JP2014187727A - Charging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the charging from being continued in an inappropriate state with certainty.SOLUTION: A charging device comprises: a battery installation part 30 where a chargeable battery 200 is installed; a battery situation acquisition part 20 acquiring a situation of the battery 200 installed in the battery installation part 30; a determination part 20 performing first determination for determining whether or not the charging of the battery 200 is completed, and second determination other than the first determination, for determining whether or not a charging stop condition for stopping the charging is satisfied, on the basis of the situation of the battery 200 acquired by the battery situation acquisition part 20; and a battery installation release part 40 for releasing the installation of the battery 200 in the battery installation part 30, in at least one of a case where it is determined that the charging of the battery 200 is completed by the first determination, and a case where it is determine that the charging stop condition is satisfied by the second determination.

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery charging device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a charging device that charges a secondary battery is known in which the battery is detached from the charging device when charging is completed.
For example, in the charger described in Patent Document 1, when the battery pack is in a predetermined charged state, the battery is pushed up by the elastic member so that the battery terminal and the charging contact are not in contact with each other.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-51763

However, in a conventional charging device, if the surface of the battery contact is dirty or corroded, or if the battery is not properly attached to the charging device, it cannot be charged normally. The operation will continue indefinitely. That is, in the conventional charging device, charging is continued until the voltage of the battery reaches a predetermined voltage even in such a case, so that it is possible to continue charging in an inappropriate state such as useless power consumption. There was sex.
An object of the present invention is to more reliably prevent charging from being continued in an inappropriate state.

  The present invention solves the above problems by the following means. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to embodiment of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this.

The invention according to claim 1 is acquired by a battery installation unit in which a rechargeable battery is installed, a battery status acquisition unit that acquires the status of the battery installed in the battery installation unit, and the battery status acquisition unit A first determination for determining whether or not charging of the battery is completed based on the state of the battery that has been performed, and a charge stop condition for stopping charging other than the first determination are satisfied A determination unit that performs a second determination to determine whether or not the battery has been charged, a case where it is determined that charging of the battery is completed by the first determination, and a case where the charging is performed by the second determination A battery that cancels the installation of the battery in the battery installation unit in at least one of the cases where it is determined that the stop condition is satisfied A location cancellation unit, a charging device, characterized in that it comprises a.
A second aspect of the present invention is the charging apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the charge stop condition includes a condition related to a duration from the start of charging of the battery, and the determination unit performs the second operation. Is determined, when the duration from the start of charging of the battery is longer than the maximum charging time of the battery, it is determined that the charging stop condition is satisfied. It is.
The invention according to claim 3 is the charging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the charge stop condition includes a condition related to a duration from the start of charging of the battery, a condition related to a temperature of the battery, and the A plurality of conditions are included among the conditions related to vibration generated in the battery, and the second determination by the determination unit is satisfied when the charge stop condition is satisfied when any of the plurality of conditions is satisfied. It is determined that it is carried out, It is a charging device characterized by the above-mentioned.

  It can prevent more reliably that charging is continued in an inappropriate state.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the charging device 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structural example of the battery pallet 30 in 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the operation | movement mechanism of the latching claw 33. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the charging device 1. 3 is a timing chart illustrating a normal charging operation of the charging device 1. 4 is a timing chart illustrating a charging operation that stops charging of the charging device 1. It is a perspective view which shows the structural example of the battery pallet 130 in 2nd Embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the charging apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the battery pallet 30. Further, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an operation mechanism of the locking claw 33.
In FIG. 3, the structure around the battery pallet 30 is appropriately omitted in order to show the operation mechanism of the locking claw 33.
In FIG. 1, the charging device 1 includes an AC / DC conversion unit 10, a charging control unit 20, a battery pallet 30, an actuator 40, and a display unit 50.

The AC / DC conversion unit 10 converts an AC voltage supplied from an AC power source 100 such as a commercial power source into a DC voltage, and supplies the converted DC voltage to the charge control unit 20.
The charging control unit 20 transforms the DC voltage supplied from the AC / DC conversion unit 10 into a charging voltage (hereinafter referred to as “charging rated voltage Vb”), and applies it to the charging terminal 34 of the battery pallet 30. .

  Further, the charging control unit 20 detects the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 of the battery pallet 30. The charging control unit 20 detects that the battery 200 is attached to the battery pallet 30 based on the detected terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 changing from 0 [V], which is the non-attached state of the battery 200. Then, application of the rated charging voltage Vb to the charging terminal 34 of the battery pallet 30 is started. Then, the charging control unit 20 determines whether or not the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 has become a voltage at which charging of the battery 200 is completed (hereinafter referred to as “charging completion voltage Vf”) after the start of application of the rated charging voltage Vb. And whether or not a condition for stopping charging other than completion of charging (hereinafter referred to as “charging stop condition”) is satisfied.

Here, in this embodiment, the duration from the start of application of the rated charge voltage Vb is set as the charge stop condition. Specifically, a threshold time Tth longer than the maximum charging time Tmax required for charging the battery 200 is set for the duration from the start of application of the rated charging voltage Vb. The maximum charging time Tmax can be calculated based on the capacity of the battery 200 and the charging rated voltage Vb.
When the charging control unit 20 determines that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is the charging completion voltage Vf after the start of application of the charging rated voltage Vb, or the charging control unit 20 determines that the charging stop condition is satisfied (charging rating) When it is determined that the duration from the start of application of the voltage Vb is equal to or greater than the threshold time Tth), the latching claw 33 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) is switched to a state in which the battery 200 is not held with respect to the actuator 40. Control signal for output.

  In addition, when the charging control unit 20 determines that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 has decreased to a preset threshold voltage Vth after the locking claw 33 has not locked the battery 200, Release the control signal output.

  The battery pallet 30 is a battery installation tool on which a battery 200 made of a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery is mounted during charging. As shown in FIG. 2, the battery pallet 30 has a recess (hereinafter referred to as “battery receiving hole 31”) corresponding to the outer shape of the battery 200, and the battery 200 is charged with the battery receiving hole 31 when the battery 200 is charged. It is attached to. For example, the battery pallet 30 has a battery receiving hole 31 into which about half of the outer shape of the rectangular parallelepiped battery 200 (longitudinal half of the body, etc.) is inserted, and is a stand-type instrument that holds the battery 200 in an upright state. be able to.

  Further, the battery pallet 30 includes an extruding spring 32 for extruding the battery 200 from the battery receiving hole 31. The battery 200 is mounted in the battery receiving hole 31 in a state where the pushing spring 32 of the battery pallet 30 is pushed. When the pushing spring 32 is pushed in and the battery 200 is mounted in the battery receiving hole 31, the latching claw 33 for maintaining the battery 200 in the mounted state resists the elastic force of the pushing spring 32 and the battery 200. Lock. When the battery 200 is thus installed in the battery receiving hole 31, the terminal 201 of the battery 200 and the charging terminal 34 of the battery pallet 30 are in contact with each other.

  The actuator 40 operates the locking claw 33 of the battery pallet 30 according to the control signal of the charging control unit 20 to switch from the state in which the battery 200 is held to the state in which the battery 200 is not held. When the actuator 40 switches from the state in which the battery 200 is held to the state in which the battery 200 is not held, the battery 200 is pushed out from the battery receiving hole 31 by the elastic force of the pushing spring 32 (hereinafter referred to as “pop-up state” as appropriate). .) As a result, the terminal 201 of the battery 200 and the charging terminal 34 of the battery pallet 30 are not in contact with each other.

  The display unit 50 is configured by a display device such as a liquid crystal display device, and displays various types of information according to a control signal from the charging control unit 20. Specifically, the display unit 50 displays “charging” when the charging control unit 20 is applying the rated charging voltage Vb, and the charging control unit 20 displays that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is the charging completion voltage. When it is determined that the voltage is Vf, “charge complete” is displayed. Further, the display unit 50 displays “charge stop” when the charge control unit 20 determines that the charge stop condition is satisfied. In addition, when displaying “charge stop”, the display unit 50 may perform display prompting confirmation of the cause of the charge stop. For example, the display unit 50 displays a message prompting the user to confirm the cause of the charging stop: “The terminal voltage did not reach the charging voltage for a certain period of time. Check if the terminal is dirty, the battery is detached, or the battery is defective. Please display ".

(Configuration example of battery pallet 30)
Next, a configuration example of the battery pallet 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.
In FIG. 2, the battery pallet 30 includes a battery receiving hole 31, a pushing spring 32, a locking claw 33, a charging terminal 34, a side wall 30a, and a locking claw spring 30b.
The battery receiving hole 31 is a recess formed with four sides surrounded by the side wall portion 30a, and has a shape corresponding to a part of the outer shape of the battery 200 (in this embodiment, a shape that accommodates a half body in the longitudinal direction of the battery 200). )have.
The pushing spring 32 is a leaf spring installed at the bottom of the battery receiving hole 31 and urges the bottom surface of the battery 200 that has entered the battery receiving hole 31 in a direction to push out from the battery receiving hole 31.

  The locking claw 33 is a claw member installed on the side wall portion 30 a in the battery receiving hole 31. As shown in FIG. 3, the locking claw 33 is biased by a locking claw spring 30 b in a direction protruding from the side wall portion 30 a, protrudes from the side wall portion 30 a in a steady state, and enters the side wall portion when the battery 200 enters. It is pushed into 30a. In the battery 200, an engagement hole 200 a is formed at a position facing the locking claw 33 when the bottom surface reaches the bottom of the battery receiving hole 31. When the latching claw 33 is engaged with the engagement hole 200 a by the biasing force of the latching claw spring 30 b, the battery 200 is held in the battery receiving hole 31. The latching claw 33 can be pulled into the side wall 30a by the actuator 40 against the urging force of the latching claw spring 30b, and the actuator 40 is driven in accordance with a control signal from the charging control unit 20. Then, the latching claw 33 is drawn into the side wall portion 30a.

  The charging terminal 34 is a terminal for electrical connection with the battery 200, and is installed at a position where it does not interfere with the pushing spring 32 at the bottom in the battery receiving hole 31. A terminal 201 is installed on the bottom of the battery 200 at a position corresponding to the charging terminal 34 when mounted on the battery pallet 30.

  With such a configuration, when the battery 200 enters the battery receiving hole 31 while pushing the latching claw spring 30b into the side wall 30a, and further pushes the pushing spring 32 to reach the bottom of the battery receiving hole 31. The latching claw 33 is engaged with the engagement hole 200 a of the battery 200, and the battery 200 is mounted in the battery receiving hole 31. At this time, the terminal of the battery 200 comes into contact with the charging terminal 34 installed at the bottom of the battery receiving hole 31. As a result, the battery 200 can be applied with the rated charge voltage Vb.

  When the actuator 40 pulls the locking claw 33 into the side wall portion 30a by the control signal of the charging control unit 20, the battery 200 is pushed out from the battery receiving hole 31 by the urging force of the pushing spring 32, and the pop-up state is established. Become. As a result, the terminal of the battery 200 and the charging terminal 34 installed at the bottom of the battery receiving hole 31 are not in contact with each other.

(Operation)
Next, the operation of the charging device 1 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the charging device 1. 5 is a timing chart showing a normal charging operation of the charging device 1, FIG. 5A shows a terminal voltage, and FIG. 5B shows a timing chart of a control signal of the actuator 40. FIG. Further, FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing a charging operation in which charging of the charging device 1 is stopped, FIG. 6A shows a terminal voltage, and FIG. . The operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 will be described below with reference to the timing charts of FIGS.

(Step S1)
The charging device 1 monitors the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 by the charging control unit 20 (specifically, determines whether or not the voltage has changed from 0 [V]), whereby the battery 200 is mounted on the battery pallet 30. It is detected that
(Step S2)
When the battery 200 is mounted on the battery pallet 30, the charging device 1 starts applying the rated charging voltage Vb to the charging terminal 34 by the charging control unit 20 (time T0 in FIGS. 5A and 6A). ).

(Step S3)
The charging device 1 determines whether or not the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is the charging completion voltage Vf by the charging control unit 20 after starting to apply the rated charging voltage Vb.
In Step S3, when it is determined that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is not the charging voltage, the charging device 1 proceeds to the process of Step S4.
On the other hand, when it is determined in step S3 that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is the charging completion voltage Vf (see time T1 in FIG. 5A), the charging apparatus 1 proceeds to the process of step S5.

(Step S4)
In the charging apparatus 1, the charging control unit 20 determines whether or not the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 satisfies the charging stop condition.
In step S4, when it is determined that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 does not satisfy the charging stop condition, the charging device 1 proceeds to the process of step S3.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 satisfies the charging stop condition (see time T4 in FIG. 6A), the charging apparatus 1 proceeds to the process of step S5.

(Step S5)
The charging device 1 determines that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is the charging completion voltage Vf in step S3 and that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 satisfies the charging stop condition in step S4. In this case, the charging control unit 20 outputs a control signal for switching the latching claw 33 to the state not holding the battery 200 to the actuator 40 (time T1 in FIG. 5B, FIG. 6B). (See time T4).

(Step S6)
The charging device 1 pulls the locking claw 33 into the side wall portion 30a by the actuator 40.
As a result, the battery 200 enters a pop-up state (see time T2 in FIG. 5A and time T5 in FIG. 6A).
(Step S7)
The charging device 1 monitors the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 by the charging control unit 20 (specifically, determines whether or not it is Vth), whereby the terminal of the battery 200 and the charging terminal 34 are in contact with each other. It is detected that it is not in a state (non-contact state) (see time T3 in FIG. 5A and time T6 in FIG. 6A).

(Step S8)
The charging device 1 cancels the control signal output from the charging control unit 20 to the actuator 40 in step S5 (see time T3 in FIG. 5B and time T6 in FIG. 6B).
Thereby, the charging apparatus 1 will be in the state which can be charged again.
After step S8, the charging device 1 ends the charging operation.
In FIG. 5A, the charging control unit 20 stops the application of the rated charging voltage Vb to the charging terminal 34 at the timing of either time T1 or time T3. Similarly, in FIG. 6A, the charging control unit 20 stops applying the rated charging voltage Vb to the charging terminal 34 at either timing T4 or T6.

As described above, this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) The charge control unit 20 brings the battery 200 into a pop-up state when the terminal voltage of the charge terminal 34 is the charge completion voltage Vf or when the charge stop condition is satisfied.
Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the battery 200 from being continuously charged in an inappropriate state.

(2) As a charge stop condition, a threshold time Tth longer than the maximum charge time Tmax required for charging the battery 200 is set for the duration from the start of application of the rated charge voltage Vb.
Therefore, only when the time required for normal charging of the battery 200 is reliably exceeded, it can be determined that the charging stop condition is satisfied, and charging can be stopped.
Therefore, the battery 200 can be appropriately charged in a normal state, and can be stopped when the battery 200 is not in a normal state.

(3) Since the battery 200 is pushed out from the battery receiving hole 31 when the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 34 is the charging completion voltage Vf or when the charging stop condition is satisfied, the charging of the battery 200 is completed or Charge stop can be easily grasped.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the first embodiment, it has been described that the battery 200 is pushed out of the battery receiving hole 31 by the push-out spring 32 and is brought into a pop-up state when the engagement of the latching claw 33 is released by the actuator 40.

On the other hand, in 2nd Embodiment, it replaces with moving the battery 200 at the time of pop-up, and it is set as the state which the charging terminal 34 and the terminal 201 of the battery 200 do not contact by moving the charging terminal 34. FIG.
The functional configuration of the charging device 1 in the second embodiment is substantially the same as the functional configuration shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment.
Therefore, the configuration of the battery pallet, which is a different part, will be mainly described.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration example of the battery pallet 130 in the second embodiment.
In FIG. 7, the battery pallet 130 includes a battery receiving hole 131, a charging terminal 132, a side wall 130a, and a charging terminal spring 130b.
The battery receiving hole 131 is a recess formed by surrounding the four sides with the side wall portion 130a, and has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the flat battery 200 in plan view. In the present embodiment, when the battery 200 is mounted on the battery pallet 130, the battery 200 is placed in the battery receiving hole 131.

  The charging terminal 132 is a terminal for electrical connection with the battery 200, and is installed at a position corresponding to the terminal 201 of the mounted battery 200 on the side wall 130 a of the battery receiving hole 131. The charging terminal 132 is configured to be movable between a position where it is exposed from the side wall part 130a by the actuator 40 and a position where it is drawn into the side wall part 130a. Specifically, the charging terminal 132 includes a charging terminal spring 130b, and protrudes from the side wall portion 130a by a biasing force of the charging terminal spring 130b in a steady state. The charging terminal 132 is pulled into the side wall portion 130a by the actuator 40 according to the control signal of the charging control unit 20 when charging is completed and when charging is stopped.

  With such a configuration, when the battery 200 is placed in the battery receiving hole 131, the terminal 201 and the charging terminal 132 of the battery 200 come into contact with each other, and the battery 200 is mounted in the battery receiving hole 31. As a result, the battery 200 can be applied with the rated charge voltage Vb.

Then, when the actuator 40 pulls the charging terminal 132 into the side wall portion 130a by the control signal of the charging control unit 20, the terminal 201 of the battery 200 and the charging terminal 132 are not in contact with each other (that is, in a pop-up state).
Under the above-described configuration, the charging device 1 in the second embodiment performs the same operation as the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment.
However, in step S7 of FIG. 4, instead of the operation of pulling the locking claw 33 into the side wall 30a, the charging terminal 132 is pulled into the side wall 130a as described above.
Accordingly, when it is determined that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 132 is the charging completion voltage Vf, and when it is determined that the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 132 satisfies the charging stop condition, the terminal 201 of the battery 200 is displayed. And charging terminal 132 are not in contact with each other.

As described above, this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) The charging control unit 20 draws the charging terminal 132 into the side wall portion 130a when the terminal voltage of the charging terminal 132 is the charging completion voltage Vf or when the charging stop condition is satisfied. Then, the battery 200 is brought into a pop-up state.
Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the battery 200 from being continuously charged in an inappropriate state.

(2) By pulling the charging terminal 132 into the side wall portion 130a by the actuator 40, the terminal 201 of the battery 200 and the charging terminal 132 are not in contact with each other (pop-up state).
Therefore, instead of the battery 200, the smaller charging terminal 132 is moved to a pop-up state, so that the terminal 201 and the charging terminal 132 of the battery 200 can be brought into a non-contact state with a simpler configuration.
As described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications as shown below are possible and are within the scope of the present invention.

(Modification 1)
In the above embodiment, the duration from the start of application of the rated charge voltage Vb is set as the charge stop condition.
On the other hand, various conditions indicating the possibility that the battery 200 is being charged in an inappropriate state can be set as the charge stop condition.
For example, the charging device 1 includes any one of a temperature sensor, a microphone, and a vibration sensor, and a threshold value of temperature, sound, or vibration detected by these can be set as a charge stop condition.
Thereby, after the start of application of the rated charge voltage Vb, the charging can be stopped when the temperature of the battery 200 exceeds the threshold, when the sound above the threshold is generated, or when the vibration above the threshold is generated.

As charging stop conditions, a plurality of conditions indicating the possibility that the battery 200 is being charged in an inappropriate state are set, and charging is stopped when the conditions are satisfied most quickly among these. It is also good.
For example, the above-described temperature, sound, and vibration are detected, and charging can be stopped when any of them exceeds a threshold value.

(Modification 2)
In the above embodiment, the battery 200 or the charging terminal 132 is moved using the biasing force of the pushing spring 32 or the charging terminal spring 130b.
In contrast, the position of the battery 200 or the charging terminal 132 can be moved by an actuator instead of the biasing force of the spring.
Thus, the position of the battery 200 or the charging terminal 132 can be switched only by controlling the actuator without providing the pushing spring 32 or the charging terminal spring 130b.
In addition, the said embodiment and modification can also be used in combination as appropriate. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charging device, 10 AC / DC conversion part, 20 Charging control part, 30, 130 Battery pallet, 30a, 130a Side wall part, 130b Charging terminal spring, 31, 131 Battery receiving hole, 32 Extrusion spring, 33 Locking claw , 34,132 Charging terminal, 40 Actuator, 50 Display unit, 100 AC power supply, 200 Battery

Claims (3)

A battery installation part where a rechargeable battery is installed;
A battery status acquisition unit for acquiring the status of the battery installed in the battery installation unit;
Based on the status of the battery acquired by the battery status acquisition unit, the first determination for determining whether or not the charging of the battery is completed, and charging other than the first determination is stopped. A determination unit that performs a second determination to determine whether or not a charge stop condition for satisfying is satisfied,
In the case of at least one of the case where it is determined that the charging of the battery is completed by the first determination and the case where it is determined that the charging stop condition is satisfied by the second determination A battery installation release unit for canceling the installation of the battery in the battery installation unit;
A charging device comprising: The charge stop condition includes a condition related to a duration from the start of charging of the battery,
The second determination by the determination unit determines that the charge stop condition is satisfied when the duration from the start of charging of the battery is longer than the maximum charging time of the battery. The charging device according to claim 1. The charging stop condition includes a plurality of conditions among a condition relating to a duration from the start of charging of the battery, a condition relating to the temperature of the battery, and a condition relating to vibration generated in the battery,
The said 2nd determination by the said determination part determines with the said charge stop condition being satisfied when either of these conditions is satisfied, The claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The charging device described.

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