DE102009047363A1 - Electronic hand-held device, has power supply switching unit connected to main power supply unit, standby power supply unit and CPU that switches between main power supply unit and standby power supply unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The device (1) has a CPU (12) electrically connected to a status determination unit (11) that receives fall protection statement and operating data of the device. A storage unit (13) is electrically connected to a CPU that stores parameters of moving status and operational data. Capacity of a standby power supply unit (16) is lower than capacity of a main power supply unit (15). A power supply switching unit (14) is connected to the main power supply unit, the standby power supply unit and the CPU that switches between the main power supply unit and the standby power supply unit. An independent claim is also included for a fall protection method for an electronic hand-held device.

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic hand-held device and a method of preventing dropping thereof, in particular, an electronic hand-held device and a fall protection mechanism which prevents it from falling down.

When electronic handheld devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, GPS or media players fall on the floor or a hard object when switched on, not only can the housing of the electronic handset be damaged, but also the operation can be disturbed by data corruption or loss.

The U.S. Patent No. 20080218366 Referring to the conventional embodiment, a wearable electronic device protection system in which an accelerometer measures an acceleration signal generated by a movement in at least one direction and a processor receives the acceleration signal and compares it with a predetermined value determine if a fall or shock occurs. Once a drop or shock is detected, the central processing unit starts the power-off operation to turn off the portable electronic device according to an integrated routine.

However, it takes too long for the portable electronic device to start the shutdown routine of the protection mechanism, and it also takes too long for the shutdown routine to be executed. In practice, the turn-off routine is rarely completely completed in the event of a drop or impact of an electronic device, causing data to be damaged or lost. In addition, it is impractical and time-consuming to restart an electronic device after a shutdown routine. In addition, the power can be interrupted by the battery when impact on an electronic device. However, if this happens immediately after the shutdown routine is started, data may be damaged or lost because the battery provides the energy needed for this step.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an electronic hand-held device with fall protection mechanism in order to avoid loss of data during a fall during operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic hand-held device with a fall arrest mechanism in which the time required to execute the fall arrest mechanism is reduced and the transition from a protection status to an operational status is accelerated.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic hand-held device with fall protection mechanism in which, when dropped during operation, no data loss occurs which would otherwise occur due to a power interruption due to contact loss of the battery.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides an electronic hand-held device consisting of the following parts: a status determination unit that detects the movement status of the electronic handset and generates corresponding status information, a status determination unit that is electrically connected to the status determination unit and configured to receive the status information and respectively output a fall protection instruction according to a preset parameter of the safe movement status, a central processing unit electrically connected to the status determination unit and configured to receive the fall protection instruction and the operation data during operation of the hand-held electronic device according to the fall protection instruction, before changing to a low power mode, stores a storage unit that is electrically connected to the central processing unit and so con is configured to store the parameters of the safe movement status and the operation data, a main power unit, a standby power unit that supplies the power required for the low power mode, the capacity of the standby power unit is lower than that of the main power unit, a power supply switching unit connected to the main power supply unit, the standby power supply unit, and the central processing unit configured to be able to switch between the main power supply unit and the standby power supply unit.

In order to achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a fall arrest mechanism for an electronic handset, which consists of the following steps: (1) detecting a motion status of an environment and generating status information; (2) comparing the status information with a preset secure movement status parameter and generating a fall protection instruction when the status information of the secure movement status parameter is located; (3) storing operation data during operation according to the fall protection instruction; (4) Switching to a low power mode and disconnecting from the main power supply unit Switching to a standby power supply unit, wherein the standby power supply unit has a has lower capacity than the main power supply unit.

The status determination unit may be an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope or a combination of an acceleration sensor and a gyroscope. The low power mode may be a hibernation mode or a standby mode.

According to the present invention, when an electronic handset is dropped, the operating data of the handheld electronic device is stored, and the handheld electronic device enters a low power mode to reduce power consumption. In low power mode, the electronic handset is not completely turned off. Therefore, it can also quickly change back from the low power mode to the operating mode. In addition, in the low power mode, little power is consumed, so that the capacity of the standby power supply unit can be reduced, which in turn can prevent a power cut by a power failure caused by a shock. In the case of a contact separation and consequent power interruption of the main power supply unit, the standby power supply unit supplies the power required for the low power mode. In the aforementioned fall protection mechanism of the present invention, a fastener can be used with the main power supply unit, so that the attachment mechanism can be made more flexible.

1 Fig. 10 is a block diagram of an electronic handset according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 Fig. 12 is a block diagram of the electronic handset of another embodiment for comparison according to the present invention;

3 Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a fall prevention mechanism for avoiding the dropping of an electronic handset according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a fall prevention mechanism for avoiding the fall-off of a handheld data collection device of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

To clarify the objects, functions and effects of the present invention to those skilled in the art, the present invention will be described by reference to the following specific embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention will be described in detail below.

1 FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an electronic handset according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. As can be seen in the figure, the present invention provides an electronic hand-held device 1 , which is a status determination unit 10 , a status determination unit 11 , a central processing unit 12 , a storage unit 13 , a power supply switching unit 14 , a main power supply unit 15 and a standby power supply unit 16 includes.

The status determination unit 10 determines a movement status at the external status determination unit 10 and generates status information corresponding to the result in the measurement of the movement status. The exterior of the status determination unit 10 is narrowly defined as the electronic handset 1 itself. The status determination unit 10 is an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer and gyroscope combination, or other equivalent state recognition device.

If the electronic handset 1 falls down, falls the electronic handset 1 under the influence of gravity without any other supporting force; while the electronic handset 1 subject to free fall, the acceleration corresponds to the acceleration of gravity. This status is a case status.

The acceleration sensor is a measuring module for measuring acceleration in three dimensions. It includes an x-axis sensor, a y-axis sensor and a z-axis sensor to measure the linear acceleration of the handheld electronic device 1 along the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis. The gyroscope, which mainly measures the angular acceleration of a rotating object, can additionally monitor the rotational movement of the handheld electronic device 1 measure up. If the status determination unit 10 an acceleration sensor measures the status determination unit 10 the linear acceleration of the electronic handset 1 in all directions. If the status determination unit 10 a gyroscope measures the status determination unit 10 the angular acceleration of the electronic handset 1 in a rotary motion. If the status determination unit 10 a combination of an acceleration sensor and a gyroscope measures the status detection unit 10 exactly the movement of the electronic handset 1 , With the aforementioned devices, it is possible different case states of the electronic handset 1 to measure, for. For example, a case status, a rotation status, or an ejection status.

The status determination unit 11 is electrically connected to the status determination unit 10 , It receives the status information. If the status information says that the electronic handset 1 is outside the range of a preset safe motion parameter, the electronic handset is located 1 in case status. If the acceleration exceeds a certain value, the status determination unit sends 11 a fall protection instruction.

The central processing unit 12 is electrically connected to the status determination unit 11 , Upon receipt of the fall arrest instruction, it switches the electronic handset 1 in a low power mode. The low power mode is a hibernation mode or a standby mode. The electronic handset 1 consumes much less power in low power mode than in a typical operating mode.

The storage unit 13 is electrically connected to the central processing unit 12 , It stores the operating data of the electronic hand-held device 1 during operation and a preset parameter of a safe movement status. To the operating data of the electronic handset 1 to prevent loss or damage due to a current interruption caused by a shock, the central processing unit 12 the storage unit 13 on, the operating data of the electronic hand-held device 1 save as soon as the case status is detected.

The power supply switching unit 14 , with which the power supply of the electronic handset 1 is connected to the main power supply unit 15 and to the standby power supply unit 16 connected. Will be the main power supply unit 15 disconnected, the output of the power supply switching unit 14 to the standby power supply unit 16 connected. Since less power is consumed in low power mode, the capacity of the standby power supply unit may be reduced 16 lower than the main power supply unit 15 , so the size of the standby power supply unit 16 can be reduced. So can the standby power supply unit 16 z. B. also on an integrated motherboard (motherboard) can be arranged.

In the present invention, the status determination unit recognizes 10 an external movement status (ie the electronic handset 1 ) and generates status information. The status information is sent to the status determination unit 11 issued. If the status information is out of range of a safe movement status parameter, the health determination unit generates 11 a fall protection instruction and gives the fall protection instruction to the central processing unit 12 out. The central processing unit 12 then stores the operating data of the electronic handset 1 in the storage unit 13 according to the fall protection instruction and thereby ensures that the electronic handset 1 switches to low power mode. The current output is thereby controlled in such a way that the power supply switching unit 14 at a power interruption of the main power supply unit 15 to the standby power supply unit 16 changes, which then supplies the power required for the low power mode.

In one embodiment, the electronic handset is 1 a handheld data collection device, a communications handset, or a handheld computing device.

2 Fig. 12 is a block diagram of the electronic handset of another embodiment for comparison according to the present invention. According to this illustration, there is an electronic hand-held device 2 from an accelerometer 20a , a gyroscope 20b , a status determination unit 21 , a central processing unit 22 , a store 23 , a power switching module 24 , a primary battery 25a , a backup battery 25b and a data collection module 27 , In this embodiment, the central processing unit 22 a peripheral device, namely the data collection module 27 to collect data. It is very important to back up the data, because when determining the data on many data z. B. is accessed in the form of barcodes.

In the practice of the present invention, a movement status (of the handheld electronic device 2 ) from the acceleration sensor 20a and the gyroscope 20b measured. The acceleration sensor 20a Detects a size and a direction of the acceleration of the electronic handset 2 , In order to be able to determine in this embodiment in real time, whether the electronic handset 2 In the case status is located, it must first be determined whether the output value of the acceleration sensor 20a the parameter of safe movement status stored in memory 23 is exceeded. In case status, the z. For example, the following applies: Gravity (acceleration) of the earth is denoted by G. The acceleration sensor 20a measures z. B. a low G value for a certain period of time. A distance of more than 1.225 meters over 0.5 seconds or a drop of more than 4.9 meters in 1 second show that the electronic handset 2 is in case status. If z. If, for example, acceleration values in all directions are determined within a short period of time, this is electronic handset 2 most likely in a shock or tumble status. Example gyroscope 20b , Because the axis of the gyroscope 20b always pointing in a fixed direction, allows the comparison of the fixed direction with the axis, along the electronic handset 2 moves, an accurate determination of the direction of movement of the electronic handset 2 , When the electronic handset 2 Moved to the ground for a certain period of time, is the electronic handset 2 in case status. The critical areas of the aforementioned states can be preset with respect to the parameters for a safe movement status.

Upon receiving the case status information, the status determination unit generates 21 a fall protection instruction and gives the fall protection instruction to the central processing unit 22 further. The fall protection instruction ensures that the electronic handset 2 the peripheral device, namely the data collection module 27 , turns off and that the electronic handset 2 in a low current mode, e.g. B. a hibernation mode or a standby mode is working. To protect the operating data from loss or damage due to power interruption caused by a shock, the central processing unit stores 22 the operational data of the data collection module 27 according to the fall protection instruction in the memory 23 , The fall protection instruction ensures that the electronic handset 2 Switches to a low power mode. Finally, the power switching module monitors 24 the current output of the primary battery 25a high capacity, so that the power switching module 24 when power is interrupted by the primary battery 25a to the backup battery 25b which provides a low current for the low current mode.

The apparatus and fall protection method of the present invention prevents data loss and data corruption caused by sudden drops in power generated during a fall during operation of the data collection module 27 can be caused. Once the operating data is stored, it switches the electronic handset to a low power state and allows for a low capacity standby power supply. In the aforementioned fall protection mechanism of the present invention, a fastener can be used with the main power supply unit, so that the attachment mechanism can be made more flexible.

3 FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a fall prevention mechanism for avoiding falling of an electronic handset according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. At step S30, the status determination unit externally detects a movement status and generates status information. At step S31, the status information is compared with a preset secure movement status parameter, and a fall protection instruction is generated when the status information indicates that the electronic handset is in a case status. At step S32, a central processing unit receives the fall protection instruction and stores the operation data corresponding to the fall protection instruction in a storage unit. At step S33, the apparatus enters a low-power mode, and when the main power supply unit is disconnected, a standby low-capacity power supply unit provides a low-power supply.

In a fall protection method of a data collection handset according to the present invention, a central processing unit can reduce the high current for the normal 3 mA movement to a current in the 100 mA to 600 mA range within a very short time (eg 1 millisecond) to avoid data loss and reduce the standby power supply load.

4 FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a fall prevention mechanism for avoiding the fall-off of a handheld data collection device of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. At step S40, a movement status is measured externally (at the data collection handset) and status information is determined. At step S41, the status information is read and analyzed. If it is determined that the acceleration of the data collection handset is normal (that the acceleration is not outside the range of a preset safe movement status parameter, which may preclude case status, ejection status, or tumble status), then step S42 is proceeded to System continues to function and continues the monitoring routine before beginning again with step S40. If it is determined that the acceleration of the data collection handset is abnormal (that the acceleration is out of the range of a safe motion status parameter, which means a fall, eject or tumble status), then step S43 is proceeded to. At S43, the data collection handset is instructed to execute a low power mode of a sleep mode and an interrupt mode, and then proceed to step S44 to check if a battery is out of contact. At step S44, it is determined whether a primary battery is out of contact. If the primary battery is present (ie, the battery is connected), then step S45 continued. If it is determined that the primary battery is out of contact, proceed to step S46. At step S45, the power continues to be supplied through the primary battery. At step S46, the power supply is taken from a back-up battery. At step S47, a restart occurs, ie, the device enters the low-power mode and restores the normal operating mode.

In one embodiment, at step S40, the motion status is measured by a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor or a combination of the acceleration sensor and the gyroscope.

In another embodiment, the high power consumption is reduced to about 3 mA as soon as the electronic handset changes to low power mode.

The present invention provides an electronic hand-held device and a fall protection mechanism in which the case status of the hand-held electronic device is detected and the operation data is stored according to the case status and the power supply is switched by the battery when the power supply is cut off. The device and fall protection mechanism of the present invention are advantageously characterized by a simple fastener that can be used with the battery. This reduces the standby current, increases the safety of operating data and shortens the time to restore an operating mode, thereby improving overall operating efficiency. The present invention solves the problems of the conventional embodiments with respect to fall protection for handheld electronic devices.

The present invention will be described with reference to the above preferred embodiments. Persons skilled in the art know that the embodiments are only intended to illustrate the present invention, but not to limit the scope of the present invention. In the above sections the preferred embodiments are shown. It is to be noted, however, that these mentioned embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention, but only serve to describe the invention. In this context, all new, disclosed in the description and / or drawings individual and combination features are considered essential to the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1, 2

Electronic handset

10

Status determination unit

11

Status determination unit

12

Central processing unit

13

storage unit

14

Power supply switching unit

15

Main power supply unit

16

Standby power supply unit

20a

accelerometer

20b

gyroscope

21

Status determination unit

22

Central processing unit

23

Storage

24

Power switching module

25a

Primary battery

25b

backup battery

27

Data collection module

S30 ~ S33

step

S40 ~ S47

step

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• US 20080218366 [0003]

Claims (7)

Electronic handset with: a status determination unit for measuring the movement status and generating status information in accordance with the measurement results of the movement status; a status determination unit that is electrically connected to the status determination unit that receives the status information and outputs a fall protection instruction according to the preset parameters of the secure movement status, respectively; a central processing unit electrically connected to the status determination unit that receives the fall protection instruction and stores the operation data of the electronic handset according to the fall protection instruction before the apparatus enters a low current mode; a memory unit that is electrically connected to a central processing unit that stores the parameters of the safe motion status and the operational data; a main power supply unit; a standby power supply unit that supplies the power for the low power mode, wherein the capacity of the standby power supply unit is less than that of the main power supply unit; and a power supply switching unit connected to the main power supply unit, the standby power supply unit, and the central processing unit that alternates between the main power supply unit and the standby power supply unit. The handheld electronic device of claim 1, wherein the status determination unit is an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, or a combination of the acceleration sensor and the gyroscope. The handheld electronic device of claim 1, wherein the low power mode is a hibernate mode or a standby mode. Fall arrest method for an electronic handset comprising the following steps: (1) measuring a motion status and generating status information; (2) comparing the status information with a preset safe movement status parameter and generating a fall protection instruction when the status information is out of the range of safe movement status parameters; (3) storing the operation data according to the fall protection instruction; and (4) Switching to a low power mode and interrupting the power supply by the main power supply unit, switching to a standby power supply unit, the standby power supply unit having a smaller capacity than the main power supply unit. The fall protection method of claim 4, wherein at step (3), the high current is reduced to 3 mA when changing to the low current mode. The fall protection method of claim 4, wherein at step (1), the movement status is measured by a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor, or a combination of the acceleration sensor and the gyroscope. The fall protection method of claim 4, wherein at step (3) the low current mode is a hibernate mode or a standby mode.

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