JPH0624355U - Battery charger - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To realize a battery charger with a safe and simple structure that can charge a storage battery using an existing AC adapter or the like. [Structure] A DC current input terminal that can input a DC current from an AC adapter is arranged at the rear portion of the battery charger. The charging circuit 12 charges the storage batteries mounted in the storage battery mounting units 4 and 5 under the control of the charging control circuit 11 by using the direct current supplied through the charging circuit 12.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a battery charger for charging a storage battery used as a power source for portable electronic devices and the like.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In the field of electronic devices typified by personal computers and the like, rechargeable storage batteries are often used as driving power sources. A special battery charger is usually included as an accessory to recharge the storage battery. As is well known, a battery charger is a rectifier circuit part for converting alternating current to direct current, a charging circuit part for charging the battery using the converted direct current, and a control circuit for controlling the charging operation. It is basically composed of parts. Since the battery charger handles 100V AC current, it must meet certain safety standards, and it is necessary to dispose a heat sink etc. appropriately for efficient heat dissipation.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Here, an electronic device using a storage battery as a power source is generally equipped with an AC adapter, and normally, a direct current obtained from a commercial 100 V AC through this AC adapter is used as driving power. An object of the present invention is to realize a simple battery charger capable of charging a battery by using an AC adapter, paying attention to the existence of an AC adapter.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above problems, a battery charger of the present invention comprises at least one storage battery mounting portion for mounting a storage battery to be charged, and a charging circuit portion for charging the storage battery mounted in the storage battery mounting portion. It is characterized by having a DC current input terminal for inputting DC current from the outside as a DC current for charging. Normally, the above-mentioned input terminal uses the plug-in terminal of the output jack of the AC adapter. Also, if a part of the case of the battery charger is removable and the storage battery mounting part is formed in this removable case part, it is possible to support storage batteries of various shapes by simply replacing this case part. preferable.

[0005]

[Action]

 At the time of charging, attach the target storage battery to the storage battery mounting part and insert the AC adapter jack into the DC voltage input terminal. When the AC adapter is plugged into a household power line outlet, the DC current obtained via the AC adapter is input to the battery charger via the input terminal. The installed storage battery is charged using this DC current.

[0006]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show the overall shape of the battery charger of this example. As shown in these figures, the battery charger 1 of this example has a structure in which each part is incorporated into a lower case part 2 and an upper case part 3 which are divided into upper and lower parts. On the upper surface of the upper case part 3, a front part of the battery charger is an inclined surface 31, and a part continuous to the rear side of the inclined surface is a horizontal surface 32. Storage battery mounting ports 4 and 5 are formed on the inclined surface 31 and the horizontal surface 32 so that the storage batteries B1 and B2 each having a rectangular parallelepiped shape can be mounted vertically from above.

In addition, on the inclined surface 31, at the front side of the storage battery mounting port 4, four LEDs 6 (61, 62, 63, 64) for displaying the charging operation state and the mounted storage battery are provided. A refresh switch 7 for discharging is arranged. On the other hand, on the rear side surface 33 of the upper case 3, a DC current input terminal 8 into which a jack of an AC adapter can be inserted is attached.

FIG. 6 shows a circuit configuration of the battery charger 1 of this example. As shown in the figure, the battery charger 1 mainly includes a charging control circuit 11 and a charging circuit 12. The charging control circuit 11 supplies a DC current of a rating of 12 V input from the DC voltage input terminal 8 to the charging circuit 12 as a charging current. The output side of the charging circuit 12 is connected to the load side terminals 13a, 13b and 14a and 14b installed on the bottom surfaces of the storage battery mounting portions 4 and 5, respectively. Further, the charge control circuit 11 controls the drive of the LED 6 via the drive circuit 15, and when receiving the signal generated by pressing down the switch 7, the charge control circuit 11 controls the discharge of the mounted storage battery. Further, a timer 16 is connected to the charging control circuit 11, and the charging time is controlled based on the timer count here. The four LEDs 61, 62, 63, 64 display the operation modes for the storage batteries B1, B2 mounted on the mounting parts 4, 5, respectively.

For example, by changing the light emission color and light emission mode of these LEDs, it is possible to display operation modes such as quick charge, discharge, and trickle charge.

The battery charger 1 of this example configured as described above is used as follows to charge the storage battery. First, the storage batteries B1 and B2 to be charged are mounted on the mounting portion 4 or 5, or both of them. Next, insert the jack of the AC adapter into the input terminal 8. Also, plug the input side of the AC adapter into an AC 100V outlet. As a result, the storage batteries mounted in the mounting parts 4 and 5 are charged by the direct current supplied from the side of the AC adapter.

In the above example, two storage battery mounting portions are provided, but the number may be one, or three or more. Further, the operation mode is displayed by using four LEDs, but the number may be less than four or more than four. Further, although the input voltage has been described as 12V, it goes without saying that a low-voltage current having a value other than this may be input. Although detailed description of the internal circuit configuration and the charge control operation is omitted, these are the same as those of the commonly used battery charger.

[0013]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, in the battery charger of the present invention, instead of arranging the rectifier circuit part for rectifying the high voltage alternating current to form the direct current for charging, the direct current is directly input. It uses a configuration with input terminals.

Therefore, by using the AC adapter or the like attached to the electronic device, the storage battery can be charged similarly to the conventional battery charger. Moreover, since there is no circuit part handling high voltage or a circuit part with a large amount of heat dissipation inside, it is not necessary to consider the occurrence of fire or heat dissipation from such parts. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a safe battery charger with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a battery charger according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the battery charger of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the battery charger of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the battery charger of FIG.

5 is a rear view of the battery charger of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a circuit configuration example of the battery charger of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Battery charger 2 ... Lower case 3 ... Upper case 4, 5 ... Storage battery mounting part 8 ... DC current input terminal 11 ... Charging control circuit 12 ... Charging circuit

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A at least one storage battery mounting portion for mounting a storage battery to be charged, a charging circuit portion for charging the storage battery mounted in this storage battery mounting portion, and a direct current as an external charging current. And a DC current input terminal for the battery charger. 2. The battery charger according to claim 1, wherein the DC current input terminal is a plug-in terminal into which an output jack of an AC adapter can be plugged. 3. The battery according to claim 1, wherein a part of the case of the battery charger is removable, and the storage battery mounting portion is formed in the removable case part. Charger.