JP2004192999A - Secondary battery module and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a secondary battery module allowing control of recycle information of a secondary battery used as a built-in in an electronic apparatus to be efficiently carried out; and to provide the electronic apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: This secondary battery module 1 is provided with a secondary battery unit 5 and an RF tag 4 in its inside. A connector 3 is equipped with power terminals; an input terminal for an attaching/detaching sensor circuit of the RF tag 4; and a terminal for serial communication. The RF tag 4 is supplied with power from the battery unit 5. When the connector 3 is connected to and built in this electronic apparatus, the battery unit 5 supplies power to determine whether the RF tag is attached or not by the attaching/detaching sensor circuit. The recycle information in the RF tag 4 can be read by a reader/writer from the outside, or read or written by serial communication from the electronic apparatus side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a secondary battery module having a function of managing recycling information of an electronic device to be incorporated, and an electronic device to which the secondary battery module is attached and used.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, it has become necessary to recycle or recycle household appliances and their components for effective use, thereby reducing the amount of waste and reducing the burden on the environment. I have. However, there are practically difficult points in tracking a waste object or an object to be recycled according to a certain standard or specifying its constituent components.
[0003]
As an attempt to solve such a problem, for example, an efficient recycling system is provided by attaching an electronic tag to a product to store information necessary for recycling and providing a database and managing the information by a server. (For example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-245209
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Recycling of battery modules used in electronic devices, especially secondary batteries, involves the use of materials having various characteristics such as nickel-metal hydride and nickel cadmium as the materials used for secondary batteries. Without separation, the material cannot be recycled. Further, once mixed, it is difficult to separate them, and it is necessary to separate them when they have the form of a battery.
[0006]
In order to process a large number of batteries, automatic identification is desirable without manual intervention. In addition, electronic devices are often discarded in a state in which a battery module is incorporated. In such a case, recycling information such as materials used for the devices is desired.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a secondary battery module capable of efficiently managing recycling information of a secondary battery used by being incorporated into an electronic device, and an electronic device thereof. To provide equipment.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an RF tag that is readable and writable from the outside in a non-contact state is integrally provided, and the RF tag can be supplied from the secondary battery unit. In order to read and write RF tag information from the outside in a non-contact state when it is embedded in an electronic device or when it is embedded in an electronic device, it is necessary to supply power for operation to the RF tag from outside at a short distance each time. And the communication distance can be extended. Then, by writing information about the secondary battery unit to the RF tag, the information can be automatically read, and a sorting system can be easily configured. An automatic sorting system can be constructed even when processing a large amount of secondary batteries.
[0009]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the above invention, the RF tag is configured to read and write the recycling information. Therefore, the RF tag can be externally used in either the state of the secondary battery module alone or the state incorporated in the electronic device. Recycling information can be obtained in a non-contact state.
[0010]
According to the invention of claim 3, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, the RF tag has, as internal storage information, recycling information depending on the product type at the time of manufacture, so that the RF tag can be read in a non-contact state from the outside. This makes it possible to easily read the recycling information depending on the type at the time of manufacturing the secondary battery module.
[0011]
According to the invention of claim 4, in each of the above inventions, the presence / absence of a built-in state in the electronic device is detected by the detachable sensor, and when the detachable sensor detects the built-in state, the recycling information of the electronic device is read / written, When it is detected that it is not installed, it controls to read and write the recycling information about the secondary battery unit, so it is possible to read and write the necessary recycling information accurately according to whether or not it is installed in the electronic device. become able to.
[0012]
According to the invention of claim 5, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, the RF tag is configured to have, as internal storage information, recycling information depending on the product type of the electronic device to be supplied with power, so that the electronic device to be incorporated is The recycling information can be read from the RF tag.
[0013]
According to the invention of claim 6, in each of the above inventions, the RF tag is configured to be capable of reading and writing internal storage information via the connection unit by the electronic device to be supplied with power. The internal storage information can be read and written from the electronic device directly via the connection unit, and the information to be read and written from the outside without contact through the RF tag can be written from the electronic device side, and vice versa. The information written in the RF tag can be read and written from the outside in a non-contact state.
[0014]
According to the invention of claim 7, in each of the above inventions, the operation record of the electronic device or the secondary battery unit can be written as recycling information in the internal storage unit via the connection unit by the electronic device to be supplied with power. Thus, the operation record accompanying the use of the electronic device can be used as a part of the recycling information.
[0015]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device to which the secondary battery module according to any one of the first to seventh aspects is incorporated, a non-volatile storage unit for storing recycling information is provided therein, and the control unit is provided. The operation record is written in the storage unit, and the operation record is written as the recycle information to the RF tag of the connected secondary battery module, so that the internal storage unit and the secondary battery module The same recycle information can be stored in both of the RF tags, so that even if one of the recycle information is lost, it can be restored by using the other recycle information.
[0016]
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the secondary battery module incorporated for power supply is replaced, the recycling information written in the storage unit is replaced by the control means. Since the information is written into the RF tag of the battery module as the recycling information, it is possible to prevent the loss of the recycling information before the replacement when the secondary battery module is replaced.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4A shows the appearance of the secondary battery module 1. The secondary battery module 1 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped main body 2 on one side of which a connector 3 is provided, which is a connection section for electrically connecting when assembled into a connection section of an electronic device. The RF tag 4 is provided so that data can be read and written from the upper surface of the main body 2.
[0018]
FIG. 1 schematically shows an electrical configuration of the secondary battery module 1. The secondary battery unit 5 is housed inside, and its positive terminal and negative terminal are connected to terminals of the connector 3. The secondary battery unit 5 includes one using a material such as nickel hydride or nickel cadmium. The RF tag 4 has five terminals A to E externally, receives power from the secondary battery unit 5 between the terminals A and B, and the terminals C, D, and E are connected to terminals of the connector 3. .
[0019]
FIG. 2 shows an electrical configuration of the RF tag 4. The MPU 6 as control means controls the entire operation. The power supply circuit 7 is supplied with power from the secondary battery unit 5 via the terminals A and B, and supplies power to the MPU 6 at a predetermined power supply voltage. The detachable sensor circuit 8 is provided so as to detect whether or not the electronic device is incorporated in the terminal C and is electrically connected thereto. The detachable sensor circuit 8 detects the voltage by determining, for example, a voltage level. The output terminal of the detachable sensor circuit 8 is connected to the MPU 6.
[0020]
The serial communication unit 9 is for the MPU 6 to perform serial communication with an electronic device, and is connected to the terminals D and E and to the MPU 6. The communication coil 10 is connected to the MPU 6 via the RFI / O unit 11 and the digital processing unit 12. The communication coil 10 is for reading and writing information stored in the internal memory unit 13 in a non-contact state by a reader / writer (not shown) as a reading device.
[0021]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic electrical configuration of the electronic device 14. Here, the electronic device is intended to cover all devices that are used with a secondary battery mounted thereon, such as a notebook computer, a mobile device, or a mobile phone. Note that FIG. 2 shows only a configuration related to the present invention, and a configuration for achieving the original function of the electronic device 14 is omitted.
[0022]
The MPU 15 as a control unit controls communication with the RF tag 4. The power supply circuit 16 has an input terminal connected to the connector 17 serving as a connection portion, is supplied with power from the secondary battery unit 5 of the secondary battery module 1, generates a predetermined DC voltage Vd, and supplies the DC voltage Vd to each circuit inside the device. Supply power. The serial communication unit 18 is connected between the connector 17 and the MPU 15 and performs serial communication between the RF tag 4 and the MPU 15. Further, a memory unit 19 as a storage unit is connected to the MPU 15.
[0023]
FIG. 4B shows a secondary battery module 20 having the same functions as the above-described secondary battery module 1. This is configured so as to be able to cope with the structure and type of the electronic device 14 to be mounted, and uses a connector 21 instead of the connector 3. The connector 21 is configured to be led out of the main body 2 by a cable 22.
[0024]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the process of reading and writing data from and to the RF tag 4 of the secondary battery module 1, there are an access from a reader / writer performed in a non-contact state and an access from an MPU 15 of the built-in electronic device 14. These will be described below.
[0025]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart in the case where a reading process is performed by a reader / writer in a non-contact state with respect to the RF tag 4 of the secondary battery module 1 or the secondary battery module 20 (hereinafter, description of the secondary battery module 20 is omitted). Is shown.
[0026]
In the memory unit 13 of the RF tag 4, various data are stored in a data structure as shown in FIG. 8, or an area for storing is stored. That is, the ID section stores an ID code indicating the ID of the secondary battery module 1, and the data section stores battery section data and electronic device data for each item.
[0027]
In the battery part data, “model name” data, “manufacturing date” data, “environmentally harmful substance code” data, etc. are stored or set so as to be able to be stored. "Model name" data, "Manufacturing date" data, "Environmentally harmful substance code" data, ..., "Component parts" data (including data on secondary battery modules), "Operation count" data Are stored or set to be memorable.
[0028]
(A) RF tag processing (at the time of access from a reader / writer)
Now, in the case of the reading process by the reader / writer, different operations are performed depending on whether the secondary battery module 1 is incorporated in the electronic device 14 or when it is present alone. First, when starting the program, the MPU 6 of the RF tag 4 waits until a read command is received from the reader / writer (step S1).
[0029]
In this case, in the reading process by the reader / writer, since the RF tag 4 is supplied with power from the secondary battery unit 5, there is no need to supply power from the reader / writer side. This means that it is not necessary to perform a reading process by bringing the reader / writer close to the RF tag 4 for power supply, thereby increasing a communicable distance and performing a reading operation from a long distance.
[0030]
When the read command is transmitted from the reader / writer, the read command is received by the communication coil 10 of the RF tag 4, and the MPU 6 receives the digital signal via the RFI / O unit 11 and the digital processing unit 12, the MPU 6 It is determined whether the main body 2 of the next battery module 1 is incorporated in the electronic device 14 (step S2).
[0031]
This determination is made by the MUP 6 based on a detection signal from the detachable sensor circuit 8. For example, the terminal C to which the input terminal of the detachable sensor circuit 8 is connected has a voltage level which is pulled up when not connected to the electronic device 14, and is grounded when incorporated into the electronic device 14 and electrically connected thereto. Assuming that the level is reduced to the level, the MPU 6 can determine the built-in state by determining the level.
[0032]
When determining “YES” in step S2, that is, when the MPU 6 is incorporated in the electronic device 14, the MPU 6 reads the electronic device data stored in the memory unit 13 (step S3), and The data is transmitted from the communication coil 10 from the digital processing unit 12 via the RFI / O unit 11 (step S4). When the determination is "NO", that is, when the electronic device 14 is not assembled, the battery unit data stored in the memory unit 13 is read out (step S5), and the data is read out from the communication coil 10 as described above. (Step S4).
[0033]
(B) RF tag processing (at the time of access from electronic equipment)
Next, a case where the RF tag 4 is accessed from the MPU 15 of the electronic device 14 in a state where the secondary battery module 1 is incorporated in the electronic device 14 will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, the MPU 6 of the RF tag 4 is accessed from the electronic device 14 from the serial communication unit 9 via the connector 3.
[0034]
When receiving the data read command, the MPU 6 determines “YES” in step T1, reads the electronic device data stored in the memory unit 13 (step T2), and transmits this to the electronic device 14 side. (Step T3). On the other hand, when a data write command is received, "NO" is determined in step T1, then "YES" is determined in step T4, and the received electronic device data is written to the memory unit 13 (step T5). .
[0035]
(C) Processing of Electronic Apparatus On the other hand, processing of the electronic apparatus 14 will be described. In a state in which the secondary electronic module 1 is incorporated, power is supplied from the secondary battery unit 5, and in this state, the MPU 15 performs the following two types of processing on the RF tag 4. This is a case where data relating to the operating state is generated while the electronic device 14 is operating, and a case where the power is turned on.
[0036]
In the former case, the MPU 15 performs processing according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when data on the operating state is generated, the MPU 15 transmits the data as electronic device data to be stored in the RF tag 4 of the secondary battery module 1 (Step P1). Thereafter, the same data is written to the memory unit 19 in the device as electronic device data (step P2).
[0037]
As a result, the generated electronic device data can be stored in the memory unit 19 inside the device and also in the memory unit 13 provided in the RF tag 4 on the secondary battery module 1 side. As a result, even if one of the data is damaged due to loss or damage, the other data can be restored with the other data down.
[0038]
This data is used more effectively by the processing program shown in FIG. That is, when the power is turned on and the power is supplied, the MPU 15 starts the program shown in FIG. 3B, and reads the ID of the secondary battery module 1 installed first (step R1).
[0039]
Thereafter, the MPU 15 determines whether or not the secondary battery module has been replaced (Step R2). This is determined by comparing the read ID of the rechargeable battery module 1 with the ID of the rechargeable battery module 1 used at the time of power-on until the previous time. If "NO" is determined, the program is terminated and the operation returns to the normal operation state.
[0040]
Further, when the MPU 15 determines “YES” in step R2, that is, when the secondary battery module 1 has been replaced, the MPU 15 reads the electronic device data from the memory unit 19 inside the device (step R3), and Is transmitted to the secondary battery module 1 (step R4). This allows the RF tag 4 to write the received electronic device data into the memory unit 13 and store it.
[0041]
As a result, even when the secondary battery module is replaced, it becomes possible to write the electronic device data of the installed electronic device 14 into the memory unit 13 quickly and reliably, and to recycle the electronic device 14 during manufacturing. Since information and information such as a usage history indicating an operation state can be inherited and stored, recycling can be performed smoothly.
[0042]
According to the present embodiment, the RF tag 4 is provided in the secondary battery module 1 and power is supplied from the secondary battery unit 5 to the RF tag 4, so that the RF tag 4 is provided with a dedicated power supply. Therefore, the power supply can be performed without any power supply, and the communication distance of the RF tag 4 can be increased to easily perform the information reading operation automatically.
[0043]
In addition, since the recycle information of the secondary battery module 1 and the electronic device 14 is stored in the RF tag 4, the management of the recycle information can be performed by a configuration provided integrally with the rechargeable battery module 1, and automatic A large amount of processing can be easily performed by the identification.
[0044]
Even when the secondary battery module 1 is replaced, the electronic device 14 can recognize the replacement and write the recycling information and the like stored in the internal memory unit 19. Can be surely left.
[0045]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as follows.
The detachable sensor circuit can be provided or omitted as necessary.
Write processing by a reader / writer can also be performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic electrical configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic electrical configuration diagram of an RF tag. FIG. 3 is a schematic electrical configuration diagram of an electronic device. ] Appearance perspective view [Fig. 5] RF tag processing program (1)
FIG. 6 is an RF tag processing program (part 2);
FIG. 7 is a processing program of an electronic device. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data structure of a storage area of an RF tag.
Reference numerals 1 and 20 are secondary battery modules, 3 and 21 are connectors (connection portions), 4 is an RF tag, 5 is a secondary battery unit, 6 is an MPU, 8 is a detachable sensor circuit, 9 is a serial communication unit, and 10 is communication. A coil, 13 is a memory unit (internal storage area), 14 is an electronic device, 15 is an MPU, 17 is a connector (connection unit), 18 is a serial communication unit, and 19 is a memory unit (storage unit).

Claims (9)

In a secondary battery module for incorporating an electronic device having a secondary battery unit for power supply,
A secondary battery module comprising an RF tag readable and writable from outside in a non-contact state, and configured to be able to supply operating power of the RF tag from the secondary battery unit. The secondary battery module according to claim 1,
The secondary battery module, wherein the RF tag is configured to be able to read and write recycling information. The secondary battery module according to claim 1, wherein
The secondary battery module, wherein the RF tag has, as internal storage information, recycle information depending on a product type at the time of manufacture. The secondary battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Provide a detachable sensor that detects whether it has been incorporated into the electronic device to be supplied with power,
When the detachable sensor detects the built-in state, control is performed so as to read and write the recycling information of the electronic device, and when detecting that the electronic device is not mounted, the reading and writing is performed on the recycling information about the secondary battery unit. A secondary battery module characterized by the above-mentioned. The secondary battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The secondary battery module, wherein the RF tag has, as internal storage information, recycle information depending on a product type of an electronic device to be supplied with power. The secondary battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The secondary battery module, wherein the RF tag is configured to be able to read and write internal storage information by a power supply target electronic device via a connection unit. The secondary battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The secondary battery is characterized in that the RF tag is configured so that an operation record of the electronic device or the secondary battery unit can be written as recycle information to an internal storage unit by a power supply target electronic device via a connection unit as recycling information. module. An electronic device configured to incorporate the secondary battery module according to claim 1 as a power supply,
A nonvolatile storage unit for storing recycling information therein;
An electronic apparatus comprising: a control unit that writes an operation record to the storage unit and writes the operation record as recycle information to the RF tag of the connected secondary battery module. The electronic device according to claim 8,
The control unit is configured to, when the secondary battery module mounted for power supply is replaced, write the recycling information written in the storage unit as recycling information to the RF tag of the replaced secondary battery module. Electronic equipment characterized by being done.

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