JP2014050232A - Charging device, charging method, and charging program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charging device capable of charging at optimum conditions even when a plurality of charging devices are connected to a charger.SOLUTION: A charging device 1 has: a charging voltage monitoring section 111 for monitoring change in charging voltage; a charging start instruction section 113 for instructing charging start to a battery 15; a charging discontinuation instruction section 114 for instructing charging discontinuation to the battery 15 when a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charging voltage monitoring section 111, after charging start is instructed by the charging start instruction section 113; a charging re-start instruction section 115 for allowing the charging start instruction section 113 to instruct charging start to the battery 15, after a predetermined standby time passes, when the charging discontinuation instruction section 114 instructs charging discontinuation to the battery 15; and a charging circuit 14 for starting charging to the battery 15 in response to the instruction of the charging start instruction section 113, discontinuing charging to the battery 15 in response to the instruction of the charging discontinuation instruction section 114, and charging the battery 15 using charging voltage as a power supply.

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging device, a charging method, and a charging program for charging a battery.

  When charging the battery of multiple devices with a single charger, if the total charging power exceeds the charger's rating, the power supply to the device will be insufficient and charging will stop or charging will not be completed It was becoming.

  In general, in charging, control is performed with an optimal charging voltage, charging current, charging time, charging temperature, and the like in order to maintain reliability such as battery cycle characteristics. In particular, in charging with a frequently used device, charge control is performed with priority given to a predetermined charging current so that charging is completed within a specified time.

  However, devices that are frequently used, such as mobile phones, have recently increased in performance and have increased power consumption during operation. In addition, the frequency of charging via a general-purpose power supply interface such as a familiar USB (Universal Serial Bus) is increasing. Furthermore, if the mobile phone main body side performs a 3D game or communication while performing quick charging, power may not be supplied even if only one device is connected to the charger. Furthermore, if a plurality of such devices are connected and charged at the same time, all of the devices may not be charged. In such a case, the charger tries to charge beyond the power supply capacity, so that the charging voltage drops in order to maintain the charging current, and falls below the minimum charging voltage required for charging. This is because charging is forcibly stopped on the side. As a result, problems such as abnormal charging, insufficient charging, and short usage time have occurred.

  In order to solve this problem, in order to reduce the charging power to the battery, there is a technique for controlling the charging current to be small according to the charging voltage (for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, etc.). However, if the charging current is reduced, charging cannot be performed under optimum conditions. As a result, the quality and reliability of the battery are affected, the time until completion of charging of a plurality of devices to be charged is unknown, and there has been a situation where none of the devices has been fully charged.

  On the other hand, there is a technology that performs communication between multiple devices and the charge management device and performs charge start / end control under the management of the charge management device, but it is a new model that will be added later at high cost It took time and effort for information management (Patent Document 3).

JP 2007-060778 A JP 2010-154692 A JP 2010-022099 A

  As described above, the techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 have a problem that charging may not be performed under optimal conditions. On the other hand, the technique described in Patent Document 3 has a problem that the structure becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a charging device, a charging method, and a charging program that can solve the above-described problems.

  In order to solve the above problems, a charging device according to the present invention has a charging voltage monitoring unit that monitors a change in charging voltage, a charging start instructing unit that instructs to start charging the battery, and charging start by the charging start instructing unit. When a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charging voltage monitoring unit after the instruction is given, a charging interruption instruction unit for instructing interruption of charging to the battery, and an instruction to stop charging the battery by the charging interruption instruction unit If a predetermined waiting time has elapsed, a charge restart instruction unit that instructs the charge start instruction unit to start charging the battery, and charging the battery according to an instruction from the charge start instruction unit And charging the battery according to an instruction from the charging interruption instruction unit, and charging the battery using the charging voltage as a power source. Characterized in that it obtain.

  Further, the charging method of the present invention includes a charging voltage monitoring unit that monitors a change in charging voltage, a charging start instruction unit that instructs to start charging the battery, and after the charging start instruction unit is instructed to start charging, When a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charging voltage monitoring unit, a charging interruption instruction unit for instructing interruption of charging to the battery, and a charging interruption to the battery by the charging interruption instruction unit are instructed. The charging start instruction unit is instructed to instruct the charging start instruction unit to start charging the battery, and a charging circuit that charges the battery using the charging voltage as a power source. The charging circuit starts charging the battery according to an instruction from the charging unit, and the charging circuit charges the battery according to an instruction from the charging interruption instruction unit. Characterized in that it comprises a step of disconnection.

  Further, the charging program of the present invention includes a charging voltage monitoring unit that monitors a change in charging voltage, a charging start instruction unit that instructs to start charging the battery, and after the charging start instruction unit is instructed to start charging, When a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charging voltage monitoring unit, a charging interruption instruction unit for instructing interruption of charging to the battery, and a charging interruption to the battery by the charging interruption instruction unit are instructed. The charging start instruction unit is instructed to instruct the charging start instruction unit to start charging the battery, and a charging circuit that charges the battery using the charging voltage as a power source. The charging circuit starts charging the battery according to an instruction from the charging unit, and the charging circuit sends the battery to the battery according to an instruction from the charging interruption instruction unit. Characterized in that it is performed the electrostatic suspend a step in the computer.

  According to the present invention, a change in the charging voltage output from the charger is monitored on the charging device side of the battery, and charging is interrupted on the charging device side when the charging voltage changes. Therefore, even when a plurality of charging devices are connected to the charger, the output voltage of the charger can be maintained without being lowered. In addition, when charging is interrupted, charging to the battery is resumed after a predetermined standby time has elapsed, and charging to the battery can be continued if there is a margin in the power supplied by the charger. Therefore, even when a plurality of devices are connected to the charger, the charging voltage can be maintained and charging can be performed under optimum conditions, and charging power can be appropriately distributed to the plurality of charging devices.

It is a block diagram for describing one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function which the charging device 1 shown in FIG. 1 has. It is the figure which showed the example of a connection at the time of connecting the some charging device 1 to the charger 2 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the charging device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (only the voltage drop occurrence-causing device is interrupted). FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation example of the charging device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (only a voltage drop occurrence-causing device is interrupted). 6 is a flowchart for explaining another example of operation of the charging device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (interruption of charging of all devices during charging when a voltage drop occurs). It is a block diagram for demonstrating the basic composition of embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a charging device 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. The charging device 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be configured as, for example, a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone, a battery mounting device such as an electric vehicle or a battery mounting train, and the like. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining each function of the charging device 1 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, “charging device 1” may be referred to as only “device 1”.

  The charging device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 11, a memory 12, a temperature detection circuit 13, a charging circuit 14, a battery 15, a display unit 16, and a charging terminal 17. In the charging device 1, the charging terminal 17 is detachably connected to the output terminal 22 of the charger 2 through the connection unit 3. This connection part 3 can be comprised from the connection mechanism containing power lines, such as a cable, a charging stand, a stand, a contact, etc., or a wireless power transmission mechanism. The battery 15 is a secondary battery, for example, a lithium ion battery.

  Further, the charger 2 has a voltage conversion circuit 21 and a plurality of output terminals 22. The voltage conversion circuit 21 uses a commercial AC power supply (not shown) as an input power supply and converts it into a DC power supply by voltage conversion and rectification. Specifically, for example, the voltage conversion circuit 21 can be configured as an AC (alternating current) adapter realized by a combination of a transformer and a half-wave rectification / smoothing circuit. The DC voltage output from the voltage conversion circuit 21 is connected to each output terminal 22 by a cable 23. Therefore, the power output from the voltage conversion circuit 21 is distributed and output from the plurality of output terminals 22. In addition, the charging device 1 can be connected to each output terminal 22.

  The CPU 11 executes a program stored in the memory 12 and controls each block to be connected. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 11 executes a program stored in the memory 12 to internally include a charging voltage monitoring unit 111, a charging start permission determining unit 112, a charging start instruction unit 113, a charging The functional blocks of the interruption instruction unit 114, the charge resumption instruction unit 115, and the charge completion determination unit 116 are configured. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the charging circuit 14 includes a charging voltage detection unit 141, a charging control unit 142, and a switch 143.

  The charge voltage monitoring unit 111 illustrated in FIG. 2 monitors the change in the charge voltage output from the charger 2 based on the output of the charge voltage detection unit 141. The charging voltage monitoring unit 111 stores the charging voltage detected by the charging voltage detection unit 141 before starting charging of the battery 15 in the memory 12, or the charging voltage detected by the charging voltage detection unit 141 after starting charging and the stored charging. The presence or absence of a predetermined change in the charging voltage is determined by comparing the voltage. Further, when the change in the charging voltage is, for example, a predetermined voltage drop, the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 generates a time when the voltage drop occurs (for example, the voltage drop occurs after the device 1 starts charging). Whether the voltage drop is due to the start of charging in the own device 1 or not.

  The charge start permission determination unit 112 is in a state where the charge voltage acquired from the charge voltage detection unit 141, the temperature detection circuit 13 of FIG. 1, the charge control unit 142, etc., the battery temperature, the remaining battery capacity, etc. can be charged. Whether or not charging of the battery 15 by the charging control unit 142 is permitted or not is determined. The charging start instruction unit 113 instructs the charging control unit 142 of the charging circuit 14 to start charging the battery 15 when the charging start permission determining unit 112 determines that the charging start is permitted. The charging interruption instructing unit 114 is connected to the charging circuit 14 when a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 after the charging start instructing unit 113 instructs the charging control unit 142 of the charging circuit 14 to start charging. It instructs the charging control unit 142 to interrupt the charging of the battery 15. When the charging is interrupted, the charging resumption instructing unit 115 monitors an elapsed time from the charging interruption using a timer that times out at a predetermined time. Then, when the timer has timed out (that is, after a predetermined standby time has elapsed), charging resumption instructing unit 115 causes charging permission determining unit 112 to determine whether charging is permitted or not, and charging permission determining unit 112 , The charging start instructing unit 113 is instructed to start charging the battery 15. In addition, the charging completion determination unit 116 determines whether charging is complete based on the information acquired from the charging control unit 142.

  On the other hand, the charging voltage detection unit 141 shown in FIG. 2 detects the charging voltage (that is, the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 17), which is the power supply voltage supplied by the charger 2, at a predetermined timing, converts it into a digital signal, and converts it into the CPU 11 Output to. While monitoring the current and the charging voltage from the charger 2 input via the charging terminal 17, the charging control unit 142 flows the current to the battery 15 using the charging voltage supplied from the charger 2 as a power source, accumulate. At that time, the charging control unit 142 starts charging the battery 15 in accordance with an instruction from the charging start instructing unit 113, and interrupts charging to the battery 15 in accordance with an instruction from the charging interruption instructing unit 114. .

  Furthermore, the charging control unit 142 has a function of monitoring the charging state, and switches the charging method (rapid or gradual) or forces charging depending on conditions such as a chargeable voltage and a chargeable temperature. Or stop. That is, the charging control unit 142 monitors whether or not the battery 15 has an overcurrent, an overvoltage, or a steep voltage drop. If an overcurrent, an overvoltage, or a steep voltage drop occurs, the charging control unit 142 does not flow current to the battery 15. The switch 143 is turned off. The switch 143 is composed of a semiconductor transistor or the like, and performs ON / OFF control of the charging current to the battery 15 according to the control of the charging control unit 142. Further, even after the charging control unit 142 starts charging in accordance with an instruction from the charging start instruction unit 113, the charging control unit 142 executes the program stored in the memory 12, so that the CPU 11 measures the own device 1 measured by the temperature detection circuit 13. When it is determined that the temperature is high, the switch 143 is turned off in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 11 to stop charging. In addition, the charging control unit 142 returns information indicating the charging state of the battery 15 in response to a request from the charging start permission determining unit 112 or the like.

  The memory 12 stores a program for controlling each block, and has an area for storing a current charging state and a threshold for monitoring the temperature state of the device 1.

  The temperature detection circuit 13 periodically measures the temperature of the device 1 to monitor the heat generation state of the device 1 during charging, and transmits the A / D (analog / digital) converted data to the CPU 11.

  The display unit 16 indicates an LED (light emitting diode), an LCD (liquid crystal display), an organic EL (electroluminescence), or the like, and notifies the user of a charged state.

  FIG. 3 shows a connection example when a plurality of charging devices 1 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are connected to the charger 2 described with reference to FIG. In the connection example shown in FIG. 3A, the notation in parentheses attached to the device A (1a) (here, the device A etc.) represents the reference symbol in the drawing at the output terminal 22 of the charger 2. Similarly, the device B (1b) and the device C (1c) are connected. The charging device 1 is not connected to at least two output terminals 22. Here, the device A (1a), the device B (1b), and the device C (1c) correspond to the charging device 1 shown in FIG.

  In the connection example shown in FIG. 3B, the device A (1a), the device B (1b), the device C (1c), and the device n (1n) are connected to the output terminal 22 of the charger 2. ing. The charging device 1 is not connected to at least one output terminal 22. Here, the apparatus n (1n) is a structure corresponding to the charging apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  In the connection example shown in FIG. 3B, the device A (1a), the device B (1b), the device C (1c), the device n (1n), and the device n + 1 (1n + 1) are connected to the output terminal 22 of the charger 2. ) Is connected. Here, the device n + 1 (1n + 1) corresponds to the charging device 1 shown in FIG.

  Next, an operation example of the charging apparatus 1 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, three charging devices 1 (device A (1a), device B (1b), and device C (1c)) are already connected to the charger 2. The operation of the device n (1n) when the device n (1n) is additionally connected to the charger 2 as shown in FIG.

  When the charging of the battery 15 is to be started, first, the device n (1n) determines whether or not a voltage is applied to the charging terminal 17 by the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 (step S101). If no voltage is applied, this process ends (in the case of “no voltage” in step S101).

  On the other hand, when the voltage is applied to the charging terminal 17 (in the case of “with voltage” in step S101), the charging start permission determining unit 112 determines whether or not charging can be started (step S102). The determination as to whether or not charging can be started is a known technique for determining whether or not the charging voltage, the temperature of the battery 15, the remaining capacity of the battery 15, and the like are in a chargeable state. In step S102, the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 stores the charging voltage detected by the charging voltage detection unit 141 in the memory 12 as a charging voltage value before starting charging. If the charging start permission determination unit 112 of the device n (1n) determines in step S102 that the device state is not permitted to start charging, this processing ends (in the case of “not permitted charging start” in step S102). ).

  If the device state is such that charging can be permitted (“charging permitted” in step S102), the charging control unit 142 starts charging based on a predetermined charging condition under the instruction of the charging start instructing unit 113. (Step S103). When charging is started, whether the current charging voltage detected by the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 is lower than the charging voltage confirmed before starting charging (that is, the value stored in step S102). It is determined whether or not (step S104). In step S104, for example, it can be determined whether or not there is a voltage drop exceeding a predetermined value. The predetermined value in this case can be varied according to the state of the charging device 1.

  If a voltage drop has occurred (in the case of “voltage drop occurrence” in step S104), the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 determines whether the voltage drop is caused by connecting its own device n (1n) to the charger 2. It is determined whether the voltage drop is caused by another factor (step S105). As a condition for determining, for example, if a voltage drop has occurred immediately after the start of charging (that is, within a predetermined time), it is determined that the voltage drop has occurred due to connection to the charger 2, and charging is started. If a voltage drop occurs after a while, it is determined that the voltage drop is caused by the connection of another device, not the influence of the own device.

  When no voltage drop has occurred (in the case of “no voltage drop has occurred” in step S104) or when a voltage drop has occurred other than the connection of the own apparatus 1 (in step S105, “a voltage other than the voltage drop due to the connection of the own apparatus” In the case of “down”), the charging completion determination unit 116 determines whether or not charging is completed (step S109). If the charging is completed, the process is terminated. If the charging is not completed (in the case of “charging not completed” in step S109), the charging is continued and occurrence of a voltage drop is monitored (from step S109 to step S104). ).

  When a voltage drop occurs due to connection of own device n (1n) to charger 2 (in the case of “voltage drop due to connection of own device” in step S105), charging interruption instruction unit 114 determines the rating of charger 2. It is judged that it exceeded, charging is interrupted by controlling the charging control unit 142 (step S106). Next, the charge resumption instruction unit 115 sets a value generated by a random number (pseudorandom number) in a predetermined timer, starts counting the timer (step S107), and until the count is completed (that is, time-out) Wait (= wait) (step S108). After the time-out in step S108, the charge resumption instruction unit 115 issues an instruction to the charge permission determination unit 112 and the charge start instruction unit 113, and the charging process, which is the process after step S102, is resumed.

  Here, the issue of the random number timer in step S107 in FIG. 4 (that is, setting the random number in the timer and starting the timer (hereinafter also referred to as the random number timer)) will be described. The reason for using the random number timer is that when a plurality of devices 1 start charging at the same time and the charging is interrupted due to a voltage drop, the values set in the timers are different among the plurality of devices 1. This is to shift the charging resumption timing. Moreover, the order for every apparatus 1 to be restarted can be changed every time by using random numbers. For example, when the charger 2 is activated in a state where the plurality of devices 1 are connected to the charger 2, the plurality of devices 1 may start charging at the same time.

  Next, an operation sequence when the device n (1n) and the device n + 1 (1n + 1) shown in FIG. 3B are simultaneously connected to the charger 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this case, the device n (1n) and the device n + 1 (1n + 1) simultaneously start charging (FIG. 5: event 1, step S103 in FIG. 4). Each device recognizes that the charging voltage has dropped due to its own device being connected to the charger 2 (FIG. 5: event 2, step S105 in FIG. 4). Each device recognizes the voltage drop and interrupts charging (FIG. 5: Event 3). After charging is interrupted, issue a timer to start charging again. At this time, random numbers are used so that the timer values issued by the respective devices do not become the same value (FIG. 5: event 4, step S107 in FIG. 4). In the example of FIG. 5, the condition is that the timer R1 issued by the device n (1n) has a shorter standby time than the timer R2 issued by the device n + 1 (1n + 1).

  If the R1 timer of the device n has timed out and charging can be resumed, charging is started (FIG. 5: event 5, step S103 in FIG. 4). After the device n resumes charging, the R2 timer of the device n + 1 times out (FIG. 5: event 6) and starts charging if it is in a state where charging can be resumed, but connected to the other charger 2 If the charging state of the device 1 is not changed, the device n + 1 is connected, and the voltage drop exceeds the rating of the charger 2. Therefore, charging is interrupted again and a random number timer is issued (FIG. 4: event 7). The device n + 1 is charged until the other device 1 is fully charged, starts charging from a state where it can be charged, and continues until the charging is completed. Event 7 in FIG. 5 is repeated.

  Due to the mechanism of the random number timer, the same value may be output by the device n and the device n + 1. In this case, the charging restart timing can be shifted by interrupting charging again and performing this processing. As a random number that can shift the charging resumption timing when charging is interrupted again, the standby time determined by the value of the random number is the voltage drop due to the connection of the other charging device 1 at the time of resuming the charging and the voltage due to the connection of the own device. It is desirable that each random value is generated so that the value is not confused with the descent.

  For example, recharging is started after a time-out, and it is determined whether or not there is a voltage drop. In some cases, until charging is interrupted again (that is, the time-out in step S108 and then the presence or absence of a voltage drop is determined in step S104). Furthermore, if the time (until charging is interrupted in step S106) is t1, if the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of each random number is a random number that is at least larger than the time t1, the voltage drop between the plurality of devices 1 will not occur. It is possible to distinguish between the start of charging of the device 1 and the start of charging of another device 1. That is, in this case, in the plurality of devices 1 whose charging is interrupted at the same time, if the random number generated by any one of the devices 1 is the minimum value, and the random numbers generated by the other devices 1 are all the maximum values, The apparatus 1 that has generated the minimum value restarts charging, determines whether or not there is a voltage drop caused by the charging, and in some cases, no timeout occurs in the other apparatuses 1 until charging is resuspended. Therefore, in this case, the device 1 that has generated the minimum random number can perform the charge resumption process without being affected by the charge resumption process of the other device 1.

  Note that the greater the number of combinations of random numbers, the lower the probability that the timer value will be the same. Therefore, it is desirable that the number of types of random number generation calculations and seeds used in random number calculations be as large as possible. In addition, if information indicating the progress of random number calculation is stored in the memory 12 and is used to perform random number calculation, for example, random values at the start of charging can be easily dispersed.

  The timer value may be a random number whose difference between the maximum value and the minimum value is larger than the time t1, but the value of each random number can also be generated as follows. That is, when generating random numbers in a sequence such as R1, R2, R3,..., Rn, the time from when the interval times out until the charging can be resumed and charging can be continued is t1. If ((Rn) − (Rn−1) = t1) in this case, the charging resumption process is shifted by t1, so that after one resumes charging, the other can resume charging, and more efficient charging. Start timing deviation can be realized. Furthermore, if the series of R1, R2,... Is a multiple of time t1, it can be easily set by simply obtaining time t1.

  In addition, although the explanation using random numbers has been given, a series such as R1, R2, R3,... Rn is prepared in advance, and an initial value is randomly determined for each device 1, for example, R4, R5, in device n (1n). In the apparatus n + 1 (1n + 1), R1,..., R2, R3,... May be output in order, and the initial value may be determined randomly when charging is interrupted. In this case, for example, by rearranging in a permutation such that R1 <R2 <R3, the charging resumption timing can be shifted by the difference between the initial values, and the series can be easily set.

  In the present embodiment, charging to the charging device 1 including a lithium ion battery as the battery 15 has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. The same applies to the nickel metal hydride battery. However, some charging methods are known in which a slight voltage drop is seen when the battery voltage approaches full charge. The voltage drop of the battery voltage of nickel metal hydride can be estimated from the battery type, characteristics, remaining battery capacity and charging time, battery voltage and temperature, and it is not always necessary to interrupt the charging at the predicted voltage drop. Further, if the optimum voltage condition is not satisfied as a result of the predicted voltage drop, the charging may be similarly stopped. The same applies to other batteries.

  The voltage conversion circuit 21 has been described on the assumption that it has a transformer and a half-wave rectification / smoothing circuit, but it may be a switching circuit. In this case, when the necessary power increases, the voltage conversion circuit 21 increases the originally reduced voltage, increases the switch ON period, increases the switching frequency, adjusts the switch ON / OFF duty ratio, and the like. Is controlled. It may be estimated from the voltage fluctuation amount (ripple) or noise caused by switching whether the supply capacity on the charger side is exceeded.

  Further, the charger 2 may be configured as, for example, a USB interface, and in this case, the plurality of output terminals may be configured as, for example, a plurality of USB terminals included in a USB hub.

  Further, when measuring the battery voltage, there is a method of charging with a pulse waveform. Therefore, measurement outside the voltage drop interval may be performed to determine whether or not the voltage drop is unpredictable.

  In the above embodiment, when a plurality of devices 1 having rechargeable batteries 15 are connected in parallel to the charger 2, charging that exceeds the supply capacity, such as exceeding the charger rating for the connection. Therefore, it is detected whether or not a phenomenon that exceeds the supply capability such as a voltage drop, a ripple superimposed on a power supply line, or a switching noise is generated. When such a phenomenon is detected, charging is interrupted sequentially from at least one of the plurality of devices 1 to transfer the charged power to another. In addition, when a device that has stopped charging resumes charging, the phenomenon that occurs when the supply capacity is exceeded is monitored. If the supply capacity is not exceeded, charging is continued, and if the supply capacity is exceeded, charging is interrupted again. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of devices 1 can be charged with a simple configuration under charging power that tends to be insufficient in supply capability.

The present embodiment has the following effects.
The first effect is that a plurality of charging devices 1 can be charged by one charger 2 (that is, one power source).
The second effect is that charging can be intermittently performed when the rating of the charger 2 is exceeded.
The third effect is that the resumption timing of charging is shifted by using a random number timer, and control that does not exceed the rating of the charger 2 can be performed.
The fourth effect is that charging is intermittently charged, so that the fluctuation of the charging current to the battery 15 is small, and the charged amount can be measured relatively accurately (the remaining charge capacity is accurate).

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the basic configuration of the charging device 1 is the same as the above-described embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the operation of the charging device 1 is partially different. In this embodiment, taking advantage of the basic configuration in which all devices 1 connected to the charger 2 monitor voltage drops, the operation flow of the charging device 1 particularly includes the contents of the processing performed when a voltage drop occurs. This is different from the embodiment. That is, in the flow shown in FIG. 4, only the voltage drop-causing device is interrupted when a voltage drop occurs, whereas in the flow shown in FIG. Interrupt. The flow of the process is shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the flow shown in FIG. 4, charging is interrupted only for the device 1 that has generated a voltage drop immediately after being connected to the charger 2, but in the flow shown in FIG. 6, it is connected to the charger 2. When each device 1 recognizes the voltage drop, the processing is performed so that each device 1 stops charging.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the devices A, B, and C are already connected to the charger 2 and are being charged, the device n is added as shown in FIG. 3B. The case of connecting to the charger 2 will be described as an example. The charging voltage monitoring unit 111 of the device n determines whether or not a voltage is applied to the charging terminal 17 (FIG. 6: Step S201). If no voltage is applied, this process ends. When the voltage is applied to the charging terminal 17, it is determined whether or not the charging start permission determination unit 112 can start charging (FIG. 6: step S202). The determination as to whether or not charging can be started is a known technique for determining whether the charging voltage, the battery temperature, the remaining battery capacity, and the like are in a chargeable state. If the device state is not allowed to start charging, this process is terminated.

  If the device state is such that charging can be permitted, the charging start instructing unit 113 issues an instruction to cause the charging control unit 142 to start charging (FIG. 6: step S203). When charging is started, it is determined whether or not the charging voltage has dropped from the previously measured charging voltage (the charging voltage confirmed before starting charging in the first determination) (FIG. 6: step S204). If a voltage drop occurs, it is determined that the rating of the charger 2 has been exceeded, and the charging interruption instruction unit 114 issues an instruction to the charging control unit 142 to interrupt charging (FIG. 6: Step S205). Then, the charge resumption instruction unit 115 sets a value generated by a random number in the timer, starts the timer, and waits (FIG. 6: steps S206 to S207). After the time-out, the charge restart instruction unit 115 issues an instruction to the charge start permission determination unit 112 and the charge start instruction unit 113 (FIG. 6: step S207), and the charging process is restarted (FIG. 6: step S202 and subsequent steps). When the voltage drop has not occurred (FIG. 6: step S204), the charging completion determination unit 116 determines whether or not the charging is completed (FIG. 6: step S208). If the charging is completed, the process is terminated. If the charging is not completed, the charging is continued, and the charging voltage monitoring unit 111 monitors the occurrence of a voltage drop (FIG. 6: Step S204).

  Thus, in the flow of FIG. 6, it is not determined whether the cause of the voltage drop is the own device or not. Therefore, when a voltage drop occurs, the voltage drop is detected by all the devices 1. Therefore, in this embodiment, when a voltage drop occurs, all the charging devices 1 connected to the charger 2 interrupt the charging. Therefore, the charging restart timing is leveled, and the effect of preventing the problem that the charging device 1 that has started charging last is not charged indefinitely can be obtained.

The embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the following combination of the charging device 1 and the charger 2. That is,
・ When charging multiple mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones at the same time,
・ When charging multiple battery-equipped devices such as electric cars and battery-equipped trains at the same time, and
-Chargers are not limited to those with a rating, especially those that include natural energy power generation such as solar power generation, where the power supplied depends on the environment,
Can be applied to.

  Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. Since the voltage is monitored on the charging device side such as a mobile phone, it is controlled to not charge spontaneously when it is not likely to be charged, and charged when it is likely to be charged, so there is a circuit on the charger or mobile phone stand side It is not necessary to add.

  Also, for example, in the case of a charger including fluctuating electric power obtained from a solar battery, sufficient electric power may not always be supplied, but it is possible to perform control to give up charging not only on the charger side but also on the charging device side. Since it is possible, it can be expected that power is distributed more appropriately.

  The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described one. For example, each block shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is changed to be integrated with other blocks or further subdivided. It can be performed appropriately. The charging device of the present invention includes a CPU and a program executed by the CPU, and a part or all of the program is distributed via a computer-readable recording medium or a communication line. It is possible to make it.

  A basic configuration example of the embodiment of the present invention can be represented by using the block diagram shown in FIG. That is, the charging device 100 as an embodiment of the present invention includes a charging voltage monitoring unit 101, a charging start instruction unit 102, a charging interruption instruction unit 103, a charging resumption instruction unit 104, and a charging circuit 105. The charging circuit 105 starts charging the battery 300 in accordance with an instruction from the charging start instruction unit 102, and interrupts charging to the battery 300 in accordance with an instruction from the charging interruption instruction unit 103. Further, the charging circuit 105 charges the battery 300 using the charging voltage supplied from the charger 200 as a power source. The charging voltage monitoring unit 101 monitors changes in the charging voltage supplied from the charger 200. Charging start instruction unit 102 instructs charging of battery 300 to start. The charging interruption instructing unit 103 instructs to interrupt the charging of the battery 300 when a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charging voltage monitoring unit 101 after the charging start instructing unit 102 instructs to start charging. Then, when the charging interruption instruction unit 103 is instructed to stop charging the battery 300, the charging resumption instruction unit 104 instructs the charging start instruction unit 2 to start charging the battery 300 after a predetermined standby time has elapsed. Let

[Program and recording medium]
Finally, each unit included in the charging device 1 may be configured by hardware logic. Alternatively, it may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.
That is, the charging device 1 includes a CPU that executes instructions of a program that realizes each function, a RAM that stores the program, expands the program into a format that can be executed, a memory that stores the program and various data, and the like Storage device (recording medium). With this configuration, the object of the present invention can also be achieved by a predetermined recording medium.
This recording medium only needs to record the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the program of the charging apparatus 1 which is software that realizes the above-described functions so that it can be read by a computer. The recording medium is supplied to the charging device 1. Thus, the computer (or CPU or MPU) may read and execute the program code recorded on the supplied recording medium.

The recording medium for supplying the program code to the charging device 1 is not limited to a specific structure or type. That is, this recording medium is, for example, a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, or an optical disk such as CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / BD / CD-R. A disk system including IC, a card system such as an IC card (including a memory card) / optical card, or a semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM.
Moreover, even if the charging device 1 is configured to be connectable to a communication network, the object of the present invention can be achieved. In this case, the program code is supplied to the charging device 1 via the communication network. This communication network is not limited to a specific type or form as long as it can supply the program code to the charging device 1. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, or satellite communication network may be used.

  The transmission medium constituting the communication network may be any medium that can transmit the program code, and is not limited to a specific configuration or type. For example, infrared rays such as IrDA or a remote control, Bluetooth (registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR even with a wired line such as IEEE1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, or ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line It can also be used wirelessly, such as a mobile phone network, a satellite line, or a terrestrial digital network. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

1, 100 Charging device 11 CPU
12 Memory 13 Temperature detection circuit 14, 105 Charging circuit 15, 300 Battery (battery)
16 Display unit 17 Charging terminal 2, 200 Charger 21 Voltage conversion circuit 22 Output terminal 23 Cable 3 Connection unit 111, 101 Charging voltage monitoring unit 112 Charging permission determination unit 113, 102 Charging start instruction unit 114, 103 Charging interruption instruction unit 115 , 104 Charging restart instruction unit 116 Charging completion determination unit 141 Charging voltage detection unit 142 Charging control unit 143 Switch

Claims (9)

A charge voltage monitor for monitoring changes in the charge voltage;
A charge start instruction unit for instructing start of charging of the battery;
After a charge start is instructed by the charge start instructing unit, when a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charge voltage monitoring unit, a charge interruption instructing unit instructing to interrupt the charging of the battery;
When charging interruption to the battery is instructed by the charging interruption instruction unit, a charging resumption instruction unit for instructing the charging start instruction unit to start charging the battery after a predetermined standby time has elapsed,
Charging to the battery is started in accordance with an instruction from the charging start instructing unit, and charging to the battery is interrupted in accordance with an instruction from the charging interruption instructing unit, and the charging voltage is used as a power source. A charging device comprising: a charging circuit that charges the battery. The predetermined standby time is set to a different value so that the predetermined voltage change due to resumption of charging of the other charging device and the predetermined voltage change due to resumption of charging of the self-charging device are not confused. The charging device according to claim 1. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined waiting time is set using a random number. The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined voltage change is a change before and after charging of the battery is started in accordance with an instruction from the charging start instruction unit. . The predetermined voltage change is a change before a start of charging of the battery according to an instruction from the charge start instruction unit and within a predetermined time after the start of the charge. The charging device according to any one of the above. The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the predetermined voltage change is a predetermined voltage drop. 6. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined voltage change is a change in a variation amount of the charge voltage or a change in switching noise superimposed on the charge voltage. A charge voltage monitor for monitoring changes in the charge voltage;
A charge start instruction unit for instructing start of charging of the battery;
After a charge start is instructed by the charge start instructing unit, when a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charge voltage monitoring unit, a charge interruption instructing unit instructing to interrupt the charging of the battery;
When charging interruption to the battery is instructed by the charging interruption instruction unit, a charging resumption instruction unit for instructing the charging start instruction unit to start charging the battery after a predetermined standby time has elapsed,
A charging circuit for charging the battery using the charging voltage as a power source, and
In response to an instruction from the charging start instruction unit, the charging circuit starts charging the battery; and
The charging circuit including a step of interrupting the charging of the battery in response to an instruction from the charging interruption instruction unit. A charge voltage monitor for monitoring changes in the charge voltage;
A charge start instruction unit for instructing start of charging of the battery;
After a charge start is instructed by the charge start instructing unit, when a predetermined voltage change is confirmed by the charge voltage monitoring unit, a charge interruption instructing unit instructing to interrupt the charging of the battery;
When charging interruption to the battery is instructed by the charging interruption instruction unit, a charging resumption instruction unit for instructing the charging start instruction unit to start charging the battery after a predetermined standby time has elapsed,
Using a charging circuit that charges the battery using the charging voltage as a power source,
In response to an instruction from the charging start instruction unit, the charging circuit starts charging the battery; and
The charging program, wherein the computer executes the step of the charging circuit suspending charging of the battery in response to an instruction from the charging interruption instruction unit.

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