JP6679792B2 - Power supply device and program - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a power supply device and a program .

  In recent years, a power feeding device and a power receiving device using a contactless power feeding technique have appeared. Also, in the field of POS systems and the like, the use of contactless power feeding technology is being promoted. For example, a non-contact power feeding type power feeding unit is installed on a part of a back surface side of a top plate such as a table, and a power receiving unit corresponding to an electronic device such as a printer mounted on the front surface of the top plate is mounted. As a result, it is possible to contactlessly supply power to an electronic device placed in an area (power supply area) where the power supply unit can supply power on the surface of the top plate. Further, in this case, since the power cord is unnecessary, the electronic device can be used at a relatively free position.

  However, if the top plate has a relatively large area such as a table, it is difficult to know where the power supply area exists.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a power supply device and a program capable of easily identifying a position suitable for power supply.

The power supply device of the embodiment is a top plate, a power supply unit provided on the top plate for performing non-contact power supply to a power reception unit of an electronic device mounted on the top plate, and the power supply unit in the top plate. A light emitting portion provided in association with each other, a power feeding state determining means for determining whether the power feeding portion is in a power feeding state, and a control means for causing the light emitting portion to emit light when the power feeding state determining means determines a non-power feeding state And an acquisition unit configured to acquire a state of the electronic device, wherein the control unit executes a predetermined operation other than a power receiving operation in which the state of the electronic device acquired by the acquisition unit is preset as a notification condition. When the inside is indicated, the light emission color or the light emission pattern of the light emitting unit is changed for each operation set under the notification condition to emit light.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the configuration of the contactless power feeding system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an upper surface of a top plate of the power feeding device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an A-A ′ cross section of the power feeding device shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the electrical configuration of the power feeding device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5: is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the light emission control process which the electric power feeder of 1st Embodiment performs. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the electrical configuration of the electronic device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of light emission control processing executed by the electronic device of the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a power feeding device and a power receiving device will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment described below is an embodiment of the power feeding device and the power receiving device, and does not limit the configuration, specifications, or the like.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the configuration of the contactless power feeding system according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the contactless power feeding system includes a power feeding device 10 and various electronic devices 20. The power supply device 10 is a table-shaped fixture such as a checkout counter. The power feeding device 10 includes a top plate 11, a support 12 that supports the top plate 11, and the like. In addition, an electronic device 20 corresponding to the power receiving device of the present embodiment is placed on the surface of the top plate 11 of the power feeding device 10.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an upper surface (front surface) of the top plate 11 of the power feeding device 10. In addition, FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an A-A ′ cross section of the power feeding device 10 illustrated in FIG. 2. A power supply unit 13 for contactless power transmission is installed on a part of the back surface side of the top plate 11. The power feeding unit 13 is a non-contact power feeding type power feeding unit capable of non-contact power transmission. The power feeding unit 13 forms an area in which power can be fed (hereinafter referred to as a power feeding area) at the position of the top plate 11 on which the power feeding unit 13 is installed. When the electronic device 20 is placed in the power available area on the top plate 11, the power supply unit 13 supplies power to the electronic device 20 in a non-contact manner. The power transmission method of the power feeding unit 13 is not particularly limited, and for example, an electromagnetic induction method, an electromagnetic field resonance method, a radio wave method or the like may be used. In addition, the number of power supply units 13 included in the power supply device 10 is not limited to the illustrated example.

  In addition, a light emitting unit 14 including a light emitting element, a light guide member, and the like is installed on the back surface of the top plate 11. The type of the light emitting element is not particularly limited, and for example, a point light source such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or a surface light source may be used.

  The light emitting unit 14 is provided in association with each of the power feeding units 13. Specifically, the light emitting unit 14 is provided in association with the power supply possible area formed by each power supply unit 13. For example, the light emitting unit 14 is installed so as to surround the power supply unit 13 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Further, as another example, the light emitting unit 14 may be installed so as to cover the power feeding unit 13 when viewed from the surface of the top plate 11. When the power supply area is formed to be larger or smaller than the power supply section 13, the light emitting section 14 is provided at a position or area corresponding to the power supply area.

  In addition, the top plate 11 is formed of a member (for example, an insulator such as glass or an acrylic material) that is light-transmissive and does not interfere with the power feeding (power transmission) of the power feeding unit 13. Further, the top plate 11 is more preferably a member capable of diffusing light (for example, a milky white resin plate). In addition, in the top plate 11, a region corresponding to the installation positions of the power feeding unit 13 and the light emitting unit 14 may be formed by the above member.

  The power supply device 10 also includes a control unit 15 that controls the operations of the power supply unit 13 and the light emitting unit 14 described above (see FIG. 4). The power supply device 10 also includes a power supply unit (not shown) that supplies power to the power supply unit 13, the light emitting unit 14, the control unit 15, and the like.

  On the other hand, the electronic device 20 is an electronic device that receives power supplied from the power supply device 10 (power supply unit 13) in a contactless manner and operates based on the power. The electronic device 20 includes a power receiving unit that receives the power transmitted from the power feeding unit 13, a secondary battery that stores the power received by the power receiving unit, and an electric load unit that operates by the power receiving unit or the power supplied from the secondary battery. Etc. (none are shown). The device type of the electronic device 20 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a POS terminal, a printer, a code scanner, a display device, or the like. For example, when the electronic device 20 is a printer, the electric load unit corresponds to a printer engine, a printer controller, or the like that realizes a printer function.

  In the case of the above configuration, by placing the electronic device 20 on the surface of the top plate 11 in the power-feedable area, it is possible to feed power without contact. In this case, since the power cord is unnecessary, the electronic device 20 can be used at a relatively free position (layout). Further, when the electronic device 20 wirelessly communicates with another device, a communication cable is not necessary, and thus the degree of freedom in layout is further increased.

  However, as in the power feeding device 10 shown in FIG. 1, when the mounting area of the top plate 11 is relatively large with respect to the power feeding area, it is difficult to know where the power feeding area exists. In addition, even if the electronic device 20 (power receiving unit) is placed with respect to the power feeding unit 13 in a displaced manner, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to recognize the state.

  Therefore, in the power supply device 10 (control unit 15) of the present embodiment, by controlling the light emitting unit 14, the power available area and the state of power supply (power reception) are notified by light emission. The electrical configuration of the power supply device 10 will be described below.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the electrical configuration of the power feeding device 10. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the power supply device 10 includes the power supply unit 13 and the light emitting unit 14 described above, and a control unit 15 that controls light emission of the light emitting unit 14.

  The control unit 15 has a computer configuration such as a processor (e.g., CPU) and a memory (e.g., ROM, RAM) (none are shown). The processor of the control unit 15 centrally controls the operation of the power supply device 10 by executing various programs stored in the memory. Further, the control unit 15 includes a power supply state determination unit 151, a position shift detection unit 152, a power receiving side state acquisition unit 153, and a light emission control unit 154 as functional units. The power supply state determination unit 151 and some or all of these functional units may have a hardware configuration realized by a dedicated circuit or the like, or realized by cooperation of a processor and various programs stored in the memory. It may be a software configuration to be performed.

  The power feeding state determination unit 151 is a functional unit that determines the state of the power feeding unit 13. Specifically, the power feeding state determination unit 151 determines whether or not the power feeding unit 13 is feeding power to the electronic device 20.

  The positional shift detection unit 152 detects a positional shift between the power feeding unit 13 and the electronic device 20 (power receiving unit). Here, the “position shift” means that the electronic device 20 is displaced from the arrangement position suitable for the non-contact power supply, and corresponds to, for example, the case where the electronic device 20 is placed out of the power supply area. It is known that in the non-contact power feeding method using electromagnetic induction, the transmission efficiency is greatly deteriorated due to the position shift of the power receiving coil with respect to the power transmitting coil. Therefore, the position shift detection unit 152 detects the position shift of the electronic device 20 with respect to the power feeding unit 13 based on a change in mutual inductance, a decrease in charging efficiency, and the like. The method of detecting the positional deviation is not particularly limited, and publicly known / publicly used techniques can be used.

  The power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 is a functional unit that acquires the state of the electronic device 20. Specifically, the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 communicates with the electronic device 20, and acquires the state of the electronic device 20 based on the signal transmitted from the electronic device 20. For example, in the non-contact power feeding method using electromagnetic induction, it is possible to communicate with the power receiving side by superimposing a signal on the input current to the power transmission coil and performing ASK modulation or the like. In this case, the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 transmits a signal inquiring about the state of the electronic device 20, and acquires the state of the electronic device 20 based on the signal (response signal) transmitted from the electronic device 20. Note that a publicly-known / publicly-used technique can be used regardless of a communication method with the electronic device 20 (power receiving side). The state acquired by the power-reception-side state acquisition unit 153 is not particularly limited, but is preferably a state related to a notification condition described later.

  The light emission control unit 154 is a functional unit that controls the light emitting unit 14. Specifically, the light emission control unit 154 controls the light emission of the light emitting unit 14 in cooperation with the power supply state determination unit 151, the position shift detection unit 152, and the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153.

  For example, the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light while the power supply state determination unit 151 determines that power is not being supplied. Here, the light emission control unit 154 may perform “continuous light emission” in which the light emitting unit 14 continuously emits light or “intermittent light emission” in which light emission is intermittently performed while it is determined that power is not being supplied. When the light emitting unit 14 has a multicolor light source, it may be “monochromatic light emission” in which a predetermined single color is emitted, or “multicolor light emission” in which light is emitted while changing colors. Hereinafter, the light emission control when the power is not supplied is referred to as “first light emission control”.

  Further, for example, the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light while the position shift detection unit 152 detects the position shift. Here, the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light by the above-described continuous light emission, intermittent light emission, monochromatic light emission, multicolor light emission, or the like while the positional deviation is detected. In addition, it is preferable that the light emission color and the light emission pattern at the time of detecting the displacement are different from those in the first light emission control. Hereinafter, the light emission control at the time of detecting the positional deviation will be referred to as “second light emission control”.

  Further, for example, the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light when the state of the electronic device 20 acquired by the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 corresponds to a predetermined condition (notification condition). Here, it is assumed that the notification condition can be set arbitrarily. Note that the notification condition is stored in advance in a memory (not shown) included in the control unit 15.

  For example, a threshold value related to the remaining charge amount may be set as the notification condition. In this case, the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 acquires the state of charge of the secondary battery included in the electronic device 20 as the state of the electronic device 20. Then, when the charge remaining amount acquired by the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 is lower than the threshold of the notification condition, the light emission control unit 154 emits light from the light emitting unit 14 by the above-described continuous light emission, intermittent light emission, single color light emission, multicolor light emission, or the like. Let

  Further, it may be set as a notification condition that a predetermined operation (function) is being executed. For example, it is assumed that printing is set as the notification condition. In this case, the power receiving side status acquisition unit 153 acquires the operation status indicating whether or not printing is in progress as the status of the electronic device 20 (printer). Then, the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light by the above-described continuous light emission, intermittent light emission, single color light emission, multicolor light emission, or the like when the operation state acquired by the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 indicates that printing is in progress.

  In addition, it is preferable that the emission color and the emission pattern when the notification condition is satisfied are different from those of the first emission control and the second emission control. Further, it is preferable to switch the emission color and the emission pattern for each notification condition. Hereinafter, the light emission control when the notification condition is met is referred to as “third light emission control”.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the power supply device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of light emission control processing executed by the power supply device 10 (control unit 15).

  First, the power feeding state determination unit 151 determines whether the power feeding unit 13 is feeding power (step S11). Here, when it is determined that the power is not being supplied (step S11; No), the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emission unit 14 to emit light by performing the first light emission control (step S12), and returns to step S11.

  When it is determined in step S11 that power is being supplied (step S11; Yes), the misalignment detection unit 152 determines whether the power supply unit 13 and the electronic device 20 are misaligned (step S13). Here, when the positional shift is detected (step S13; Yes), the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emission unit 14 to emit light by performing the second light emission control (step S14), and returns to step S11.

  When the positional deviation is not detected in step S13 (step S13; No), the power receiving side state acquisition unit 153 acquires the state of the electronic device 20 (step S15). Next, the light emission control unit 154 determines whether the state acquired in step S15 corresponds to the notification condition (step S16). Here, when it is determined that the notification condition is satisfied (step S16; Yes), the light emission control unit 154 causes the light emission unit 14 to emit light by performing the third light emission control (step S17), and returns to step S11.

  If it is determined in step S16 that the notification condition is not satisfied (step S16; No), the light emission control unit 154 turns off the light emitting unit 14 (step S18), and the process returns to step S11.

  As described above, the power feeding device 10 of the present embodiment causes the light emitting unit 14 installed in association with the power available area to emit light when the power feeding unit 13 is in the non-power feeding state. With this, since the power-supplyable area on the top plate 11 can be indicated by the light emission, the user can easily identify the power-supplyable area. In addition, the power feeding device 10 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light when the electronic device 20 (power receiving unit) is placed while being displaced with respect to the power feeding unit 13 (power feeding area or the like). With this, since it is possible to notify the user of the positional deviation, the user can easily recognize the positional deviation. In addition, the power supply apparatus 10 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light when the state of the electronic device 20 satisfies a predetermined notification condition. Thereby, the state of the electronic device 20 can be notified, and the user can recognize the state of the electronic device 20 without operating the electronic device 20.

[Second Embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the area where power can be supplied, the state of displacement, and the like are represented by light emission on the power supply side. In the second embodiment, a configuration will be described in which a power supply possible area on the power receiving side, a state of positional deviation, and the like are represented by light emission.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the electrical configuration of the electronic device 20A according to the second embodiment. The electronic device 20A is an electronic device such as a printer device corresponding to the electronic device 20 shown in FIG. In the case of the present embodiment, the power feeding side may be the power feeding device 10 described above, or may be a power feeding device in which the light emitting unit 14 and the functional unit related to the light emission control of the light emitting unit 14 are removed. .

  As shown in FIG. 6, the electronic device 20A includes a power receiving unit 21, a secondary battery 22, a power load unit 23, a light emitting unit 24, and a control unit 25.

  The power receiving unit 21 is a contactless power feeding type power receiving unit. The power reception unit 21 receives the power supplied from the power supply device 10. The power receiving unit 21 also supplies the received power to each unit of the electronic device 20A. The power receiving unit 21 is provided on the back surface side of the surface facing the top plate 11 when placed on the front surface of the top plate 11, for example, on the bottom of the electronic device 20A.

  The secondary battery 22 is a secondary battery such as a battery that stores the electric power supplied from the power receiving unit 21. The secondary battery 22 supplies electric power to each unit of the electronic device 20 (20A) when power is not supplied. The power load unit 23 is an electronic device that operates by the power supplied from the power receiving unit 21 or the secondary battery 22.

  The light emitting unit 24 includes a light emitting element such as a multicolor LED (Light Emitting Diode) or a surface light source. The light emitting unit 24 emits light under the control of the control unit 25. The position where the light emitting unit 24 is installed is not particularly limited, and may be any position as long as the emitted light can be visually recognized from the outside. For example, the light emitting unit 24 may be provided around the housing of the electronic device 20A. Further, for example, the light emitting unit 24 may be provided on the operation panel of the electronic device 20A.

  The control unit 25 has a computer configuration such as a processor and a memory (none of which is shown). The control unit 25 controls the light emitting operation of the light emitting unit 24 based on the state of the power receiving unit 21. Specifically, the control unit 25 includes a power receiving state determination unit 251, a position shift detection unit 252, and a light emission control unit 253 as functional units. Note that these functional units may have a hardware configuration realized by a dedicated circuit or the like, or may have a software configuration realized by cooperation between a processor and various programs stored in the memory.

  The power receiving state determination unit 251 is a functional unit that determines the state of the power receiving unit 21. Specifically, the power receiving state determination unit 251 determines whether or not the power receiving unit 21 is receiving power from the power feeding device 10 (power feeding unit 13).

  The position shift detection unit 252 is a functional unit corresponding to the position shift detection unit 152 described above, and detects a position shift between the power receiving unit 21 and the power feeding device 10 (power feeding unit 13). The method of detecting the positional deviation is not particularly limited, and publicly known / publicly used techniques can be used.

  The light emission control unit 253 is a functional unit that controls the light emitting unit 24. Specifically, the light emission control unit 253 controls the light emission of the light emitting unit 24 in cooperation with the power receiving state determination unit 251 and the position shift detection unit 252.

  For example, the light emission control unit 253 causes the light emitting unit 24 to emit light when the power receiving state determination unit 251 determines that power is being received. Here, the light emission control unit 253 may perform “continuous light emission” in which the light emitting unit 14 continuously emits light while it is determined that power is being received, or “intermittent light emission” in which light emission is intermittently emitted. In addition, “temporary light emission” may be performed in which the light emitting unit 14 is made to emit light and then turned off after a predetermined time. When the light emitting unit 14 has a multicolor light source, it may be “monochromatic light emission” in which a predetermined single color is emitted, or “multicolor light emission” in which light is emitted while changing colors. Hereinafter, the light emission control at the time of receiving power is referred to as “fourth light emission control”.

  Further, for example, the light emission control unit 253 causes the light emitting unit 24 to emit light while the position shift detection unit 252 detects the position shift. Here, the light emission control unit 253 causes the light emitting unit 24 to emit light by the above-described continuous light emission, intermittent light emission, single-color light emission, multicolor light emission, or the like while the position shift is determined. In addition, it is preferable that the light emission color and the light emission pattern at the time of detecting the displacement are different from those in the fourth light emission control. Hereinafter, the light emission control at the time of detecting the positional deviation will be referred to as “fifth light emission control”.

  The operation of the electronic device 20A will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the light emission control process executed by the electronic device 20A (control unit 25).

  First, the power receiving state determination unit 251 determines whether the power receiving unit 21 is receiving power (step S21). Here, when it is determined that the power is not being received (step S21; No), the light emission control unit 253 turns off the light emitting unit 14 (step S22) and returns to step S21.

  When it is determined in step S21 that the power is being received (step S21; Yes), the positional shift detection unit 252 determines whether the power receiving unit 21 and the power supply device 10 are in the positional shift state (step S23). Here, when the positional deviation is detected (step S23; Yes), the light emission control unit 253 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light by performing the fifth light emission control (step S24), and returns to step S21.

  Further, when the positional deviation is not detected in step S23 (step S23; No), the light emission control unit 253 causes the light emitting unit 14 to emit light by performing the fourth light emission control (step S25), and the process returns to step S21.

  As described above, the electronic device 20A according to the present embodiment causes the light emitting unit 24 provided at the visible position to emit light when the power receiving unit 21 is in the power receiving state. Accordingly, since it is possible to indicate whether or not the mounting position of the electronic device 20A is in the power supply area by the light emission of the light emitting unit 24, the user can easily identify the power supply area. In addition, the electronic device 20 causes the light emitting unit 24 to emit light when the electronic device 20 (power receiving unit) is placed with a shift from the power feeding unit 13 (power supply possible area). With this, since it is possible to notify the user of the positional deviation, the user can easily recognize the positional deviation.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above embodiments are presented as examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and the gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

  For example, the electronic device 20A described above is configured to include the secondary battery 22, but the configuration is not limited to this, and the electronic device 20A may be configured to include no secondary battery. In this case, the control unit 25 is activated when power reception by the power reception unit 21 is started, and executes the light emission control process described above.

  The program executed by each device of the above-described embodiment is provided by being pre-installed in a storage medium (ROM or storage unit) included in each device, but is not limited to this, and an installable format or an executable format. The file may be recorded and provided on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). Furthermore, the storage medium is not limited to a medium independent of a computer or an embedded system, but includes a storage medium in which a program transmitted via a LAN, the Internet, etc. is downloaded and stored or temporarily stored.

  Further, the program executed by each device of the above embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network and provided by downloading via the network, or may be provided via the network such as the Internet or It may be configured to be distributed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 power supply device 11 top plate 12 support body 13 power supply section 14 light emitting section 15 control section 151 power supply state determination section 152 misalignment detection section 153 power receiving side state acquisition section 154 light emission control section 20 electronic device (power receiving device)
21 power receiving unit 22 secondary battery 23 power load unit 24 light emitting unit 25 control unit 251 power receiving state determination unit 252 misalignment detection unit 253 light emission control unit

JP 2006-314181 A

Claims (4)

A top plate ,
Provided in the top plate, and a feeding unit for supplying power of the non-contact power receiving portion of the electronic equipment to be placed on the top plate,
A light emitting unit provided in the top plate in association with the power feeding unit,
A power supply state determination means for determining whether the power supply unit is in a power supply state,
Control means for causing the light emitting portion to emit light when the power supply state determining means determines that the power is not supplied,
Acquisition means for acquiring the state of the electronic device,
Equipped with
The control means, when the state of the electronic device acquired by the acquisition means is preset as a notification condition, indicating that a predetermined operation other than the power receiving operation is being performed, for each operation set under the notification condition. A power supply device that emits light by changing the emission color or emission pattern of the light emitting unit. Further comprising a positional deviation detecting means for detecting a positional deviation between the power feeding section and the power receiving section,
The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the light emitting unit to emit light when the position shift detection unit detects a position shift. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit is provided around the power supply unit. A top plate, a power supply unit provided on the top plate for non-contact power supply to a power receiving unit of an electronic device mounted on the top plate, and a light emitting unit provided on the top plate in association with the power supply unit. A computer of a power supply device including
A power supply state determination means for determining whether the power supply unit is in a power supply state,
Control means for causing the light emitting portion to emit light when the power supply state determining means determines that the power is not supplied,
Acquisition means for acquiring the state of the electronic device,
And let it work,
The control means, when the state of the electronic device acquired by the acquisition means is preset as a notification condition, indicating that a predetermined operation other than the power receiving operation is being executed, the control means performs each operation set under the notification condition. A program for emitting light by changing the emission color or emission pattern of the emission section.

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