit. 2. The charging current variable output section includes two or more constant current output sections each having a predetermined current amount set,
The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the charging current is variable by outputting the charging current individually or in combination for all or any of the outputs of the two or more constant current output units. 3. The charging capacity detecting section is a detection mechanism configured to detect a charging capacity identifying section formed according to the charging capacity depending on the number of assembled batteries of the secondary battery. The charging device according to claim 1 or 2, which is characterized.