JPH0951636A - Power supply system and electronic device including the power supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) A power supply system capable of preventing a wasteful or unnatural operation of a device and easily determining a battery shortage, and an electronic device including the power supply system. SOLUTION: When the power switch 6 is turned on, the output voltage of the battery 1 is monitored for a period until the power system 100 enters a steady operation state (steps S24, S2).
5) If the voltage drops below the operable voltage, power supply system 1
00 is stopped (step S26), and when the output voltage of the battery 1 after the stop becomes equal to or higher than the operable voltage of the power supply system, the power supply system is restarted (step S27,
S31). Then, when the counter value of the number of times the restart is executed exceeds the predetermined value N, the subsequent execution of the restart is prohibited (steps S30 and S32), and "power down" is displayed at the next power-on (step S30). S34).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply system provided in a battery-operated electronic device and an electronic device such as a video camera provided with the power supply system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electronic device that operates using a battery as a power source, if the output voltage of the battery is equal to or higher than the operable voltage of the device when the device is powered on, the device will start operating, but the device will not operate. Due to the flow of current, the output voltage of the battery may fall below the operating voltage of the device.In this case, in conventional devices, stop and then restart automatically, or go to standby mode. I was trying to become.

[0003]

However, in such a device, when a battery that is exhausted to some extent or has a bad charging state is used, or when the rush current at start-up is large, the output of the battery after the device starts to operate. The voltage may drop and the device may stop, and in the device that executes the above-mentioned conventional restart, the operation of restarting and stopping the device is performed until the operation of the device due to the restart becomes impossible, that is, the battery. Repeatedly until the output voltage of the device becomes less than the operable voltage of the device, and during this repeated condition, the user of the device may be wondering if the condition is due to insufficient battery or other troubles of the device. There was a problem that it was not possible to determine whether it was due to the cause.

Further, even in a device which goes into a standby state when the device is stopped, there is a problem that it is not possible to grasp whether or not the cause is a battery shortage.

Further, there is a similar problem when the output voltage is abnormally lowered by the external noise during the unstable period when the device is started and the device is stopped.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to prevent a useless or unnatural operation of equipment and to easily determine a battery shortage and a power supply system therefor. An object is to provide an electronic device provided with the electronic device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a power supply system according to claim 1 of the present invention is a power supply system provided in a battery-operated electronic device. Voltage monitoring means for monitoring the output voltage of the battery for a period until reaching a steady operation state for performing normal operation, and operation of the device when the monitored voltage falls below a predetermined voltage value at which the device is operable. In a power supply system comprising: a control unit that restarts the device when the output voltage of the battery after the operation of the device is stopped becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage value at which the device can operate.
The control means includes a counting means for counting the number of times the restart is executed and a restart prohibiting means for prohibiting the execution of the restart when the count value of the number of times of execution exceeds a predetermined value. Characterize.

In order to achieve the same object, the power supply system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the power supply system according to the first aspect, in which the restart prohibition means prohibits execution of the restart of the device. Is provided with a warning means for issuing the warning.

In order to achieve the same object, the power supply system according to claim 3 of the present invention is the power supply system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein after the restart prohibiting means prohibits the restart of the device. It is characterized in that the apparatus further comprises warning means for giving a predetermined warning when the power of the device is turned on again.

In order to achieve the same object, an electronic apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized by including the power supply system according to any one of the first to third aspects.

Specifically, the electronic device may be a video camera.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A power supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention and an electronic device equipped with the power supply system will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a power supply system 1 according to the present embodiment.
10 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of 00 (hereinafter referred to as "system 100").

In the figure, 1 is a battery as a main power source, 2 is a battery for system backup, and either a battery 1 or a battery 2 is selected as a power source by a switching circuit 3. Reference numeral 4 is a microcomputer that controls the entire system. A reset circuit 5 is connected to the microcomputer 4 together with the switching circuit 3 to reset the microcomputer 4 to a standby state. Further, a power switch 6 and a voltage detection circuit 7 are connected to the microcomputer 4, and the power switch 6 is a switch for turning on the power to the system 100.
Is also connected to the battery 1 and monitors its output voltage, and the microcomputer 4 monitors this output voltage and the system 1
00 determines the magnitude relationship with the minimum output voltage (hereinafter referred to as “operable voltage”) necessary for 00 to operate, and outputs the determination result to the system drive circuit 9 described later. Here, the operable voltage is set to a predetermined value in advance according to the device using the power supply system 100. Further, the regulator 8 is connected to the battery 1 and the microcomputer 4, and operates under the control of the microcomputer 4.

The system drive circuit 9 is connected to the regulator 8 and the microcomputer 4, is supplied with power from the regulator 8, and drives the system 100 under the control of the microcomputer 4. Also the display 10
Is connected to the switching circuit 3 and the microcomputer 4 and displays various messages including a warning message described later under the control of the microcomputer 4.

When the battery 1 and the battery 2 are connected to the system 100, the reset circuit 5 resets the microcomputer 4 according to the output voltage selected by the switching circuit 3, and the microcomputer 4 enters the standby state. Then, when the power switch 6 is turned on, the microcomputer 4 activates the system 100, so that the regulator 8 is turned on, and the system drive circuit 9 starts operating by the power supplied from the regulator 8. From this point, the microcomputer 4 starts monitoring the output voltage of the battery by the voltage detection circuit 7, and bidirectionally communicates and controls with the system drive circuit 9 in order to bring the system 100 into a steady state. Bring system 100 to a stable state. In the steady state of the system 100, the microcomputer 4 bidirectionally communicates with the system drive circuit 9 to check peripheral circuits, or a timer is provided,
The judgment is made based on whether or not a predetermined time has passed.

When the output voltage becomes lower than the operable voltage of the system 100 due to load fluctuations from the start of the monitoring of the output voltage by the microcomputer 4 until the system 100 reaches a steady state and external noise, etc. The computer 4 stops the system 100 based on the detection signal from the voltage detection circuit 7, and restarts the system 100 when the output voltage after the stop exceeds the operable voltage. At that time, the microcomputer 4 counts the number of generations of the detection signal from the voltage detection circuit 7 at the time of system restart, that is, the signal indicating the operable voltage or more, and repeats the count to a predetermined number (for example, 32 times). ) Is exceeded, restart of the system 100 is prohibited.

FIG. 2 is a power supply system 1 according to this embodiment.
10 is a flowchart showing a control operation of 00.

First, in the standby state of the system 100, it is determined whether or not the power switch 6 is turned on (step S21), and if it is turned on, the counter value CK of a counter (not shown) is initialized (step S2).
At the same time, the system 100 is commanded to start (step S23), and it is determined whether the output voltage of the battery 1 is equal to or higher than the operable voltage of the system 100 (step S24). As a result of the determination, if the voltage is equal to or higher than the operable voltage, the system 10
It is determined whether or not 0 is the steady operation state in which the normal operation is performed (step S25), and if it is not the steady operation state, the process returns to step S24 again.

As described above, the output voltage is checked again in step S25 when the battery 1 is not in the steady operation state. Even when the output voltage of the battery 1 immediately after the power is turned on is equal to or higher than the operable voltage of the system 100, the battery 1 is charged. This is because the output voltage may drop to a level below the operable voltage due to a bad condition, exhaustion, or current flow due to startup, or rush current generation or external noise generation.

In step S25, if the system 100 is in the steady operation state, this process ends. On the other hand, when the output voltage is lower than the operable voltage in step S24, the system 100 is stopped (step S26), and it is determined whether the output voltage of the battery 1 is equal to or higher than the operable voltage of the system 100 (step). S27). As a result of the determination, if the voltage does not reach the operable voltage, the system 100 is set to the standby state without executing the restart (step S
28) and returns to step S27. On the other hand, if it is equal to or higher than the operating voltage, the counter value CK is incremented (step S29), and it is determined whether or not the value is larger than the predetermined value N (step S30). Counter value CK is a predetermined value N
In the following cases, restart the system (step S
31) and returns to step S23.

On the other hand, when the counter value CK exceeds the predetermined value N in step S30, it is determined that the battery 1 is exhausted, and the system 100 is set to the standby state (step S32). This avoids performing unlimited restarts.

Next, it is determined whether or not the power switch 6 is turned on again when the standby state is set in step S32 (step S33). Here, when the power switch 6 of the system 100 is turned on again, the microcomputer 4 displays, for example, the characters "reduced power" on the display 10 (step S34), warns that the voltage of the battery 1 is insufficient, and The process ends. With this, it is possible to grasp whether or not the decrease in the output voltage is due to the battery shortage.

By this processing, when the system 100 is stopped due to a decrease in the output voltage after the system 100 is started, the system 100 can be automatically restarted, and if the battery shortage causes the stop, the system is restarted unnecessarily. The repetitive operation of execution is appropriately stopped, and the operator can easily know that the battery is insufficient. Therefore, for example, an operator of an electronic device equipped with this power supply system can take appropriate measures such as battery replacement.

In the present embodiment, the warning when the battery is insufficient is given at the next power-on of the system, but it may be given immediately after the prohibition of the restart execution. Further, the warning mode is not limited to the warning display, but may be by other means such as voice.

In particular, the power supply system 1 according to this embodiment
When 00 is incorporated in the video camera, wasteful or unnatural operation of the video camera can be prevented, and by taking measures such as battery replacement based on the battery shortage warning display, the timing of shooting is not missed. You can get the effect.

As has been clarified in the above description of the embodiment of the invention, according to the power supply system of claim 1 of the present invention, after the power is turned on, the equipment reaches a steady operation state in which the equipment normally operates. The output voltage of the battery is monitored by the voltage monitoring means for a period of time, the operation of the device is stopped when the voltage is below a predetermined voltage value at which the device can operate, and the battery after the operation of the device is stopped. When the output voltage of the device becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage value at which the device can operate, the device is restarted, the number of times the restart is performed is counted, and when the count value exceeds the predetermined value, the device is restarted. Execution is prohibited.

According to the second aspect of the power supply system of the present invention, a predetermined warning is issued when the restart of the device is prohibited.

According to the third aspect of the power supply system of the present invention, a predetermined warning is issued when the power of the device is turned on again after the restart of the device is prohibited.

[0030]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention.
According to the power supply system of No. 1, which is a power supply system provided in a battery-operated electronic device, the output voltage of the battery is monitored after the power is turned on until the device reaches a normal operation state in which the device normally operates. And a voltage monitoring unit that stops the operation of the device when the monitored voltage falls below a predetermined voltage value at which the device can operate, and the output voltage of the battery after the operation of the device is stopped. In a power supply system including a control unit that restarts the device when a predetermined voltage value at which the device can operate is exceeded, the control unit includes a counting unit that counts the number of executions of the restart, and the execution unit. Since the restart prohibition means for prohibiting execution of the restart when the count value of the number of times exceeds a predetermined value is provided, it is possible to prevent useless or unnatural operation of the device.

According to the power supply system of the second aspect of the present invention, since the restart prohibiting means is provided with the warning means for giving a predetermined warning when the execution of the restart of the equipment is prohibited, the equipment is wasted. It is possible to prevent unnatural or unnatural operation, and it is possible to easily determine whether or not the device stop is due to a battery shortage.

According to a third aspect of the power supply system of the present invention, a predetermined warning is issued when the device is restarted after the restart prohibiting means prohibits the restart of the device. Since it is provided with a warning means for performing the above, it is possible to prevent useless or unnatural operation of the device, and it is possible to easily determine whether or not the device stop is due to a battery shortage at the next use of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a power supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the power supply system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Battery 4 Microcomputer 6 Power Switch 7 Voltage Detection Circuit 8 Regulator 9 System Driving Circuit 10 Indicator 100 Power System

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A power supply system provided in a battery-operated electronic device, the voltage monitoring the output voltage of the battery during a period after power-on until a steady operation state in which the device normally operates. Monitoring means and, when the monitored voltage falls below a predetermined voltage value at which the device can operate, stop the operation of the device, and the output voltage of the battery after the operation of the device is stopped In a power supply system including a control unit that restarts the device when the voltage exceeds an operable predetermined voltage value, the control unit includes a counting unit that counts the number of times the restart is executed, A power supply system, comprising: a restart prohibiting means for prohibiting execution of the restart when the count value exceeds a predetermined value. 2. The power supply system according to claim 1, further comprising warning means for issuing a predetermined warning when the restart prohibiting means prohibits the restart of the device. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising warning means for issuing a predetermined warning when the device is restarted after the restart prohibiting means prohibits the restart of the device. The power supply system according to claim 1 or 2. 4. An electronic device comprising the power supply system according to claim 1. 5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the electronic device is a video camera.