JP2006092894A - Battery pack, electronic apparatus, charger and battery-driven electronic apparatus system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cool the inside of a portable electronic apparatus by a battery pack. <P>SOLUTION: A cooling part 48 formed of a heat storage material is integrally provided for a battery pack 4 used as a power source of this digital camera 3. When the battery pack 4 is charged by a charger 5, the cooling part 48 comes into contact with a Peltier element 60 of the charger 5 and the Peltier element 60 carries out an endothermal operation, whereby the cooling part 48 is cooled. When the battery pack 4 with the cooling part 48 cooled is housed in a battery chamber 7 of the digital camera 3, the cooling part 48 releases cold air in the digital camera 3 to cool heat-generating components such as a board and a solid imaging device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling technique for an electronic device using a battery as a power source.

  A digital still camera (hereinafter abbreviated as a digital camera) that captures subject light with a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD or C-MOS, converts the image signal obtained thereby into digital image data, and stores it in a storage medium such as a memory. Is popular. In a digital camera, the temperature of a solid-state imaging device, a drive circuit of the solid-state imaging device, and the like rise when imaging is performed. This is due to heat generated when charges accumulated in a large number of light receiving elements provided in the solid-state imaging device are transferred using a transfer path, and the temperature rises in proportion to the imaging time.

  In the solid-state imaging device, a so-called dark current is generated in which charges are accumulated in the light receiving element even when light is not received. This dark current is taken into the accumulated charge by actually receiving light by the light receiving element, so when shooting a night scene with a slow shutter or the like, the pixel corresponding to the light receiving element on which the dark current rides becomes a light spot. The S / N ratio of the photographed image is deteriorated. This dark current is known to increase as the temperature of the solid-state imaging device increases. For example, when the temperature of the solid-state imaging device increases by 10 °, the dark current increases more than twice.

In order to eliminate the adverse effect of dark current due to the temperature rise of the solid-state imaging device, a video camera has been invented in which the air in the main body case is forcibly exhausted by an electric fan and air-cooled (for example, patent document) 1). Further, a digital camera has been invented in which a heat conduction plate of a cooling unit is inserted and brought into contact with a solid-state imaging device, and the solid-state imaging device is cooled by a Peltier element via the heat conduction plate (for example, Patent Document 2). reference). In addition, as a device for cooling an article, a cold storage container using a refrigerant such as dry ice (for example, see Patent Literature 3), a cold insulation device using a Peltier element (for example, see Patent Literature 4), and the like are known. .
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-285441 JP 2003-304420 A JP 2004-150735 A JP 2001-021249 A

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to increase the size of the housing in order to improve the circulation of air in the camera. Furthermore, noise from the electric fan and battery consumption due to an increase in power consumption are also problems. In the invention described in Patent Document 2, the solid-state imaging device cannot be cooled when the cooling unit is not carried, and when the digital camera and the cooling unit are carried, it is complicated due to an increase in carrying items. There was a problem that would increase.

  The present invention is for solving the above-mentioned problems, such as increasing the size of the device, increasing power consumption, unusable when not carried, troublesome handling, etc. The purpose is to cool the inside of electronic equipment.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the battery pack of the present invention stores a battery cell, a cooling unit formed of a heat storage material, and the battery cell, and holds the cooling unit so that a part of the cooling unit is exposed to the outside. Made up of cases. The cooling unit may be cooled by the refrigerator or the like together with the battery pack, or the cooling unit may be detachable from the case, and only the cooling unit may be cooled by the refrigerator and then attached to the case. Furthermore, by arranging a heat insulating material between the battery cell and the cooling part, the temperature of the battery cell is not lowered.

  In addition, at least a part of the battery pack case was formed of a heat storage material to form a cooling case. Also in this case, a heat insulating material was disposed between the battery cell and the cooling case.

  Furthermore, the amount of heat stored in the cooling part or the cooling case is set to such an extent that it can cancel out the amount of heat generated from the power of the battery cell.

  Next, the electronic device of the present invention is provided with a battery chamber in which the battery pack in which the cooling unit or the cooling case is cooled is stored, and cold air discharged from the cooling unit or the cooling case of the battery pack is provided on the wall surface of the battery chamber. Was provided with a vent hole for feeding the air into the electronic device. In addition, when the battery pack is stored in the battery chamber, means for defining the storage direction of the battery pack is provided so that the cooling part or the portion formed of the heat storage material of the cooling case faces the inside of the electronic device. It was. Furthermore, the air vent was provided at a position facing the cooling portion of the battery pack or the portion formed of the heat storage material of the cooling case. In addition, the air holes were arranged in the vicinity of a component that generates heat or a substrate to which the component that generates heat was attached.

  Further, in another electronic device of the present invention, a battery chamber is provided in which a battery pack in which a cooling unit or a cooling case is cooled is provided, and the wall of the battery chamber is formed of a heat storage material of the cooling unit or the cooling case. A heat transfer member is provided in contact with the portion and a heat-generating component incorporated in the electronic device. As a component that generates heat that comes into contact with the heat transfer member, a solid-state imaging device or a printed circuit board on which a large number of electronic components are attached was used.

  Furthermore, heat insulation was given to the exterior components that form the outer shape of the electronic device.

  Furthermore, the charger according to the present invention includes a battery storage unit in which a battery pack including a cooling unit or a cooling case is stored, a charging circuit for charging the battery cells in the battery pack, and cooling of the cooling unit or the cooling case. The cooling means to perform and the control part which controls a charging circuit and a cooling means were provided.

  The control unit operates the cooling means simultaneously or sequentially with the charging of the battery cells of the battery pack to cool the cooling unit or the cooling case. In addition, the charging circuit is stopped or switched to the auxiliary charging state after the charging of the battery cell is completed, and cooling of the cooling part or the cooling case by the cooling means is continued. Furthermore, a temperature sensor is provided to measure the temperature of the portion formed of the heat storage material of the cooling section or cooling case, and the cooling means is controlled based on the measurement result of the temperature sensor, and is formed of the heat storage material of the cooling section or cooling case. The part was kept at a preset temperature.

  In addition, a Peltier element is used as a cooling means, and cooling is performed by contacting a portion formed of a heat storage material of a cooling part or a cooling case. As another cooling means, a heat exchanger is used to cool the cooling part or the cooling case by lowering the temperature around the battery pack.

  The battery pack, electronic device, and charger described above were combined to constitute a battery-driven electronic device system.

  According to the battery pack, electronic device, charger, and battery-driven electronic device system described above, the inside of the electronic device can be cooled simply by setting the battery pack in the electronic device, so the size of the electronic device is large. It will not become. In addition, there are no problems such as not being carried when used as an external cooling unit, and increasing complexity during carrying.

  Furthermore, since a heat storage material is used as the cooling unit, problems such as noise during cooling and increase in power consumption do not occur. In addition, since the cooling unit can be removed, only the cooling unit can be cooled in a refrigerator or the like. Furthermore, a heat insulating material was disposed between the battery cell and the cooling unit. As a result, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the battery cell from becoming unnecessarily low, so that the output voltage of the battery pack does not decrease. In addition, if the case of a battery pack is formed with a heat storage material, the enlargement of the battery pack due to the provision of the cooling unit can be prevented.

  Also, when replacing the battery pack, the cooling unit is also replaced with a sufficiently cooled one, so if you use a cooling unit or cooling case with a heat storage amount that can offset the amount of heat generated from the power of the battery cell, Even if the battery pack is used for a long time while replacing the battery pack, the temperature rise in the electronic device can be prevented.

  Further, a vent hole is provided in the battery chamber of the electronic device, a portion formed of the heat storage material of the cooling unit or the cooling cover is directed to the inside of the electronic device, and a vent hole is formed of the heat storage material of the cooling unit or the cooling cover. Providing cool air released from the cooling unit or cooling case appropriately into the electronic equipment, such as providing a ventilation hole near the circuit board, or in the vicinity of the board to which the heat generating component is attached. Can do.

  In addition, a heat transfer member can be arranged between the cooling part of the battery pack and a heat generating component such as a solid-state imaging device or a printed circuit board, and the heat can be directly cooled via this heat transfer member. Even parts can be effectively cooled.

  Further, since the battery pack charger is provided with cooling means for cooling the cooling part or the cooling case, the cooling part can be cooled simultaneously with the charging of the battery pack. Thereby, the inside of an electronic device can be always cooled by setting a charged battery pack in the electronic device. Furthermore, since the charger continuously cools the cooling part or cooling case even after the charging of the battery cell is completed, always use a battery pack having a properly cooled cooling part or cooling case. Can do. In addition, since the temperature of the cooling part or the cooling case is measured by the temperature sensor and kept at a predetermined temperature, there is no insufficient cooling or overcooling.

  Furthermore, since the cooling means generally spread, such as a Peltier device or a heat exchanger, is used for cooling the cooling part of the battery pack, it can be employed at a relatively low cost. In particular, when a heat exchanger is used, the entire battery pack can be cooled, so that charging efficiency can be improved.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera system which is an example of a battery-driven electronic device system of the present invention. The digital camera system 2 includes a digital camera 3, a battery pack 4 used as a power source for the digital camera 3, and a charger 5 that charges the battery pack 4. The battery pack 4 includes a cooling unit 48, and the cooling unit 48 is simultaneously cooled when charging by the charger 5. When this battery pack 4 is stored in the battery chamber 7 of the digital camera, the inside can be cooled simultaneously with the supply of power.

  2A and 2B are perspective views showing the external shape of the digital camera 3. FIG. On the front and top surfaces of the digital camera 3, there are provided a lens barrel portion 11, an object-side finder window 12, a strobe light emitting portion 13, a shutter button 14, a mode selection dial 15 and the like in which a photographing lens 10 is incorporated. The mode selection dial 15 is used for an operation of switching the operation mode of the digital camera 3 between various modes such as a still image shooting mode, a moving image shooting mode, and a playback mode, and turning on / off the power of the digital camera 3.

  On the back and side surfaces of the digital camera 3, an eyepiece finder window 18, an image display unit 19, various operation buttons 20, a memory card slot 21, and the like are provided. The image display unit 19 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display panel (LCD panel), and displays an image being shot or has been shot, various setting menus, and the like. The various operation buttons 20 are used for various operations at the time of photographing or reproduction by the digital camera 3. A memory card connector that is electrically connected to the inserted memory card 22 is incorporated in the back of the memory card slot 21.

  A battery pack 4 serving as a power source for the digital camera 3 is housed on the left side when the digital camera 3 is viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 3, an opening 25 for accessing the battery chamber 7 in which the battery pack 4 is stored is provided on the bottom surface of the digital camera 3. The opening 25 is opened and closed by a battery lid 26 that is pivotally supported.

  As shown in FIG. 4, which is a cross-sectional view of the digital camera 3, the digital camera 3 incorporates a lens barrel 30 that incorporates a photographing lens 10 and is housed in a lens barrel portion 11, a solid-state imaging device 31, an objective, An optical finder 32 disposed between the side finder window 12 and the eyepiece finder window 18, a strobe device 33 including the strobe light emitting unit 13, a main board 34, a power supply board 35, and the like are incorporated.

  The solid-state image pickup device 31 is an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS, picks up subject light that is arranged behind the lens barrel 30 and is imaged by the photographing lens 10, and picks up an image signal corresponding to the amount of the subject light. Is output. Various electronic components such as a CPU and a memory are attached to the main board 34, and a control circuit that controls each part of the digital camera 3, a drive circuit that drives the solid-state imaging device, and the like are provided. The main board 34 is disposed on the side of the battery chamber 7. The power supply board 35 is provided with a power supply circuit that transforms electricity supplied from the battery pack 4 and supplies power to each part of the digital camera 3. The power supply substrate 35 is disposed above the battery chamber 7.

  A hole 7 a is formed in the upper surface of the battery chamber 7, and a metal contact piece 36 connected to the power supply substrate 35 is inserted. On the side surface of the battery chamber 7 facing the inside of the digital camera 2, as shown in FIG. 5A, a ventilation hole 39 made of a rectangular opening is formed.

  The exterior member 42 constituting the outer shape of the digital camera 2 includes an outer shell portion 43 formed of metal, plastic, or the like, and a heat insulating portion 44 disposed outside the outer shell portion. The heat insulating part 44 is formed of a heat insulating material such as a metal or a synthetic resin having a heat insulating property. The heat insulating portion 44 may be disposed inside the outer shell portion 43, or the exterior member itself may be formed of a heat insulating material.

  As shown in FIG. 6, which is a cross-sectional view of the battery pack 4, the battery pack 4 includes a battery cell 47 that is a secondary battery, a cooling unit 48 that is formed in a substantially plate shape, and the cooling unit 48 and the battery cell 47. And a metal contact 50 electrically connected to the battery cell 47, and a case 51 made of, for example, plastic for housing them. The case 51 has an opening 51a that exposes one surface 48a of the cooling section 48 to the outside. Further, in order to prevent erroneous loading of the battery pack 4 into the digital camera 3, a pair of protrusions 51 b are formed on the side surface of the case 51 at a position shifted from the center in the thickness direction, and a protrusion 51 b is formed at the end of the battery chamber 7. A recess 7b to be fitted is formed.

  The cooling unit 48 is formed of a heat storage material, and accumulates cold energy when the battery pack 4 is cooled. As the heat storage material, a metal or synthetic resin having a high heat storage effect may be used, or a so-called cold insulating material in which a heat storage material such as liquid or gel is hermetically stored may be used. The cooling unit 48 is provided with a heat storage amount that can cancel out the heat amount generated from the power of the battery cell 47 during full charge.

  When the charged and cooled battery pack 4 is stored in the battery chamber 7 of the digital camera 3, the cooling portion 48 is always directed to the inside of the digital camera 3 due to the fitting between the protrusion 51 b of the case 51 and the recess 7 b of the battery chamber 7. . Since a vent hole 39 is provided at a position facing the cooling unit 48 on the side surface of the battery chamber 7, the cool air discharged from the cooling unit 48 is introduced into the digital camera 3 through the vent hole 39. Since the main board 34 and the power supply board 35 are disposed in the vicinity of the vent hole 39, the air can be effectively cooled by the cool air of the cooling unit 48. Moreover, since the heat insulation is given to the exterior member 42 of the digital camera 3, the temperature of the cool air discharged into the digital camera 3 is difficult to decrease. Therefore, the solid-state imaging device 31 and the strobe device 33 located at a position away from the vent hole 39 can also be cooled.

  In addition, the size of the battery pack 4 is slightly increased by incorporating the cooling unit 48 in the battery pack 4, but the size of the digital camera 3 is extremely large as in the case where a cooling unit or an electric fan is incorporated in the digital camera 3. There is no increase in size and no increase in noise or power consumption.

  In addition, the cooling unit 48 has a heat storage amount that can offset the amount of heat generated from the electric power of the battery cell 47, so even if the battery pack 4 is replaced and shooting is performed for a long time, the internal temperature rise is prevented. And image degradation due to an increase in dark current does not occur. Further, since the heat insulating material 49 is disposed between the battery cell 47 and the cooling unit 48, the battery cell 47 is not cooled by the cooling unit 48 and the output voltage does not decrease.

  Further, as the shape of the vent hole of the battery chamber 7, in addition to the large rectangular shape described above, as shown in FIG. 5B, a vent hole 40 consisting of a large number of small openings may be used. As shown to (C), you may use the vent hole 41 which consists of many slit-shaped opening.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the charger 5 includes a concave battery storage portion 55 in which the battery pack 4 is stored on the upper surface of a substantially rectangular exterior member, a charge button 56 and a cooling button 57, a charging status and cooling. An indicator 58 or the like indicating a state is provided. A plurality of metal contact pieces 59 that come into contact with the contact 50 of the battery pack 4 are provided on the side surface in the battery housing portion 55. In addition, a Peltier element 60 that is a cooling means that cools by contacting the cooling unit 48 is disposed on the bottom surface of the battery storage unit 55.

  As shown in FIG. 8, which is a cross-sectional view of the charger 5, the Peltier element 60 is incorporated in a recess 63 formed on the bottom surface of the battery storage unit 55. As is well known, the Peltier element 60 is formed by joining two types of thermoelectric semiconductor elements composed of a P-type element and an N-type element in a π-type with a metal electrode, and when a current is passed from the N-type element toward the P-type element. An element that absorbs heat from one surface (heat-absorbing surface) and dissipates heat from the other surface (heat-dissipating surface) by the Peltier effect. The Peltier element 60 incorporated in the charger 5 has an endothermic surface 60 a disposed on the upper surface that contacts the cooling portion 48 of the battery pack 4. Therefore, a heat radiation opening 64 is formed in a portion facing the heat radiation surface 60b on the opposite side.

  A temperature sensor 67 that measures the temperature of the cooling unit 48 of the battery pack 4 stored in the battery storage unit 55 is provided in the vicinity of the Peltier element 60. Further, in the charger 5, a printed circuit board 71 provided with a charging circuit 68 for charging the battery cell 47, a Peltier driving circuit 69 for driving the Peltier element 60, and a control circuit 70 for controlling these circuits. Is installed.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the charger 5. The control circuit 70 is formed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a program ROM, a data RAM, and the like, for example. The control circuit 70 is connected to each of the switches 74 for detecting the operation of the charging button 56 and the cooling button 57, the LED 76 constituting the indicator 58, the temperature sensor 67, and the like together with the above-described charging circuit and Peltier driving circuit 69. . A metal contact piece 59 and a Peltier element 60 are connected to the charging circuit 68 and the Peltier drive circuit 69, respectively.

  The battery pack 4 is charged and cooled according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. When the battery pack 4 is accommodated in the battery accommodating portion 55 of the charger 5 and the contact 50 contacts the metal contact piece 59, the control circuit 70 indicates that the battery pack 4 is set due to, for example, a resistance change of the metal contact piece 59. Is detected. The control circuit 70 controls the charging circuit 68 to start charging the battery cell 47. This charging is performed while monitoring the charging state of the battery cell 47, and the charging by the charging circuit 68 is stopped after the charging is completed. In addition, you may switch to the auxiliary | assistant charge which always charges the part for the spontaneous discharge from the battery cell 47, without stopping charge.

  The control circuit 70 controls the Peltier drive circuit 69 simultaneously with the charging to cause the Peltier element 60 to start the cooling operation. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, in the cooling operation of the Peltier drive circuit 69, the temperature of the cooling unit 48 is measured by the temperature sensor 67 and the Peltier device 60 is driven so that the measured temperature becomes a preset temperature. Is an active control to turn on / off. Although the cooling of the cooling unit 48 is continuously performed after the charging of the battery cell 47 is completed, since the temperature is controlled to be constant, the temperature of the cooling unit 48 is lowered or overcooled. There is nothing.

  As described above, since charging and cooling are automatically performed, the user does not forget to cool, and the inside of the digital camera 3 can be reliably cooled by storing the battery pack 4. Moreover, since the cooling part 48 is thermally insulated by the heat insulating material 49, the temperature of the battery cell 47 does not decrease during charging and cooling.

  The operation of detecting the set of the battery pack 4 and automatically charging and cooling has been described. However, the charger 5 is operated by the charging button 56 and the cooling button 57 when the charging is stopped or the cooling is stopped. Then, charging and cooling are performed forcibly.

  In the digital camera system 2 of the present embodiment, when the spare battery pack 4 is carried, the spare battery pack 4 may be stored in a cooler box or a cold bag. Although the temperature of the whole battery pack 4 is lowered by the cooling unit 48 in the cooler box, since the battery cell 47 is kept warm by the heat insulating material 49, the voltage is not extremely lowered. In addition, although the heat insulating material 49 is disposed between the battery cell 47 and the cooling unit 48, the entire battery cell 47 may be wrapped with the heat insulating material.

  In the above embodiment, the main substrate and the power supply substrate are effectively cooled. However, in the digital camera, the heat generation amount is large, and the component that affects the image is a solid-state imaging device. Therefore, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 12, a battery pack 84 is loaded behind the solid-state imaging device 82 attached to the lens barrel 81 of the digital camera 80 so that the cooling unit 83 faces, and the battery chamber 85. A ventilation hole 86 for allowing the solid-state imaging device 82 and the cooling unit 83 to face each other may be provided on the side wall of the first and second walls. In this embodiment, since there is no space for incorporating the LCD panel behind the digital camera 80, an eye view finder (EVF) 87 may be incorporated.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the cooling is performed by the cool air discharged from the cooling unit. However, like the digital camera 90 whose sectional view is shown in FIG. May be brought into contact with a heat transfer member 94 made of a material having high thermal conductivity, and the solid-state imaging device 91 may be directly cooled via the heat transfer member 94. According to this, the solid-state imaging device 91 can be cooled more efficiently.

  In the above-described embodiment, the solid-state imaging device is cooled via the heat transfer member. For example, as in the personal computer 100 shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the printed circuit board 102 to which the keyboard 101 is attached. The printed circuit board 102 can also be cooled by attaching a thin sheet-like heat transfer sheet 103 made of silicon or the like to the back surface of the battery pack 104 and bringing the cooling section 105 of the battery pack 104 into contact with the heat transfer sheet 103. In this case, if the area of the heat transfer sheet 103 is increased and brought into contact with the hard disk 106 or the like, the hard disk 106 having a large heat generation amount can be cooled together with the CPU or the like.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although the cooling part was incorporated in the battery pack, you may comprise a battery pack and a cooling part separately, and can make a cooling part detachable to a battery pack. For example, as shown in FIG. 15A, a holding belt 112 having a hook-and-loop fastener 111 at its end is attached to the upper surface of the battery pack 110 where no cooling unit is provided. The battery pack 110 is set and charged in a charger 113 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5B, the coolant 114 used with the battery pack 110 is depicted. The coolant 114 is a flexible plastic pack in which a heat storage agent is sealed, and is stored in the refrigerator 115 and cooled as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 15C, the cooling material 114 that has been cooled is placed on the battery pack 110 that has been charged, and is attached onto the battery pack 110 by the holding belt 112. The battery pack 110 and the coolant 114 are housed in the battery compartment of the digital camera 117 shown in FIG. According to the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to provide a cooling means in the charger 113, the cost of the digital camera system can be reduced. Moreover, since only the coolant 114 can be cooled, the voltage drop of the battery pack 110 does not occur. In addition, since the temperature of the battery pack 110 is lowered due to the proximity of the battery pack 110 and the coolant 114 in the digital camera 117, a heat insulating material may be incorporated in the battery pack 110.

  As a method for attaching the coolant to the battery pack, other than the method using the holding belt described above, the coolant may be incorporated into the battery pack. The battery pack 120 shown in FIG. 16 has a recess 122 for accommodating the plate-like coolant 121 on the upper surface. A pair of locking claws 123 are formed on the side surface of the recess 122, and the coolant 121 accommodated in the recess 122 can be locked as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure. According to this embodiment, since a sense of unity when the battery pack 120 and the coolant 121 are combined is increased, the digital camera can be easily accommodated.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a cooling unit is separately provided in the battery pack. However, as in the battery pack 130 shown in FIG. 17, the battery cell 133 is wrapped with a heat insulating material 132 in a cooling case 131 formed of a heat storage material. May be stored to constitute the battery pack 130. According to this battery pack 130, since it is not necessary to provide a separate cooling unit, the size of the battery pack does not increase. Moreover, since cool air can be radiated | emitted from the battery pack 130 whole, cooling efficiency can be improved.

  In order to efficiently cool the cooling case 131 of the battery pack 130, it is preferable to cool the entire case rather than partially cooling with a Peltier element. FIG. 18 shows a charger 140 having a cooling means suitable for cooling the battery pack 130. The charger 140 stores the battery pack 130 in a vertical direction in a charging chamber 141 that can be freely opened and closed by an opening / closing door 145, and charges the battery cell 133 by a charging circuit 142 disposed below. . Above the charging chamber 141, a heat exchanger 144 for sending cool air from a plurality of vent holes 143 provided on the upper surface of the charging chamber 141 is incorporated. Since the temperature in the charging chamber 141 is lowered by the cool air sent in, the cooling case 131 of the battery pack 130 can be cooled as a whole.

  In addition, although each said embodiment demonstrated the digital camera and the personal computer to the example, it can apply also to various battery drive electronic devices, such as a portable DVD player, a silicon audio player, a mobile telephone. In addition, the apparatus in which the cooling unit is integrally provided is not limited to the battery pack, and the cooling unit may be provided in an attachment device or an expansion device of an electronic device typified by the battery pack, such as a memory card.

It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of the digital camera system of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance shape of a digital camera. It is a perspective view which shows the shape of a battery pack and a battery chamber. It is front sectional drawing which shows the structure of a digital camera. It is a perspective view which shows the shape of a vent hole. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a battery pack. It is a perspective view which shows the external shape of a battery pack and a charger. It is side surface sectional drawing of a charger. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a charger. It is a flowchart which shows the charge and cooling procedure of a charger. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of cooling operation. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structure of the digital camera of another embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structure of the digital camera of another embodiment of this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view and side sectional drawing of the personal computer which implemented this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the digital camera system of another embodiment of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the battery pack of another embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the battery pack of another embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structure of the charger of another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Digital camera system 3,117 Digital camera 4, 84, 92, 104, 110, 120, 130 Battery pack 5, 113, 140 Battery charger 7, 85 Battery compartment 31, 82, 91 Solid-state imaging device 39-42 Vent 42 Exterior member 47, 133 Battery cell 48, 83, 93, 105 Cooling part 49, 132 Heat insulating material 51 Case 55 Battery storage part 60 Peltier element 67 Temperature sensor 70 Control circuit 94 Heat transfer member 103 Heat transfer sheet 114, 121 Coolant 131 Cooling case 144 Heat exchanger

Claims (21)

  A battery pack, comprising: a battery cell; a cooling unit formed of a heat storage material; and a case for storing the battery cell and holding the battery cell such that a part of the cooling unit is exposed to the outside.   The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the cooling unit is detachable from the case.   The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein a heat insulating material is disposed between the battery cell and the cooling unit.   A battery pack comprising: a battery cell; and a cooling case that houses the battery cell and is at least partially formed of a heat storage material.   The battery pack according to claim 4, wherein a heat insulating material is disposed between the battery cell and the cooling case.   6. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the cooling unit or the cooling case includes a heat storage amount that can cancel out an amount of heat generated from electric power of the battery cell.   The battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is formed on a battery chamber in which the cooling unit or the cooling case is cooled and a wall surface of the battery chamber, and the cooling unit or cooling of the battery pack is formed. An electronic device comprising a vent hole through which cool air discharged from a case is sent into the electronic device.   When the battery pack is stored in the battery chamber, means for defining the storage direction of the battery pack is provided so that the cooling part or the portion formed of the heat storage material of the cooling case faces the inside of the electronic device. The electronic device according to claim 7.   The electronic device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the vent hole is provided at a position facing a cooling portion of the battery pack or a portion formed of a heat storage material of the cooling case.   The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the vent hole is provided in the vicinity of a component that generates heat or a substrate to which the component that generates heat is attached.   The battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the battery compartment is housed in a state where the cooling section or the cooling case is cooled, and is provided on a wall surface of the battery compartment. An electronic device comprising a heat transfer member that contacts a portion formed of the heat storage material and a heat-generating component incorporated in the electronic device.   12. The electronic apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the heat generating component is a solid-state imaging device.   12. The electronic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the heat generating component is a printed circuit board on which a large number of electronic components are attached.   The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein a heat insulating property is imparted to an exterior component that forms an outer shape of the electronic device.   7. A battery housing part in which the battery pack according to claim 1 is housed, a charging circuit for charging battery cells in the battery pack, a cooling means for cooling the cooling part or the cooling case, and a charging circuit. And a controller for controlling the cooling means.   The charger according to claim 15, wherein the control unit operates the cooling unit simultaneously or sequentially with the charging of the battery cells of the battery pack to cool the cooling unit or the cooling case.   17. The charging according to claim 15, wherein the controller stops the charging circuit or switches to an auxiliary charging state after the charging of the battery cell is completed, and continues cooling the cooling unit or the cooling case by the cooling unit. vessel.   A temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of a portion formed of the heat storage material of the cooling unit or the cooling case is provided, and the control unit controls a cooling unit based on a measurement result of the temperature sensor, and stores the heat of the cooling unit or the cooling case. The charger according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein a portion formed of the material is maintained at a preset temperature.   The charger according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein a Peltier element is used as the cooling means, and cooling is performed by contacting a cooling portion or a portion formed of a heat storage material of a cooling case.   The charger according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein a heat exchanger is used as the cooling means to cool the cooling part or the cooling case by lowering the temperature around the battery pack. A battery drive type comprising the battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the electronic device according to any one of claims 7 to 14, and the charger according to any one of claims 15 to 20. Electronic equipment system.

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