JPH0792246A - Charging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a charging apparatus which can display a remaining capacity of a battery of a charging device when the charging device is set to a charger. CONSTITUTION:A controlling IC 8 of a charging device 2 is provided with a controlling circuit 8a for controlling a charging current. When the charging device 2 is set to a charger 1, a charging power source 4 generates a voltage VSS2 on a side of the controlling circuit 8a of the controlling IC8 directly connected with a connecting terminal 7. Simultaneously when the voltage VSS2 is generated, the controlling IC8 detects a voltage VSS1 on a negative side of a battery 3 (voltage at both ends of the battery 3). The controlling circuit 8a changes the charging current to a pulse current of a cycle proportional to the detecting voltage VSS1 in accordance with the detecting voltage VSS1 during a predetermined time since the charging device is set (several seconds to several tens seconds). Accordingly, an LED 6 is flickerered with the cycle of the pulse current during the time, so that a user is informed of a remaining capacity of the battery.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charging device including a charging device having a storage battery as a power source for operation and a charger for charging the storage battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional charging device. As shown in FIG. 6, the charging device 2 is equipped with a storage battery 3 for driving, and is attached to a predetermined position of the charger 1. In addition, the charger 1 includes a charging power source 4 including a battery or an AC power source for supplying a charging current for charging the storage battery 3.
Has been delivered. Further, the charger 1 and the charging device 2 are provided with the charging terminals 5 and 5 and the connection terminals 7 and 7, and when the charging device 2 is attached to the charger 1, the charging terminals 5 and 5 are connected.
And the connection terminals 7 and 7 are connected.

As shown in FIG. 7, a light emitting diode 6 (hereinafter abbreviated as an LED) as a charging lamp that lights up the storage battery 3 during charging to inform the user that the battery is being charged.
And a series circuit with the transistor Q ₁ for lighting the LED 6 is connected in parallel between the charging terminals 5 and 5. Also,
The connection terminals 7 and 7 of the charging device 2 are connected to a control IC 8 that controls the charging device 2, and the control IC 8 is the storage battery 3
Constant current control circuit 8b for supplying a constant charging current for charging
Is equipped with. Therefore, when the charging device 2 is attached to the charger 1, the constant current control circuit 8b of the control IC 8 causes a constant charging current as shown in FIG.
The storage battery 3 is charged by being discharged from the
Is lit up.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when charging the charging device 2 with the charger 1, it is completely unknown how long it takes to complete the charging, and there is a problem in that it is inconvenient for the user. Also, when the remaining capacity of the storage battery is running low while using the charging device, a part of the characters displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device provided in the charging device is blinked to notify the user. However, the charging device cannot display the remaining capacity of the storage battery at the time of charging as well (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-110670).

[0005]

On the other hand, the voltage of the storage battery being charged by the charger is detected, and the detected voltage is detected by the AD converter.
There has been proposed a charge control device which performs conversion to calculate a charging current amount to obtain a current remaining capacity of a storage battery and divides the LED display into five levels (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-351428).
However, the above-mentioned ones have a problem that the circuit configuration becomes complicated, and an LED for displaying the remaining capacity needs to be additionally provided, resulting in an increase in cost.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a charging device capable of displaying the remaining capacity of the storage battery of the charging device when the charging device is attached to the charger with a simple structure. It is a thing.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is provided with a charging device equipped with a storage battery as a power supply for operation, and a charging power supply for charging the storage battery. When a device is attached, a charging device that supplies a charging current from the charging power supply to charge the storage battery and a charger equipped with a charging lamp that indicates that charging is in progress A voltage detecting means for detecting the voltage of the storage battery at the time of being mounted, and a charging current being changed into a pulse current according to the voltage detected by the voltage detecting means for a predetermined period from the time when the charging device is mounted on the charger. And a control means for displaying the remaining capacity of the storage battery when the charging lamp is turned on by the charging current and the charging battery is mounted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the control means changes the cycle of the pulse current in accordance with the detection voltage of the voltage detection means to blink the charging lamp at the cycle of the pulse current. At least one of display means or lighting display means for changing the pulse width of the pulse current according to the detection voltage of the voltage detection means to display the charging lamp with the brightness according to the pulse width is provided. To do.

[0009]

According to the structure of the invention of claim 1, when the charging device is equipped with the charging device equipped with the storage battery as the power supply for operation and the charging power supply for charging the storage battery, the charging current is supplied from the charging power supply. In a charging device configured with a charger having a charging lamp that supplies the power to charge the storage battery and indicates that the battery is being charged, a voltage that detects the voltage of the storage battery when the charging device is attached to the charger. The charging means changes the charging current into a pulse current in accordance with the detection voltage detected by the voltage detecting means in a predetermined period from the time when the charging device is attached to the charger, and turns on the charging lamp by the charging current to turn on the charger. Since it has a control means for displaying the remaining capacity of the storage battery at the time of being mounted, when the charging device is charged by the charger, the remaining capacity of the storage battery of the charging device at the time when the charging device is mounted on the charger It is possible to inform the user of the approximate time required for charging by displaying the battery charge for a predetermined period on the display, and since the battery is displayed using the charge lamp of the charger, the remaining charge of the storage battery is newly added. Since it is not necessary to provide a means for displaying the capacity, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means changes the cycle of the pulse current in accordance with the detection voltage of the voltage detection means to display the charging lamp in a blinking manner at the cycle of the pulse current. Since at least one of the lighting display means for changing the pulse width of the pulse current according to the detection voltage of the voltage detection means to display the charging lamp with the brightness according to the pulse width is provided, the remaining capacity of the storage battery can be reduced. By changing the blinking cycle of the charging lamp or changing the brightness of the charging lamp accordingly, the remaining capacity of the storage battery can be accurately notified to the user.

[0011]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Since the schematic configurations of the charger 1 and the charging device 2 are common to those of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, description of common parts will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic circuit configuration diagram of the charging device of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a control IC for the charging device 2
8 includes a charging current control circuit 8a for controlling a charging current for charging the storage battery 3, the positive electrode of the storage battery 3 is connected to one of the connection terminals 7, and the negative electrode is connected to the charging current control circuit 8a of the control IC 8. The other connection terminal 7 is connected to the charging current control circuit 8a.

Next, the case where the charging device 2 is attached to the charger 1 and the charging terminals 5 and 5 and the connection terminals 7 and 7 are connected, and a charging current is passed from the charging power source 4 to charge the storage battery 3 explain. First, when the charging device 2 is attached to the charger 1 and the charging terminals 5 and 5 are connected to the connection terminals 7 and 7, the charging power source 4 directly connects to the connection terminal 7 of the charging current control circuit 8a of the control IC 8. A voltage V _SS2 develops on the connected side. The control IC 8 detects the voltage V _SS1 (voltage across the storage battery 3) on the negative side of the storage battery 3 at the same time when the voltage V _{SS 2} is generated, and the control IC 8 also serves as a voltage detection means.

According to the voltage V _SS1 across the storage battery 3 detected by the control IC 8, that is, the remaining capacity of the storage battery 3 at the time when the charging device 2 is installed in the charger 1, a predetermined period T from the installation time. _The charging current control circuit 8a changes the charging current of a constant current to a pulse current as shown in FIG. 2 during ₀ (a period of several seconds to ten and several seconds), and returns the charging current to a constant current after the period T ₀ has elapsed. Are controlled.

Further, LE which is a charging lamp of the charger 1
The lighting of D6 is controlled by the charging current, and when the charging current changes to the pulse current, the LED 6 blinks in the cycle of the pulse current. That is, the charging current control circuit 8a also serves as a blinking display means for blinking the LED 6. Therefore, by changing the cycle of the pulse current according to the detection voltage V _SS1 by the charging current control circuit 8a, the detection voltage V _SS1, that is, the storage battery 3
It is possible to make the LED 6 blink at a blinking cycle according to the remaining capacity, to inform the user of the remaining capacity of the storage battery at the start of charging, and to give the user an indication of the time required for charging.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, since the remaining capacity of the storage battery 3 and the detection voltage V _SS1 are generally in a proportional relationship,
It can be said that the detection voltage V _SS1 is high when the remaining capacity is large, and conversely, the detection voltage V _SS1 is low when the remaining capacity is small. Therefore, in the charging current control circuit 8a, as shown in FIG. 4A, the detection voltage V _SS1 is low (the remaining capacity is small) from the pulse current cycle T ₁ when the detection voltage V _SS1 is high (the remaining capacity is large). The charging current is controlled so that the cycle of the pulse current in the predetermined period T ₀ becomes longer as it becomes, and as shown in FIG. 4B, the pulse current cycle T when the detection voltage V _SS1 is low.
₂ is made longer than the pulse current period T ₁ . However, the pulse width of the pulse current is kept constant.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the detection voltage V _SS1
As the value becomes lower (the remaining capacity decreases), the blinking cycle of the LED 6 is lengthened, and the blinking cycle of the LED 6 informs the user of the remaining capacity of the storage battery 3. (Embodiment 2) The configuration of this embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description of the common portions will be omitted. The charging current control circuit 8a of the present embodiment changes the pulse width instead of the cycle of the pulse current according to the detection voltage V _SS1 . That is, the charging current control circuit 8a in this embodiment is
6 also serves as a lighting display means.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the charging current control circuit 8a determines that the detection voltage V _SS1 is low (remaining voltage) from the pulse width t ₁ of the pulse current when the detection voltage V _SS1 is high (remaining capacity is large). The charging current is controlled so that the pulse width of the pulse current during the predetermined period T ₀ becomes shorter as the capacity decreases), and as shown in FIG. 5B, the pulse width t when the detection voltage V _SS1 is low. ₂ is shorter than the pulse width t ₁ . However, the pulse current cycle is kept constant.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the detection voltage V _SS1
As the value becomes lower (the remaining capacity decreases), the brightness when the LED 6 is turned on is changed so that the higher the remaining capacity is, the brighter the brightness is, and the brightness of the LED 6 informs the user of the remaining capacity of the storage battery 3. The cycle of the pulse current and the pulse width may be changed at the same time according to the detection voltage V _SS1 to notify the user of the remaining capacity by both the blinking cycle and the brightness of the LED 6. It is also possible to use a liquid crystal display device etc. as a means to inform the remaining capacity, and to inform the user by concretely displaying the time until completion of charging immediately after mounting the charging device in the charger. Is.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a charging device equipped with a storage battery as a power supply for operation and a charging power supply for charging the storage battery, and when the charging device is mounted, a charging current is supplied from the charging power supply. In a charging device configured with a charger having a charging lamp that supplies the power to charge the storage battery and indicates that the battery is being charged, a voltage that detects the voltage of the storage battery when the charging device is attached to the charger. The charging means changes the charging current into a pulse current in accordance with the detection voltage detected by the voltage detecting means in a predetermined period from the time when the charging device is attached to the charger, and turns on the charging lamp by the charging current to turn on the charger. Since it has a control means for displaying the remaining capacity of the storage battery at the time of being attached, when the charging device is charged by the charger, the remaining capacity of the storage battery of the charging device at the time when the charging device is attached to the charger By displaying on the charging lamp only for a predetermined period, it is possible to inform the user of the time required for charging with a simple configuration, improve the usability of the charging device, and display the remaining capacity. Since the charging lamp of the charger is used for this, there is no need to newly provide a means for displaying the remaining capacity of the storage battery, and it is possible to suppress the cost increase due to the provision of a separate display means, and to save space for the display means. There is an effect that it is possible to prevent the charging device from increasing in size.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means changes the cycle of the pulse current according to the detection voltage of the voltage detection means to display the charging lamp in a blinking manner at the cycle of the pulse current, or the voltage detection. Since at least one of the lighting display means for changing the pulse width of the pulse current according to the detection voltage of the means to display the charging lamp with the brightness according to the pulse width is provided, depending on the remaining capacity of the storage battery. By changing the blinking cycle of the charging lamp or changing the brightness of the charging lamp, there is an effect that the user can be accurately notified of the remaining capacity of the storage battery.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit configuration diagram showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram of a charging current for explaining the above operation.

FIG. 3 is a voltage waveform diagram showing the relationship between the remaining capacity of the storage battery and the detection voltage of the same.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a charging current for explaining the above operation, where (a) is a case where the detection voltage is high and (b) is a case where the detection voltage is low.

5A and 5B are waveform diagrams of a charging current for explaining the operation of the second embodiment, where FIG. 5A is a case where the detection voltage is high and FIG. 5B is a case where the detection voltage is low.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a charging device showing a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit configuration diagram of the above.

FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram showing the same charging current as above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Charger 2 Charging device 3 Storage battery 4 Charging power source 5 Charging terminal 6 LED 7 Connection terminal 8 Control IC 8a Charging current control circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A charging device equipped with a storage battery as a power supply for operation, and a charging power supply for charging the storage battery. When the charging device is mounted, a charging current is supplied from the charging power supply to charge the storage battery. In a charging device configured with a charger having a charging lamp that indicates that charging is in progress, a charging device that detects the voltage of the storage battery when the charging device is mounted on the charger, and the charging device The charging current is changed to a pulse current according to the voltage detected by the voltage detecting means for a predetermined period from the time when the battery is mounted on the charger, and the charging lamp is turned on by the charging current to charge the storage battery A charging device comprising: a control unit for displaying the remaining capacity. 2. The control means changes the cycle of the pulse current according to the detection voltage of the voltage detection means to display the charging lamp in a blinking manner at the cycle of the pulse current, or the detection voltage of the voltage detection means. 2. The charging device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of lighting display means for changing the pulse width of the pulse current according to the pulse width and displaying the charging lamp with the brightness according to the pulse width.