JPH06308206A - Residual power monitoring system for battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately detect the voltage drop of a battery and the voltage rise due to an electric charge by repeatedly checking the voltage level prescribed times at a fixed interval during the charge, and detecting that the voltage level reaches the prescribed level or above. CONSTITUTION:The voltage of a secondary battery 5 detected by a charge detecting circuit 2 is checked by a voltage inspecting circuit 2 prescribed times at a prescribed interval. When the detected output SG1 is the prescribed level or below, a voltage drop is detected by a micro-processor 7. When the first-stage voltage drop is detected, a charge request alarm is displayed on an indicator 12, and the power feed to a load circuit 11 is stopped by a switch 10. When the second-stage voltage drop is detected, the content of a volatile memory 8 is stored in a nonvolatile memory 9 as a backup, and the voltage rise of the circuit 6 is checked while the battery 5 is charged 1. When the first-stage voltage rise is detected, a charge action is displayed 12. When the second-stage voltage rise check is completed, charge completion is displayed 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for monitoring the amount of electric power remaining in a system having a secondary battery.

[0002]

[Prior art]

Conventional Example 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram of an embodiment of a "battery-driven electronic device" disclosed in, for example, JP-A-63-309873. In the figure, 1 is a charger, 3 is a diode, and 5
Is a secondary battery, 6 is a voltage detector, 7 is a microprocessor, 10 is a switch, 11 is a load circuit, 12 is an indicator,
Reference numeral 13 is a primary battery, 14 is a diode, and 15 is a large current load circuit.

Next, the operation will be described. It is assumed that the charger 1 is not connected to the secondary battery when operating with the secondary battery 5. The microprocessor 7 is programmed to perform a voltage drop detection process by inputting the signal S2 from the voltage detector 6. That is, if the signal S2 is not a voltage drop detection signal (high level signal), a predetermined weighting process is performed and repeated to check the level of the signal S2. When the signal S2 becomes a voltage drop detection signal, first, the A detection state is set, and in this state, the counter provided inside is set to "3". Then, while waiting for time T ₁ , the signal S from the repetitive voltage detector 6 is repeated.
Check level 2 status. This voltage check is repeated three times until the content of the counter becomes "0".
If it is checked in the middle that the level of the signal S2 is low, it is determined that the secondary battery 5 still has the discharging capability. When it is checked that the signal S2 is the voltage drop detection signal four times in succession until the counter becomes “0”, the B detection state is set. In this state, the signal S7 is output to the large current load circuit 15 for a certain period of time T ₂ and the large current load circuit 15 is disconnected from the secondary battery 5. Then, the level of the signal S2 from the voltage detector 6 is checked again. When a low level is detected in this signal level check, it is determined that the secondary battery 5 still has a discharging capacity, and the large current load circuit 15 is connected to the secondary battery 5 again. Also in this signal level check, if a high level state is detected, the C detection state is set. Then, the signal S6 is output to the display unit 12 to display the charging request.
In this state, wait for the specified time T ₃ . When the secondary battery 5 is charged during this wait and the signal S2 from the voltage detector 6 becomes low level, the charging request display is canceled. Also turning off the switch 10 outputs a signal S3 to the power switch 10 when the level of the signal S2 with time T ₃ is left at the high level. When necessary, the secondary battery is charged with a diode 3 by the charger 1.
It is designed to be charged via.

[0004]

Since the conventional secondary battery power remaining amount monitoring device is constructed as described above, only the power remaining amount monitoring for the voltage drop of the secondary battery is considered. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to cope with an unexpected situation such as stopping charging during the operation when the voltage of the secondary battery rises by connecting the charger. Further, since the predetermined level of voltage drop is only one level, it is not known that the voltage has dropped until the state where charging is really needed. For example, in a device that you carry with you,
There is a possibility that an inconvenient situation occurs in which normal operation cannot be performed because the voltage drop is detected immediately after being carried and used. Further, in this conventional example, the primary battery 13 is required, and no consideration is given to the control when the remaining amount of power of the primary battery is reduced.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is possible to accurately detect the voltage level of the secondary battery not only when the voltage of the secondary battery decreases but also when the voltage increases due to charging. A quantity monitoring device is provided.
Further, the present invention provides a secondary battery power remaining amount monitoring device having a function of notifying the user with a margin when charging is necessary and notifying the user even when the charging is sufficiently completed. Further, it is possible to provide a system in which there is no fear of losing the contents of the memory even if there is no primary battery for backup.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery power remaining amount monitoring system, comprising a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage state of a battery by providing a reference voltage when the voltage level rises due to charging. A voltage rise check means for repeatedly checking the detection output of the voltage detection circuit at predetermined intervals for a predetermined number of times, and in the predetermined number of checks by the voltage rise check means, the detection output may be a predetermined level or higher. It has a voltage rise detecting means for detecting a voltage rise when it is detected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power remaining amount monitoring system for a battery, wherein a first voltage drop detecting means is provided for detecting two steps by providing two levels of reference voltages when the voltage level is lowered by discharging. Further, the second voltage drop detecting means has a first processing procedure such as an alarm and a power supply stop and a second processing procedure in a state where the voltage drop detection processing is performed at each stage. .

The battery remaining power monitoring system according to the third invention of the present invention is 2 in response to an increase in voltage level due to charging.
After the reference voltage of each stage is provided, and the first voltage rise output check means for checking the detection output of the voltage detection circuit at each stage and the second voltage rise output check means for checking at each stage , A first processing procedure such as power supply, and a second processing procedure.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery power remaining amount monitoring system, wherein a voltage drop detecting means for detecting a voltage drop detection when the voltage level is lowered due to discharge, and the contents of the volatile memory are stored in a nonvolatile memory. It has a memory backup means for backing up.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery power remaining amount monitoring system, which comprises a voltage rise checking means for repeatedly checking a detection output of a voltage detection circuit a predetermined number of times.
During the predetermined number of checks performed by the voltage rise checking means, the voltage rise detecting means detects that the detection output by the voltage rise checking means is equal to or higher than a preset predetermined level, so that the situation where the voltage rises can be closely monitored. Therefore, when the user charges the battery, it is possible to set the remaining amount of the battery power to an arbitrary value and charge the battery.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the battery power remaining amount monitoring method, when it is detected that the voltage drop due to discharge is below a preset first predetermined level, the first
The second voltage drop detection means performs the voltage drop detection when the voltage drop detection means detects the voltage drop and is equal to or lower than the second predetermined level which is set lower than the first predetermined level in advance. Therefore, the state of voltage drop can be monitored in detail, the battery will not suddenly run out during use, and the user can know the necessity of charging before the operation cannot be performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the battery power remaining amount monitoring method, when it is detected that the voltage rise due to charging is equal to or higher than a first predetermined level, the first rise detecting means detects the voltage rise. When it is detected that the voltage is higher than the second predetermined level, the second voltage rise detection means detects the voltage rise, so the situation of the voltage rise due to charging can be closely monitored, and the user can check the voltage level. By setting an arbitrary value, it is possible to continue the operation only by charging the power required for the time being, for example, when the user wants to charge the battery quickly.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the battery power remaining amount monitoring method, when it is detected that the voltage drop due to discharge is below a predetermined level, the memory backup means transfers the contents of the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory. Since the backup is performed, the user can perform the operation without being aware of the loss of the battery during the operation without losing the data during the operation due to the exhaustion of the battery.

[0014]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an apparatus for simultaneously performing discharging and charging in the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a charger,
2 is a charge detection circuit, 3 is a diode, 4 is a diode,
5 is a secondary battery, 6 is a voltage detection circuit, 7 is a microprocessor, 8 is volatile memory, 9 is non-volatile memory, 10
Is a switch, 11 is a load circuit, and 12 is a display. 2 and 3 are flow charts showing the flow of control, and FIG. 4 is a state diagram for each voltage level.

In this embodiment, a charge detection circuit 2 which is a voltage detection circuit for detecting the voltage state of the secondary battery 5 and a voltage check for checking the output of the charge detection circuit 2 a predetermined number of times at predetermined intervals. Voltage detection circuit 6 as means
Then, in all the predetermined number of checks by the voltage detection circuit 6, when it is detected that the detection output is equal to or lower than the predetermined level, the microprocessor 7 detects the voltage drop. This voltage drop detection process is divided into first and second steps. When the voltage drop in the first step is detected, a charge request alarm is issued by the indicator 12 which is an alarm means, and the switch 10 which is a power source stop means. The power supply to the load circuit 11 is stopped. Further, when the voltage drop of the second stage is detected, the contents of the volatile memory are backed up to the non-volatile memory under the control of the microprocessor 7 having the memory backup means. After that, the secondary battery 5 is charged. While charging, the voltage detection circuit 6, which is a voltage rise checking means, repeatedly checks the detection output of the charge detection circuit 2 for a predetermined number of times at regular intervals. In all the predetermined number of checks by the voltage detection circuit 6, the fact that the detection output is set higher than a predetermined level is detected by the microprocessor 7 having a built-in voltage rise detection means. This voltage increase check is divided into a first stage and a second stage. When the first-stage voltage rise detection is performed, the indicator 12 that is the charging notification unit informs that the battery is being charged, and when the second-stage voltage rise check is completed, the display that is the charging completion notification unit is displayed. The device 12 is characterized by notifying the completion of charging. The details will be described below.

The operation of discharging and charging in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow of FIGS. 2 and 3. First, the secondary battery 5 has sufficient power and starts from a normal operation state (S1). In this case, the charger 1 is removed. The microprocessor 7 is programmed to carry out control according to the flow chart shown in FIG. 2 by inputting the signal SG1 from the voltage detection circuit 6. If the signal SG1 is not at level 1 or lower (S4), the counter value is set to "3" (S4).
In step 2), the predetermined weight processing is performed (S3), and the signal SG
Repeat 1 level check. When the signal SG1 becomes level 1 or less (S4), the counter value is decremented by 1 (S4).
5) (First voltage drop checking means). This voltage check is repeated three times until the content of the counter becomes "0" (S6), that is, three times. If it is checked that the level of the signal SG1 is higher than the level 1 on the way, it is judged that the discharge capacity of the secondary battery 5 is still present (loop returning from S4 to the top). If it is checked that SG1 is at level 1 or less four times in succession until the counter becomes "0", the first voltage drop detection state is set (S7). In this state, the signal SG6 is output for a certain period of time to display the charge request warning on the display device 12 (S8). Further, the signal SG3 is output to disconnect the load circuit 11, and the supply of power to the load circuit 11 is stopped (S9). Then, again the voltage detection circuit 6
The level of the signal SG1 from is checked (second voltage drop checking means). In this voltage level check, it is judged whether or not it is level 2 or lower (S10), and if it is level 2 or lower, it is recognized as the second voltage drop detection state (S12), and the memory backup operation is performed (S1).
3). That is, the signal SG4 is output to the volatile memory 8 to read the data, and the signal SG5 is output to the nonvolatile memory 9 to write the data. Level 2 in S10
The charge detection circuit 2 accepts the detection signal SG2 while determining whether or not it is below, and if the detection signal SG2 is input, a charging sequence described later (S15).
Control is transferred to. Memory backup operation (S13)
After that, if left as it is, the power of the secondary battery 5 becomes zero, and all the operations are stopped while the contents of the nonvolatile memory 9 are stored. Next, when the charger 1 is connected, S15
Move to. The secondary battery 5 is charged via the diode 4. The microprocessor 7 sets the counter value to "3"
Predetermined weighting processing is performed in the state (S16) set to (S17), and the signal SG1 level check is repeated (S18). When the signal SG1 becomes level 3 or higher, the counter value is decremented by 1 (S20) (first voltage rise check means). This voltage check is repeated three times until the content of the counter becomes "0" (S21), that is, three times. If it is checked that the level of the signal SG1 is lower than the level 3 on the way, it is determined that the charging of the secondary battery 6 is still insufficient (loop returning from S18 to the top). Further, if it is checked that SG1 is at level 3 or more four times in succession until the counter becomes "0" (S21), the first
The voltage rise detection state is brought about (S23). In the loopback from S18 and the loopback from S21, the charging detection circuit 2 detects the disconnection of the charger and outputs the signal SG2.
When the error occurs, the microprocessor 7 accepts (S19, S22). If the signal SG2 is generated, the control immediately shifts to S8. When the first voltage rise detection state is reached, the signal SG6 is generated and the notice of completion of charging is displayed on the display 12 (S24). Then, the level of the signal SG1 from the voltage detection circuit 6 is checked again (second voltage rise checking means). In this voltage level check, it is judged whether or not it is level 4 or higher (S25), and if it is level 4 or higher, it is recognized as the second voltage rise detection state and the second voltage rise detection state is set (S28). S
G6 is generated to notify the display 12 of the completion of charging (S2
9). Further, the signal SG3 is generated to connect the load circuit 11 to the secondary battery 5. Further, the signal SG5 is generated to read the nonvolatile memory 9, and if the data is written in S13, the signal SG4 is generated to return the data to the volatile memory 8. Then, the load circuit 11 is connected and power is supplied to the load circuit 11 (S30). If the signal SG1 is not at level 4 or higher in S25, wait processing is performed for a predetermined fixed period (S26), and the SG1 level is checked again (S25). During the repeated level check, the microprocessor 7 receives the output signal SG2 from the charge detection circuit 2. If the charger 1 is disconnected and SG2 is generated, the control is immediately shifted to S1. This state is a state in which charging is not completed sufficiently, but it does not matter, the process proceeds to S1. In this state, for example, when there is not enough time to charge the battery, the battery is charged up to level 3 or more and then carried outside to be operated by the secondary battery. In this case, prioritizing the immediate use of the battery, knowing that the battery may run out soon.

Example 2. In the first embodiment described above, the output level of the voltage detection circuit 6 is checked four times, but the present invention is not limited to this. Also, S8
The use of the display 12 as the means for notifying the charging request warning of S24, the notification of the completion of charging in S24, and the notification of the completion of charging in S29 has been described, but the invention is not limited to this, and a light emitting element such as a buzzer or an LED may be used. It may be used.

As described above, in the first and second embodiments, the decrease in voltage due to discharging and the increase in voltage due to charging are checked in two stages, and the reference voltage is determined in each checking stage. If charging is required due to a voltage drop, the user can be informed with sufficient margin, and when the voltage reaches the first level of voltage rise before the voltage rise is completed by charging, the user can You can know that the charging of is completed. Furthermore, the check of each step in the voltage drop and the voltage rise is as follows.
Since the voltage level must be reached a predetermined number of times a predetermined number of times, it is possible to finely monitor the remaining amount of power when the voltage drops and the voltage rises. Furthermore, since the voltage drop check is performed in two stages, it is possible to reliably perform backup without losing the contents of the memory when the primary voltage drop is detected.

Example 3. In the first embodiment, the drop in voltage due to discharge and the rise in voltage due to charge are checked in two stages, but only either the drop in voltage or the rise in voltage is checked in two stages, and the other is checked. It doesn't matter if the check is performed in one step. If the check of the voltage drop is made in one step, the processes of S10 to S12 are eliminated, and immediately after the power supply stop process of S9, S13 is performed.
The memory backup operation will be performed. If the voltage rise check is made in one step, S24 to S2
The processing up to 8 is eliminated, and immediately after the first voltage rise detection state of S23, the charging completion notification of S29 is performed, and S30 is performed.
Will be performed.

As described above, in the third embodiment, the check of either the voltage drop or the voltage rise is made one step. Therefore, for example, by making the voltage drop check one step, memory backup is performed. The time from the operation to the charging is shortened, and the memory backup is performed with a margin left for the remaining voltage. Also,
By setting the voltage increase check to one stage, it is possible to perform the normal operation by charging the minimum voltage when it is desired to charge the battery quickly.

Example 4. In the above-mentioned Examples 1 to 3, the description has been given based on the device in which two phenomena of the voltage decrease due to discharge and the voltage increase due to charge may occur, but in this Example, the normal operation is performed by using the dry battery. A feature of such a device is that the voltage drop due to discharge is checked in two stages. Details will be described below. The circuit diagram in this embodiment is the diode 4, the secondary battery 5, the voltage detection circuit 6, the microprocessor 7 shown in FIG.
The display 12, the switch 10, and the load circuit 11 are provided. The functions are the same as those described in the first embodiment.

Next, the procedure for detecting a voltage drop will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the secondary battery 5 has sufficient power and starts from a normal operation state (S1). The microprocessor 7 is programmed to perform control according to the flow chart shown in FIG. 5 by the input of the signal SG1 from the voltage detection circuit 6. If the signal SG1 is not at level 1 or lower (S4), the signal SG1 level check is repeated. When the signal SG1 becomes equal to or lower than the level 1 (S4), the first voltage drop detection state is set (S7). In this state, the signal SG6 is output for a certain period of time to display the primary charging request alarm on the display device 12 (S8). Then, the level of the signal SG1 from the voltage detection circuit 6 is checked again. In this voltage level check, it is determined whether the voltage is level 2 or lower (S10), and if the voltage is level 2 or lower, the second voltage drop detection state is recognized (S1).
2) Output the signal SG3 to switch the load circuit 11 to the switch 1
It is cut off by turning off 0 (S30). Next, the signal SG6 is output to the display device 12 for a certain period of time to display the secondary charging request alarm (S31). When the secondary charging request alarm is issued, the device in this embodiment is in the operation stop state, and therefore the operation of the device is in the stop state until the user charges the battery used in the device. It remains.

Example 5. In the fourth embodiment, when the voltage of the device is lowered and the normal operation state cannot be maintained,
Although the power supply was stopped and the charging request alarm was displayed to the user, in a device such as a personal computer, it is necessary to back up the data stored in the memory before the power supply is stopped. In this case, after the detection of the second voltage drop detection state (S12) of FIG. 5, the power supply is stopped,
If the memory backup operation is performed, the contents of the memory can be saved even if the voltage drops and the operation becomes inoperable. In the flow chart of FIG. 5 used in the fourth embodiment, the power supply is stopped when the second voltage drop detection state is reached, but the first voltage drop detection state (S
After 7), the power supply may be stopped after the primary charging request alarm (S8) is displayed on the display device. The important thing is how to save the contents of the memory before the voltage is completely exhausted.

As described above, in the fourth to fifth embodiments, the voltage drop due to the discharge is checked in two stages.
With a device that uses a battery or the like as a power source, the user can know the remaining battery level with a sufficient margin.

Example 6. This embodiment shows one embodiment of an apparatus for charging a battery, and the circuit diagram of the apparatus is as shown in FIG. 1, a charger 1, a charge detection circuit 2, a diode 3, a diode 4, a secondary battery 5 , A voltage detection circuit 6, a microprocessor 7, and a display 12.
It is assumed that these functions are the same as those in the first embodiment.

When the battery is charged by this device, the voltage rise is detected in two stages. The voltage level is set in advance at each stage and the voltage rise above these voltage levels is set. It is characterized by detecting that there was.

The processing procedure for charging the battery will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Charging is started in S15. The secondary battery 5 is charged via the diode 4. The microprocessor 7 checks the level of the signal SG1 from the voltage detection circuit 6, and when the level of the signal SG1 is checked to be level 3 or higher (S
18), the first voltage rise detection state is set (S23). When the first voltage rise detection state is reached, the microprocessor 7 generates a signal SG6 to the display device 12 to display a notice of completion of charging (S24). Then, the level of the signal SG1 from the voltage detection circuit 6 is checked again (second voltage rise checking means). In this voltage level check, if the voltage level is level 4 or higher (S25), it is recognized as the second voltage rise detection state, and the second voltage rise detection state is set (S28), and the microprocessor 7 causes the display unit to display. A signal SG6 is generated for 12 to notify the completion of charging (S29). This completes the charging of the voltage of level 4 or higher.

Example 7. In the sixth embodiment, the first and second
When checking the voltage rise of the above, it was confirmed that the voltage was higher than the level set at each stage, but even if the voltage rise level is checked at each stage, it is repeated a predetermined number of times. Good. In this case, the processing procedure is S16 to S21 in FIG.
As in the processing of (1), first, "3" is set in advance in the counter value (S17), wait processing is performed (S17), and it is checked whether or not the voltage increase is level 3 or more (S17).
18). When the level is 3 or higher, 1 is subtracted from the counter (S20), and the counter value reaches 0 until S17-
The process of S21 is repeated. This means that charging is performed until it is confirmed that the voltage rise is level 3 or higher four times.

Example 8. Further, in the above-mentioned Embodiments 6 to 7, when the second voltage rise detection state is entered, the completion of charging is recognized, but when it is desired to perform charging in a hurry or the voltage may be charged to a certain extent. In this case, when the first voltage rise detection state is reached, the notice of completion of charging is displayed on the display unit 12, so charging may be completed here.

As described above, in the devices which only perform charging as in the above-described sixth to eighth embodiments, the user can finely check the situation of the voltage increase due to the remaining power level by checking the voltage increase due to charging in two steps. The quantity can be monitored. In addition, if you want to charge with a margin,
When the voltage is charged until the second voltage rise detection state is reached, and it is sufficient to charge the battery enough voltage to operate the battery, charging is performed when the first voltage rise detection state is reached. The charging time can be shortened by terminating the charging halfway.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the voltage rise check means repeatedly checks the detection output of the voltage detection circuit a predetermined number of times at regular intervals,
When the voltage rise detection means detects that the detected output is equal to or higher than a preset predetermined level in the predetermined number of checks performed by the voltage rise check means, the voltage rise detection is performed, so that the power remaining in detail regarding the voltage drop due to discharge is retained. This has the effect of enabling quantity monitoring.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first voltage drop detecting means is such that the detection output is below a preset first predetermined level in the check by the first voltage drop checking means. When it is detected, a voltage drop detection is performed, and the second voltage drop check means has a detection output below a preset second predetermined level in the check by the second voltage drop check means. When a voltage drop is detected, the voltage drop is detected, so there is no possibility that a device that is operating on a battery will suddenly stop operating due to a voltage drop. There is an effect that you can know.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first aspect
The voltage rise detection means of the first voltage rise check means checks the detection output by the first voltage rise check means.
When it is detected that the voltage is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, the second voltage information checking means causes the second voltage information checking means to check the output by the second voltage rising checking means. When it is detected that the voltage is higher than the level, the voltage rise is detected, so that the user can know the charging status of the voltage in two stages. There is an effect that the battery can be charged according to the purpose of the user, such as when charging the battery.

Furthermore, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention,
In the check by the voltage drop checking means, when the voltage drop detecting means detects that the detected output is below a preset predetermined level, the voltage drop detecting means performs the voltage drop detecting, and the output of the voltage drop detecting means backs up the memory backup. The means backs up the contents of the volatile memory to a non-volatile memory that retains information regardless of the power of this battery, so that the user loses the necessary information stored in the volatile memory due to the reduction of the power. If the battery of this device is charged without using the information, the necessary information can be obtained by re-storing the information stored in the volatile memory again in the volatile memory.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an apparatus for simultaneously performing discharging and charging according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control flow in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control flow in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a state diagram for each voltage level according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control flow in Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of control in Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit of a battery-driven electronic device in Conventional Example 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Charger 2 Charge detection circuit 3 Diode 4 Diode 5 Secondary battery 6 Voltage detection circuit (unit) 7 Microprocessor 8 Volatile memory 9 Nonvolatile memory 10 Switch 11 Load circuit 12 Indicator 13 Primary battery 14 Diode 15 High current load circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A battery, a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage state of the battery, a charger, a charge detection circuit for detecting connection / disconnection of the charger, and a detection output of the charge detection circuit are defined. Charging check means for checking during a predetermined period, voltage rise checking means for repeatedly checking the detection output of the voltage detection circuit a predetermined number of times with the charger connected, and a predetermined voltage rise checking means A method for monitoring the remaining amount of electric power of a battery, comprising a voltage rise detection means for detecting a voltage rise when it is detected that the detection output is equal to or higher than a predetermined level set in advance by checking the number of times. 2. A battery, a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage state of the battery, a first voltage drop check means for checking an output of the voltage detection circuit, and a check by the first voltage drop check means. Predetermined by a first voltage drop detecting means for detecting a voltage drop when it is detected that the detected output is below a preset first predetermined level, and an output of the first voltage drop detecting means. A first processing means for performing a first voltage drop detection process;
Second voltage drop check means for checking the detection output of the voltage detection circuit in the state where this processing is performed, and the second voltage drop check means.
Second voltage drop detecting means for detecting a voltage drop when it is detected by the voltage drop checking means that the detected output is equal to or lower than a second predetermined level which is set lower than the first predetermined level in advance. A method for monitoring the remaining amount of electric power of a battery provided with a second processing unit that performs a second predetermined voltage reduction detection process based on the output of the second voltage reduction detection unit. 3. A battery, a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage state of the battery, a charger, and a first voltage rise check means for checking a detection output of the voltage detection circuit in a state where the charger is connected. A first voltage rise detection means for detecting a voltage rise when it is detected by the first voltage rise check means that the detection output is equal to or higher than a first predetermined level; and the first voltage rise detection. First processing means for performing a first voltage rise detection processing predetermined by the output of the means, and second voltage rise checking means for checking the detection output of the voltage detection circuit in the state where this processing is performed, A second voltage rise detecting means for detecting a voltage rise when it is detected by the second voltage rise checking means that the detected output is equal to or higher than a second predetermined level; The method for monitoring the remaining amount of electric power of a battery, which comprises a second processing means for performing a second voltage rise detection processing that is predetermined by the output of the second voltage rise detection means. 4. A battery, a volatile memory that operates by the supply of electric power from the battery, a non-volatile memory that retains information regardless of whether or not the battery has power, and a voltage that detects the voltage state of the battery. A detection circuit, a voltage drop check means for checking the output of the voltage detection circuit, and a voltage drop detection when the detection output is detected to be below a preset predetermined level in the check by the voltage drop check means A method for monitoring the remaining amount of electric power of a battery, which comprises a voltage drop detection means and a memory backup means for backing up the contents of a volatile memory to a non-volatile memory by the output of the voltage drop detection means.