JPH07191784A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit a user to be able to exchange a battery more smoothly by automatizing a part of an operation at the time of exchanging the battery. CONSTITUTION:A system is provided with the two kinds of battries, that is, the main battery 11 to be a power supplying source at the time of the normal operation of a system and the sub-battery 5 to be the power supplying source only when the main battery is removed. When the battery is exchanged, the main battery 4 is automatically removed by depressing a battery exchange switch and the power supplying source is changed-over from the main battery 4 to the sub-battery 5. At the same time, the mode of the system is shifted to the power saving mode and a system state is held by the sub-battery 5. At this time, the user is guided by displaying the exchange method of the main battery 4 and the remaining capacitance of the sub-battery 5 in a display device 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a personal computer which can be operated by a battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the field of personal computers, a laptop type, which is small in size, light in weight, and convenient for carrying, has become popular in place of the conventional desktop type, and has come to be frequently used as a low-end machine. Due to their characteristics, many of these laptop types are battery-operated, and the drive time is several hours. Therefore, the user needs to replace the battery when using for a long time.

Conventionally, regarding battery replacement, a personal computer detects a decrease in battery capacity and issues a warning such as a beep or a message to notify the user, and the user himself / herself performs the work accordingly.

At this time, the user removed and installed the battery while referring to an instruction manual for a series of operations such as a method for replacing the battery. In order to keep the currently running system, the user must save the data and then shut down the system, or in the case of a personal computer having a function such as a power saving mode, perform an operation to shift to that mode. And kept the system state.

[0005]

As described above, in a battery-operable personal computer, the battery drive time is limited by the battery capacity, and battery replacement is required when used continuously for a long time. . Moreover, the mechanical operation requires evacuation processing or the like on software, and battery replacement operation according to a certain procedure is required.

Therefore, in view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device configured to automate a part of the operation at the time of replacing a battery and perform a smooth battery replacement.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an electronic device including a main battery and a sub battery, wherein a switch to be pressed when the main battery is replaced and a switch for the switch are provided. In response to the pressing, operating method associated with battery replacement, and / or
Display control means for displaying the remaining capacity of the sub-battery and switching means for switching from the main battery to the sub-battery on condition that predetermined processing is completed after pressing the switch.

[0008]

The present invention has two types of batteries, a main battery that serves as a power supply source during normal operation of the system and a sub battery that serves as a power supply source only when the main battery is removed. The main battery is automatically removed by pressing the battery replacement switch, and the power supply source is also switched from the main battery to the sub battery. At the same time, the system shifts to the power saving mode, and the sub battery holds the system state. At this time, the method of replacing the main battery and the remaining capacity of the sub battery are displayed on the display screen to guide the user. As a result, a part of the operation for battery replacement is automated, so that the user can more smoothly replace the battery.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, in each of the drawings described in detail below, only the parts related to the present invention are described, and general operations necessary for the apparatus are omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a personal computer to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a personal computer main body. Reference numeral 2 is a display device, which displays data input from the keyboard of reference numeral 3 or a result processed by the CPU (14 in FIG. 2). Reference numeral 4 is a main battery, which supplies power to each device of the personal computer. Reference numeral 5 is a sub-battery that supplies power to the system in place of the main battery 4 when the main battery 4 cannot supply power to the system. Reference numeral 6 is a main battery removal switch, and when this switch is pressed, a series of interrupt processing (described in detail later) occurs, and the main battery 4 is automatically removed depending on the processing result.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 is a bus, which includes the display device 2, the keyboard 3, the CPU 14, and the BIOS-ROM.
15, a power supply control device 16 and the like are commonly connected.

Here, the main battery 4 and the sub-battery 5 are connected to the power control device 16 to control the power supply to the system. The power supply control device 16 is designed so that the main battery 4 or the sub-battery 5 can be selected as a power supply source by software control via the I / O port. The BIOS-ROM 15 is a memory that stores a basic input / output control system, and executes interrupt processing by pressing the main battery removal switch 6 and various other interrupt processing programs (described in detail in FIGS. 3 to 6). Have

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation when the main battery removal switch 6 is pressed.

When the main battery removal switch 6 is pressed (step S301), a sub battery remaining amount detection process is performed (step 302). Details of this sub-battery remaining amount detection processing will be described later.

If the detected remaining amount of the sub-battery is sufficient (step 303), the current system state is saved (step 304). As for saving the system state, for example, a program currently being executed, the state of each device, and the like may be saved in a memory.

Next, a main battery replacement method is displayed on the screen so as to guide the user through the procedure. At the same time, a timer is displayed by a countdown method to keep the system state of the sub-battery 5 informed to the user (step 305). Details of this processing will be described later.

After that, the power supply is stopped except for the part related to the guide display and the timer display to shift to the power saving mode (step 306). Then, the power supply source is switched from the main battery 4 to the sub battery 5 (step 3
07).

After the above processing is completed, the main battery 4 is disconnected from the system and jumps out (step 308). As an example of this method, there is an electronic eject method which is conventionally used for a floppy disk or the like. The image is as shown in FIG. After that, it waits for the user to install a new main battery 4 (step 309). At this time, if the time over which the system with the sub battery indicated by the timer can be maintained has been exceeded, the process moves to step 311.

When a new main battery is attached in step 309, the system state saved previously (the program being executed and the state of each device at that time)
To the system (step 310).

By the way, when the remaining amount of the sub battery is insufficient in step 303 or the main battery is not replaced in time in step 309, a warning beep is sounded (step 311) to charge the main battery 4 and the sub battery 5. A prompt message and its operation method are displayed on the screen (step 312). The display method will be described later.

FIG. 4A shows the step 30 shown in FIG.
The full-charge flag, which is a table used in the sub-battery remaining amount detection process of No. 2, indicates whether or not the sub-battery 5 is fully charged.
It becomes N, and when the power supply from the sub battery 5 starts, OF
Become F.

The sub-battery drive integrated time is the total time of power supply from the sub-battery 5. This value is zero when the full charge flag is ON. The time is measured using the timer of the system, and the sub-battery drive integrated time changes in synchronization with the power supply time.

The sub-battery drive Max time is the time during which the sub-battery 5 can be maintained in the power saving mode from the fully charged state. This value is preset. Using these values, the current remaining amount of the sub battery is calculated. A flowchart of the process is shown in FIG.

Since the system is in the power saving mode except for the display section, the current consumption at that time is constant. In addition, no power is supplied to any device in the system in the power saving mode, so the power consumption of the sub-battery 5 does not occur. In other words, this processing is effective no matter how large the system configuration becomes.

Here, the fact that the current consumption is constant is used in order to obtain the accuracy in calculating the remaining amount. First, in step 401, it is determined whether or not the sub-battery is fully charged. If the sub-battery is fully charged, the sub-battery drive Max time becomes the remaining amount value (step 40).
2). When the battery is not fully charged in step 401, the remaining battery value is obtained by subtracting the sub battery driving integrated time from the sub battery driving Max time (step 403). By utilizing the fact that the current consumption is constant in this way, an accurate remaining amount value can be easily calculated.

FIG. 5 is a group of diagrams showing the display processing for guiding the user in step 305 and step 312 shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 5A is a display screen when the main battery 4 is removed and the system is being driven by the sub-battery 5, and a guide display of how to replace the main battery 4 and a drivable time by the sub-battery 5 are counted down. Display by method.

FIG. 5B shows a state of a video RAM (not shown) which is used in the guide display processing, in which a series of patterns of all battery replacement methods are written.

FIG. 5 (c) is a flow chart showing the guide signal display, which is set so that the display processing can be performed with power saving without imposing a load on each device while the sub-battery is driven. First, write all the battery replacement method patterns in the video RAM (see FIG. 5B),
The pattern 1 is displayed on the screen (step 501). This pattern is an image obtained by dividing the battery replacement procedure into several photographs.

Next, the remaining amount of the sub-battery is detected and the value is displayed on the screen by a timer in a countdown system (step 502). Then, the RTC (real time clock) interrupt of the timer of the system is set to be generated at intervals of 1 second (step 503), and the power saving mode is set except for the RTC interrupt and the video interrupt for performing the guide display (step 504).

FIG. 5D shows step 50 of FIG. 5C.
6 is a flowchart showing RTC interrupt processing in the power saving mode set in 3. First, in step 511, the guide pattern displayed on the screen is switched. Since this process is repeatedly performed at 1 second intervals, the display content also changes at 1 second intervals. In this processing, the next pattern is already written in the video RAM, so it is only necessary to change the start address of the video RAM to be displayed. When the pattern reaches the end, it returns to the beginning and displays the procedure again. Here, it is not necessary to access and read a storage device such as a hard disk or a floppy disk.

Next, the timer display is changed (step 51).
2). Since this processing occurs at intervals of 1 second, it is not necessary to perform calculation, and it is sufficient to count down the display by one.

With such a method, the guide display of the main battery replacement method can be easily performed, and power saving can be performed without accessing a device such as a hard disk. Further, the current consumption at this time is in a constant state, which is effective for the remaining battery level detection described above.

As described above, when the battery removal switch 6 is pressed, a series of processes conventionally required are automatically processed to reduce the dependence on the user, so that the user can smoothly replace the battery. become.

Next, another embodiment will be described.

Another embodiment of the display process for guiding the user in the operation procedure of battery replacement is shown below.

FIG. 6 is a group of diagrams showing the display processing for guiding the user in step 305 and step 312 shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 6A is a display screen when the main battery 4 is removed and the system is being driven by the sub-battery 5, and a guide display of how to replace the main battery 4 and a drivable time by the sub-battery 5 are counted down. Display by method. The guide display shows all several patterns and does not change during battery replacement, only the timer indicating the drivable time changes.

FIG. 6C is a flow chart showing the guide display processing, which is set so that the display processing can be performed with power saving without imposing a load on each device while the sub battery is being driven. First, all the patterns of the battery replacement method are written in the video RAM (see FIG. 6B), and all the patterns are divided and displayed on the screen (step 60).
1). Next, the remaining amount of the sub-battery is detected, and the value is displayed on the screen by a timer in a countdown method (step 60).
2). Then, an RTC (real time clock) interrupt of a timer of the system is set to be generated at 1 second intervals (step 603), and the power saving mode is set except for the RTC interrupt and the display section (step 604).

FIG. 6D shows the RTC interrupt processing in the power saving mode, only changing the timer display (step 611).

With such a method, the guide display of the main battery replacement method can be easily performed, and the power saving can be performed without accessing a device such as a hard disk.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a battery-powered electronic device, when the battery is replaced, the battery is automatically removed by pressing the switch for battery replacement, and the system status is changed by the sub-battery. Since the system is held and the system guides the battery replacement method, the user can perform the operation more smoothly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram of a personal computer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a main battery removal switch is pressed.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the sub battery remaining amount detection process, in which FIG. 4A is a table used in the sub battery remaining amount detection process, and FIG. 4B is a flowchart showing the sub battery remaining amount detection process. It is a figure.

5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a display process for guiding a user, in which FIG. 5A is a display screen during sub-battery driving, and FIG.
Is the state of the video RAM performed in the guide display processing, (c)
FIG. 7A is a flowchart showing a guide display process, and FIG. 7D is a flowchart showing an RTC interrupt process in the power saving mode.

6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining another embodiment of the display process for guiding the user, where FIG. 6A is a display screen when the sub battery is driven, and FIG. 6B is a video RAM state performed in the guide display process. c) is a flowchart showing the guide display processing,
(D) is a diagram showing a flowchart showing the RTC interrupt processing in the power saving mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Personal Computer Main Body 2 Display Device 3 Keyboard 4 Main Battery 5 Sub Battery 6 Main Battery Removal Switch 11 Bus 14 CPU 15 BIOS-ROM 16 Power Supply Control Device

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device comprising a main battery and a sub-battery, the switch being pressed when the main battery is replaced, and an operation method accompanying battery replacement in response to the pressing of the switch, And / or display control means for displaying the remaining capacity of the sub-battery, and switching means for switching from the main battery to the sub-battery on condition that a predetermined process is completed after pressing the switch. An electronic device characterized by. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined process is
An electronic device that saves the current system status. 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, as the predetermined processing, power supply is stopped except for a predetermined portion. 4. An electronic device comprising a main battery and a sub battery, instructing means for instructing replacement of the main battery, and detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the sub battery based on the instruction of the instructing means. An electronic device, comprising: a warning unit that warns when the detection result of the detection unit is smaller than a predetermined capacity. 5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the warning is a beep sound. 6. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein after the warning, a message display prompting charging of the main battery and / or the sub battery is displayed. 7. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein after the warning, an operation method associated with battery replacement is displayed. 8. The method according to claim 4, wherein when the detection result of the detection means is larger than a predetermined capacity, the main battery is switched to the sub-battery on condition that a predetermined process is completed. Electronics. 9. The predetermined process according to claim 8,
An electronic device that saves the current system status. 10. The electronic device according to claim 8, wherein, as the predetermined processing, power supply is stopped except for a predetermined portion.