JP3371684B2 - Charging device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charging device for charging a device to be charged, and more particularly to a charging device suitable for a mobile phone or the like that can detect and notify a battery abnormality on the device to be charged side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mobile device (charged device) such as a mobile phone is charged by a separate charger and driven by a battery. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional charger and mobile unit. The mobile unit 1 is provided with a battery 4 which receives a charge from the charging circuit 3 of the charger 2, and the battery 4 controls and charges for a call. The microcomputer 5 that performs control for is operated. The microcomputer 5 is supplied with power via the constant voltage circuit 6, and the battery voltage detection circuit 7 detects the voltage of the battery 4.

The mobile unit 1 is constructed so as to be constantly charged when placed on the charger 2. When the voltage of the battery 4 is lower than the operable voltage of the microcomputer 5, the charger 2 is charged. The circuit 3 operates independently (without being controlled by the microcomputer 5) to charge the battery 4. Then, when the voltage of the battery 4 becomes higher than the operable voltage of the microcomputer 5, the charging circuit 3 of the charger 2 is controlled by the microcomputer 5 and stops charging.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional device, the microcomputer 5 cannot operate when the voltage of the battery 4 is lower than the operable voltage of the microcomputer 5. Therefore, even if the charging circuit 3 starts charging independently, there is an abnormality in the battery 4 and the microcomputer 5
If the voltage of the battery 4 does not rise to the operable voltage of No. 2, there is a problem that the charging state continues forever and wasteful charging is performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and informs the user that the battery is abnormal even when the battery on the side to be charged is lower than the operable voltage of the microcomputer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a charging device capable of charging.

[0006]

To this end, in the invention according to claim 1, a charging section for supplying electric power from a power source, a battery to be charged from this charging section, and an electric power of this battery are to be charged. In a charging device including a supply unit that supplies a control unit that controls, an auxiliary supply unit that supplies driving power to the control unit separately from the supply unit, and a low voltage detection that detects the voltage of the battery. And a low voltage detection unit that supplies power from the auxiliary supply unit to the control unit when the low voltage detection unit detects that the voltage of the battery is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a switch unit for controlling connection / disconnection between the supply unit and the control unit is provided, and the low voltage detection unit has a battery voltage lower than the operable voltage of the control unit. When it is detected, the switch section is disconnected.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the charger is provided with the charging unit for supplying the electric power from the power source, and the battery to be charged from the charging unit and the control unit for controlling the electric power of the battery to the device to be charged. In a charging device provided with a supply unit for supplying to a device to be charged, an auxiliary supply unit for supplying driving power to the control unit separately from the supply unit is provided in the charger, and the supply unit and the control unit are provided. A switch unit for controlling connection / disconnection of the battery and a low-voltage detection unit for detecting the voltage of the battery are provided in the to-be-charged device, and the low-voltage detection unit detects that the voltage of the battery is an operable voltage of the control unit. When it is detected that the temperature is lower than the above, the switch section is disconnected and the auxiliary supply section supplies electric power to the control section.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a notifying unit for notifying the battery abnormality and being controlled by the control unit, and a voltage detecting unit for detecting the voltage of the battery between the battery and the control unit. However, when it is detected that the voltage of the battery is below a certain value for a certain period of time, the notifying section is driven.

In the invention according to claim 5, the voltage detecting section comprises:
It is characterized in that the control unit stops the charging of the battery by the charging unit when it is detected that the voltage of the battery is equal to or less than the constant value for a certain period of time.

[0011]

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings, but configurations denoted by the same reference numerals represent the same or corresponding configurations. Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are block diagrams showing a charging device of the present example, in which reference numeral 11 denotes a device to be charged such as a mobile device of a mobile phone or a cordless phone which is charged by a charger 12. The charger 12 includes a power supply connector 13 connected to an external power supply, a charging unit 14 connected to the power supply connector 13 and configured by an IC, and an auxiliary supply connected to the power supply connector 13 to supply a constant voltage of, for example, about 3V. A constant voltage unit 15 as a unit is provided. Further, the charger 12 is provided with a terminal block 21 having connection terminals 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 on its surface.

The charger 11 includes, for example, a control unit 22 composed of a microcomputer that also controls communication, a constant voltage unit 23 as a supply unit for supplying constant power to the control unit 22, and a constant voltage. A rechargeable battery 24 that supplies electric power to the unit 23 and a voltage detection unit 25 that is provided between the battery 24 and the control unit 22 to detect the voltage of the battery are formed. Further, a switch unit 26 as a supply control unit that controls connection / disconnection between the constant voltage unit 23 and the control unit 22, an auxiliary supply unit 15a that supplies electric power from the constant voltage unit 15 of the charger 12 to the control unit 22, When the voltage of the battery 24 is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit 22, the constant voltage unit 15 of the charger 12
Each of the low-voltage detection units 27 that drives the switch and controls the switch unit 26 is provided in the charged device 11. The auxiliary supply unit 15a is provided with a diode for preventing current from flowing backward when the switch unit 26 is in the connected state.

The low voltage detector 27 is composed of a general voltage detector, and when the voltage of the battery 24 is lower than a preset voltage, that is, the operable voltage of the controller 22,
For example, the output is changed from H to L and the switch unit 26 is OF
The F state may be set and the constant voltage unit 15 may be activated. Further, it is preferable that the constant voltage unit 23 is configured by a voltage regulator or the like having an ON / OFF function.

The control unit 22 has a function of starting and stopping the charging of the charging unit 14 to the battery 24, in addition to the control for the call. That is, when the control unit 22 detects the charger 12 by a known detection unit (not shown), the charging unit 14 is controlled to start charging via the circuit 29, and the voltage detection unit 25 causes the voltage of the battery 24 to be charged. When it is detected that the charge has recovered to a certain value, the control unit 22 controls the stop of charging via the circuit 29. In addition, when the voltage detection unit 25 detects that the voltage of the battery 24 is equal to or less than the constant value for a certain period of time, the control unit 22 controls the charging unit 14 via the circuit 29, the terminal 20 a, and the terminal 20. It controls and stops the charging part 14. The constant time and the constant value in this case may be appropriately set to values which are assumed to indicate battery abnormality, but may be, for example, 1 second, 2.15V.

Further, the control unit 22 is connected to an informing unit 28 for informing the user that the battery is abnormal, and the informing unit 28 may be constituted by a known informing means such as a speaker or an LED. It suffices that the sounding, light emission, and driving of the notification unit 28 notify the abnormality of the battery. In addition, a terminal block 21 is formed on the surface of the charger 11, and the terminals 16a, 17a, 18a, 19a, 20a are provided at the positions corresponding to the terminals 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 on the charger 12 side, respectively. Placed and connected.

In the charging device having the above structure, the battery 2
When the voltage of 4 is in the normal range, the low voltage detection unit 27 is in the non-abnormality detection state in which the abnormality of the battery 24 is not detected, and the power supply of the control unit 22 is switched. , The constant voltage unit 15 on the charger 12 side
Is not supplied, so that there is no output from the constant voltage unit 15. For this reason, the control unit 22 of the charger 11 uses the battery 24
The constant voltage is constantly supplied from the constant voltage unit 23 to operate. Further, the current from the constant voltage unit 23 is blocked by the diode of the auxiliary supply unit 15a, so that the charger 1
Backflow to the 2 side is prevented.

On the other hand, the battery 2 detected by the low voltage detector 27
When the voltage of 4 is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit 22, the low voltage detection unit 27 determines that the battery is abnormal, enters the abnormality detection state, and the switch unit 26 is not connected (FIG. 2). As a result, the power supply from the constant voltage unit 23 to the control unit 22 is stopped, and the low voltage unit 15 on the charger 12 side is switched to the supply state. Therefore, the control unit 22 controls the battery 24
Regardless of the voltage, the power is supplied from the constant voltage unit 15 as an auxiliary supply unit provided on the charger 12 side, so that stable power supply is possible even when the battery 24 is malfunctioning or abnormal. Will be received.

When the voltage detector 25 detects that the voltage of the battery 24 is below a certain value for a certain period of time,
When the control unit 22 determines that the battery is abnormal, the charging unit 14 stops charging the battery 24 via the circuit 29.

Therefore, according to the charging device of the present embodiment, the constant voltage unit 15 (auxiliary supply unit) for supplying driving power to the control unit 22 separately from the constant voltage unit 23 (supply unit), and the battery 24. And a low voltage detection unit 27 for detecting the voltage of the control unit 22 when the low voltage detection unit 27 detects that the voltage of the battery 24 is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit 22. Since the electric power is supplied to the control unit 22,
The power can be stably supplied regardless of the state of the battery. Therefore, the alarm unit 28 can notify the user of the battery abnormality, and the control unit 22 can function even if the battery is abnormal.

When the battery 24 has an abnormality and the voltage detector 25 detects that the voltage of the battery 24 is below a certain value for a certain period of time, it is determined that the battery is abnormal,
Since the control unit 22 stops the charging of the battery 24 by the charging unit 14, it is possible to automatically prevent the unnecessary charging from being continued.

Further, the constant voltage section 23 (supply section) and the control section 2
A switch unit 26 for controlling connection / disconnection with 2 is provided,
When the low voltage detection unit 27 detects that the voltage of the battery 24 is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit 22, the switch unit is disconnected. Therefore, the constant voltage unit 23 and the constant voltage unit 15 (auxiliary supply unit) are connected. Can be easily switched, and even if a voltage weaker than the regular voltage is output from the constant voltage unit 23, only the power from the auxiliary supply unit can be supplied to the control unit 22.

Further, since the constant voltage unit 15 is provided on the charger 12 side, the space occupied by the charged unit 12 can be reduced as compared with the case where the constant voltage unit 15 is provided on the charged unit 11. Can be made smaller, which is more advantageous when the device to be charged 11 is a mobile device such as a mobile phone. Further, the constant voltage section 15 can obtain the same effect even if it is provided on the charged device 11 side, but in this case, the terminals 17, 17 are further added.
It is possible to eliminate a and reduce the number of parts.

Further, a diode is used for the auxiliary supply unit 15a, and when the switch unit 26 is in the connected state, the constant voltage unit 23 supplies power to the control unit 22 and a constant voltage in order to prevent reverse current flow. The power supply from the unit 15 to the control unit 22 can be realized by the same circuit, and the circuit for this can be prevented from being complicated.

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, a notification unit 28 for reporting an abnormality in the battery 24
The one provided on the charged device 11 side is shown, but in this example, the one provided on the charged device 12 side is shown (FIG. 3). It should be noted that the same or corresponding components as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 3, the charger 12 includes a charging unit 14
There is provided a low voltage detection unit 31 that detects the voltage of the battery 24 by detecting the voltage of the circuit 30 that connects the battery 24 and the battery 24. The low voltage detection unit 31 includes an LED that drives an LED 33 that notifies the user that the battery 24 is abnormal.
The drive unit 32 is connected, the LED drive unit 32 is driven by the output of the low voltage detection unit 31, and the lighting / extinguishing of the LED 33 is controlled. The low voltage detector 31 is the battery 2
The LED 33 is turned on when it is detected that the voltage of No. 4 is below a certain value (for example, about 2.15 V) continuously for a certain time (for example, about 1 second), and is turned off when this condition is not satisfied. I am doing it.

For this reason, the low-voltage detector 31 uses the battery 24
When it is detected that the voltage is below a certain value continuously for a certain period of time, the LED driving unit 32 drives the above-mentioned notifying unit to turn on the LED 33 to notify the battery abnormality, so that the user turns on the LED 33. By visually recognizing the
You can check the abnormalities and deal with them. Therefore, it is prevented that the charging work is unnecessarily continued. In addition, LED
A known notification means may be used instead of 33.

Therefore, according to this example, the LED 33 and the LED driving unit 32 for notifying the battery abnormality and the low voltage detecting unit 31 for detecting the voltage of the battery 24 are provided in the charger 12, and the low voltage detecting unit 31 When it is detected that the voltage of the battery 24 is below a certain value for a certain period of time, the LED driving unit 31
The battery charger is driven to notify the battery abnormality, so that the charger 12 side can detect and notify the battery abnormality of the battery 24 on the charger 11 side, and can prompt the user to take good action. Since it is not necessary to provide a configuration for detecting a battery abnormality in the battery charger 11, it is possible to design the charged device 11 in a small size.

[0029]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an auxiliary supply unit for supplying driving power to the control unit is provided separately from the supply unit, and a low voltage detection unit for detecting the voltage of the battery is provided. When the detection unit detects that the battery voltage is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit, the auxiliary supply unit supplies power to the control unit, so that the control unit is stable regardless of the state of the battery. Since the power can be supplied, when the control unit notifies the battery abnormality, it has an effect of being able to function even if the battery has abnormality.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a switch unit for controlling connection / disconnection between the supply unit and the control unit is provided, and the low voltage detection unit determines that the battery voltage is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit. To disconnect the switch when it detects
The supply unit and the auxiliary supply unit can be easily switched, and even if the supply unit outputs a voltage weaker than the normal voltage, only the power from the auxiliary supply unit can be supplied to the control unit. Has the effect that can.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effects of the inventions of claims 1 and 2, since the auxiliary supply part is provided on the charger side, the auxiliary supply part is not provided on the charged device side, and This has the effect of making the divided charger smaller.

In the invention according to claim 4, a notifying part for notifying the battery abnormality and being controlled by the control part, and a voltage detecting part for detecting the voltage of the battery are provided between the battery and the control part. However, when it detects that the voltage of the battery is below a certain value continuously for a certain period of time, the alarm unit is driven, so when the battery is abnormal, the user can be notified of the battery abnormality. This has the effect of prompting replacement and stopping the wasteful continuation of charging.

In the invention according to claim 5, the voltage detecting section comprises:
When it is detected that the voltage of the battery is below a certain value for a certain period of time, it is judged that the battery is abnormal, and the control unit stops the charging of the battery by the charging unit. There is an effect that can be automatically prevented.

[0034]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional charging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is a charged device, 12 is a charger, 14 is a charging unit, 15 is a constant voltage unit (auxiliary supply unit), 22 is a control unit, 23 is a constant voltage unit (supply unit), 24 is a battery, and 25 is voltage detection. Section, 26 is a switch section, 27 is a low voltage detection section, 28 is a notification section, 31
Is a low voltage detector, 32 is an LED driver, and 33 is an LED.

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A charging device comprising: a charging unit for supplying electric power from a power source; a battery for receiving charging from the charging unit; and a supplying unit for supplying electric power of the battery to a control unit for controlling a device to be charged. In the above, an auxiliary supply unit that supplies driving power to the control unit separately from the supply unit, and a low voltage detection unit that detects the voltage of the battery are provided, and the low voltage detection unit is
A charging device characterized in that, when it is detected that the voltage of the battery is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit, power is supplied from the auxiliary supply unit to the control unit. 2. A switch unit for controlling connection / disconnection between the supply unit and the control unit is provided, and when the low voltage detection unit detects that the battery voltage is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit, The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the switch unit is not connected. 3. A charger having a charging unit for supplying electric power from a power source, the battery receiving a charge from the charging unit, and a supplying unit for supplying the electric power of the battery to a control unit for controlling the device to be charged. In the charging device provided in the device to be charged, an auxiliary supply unit that supplies driving power to the control unit separately from the supply unit is provided in the charger, and connection / disconnection between the supply unit and the control unit is performed. A switch unit for controlling and a low voltage detecting unit for detecting the voltage of the battery are provided in the charger, and the low voltage detecting unit detects that the voltage of the battery is lower than the operable voltage of the control unit. The charging device is characterized in that the switch section is disconnected when the charging is performed and electric power is supplied from the auxiliary supply section to the control section. 4. An informing unit for notifying a battery abnormality and being controlled by the control unit, and a voltage detecting unit for detecting the battery voltage between the battery and the control unit are provided, and the voltage detecting unit detects the battery voltage. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit is driven when it is detected that the value is equal to or less than a certain value continuously for a certain period of time. 5. The control unit stops the charging of the battery by the charging unit when the voltage detecting unit detects that the voltage of the battery is below a certain value for a certain period of time. The charging device according to 4.