JP2001339874A - Information apparatus power supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information apparatus power supply device which is small in size, light in weight and low in cost and has a backup function against a power supply trouble such as the interruption of an AC power supply, etc. SOLUTION: In a power supply device which is built in, attached to or connected with an information apparatus 1, a secondary battery 31, a charging circuit 32 for the secondary battery 31, a selector or a switch 34 which switches a power supply route for the information apparatus 1 between an external power supply side in a normal state and a secondary battery side in an interruption state, and a controller 33 for the charging circuit 32, are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply for an information device provided in an information device such as a personal computer or a network terminal, and more particularly, to a commercial AC power supply (hereinafter referred to as a commercial AC power supply).
It is called "AC power supply". ) Relates to a power supply device having a backup function in the event of a power failure such as a power failure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are two types of power supplies for a small information device such as a notebook personal computer: an external power source obtained by converting an AC power source into a direct current by an AC adapter or the like, and an internal power source comprising a secondary battery or the like built in the device. Is often provided. There are two types of use of small information devices: desktop use and portable use. Use AC power for desktop use and use built-in power supply for portable use. However, in the case where a small information device is used on a desk using an AC power source, if a power failure such as a power failure occurs in the AC power source, the built-in power source functions as a backup power source.

FIG. 8 shows a typical power supply system provided in a small information device. As shown in FIG. 8A, the small information device 1 is provided with a DC input terminal 200, and by connecting the DC output of the AC adapter 2 to the terminal 200, the AC power supply 3 The converted DC external power can be supplied. The small information device 1 has a built-in battery pack 310 and a charging circuit 320. The selector 20 selects one of the external power supply and the internal power supply supplied from the battery pack 310. To the internal power supply circuit 10, and supplies the DC adjusted to a required voltage by the internal power supply circuit 10 to the CPU 40 and other circuits inside the information device (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 8B, the battery pack 310 includes a battery cell 311 connected in series and parallel, a protection circuit 312 for the battery cell 311, and a protection circuit 312.
And an MPU 313 that controls the operation of the CPU and executes a communication interface function with the CPU 40. The MPU 313 is integrated in the case, and is detachably mounted in the housing of the information device. The state of the battery cell 311 such as the remaining amount is monitored by the CPU 40 through the communication interface, and the charging circuit 320 appropriately controls charging.

That is, when the input from the AC power supply 3 is supplied, the selector 20 selects the external input side, and the battery pack 310 is almost in a no-load state. Also at this time, the CPU 40 monitors the state of the battery pack 310 and operates the charging circuit 320 if necessary. On the other hand, A
When the C power supply is disconnected or a power failure occurs, the selector 20 selects the battery pack 310 and the power supply circuit 1
0 is supplied with power from the battery cell 311. When the power failure state continues and the remaining amount of the battery pack 310 falls below a predetermined amount, the small information device 1 starts a prepared evacuation program based on a command from the CPU 40, and after the evacuation processing is completed, the small information device 1 starts. Power supply from is stopped.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional battery pack 310, a lithium ion (Li +) battery is often used as the battery cell 311. However, the lithium ion battery has a protection circuit and a remaining battery due to its characteristics and properties. Since a meter is required, the battery pack 310 using a lithium ion battery as a built-in battery is large, heavy, and expensive. When the small information device 1 is placed on a desk and used with an AC power supply, the battery pack 310 functions only as a backup power supply at the time of a power failure, so providing such a large, heavy, and expensive battery pack is cost-effective. This means that a battery pack of an excessive quality is mounted in view of the effect, which is wasteful. Further, in the related art, since the charging of the built-in battery is controlled by the CPU 40 provided in the small-sized information device, it is necessary to provide a charging circuit 320 that matches the characteristics of the battery pack 310.
Are easily limited to a specific combination, and there is also a problem that there is no product flexibility, such as restrictions on free design and compatibility for each model.

In the above description, a battery pack detachably attached to a small information device has been described as an example. However, a case where a backup power supply having a built-in battery is incorporated in a small information device or other information devices, and There is a similar problem when externally connected (connected).

[0008] The present invention has been made to address such technical problems, and has been made compact, lightweight, and inexpensive.
An object of the present invention is to provide a power supply for an information device having a backup function when a power failure such as a power failure occurs in an AC power supply.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a secondary battery, a charging circuit for the secondary battery, A selector or switch for switching the power supply path to the information device to the external power supply side during normal times and to the secondary battery side during power failure, and a controller for the charging circuit are provided.

Normally, an external power is supplied to the information device via a selector or a switch. When a power failure occurs, the power supply path to the information device is automatically switched to the output of the secondary battery. The information device can execute a shutdown process using the output of the secondary battery. Therefore, occurrence of serious inconvenience such as abnormal operation of the information device and loss of valuable data can be prevented. The charging control of the secondary battery is performed by a controller provided in the power supply device.

As described above, if the controller for controlling the charging of the secondary battery is provided in the power supply device, the controller can perform the charging control incorporating the control algorithm that matches the characteristics of the built-in battery. Regardless of the characteristics of the built-in secondary battery, the function of using the power supply device can be standardized. As a result, the flexibility of the product can be increased, the use of secondary batteries that does not require a protection circuit or a fuel gauge, and the number of cells can be reduced. A compact, lightweight, low-cost power supply device can be obtained. In addition, since the charge control of the secondary battery by the CPU provided in the small information device becomes unnecessary, the CPU
Burden can be reduced.

In the power supply device having the above configuration, the output circuit of the secondary battery includes a first switch, and the power supply circuit of the controller includes a second switch. After receiving the information device and completing the evacuation process, the first and second switches are turned off by a signal from the controller to stop discharging the secondary battery and to supply power to the controller. It can be configured to be cut.

With this configuration, the discharge of the secondary battery at the time of a power failure can be suppressed to a necessary minimum, so that the burden on the secondary battery can be reduced.

Further, in the power supply device having the above configuration, it is preferable that the end of the evacuation processing is detected based on an output current of the power supply device.

With this configuration, it is not necessary to communicate the end of the evacuation processing from the information device to the power supply device, so that the communication between the information device and the power supply device can be simplified.

With respect to the method of supplying external power to the power supply device, a DC input terminal separate from the DC input terminal provided in the information device is provided on the DC input side of the charging circuit, and provided in the charging circuit. An external power supply may be connected to the DC input terminal, or the DC input side of the charging circuit may be connected to the DC input terminal provided in the information device, and the DC input terminal provided in the information device may be connected to the DC input terminal. External power can also be supplied to the charging circuit.

According to the former, the DC provided in the information device
Since the input terminal is left as it is, the power supply device according to the present invention and the standard battery pack can be appropriately replaced,
This makes it possible to use the information device on a desk using an external power source and to use the information device in a portable manner using an internal power source, thereby improving the practicality and convenience of the information device. on the other hand,
According to the latter, external power is supplied to the charging circuit of the power supply device according to the present invention using the DC input terminal provided in the information device, so that the configuration of the DC input can be simplified,
The cost of the power supply device can be reduced.

Further, it is preferable that a communication interface between the controller and the information device is made compatible with a communication interface between a standard battery pack mounted on the information device and the information device.

In this manner, the power supply device of the present invention can be applied to a conventional information device as it is, and the desk-top use of the information device with the power supply device of the present invention mounted and the standard battery pack mounted. Since the portable information device can be used at any time, the practicality and convenience of the information device can be improved.

In the present specification, the “evacuation process” refers to a shutdown process in which all running processes are terminated, the OS is terminated, and then the power is turned off, and a process or data for the running process is referred to. This means a process including both a suspending process (also called suspend or hibernation) in which all information such as parameters is saved to the hard disk and restored by a recovery process.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a power supply device according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the power supply device according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a functional circuit diagram of the power supply device according to the embodiment. 4 is a block diagram of a power supply unit of the information device to which the power supply device according to the embodiment is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 1, a power supply device 30 according to the present embodiment includes a case 30a in which a secondary battery 31, a charging circuit 32, a controller 33, and a selector 34 are incorporated. Is a communication interface 30 between the controller 33 and the CPU provided in the information device.
2 are provided. The voltage on the DC input 300 side is set higher than that on the secondary battery 31 side. Normally, the DC input 300 side is selected by the selector 34 and output to the DC output terminal 301, and the secondary battery 31 side is selected during a power failure. The signal is output to the DC output terminal 301.

As shown in FIG. 2, the appearance of the case 30a is the same as that of a standard battery pack of an information device to which the power supply device 30 is mounted. The communication interface 302 is also configured in the same manner as the standard battery pack. Therefore, the power supply device 3 according to the present embodiment example
0 is completely compatible with a standard battery pack of an information device to which the power supply device 30 is attached, and is detachably attached to the information device 1 as shown in FIG. By inputting the DC converted from the input 3 to the DC input 300, it is possible to supply operating power to the information device 1 in a normal state and supply backup power to the information device 1 in a power failure. Further, the information device 1 with the power supply device 30 of the present embodiment mounted thereon can be used on a desk and the information device 1 with a standard battery pack mounted thereon can be used portablely, making the information device 1 practical and convenient. Can also be increased. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 denotes the information device 1
Reference numeral 20 denotes a selector provided in the information device 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a drive voltage of the information device 1, reference numeral 2
00 denotes a DC input terminal provided in the information device 1.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the power supply device according to this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 34a denotes a DC / DC converter, reference numeral 35 denotes a first switch, reference numeral 36 denotes a regulator, reference numeral 37 denotes a reset circuit, reference numeral 38 denotes a microcomputer, reference numeral 39 denotes a second switch, and others. Parts equivalent to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Power supply terminal Vc of microcomputer 38
The higher voltage side of the voltage of the DC input 300 or the output voltage of the secondary battery 31 is selectively applied to c. DC input 300 as described above
Side is set higher than the secondary battery 31 side, so that the microcomputer 38 is driven by the power supply from the DC input 300 at normal times, and receives the power supply from the secondary battery 31 at the time of power failure. The microcomputer 38 is driven.

The microcomputer 38 detects the abnormality of the input voltage or the presence or absence of the power failure from the signal related to the voltage and the current of the DC input 300 input to the Si terminal. Also,
From the signal related to the voltage and current of the DC output 301 input to the So terminal, the voltage and current of the power supply supplied to the information device 1 and the state of the information device 1 such as short circuit and open are detected. Further, from the signal regarding the charge / discharge voltage and charge / discharge current of the secondary battery 31 input to the Bs terminal, the secondary battery 3
1 is detected. On the other hand, the microcomputer 38
Transmits a charge control signal from the Cc terminal to the charging circuit 32, and controls charging of the secondary battery 31 and stopping of charging. In addition, a battery output control signal is transmitted from the Bo terminal to the first switch 35 provided in the discharge circuit of the secondary battery 31, and on / off control of the first switch 35 is performed. Furthermore, O
A power control signal is transmitted from the FF terminal to a second switch 39 provided in a power supply circuit of the microcomputer 38, and on / off control of the second switch 39 is performed.

Normally, the output of the DC / DC converter 34a is supplied to the DC output.
It operates using the C input as an operating power supply. The first switch 35, the second switch 39, and the regulator 36
Both are switched on.

When the occurrence of a power failure is detected from a change in the input signal to the Si terminal, the microcomputer 38 transmits the information to the CPU 4 of the information device 1 through the communication interface 302.
A power failure detection signal is transmitted to 0. In addition, since the voltage of the DC input 300 decreases simultaneously with the occurrence of the power failure, the selector 34
The output of the secondary battery 31 is supplied to the information device 1 via the. The CPU 40 receives the power supply from the secondary battery 31, activates a pre-installed evacuation program, and executes an evacuation process. This prevents abnormal operation of the information device 1 and loss of data. When the evacuation process ends, the CPU
40 notifies the microcomputer 38 via the communication interface 302 of the end of the save processing.

The microcomputer 38 includes a CPU 40
, The battery output control signal is transmitted from the Bo terminal, the switch 35 is turned off, and the power supply from the secondary battery 31 is stopped.
An off signal is transmitted from the FF terminal to turn off the second switch 39 and the regulator 36, thereby stopping power supply to the microcomputer 38. As a result, the load on the secondary battery 31 during a power outage can be minimized.

When the power is restored from the power failure state, the DC input 3
00 is supplied to the information device 1 via the selector 34.
When the power is restored, the RST of the microcomputer 38
A reset signal from the reset circuit 37 is input to the terminal, the microcomputer 38 is initialized, and a predetermined function is resumed and executed. Further, the remaining amount of the secondary battery 31 is detected from the input signal to the Bs terminal, and when the remaining amount has fallen below a predetermined value, a charge control signal is transmitted from the Cc terminal to the charging circuit 32. Then, the secondary battery 31 is charged.

As shown in FIG. 3, as the secondary battery 31, a plurality of cells are connected only in series, a discharge current capable of executing the evacuation process of the information device 1 is obtained, and the evacuation process of the information device 1 is performed. Having a capacity capable of executing a plurality of times. Conventionally, there is no small-capacity and small-capacity battery capable of obtaining a large discharge current, and in order to execute the evacuation process of the information device 1, as shown in FIG. Had to connect to. However, recent technological advances in secondary batteries have led to the provision of nickel-metal hydride batteries that have a small size, small capacity, and can provide a large discharge current. With such batteries, a plurality of cells can be connected only in series. By doing so, a built-in battery capable of executing the evacuation processing of the information device 1 is obtained, so that the number of cells to be used can be reduced, and the power supply device 30 can be reduced in weight and cost.

The gist of the present invention resides in that a controller for charge control is provided in the power supply device, and the other parts are not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be necessary. The configuration can be changed as appropriate. Hereinafter, other embodiments of the power supply device according to the present invention will be listed.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the DC / DC converter 34a is provided in the power supply device 30. The DC / DC converter 34a outputs the power of the AC adapter 2 in accordance with the required voltage of the information device 1. When the output voltage of the AC adapter 2 is supplied to the information device 1 as it is for adjusting the voltage, the output voltage can be omitted. Has not changed.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the power supply source to the information device 1 is selected by the selector 34. However, instead of such a configuration, a switch device that is turned on and off by the microcomputer 38 may be provided. .

(3) In the above embodiment, a DC input terminal 300 separate from the DC input terminal 200 provided in the information device 1 is provided on the DC input side of the charging circuit 32, and is provided in the charging circuit 32. Although an external power supply is connected to the DC input terminal 300, the DC input side of the charging circuit 32 is connected to the DC input terminal 200 provided in the information device 1 as shown in FIG. External power can also be supplied to the charging circuit 32 from the DC input terminal 200 provided in the device 1.

(4) In the above embodiment, the power supply 30 is provided with the selector 34, and the information device 1 is also provided with the selector 20, and these two selectors 20, 34
Are cascaded, but these two selectors 20,
Any of 34 may be omitted. FIG.
Omits the selector 34 of the power supply device 30 and
The case where the power supply path to the information device is switched using the selector 20 provided for the information device will be described. When the cascade connection of the two selectors 20 and 34 is eliminated in this way, the series connection of elements such as diodes is eliminated, and there is no voltage drop due to the series elements, so that the performance of the secondary battery 31 is efficiently exhibited during backup. can do.

(5) In the above embodiment, the power supply device 30 is configured as a battery pack so that it can be detachably attached to the information device 1.
May be omitted, and the power supply may be built in a power supply unit of a required information device. In addition, instead of being mounted on or built into the information device 1, it can be externally attached to the information device 1 as shown in FIG. According to the embodiment of FIG.
The backup at the time of a power failure can be performed without providing the power supply device 30 inside.

(6) In the above embodiment, the end of the evacuation processing is notified to the microcomputer 38 by a signal from the CPU 40 provided in the information device. However, by detecting the output current of the power supply, the power supply The end of the saving process can be detected by itself. This eliminates the need to communicate the end of the save process from the information device to the power supply device, thereby simplifying communication between the information device and the power supply device.

[0040]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the controller for controlling the charging of the secondary battery is provided in the power supply device, so that the flexibility of the product can be increased, and the protection circuit and the remaining amount of the battery can be improved. It is possible to use a secondary battery that does not require a meter, reduce the number of cells, and obtain a small-sized, light-weight, low-cost power supply device having a function specialized for backup in the event of a power failure. Further, since the charging control of the secondary battery by the CPU provided in the small-sized information device becomes unnecessary, the burden on the CPU can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a first switch is provided in the output circuit of the secondary battery, and a second switch is provided in the power supply circuit of the controller to receive power supply from the secondary battery during a power failure. After the information device completes the shutdown process, the first and second switches are controlled to be turned off by a signal from the controller, so that the discharge of the secondary battery at the time of a power failure can be suppressed to a minimum. The burden on the secondary battery can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the power supply device is provided with its own DC input terminal, and the DC input terminal provided in the information device is left as it is. The device and the standard battery pack can be replaced as appropriate, enabling the desktop use of the information device using an external power source and the portable use of the information device using the internal power source, and the practical use of the information device. And convenience and convenience can be improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a DC input terminal of the information device is connected to a DC input side of a charging circuit, and an external power supply is supplied to the charging circuit via the DC input terminal of the information device. Is supplied, the configuration of the DC input can be simplified, and the cost of the power supply device can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the communication interface between the controller and the information device is made compatible with the communication interface between the standard battery pack mounted on the information device and the information device. The power supply device of the present invention can be directly applied to a conventional information device,
Since the desktop use of the information device with the power supply device of the present invention and the portable use of the information device with the standard battery pack attached can be performed at any time, the practicality and convenience of the information device can be improved. Can be.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the end of the save process is detected from the output current of the power supply device, so that the communication of the end of the save process from the information device to the power supply device can be omitted. Communication between the information device and the power supply device can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a power supply device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a power supply device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a functional circuit diagram of the power supply device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a power supply unit of the information device equipped with the power supply device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an information device incorporating a power supply device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an information device incorporating a power supply device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a layout diagram of a power supply device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a power supply unit provided in the portable information processing device and a configuration of a power supply device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 information device (load device) 2 AC adapter 3 AC input 10 internal power supply 20 selector 30 power supply device 31 built-in battery 32 charging circuit 33 controller 34 selector 35 first switch 39 second switch 40 CPU 300 DC input 301 DC output 302 communication interface

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H02J 7/34 H02J 9/00 P 9/00 G06F 1/00 341M F term (Reference) 5B011 DA02 DA13 DB11 DB20 EB03 GG01 GG06 JA03 JB03 LL10 5G003 AA01 BA01 CA01 CA11 CC02 DA05 DA14 FA03 GB03 GC05 5G015 FA10 GB02 GB05 HA02 HA15 JA10 JA32 JA34 JA35 JA45 JA53 JA55 KA06 5H030 AS03 AS11 BB01 BB21 FF42

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A power supply device that is built in, attached to, or connected to an information device, wherein a secondary battery, a charging circuit for the secondary battery, and a power supply path to the information device are normally connected to an external power supply. A power supply device for an information device, comprising: a selector or a switch for switching to a secondary battery in the event of a power failure; and a controller for the charging circuit. 2. The information device according to claim 1, further comprising: a first switch provided in an output circuit of the secondary battery, and a second switch provided in a power supply circuit of the controller, which receives power supply from the secondary battery when a power failure occurs. After the evacuation process is completed, the first and second switches are turned off by a signal from the controller, the discharging of the secondary battery is stopped, and the power supply to the controller is cut off. The power supply for an information device according to claim 1. 3. A DC input terminal separate from a DC input terminal provided on the information device is provided on a DC input side of the charging circuit, and an external power supply is connected to the DC input terminal provided on the charging circuit. The power supply device for an information device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. A DC input terminal of the information device is connected to a DC input side of the charging circuit, and an external power is supplied to the charging circuit via the DC input terminal of the information device. The power supply device for an information device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A communication interface between the controller and the information device, which is compatible with a communication interface between a standard battery pack mounted on the information device and the information device. Claim 1
A power supply device for an information device according to claim 1. 6. The power supply for an information device according to claim 2, wherein the end of the save processing is detected by an output current of the power supply.