JPH09322419A - Battery identifying circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obviate the necessity to provide the body casing of an electric apparatus and a battery mold case with projections/recesses, by detecting the combination of the shifting positions of plural magnets for identification by means of a Hall element. SOLUTION: Magnets 5 capable of shifting right and left are built in plural numbers (n pieces) within a battery mold case 4, and these magnets 5 have such constitution that they can be positioned either right or left from outside by a magnet 7 for shifting a battery magnet. Here, N<2> kinds of batteries are shown recognizably by positioning each magnet 5 either right or left. Then, this circuit is equipped with a Hall element 2 which detects the position of the magnet 5 with a magnet, and the kind of a battery is identified with the recognition signal from the Hall element 2. Hereby, there is no necessity to provide the body casing or a mold case 4 with projections/recesses for identifying the battery, and the kind of a battery can be identified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery identification circuit, and more particularly to a battery identification circuit for identifying a battery connected to a mobile phone or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A common problem with electronic devices using batteries is, for example, batteries connected to mobile phones include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and lithium-metal batteries. Since the supply voltage, charging time, discharge characteristics, etc. differ for each type, a means for identifying the type of battery is required when connecting to a mobile phone or charging with a charger. For example, in a NiMH battery, if it is used without being sufficiently discharged, a memory effect appears in the battery and the discharge time is shortened. Therefore, it is necessary to fully discharge the NiMH battery before the memory effect appears. Further, the Li-ion battery has an effect that the battery life is shortened due to overcharging or overdischarging, and the Li metal battery is characterized in that the discharging time is shortened due to overcharging.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a conventional battery identifying means of this type. In the figure, 1 is a mobile phone main body, 3 is a main body side connection terminal, 4 is a battery mold case, and 6 is a battery mold case.
Is a battery side connection terminal, 12 is a switch part provided in the main body side casing, and 13 is a protrusion part provided in the battery mold case 4.

The switch 12 has a recessed structure into which the protrusion 13 is fitted. When the battery mold case 4 is connected to the mobile phone body 1, the switch 12 is pushed by the protrusion 13, and the switch 13 is pressed. Switch 12 turns on. The normal switch section 12 is provided with a plurality of switches, and the shape of the protrusion 13 is different according to the type of the battery, so that the plurality of switches are turned on / off.
The type of battery can be identified according to the condition under which is switched.

Incidentally, as a prior art similar to the prior art shown in FIG. 4, there is another example of a battery and a wireless communication device using this battery, which is used to identify the type of battery by a protrusion and a switch. . There is Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-77242, "Battery charging structure for electronic equipment," which identifies the type of battery according to the switching state of the switch section by the protrusions of different structures.

[0006]

The conventional battery identifying means described above has the following problems. The first problem is that both the prior art shown in FIG. 4 and the above-mentioned prior art have a structure in which the switch is turned ON / OFF by the concavo-convex structure, so that the shape becomes complicated and the battery mold provided with the protrusion is formed. The strength of the case becomes weak, and there is a risk that the protrusion may be applied just by dropping it. In addition, it is necessary to change the structure of the protrusion provided on the molded case for each type of battery,
There is a problem that different molds must be created for each type of battery. The second problem is that since it is necessary to provide a plurality of switches in the switch portion formed by the concave portion, it is necessary to make a plurality of holes for mounting the switch in the casing constituting the mobile phone main body, and the holes are waterproof. There is a problem that A third problem is that the conventional technology cannot identify the usage state of each battery even if the type of battery can be identified, and the difference in the remaining usage time, charging time, and discharge characteristics of the batteries of the same type. There is a problem such as not being able to determine the like.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is not necessary to form unevenness for identifying the battery in the main body housing or the molded case, and it is not necessary to make a hole in the switch portion. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a battery identification circuit that can identify the type of battery, and to provide a battery identification circuit that can display the charging time and the remaining usage time of individual batteries of the same type if necessary. .

[0008]

A battery identification circuit according to the present invention is a means for providing a plurality of magnets (N) whose positions can be moved from the outside inside the battery side casing, inside the discrimination side casing. Means for disposing the same number of Hall elements as the magnets at positions facing the magnets, and the Hall elements on the identification side and the battery side are fitted to each other so that each Hall element has N magnets depending on the presence or absence of magnetism. The present invention is characterized in that means for detecting the difference in the respective positions of the magnets to obtain different combination information of N ² and thereby identifying the type of the battery built in the battery side casing is provided.

Further, the means for moving and positioning each of the plurality of magnets provided inside the battery side casing is performed by a moving magnet from the outside.

Further, the battery type identification information is obtained from the battery type identification information obtained by the above-described battery identification circuit, the information on the use start time of the battery set on the identification side, and the detected battery voltage information. In addition, a means for detecting the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery, identification information of the battery type for each battery on the identification side, information on the use start time, and charge / discharge characteristic information are displayed in an appropriate manner on the identification side. And a means for doing so.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment in which the battery identifying circuit of the present invention is used in a mobile phone, in which 1 is a mobile phone main body and 2 is a battery mold case of a mobile phone main body casing. And a plurality of Hall elements provided on the back surface of the fitting surface of the main body side connecting terminal, 4 a battery mold case in which a battery is built, and 5 a fitting surface of the battery mold case with the main body of the mobile phone. A movable magnet (hereinafter, also referred to as a battery magnet) provided on the back surface and facing the Hall element, 6 is a battery-side connection terminal, and 7 is a battery magnet moving magnet.

The mobile phone body 1 and the battery mold case 4 are fitted together, and power is supplied to the mobile phone body 1 from the battery built in the battery mold case 4. The types of batteries built in the battery mold case 4 include the nickel-cadmium battery, the nickel-hydrogen battery, the lithium-ion battery, the lithium metal battery, etc. as described above. The battery voltage and the charging time vary depending on the types of these batteries. Since the discharge characteristics are different, it is necessary for the mobile phone body 1 to identify the type of each battery. In addition, even in the case of the same type of battery, the charge and discharge characteristics of a new battery that has been charged less frequently and an old battery that has been repeatedly charged and discharged are different. Therefore, it becomes necessary to identify the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery as needed. The battery identification circuit of the present invention identifies both the type of this battery and the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery. Less than,
This operation will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of Hall elements 2 for sensing a magnetic field and converting it into an electric current are built in on the back surface side of the cell phone body 1 which is fitted with the battery mold case 4. An operation of converting a magnetic field change from the outside into an electric signal is performed. In addition, a plurality of movable magnets 5 that can be moved from the outside to the left and right to change their positions are built in on the back side of the surface of the battery mold case 4 that fits with the mobile phone main body 1. When the battery mold case 4 is fitted to the telephone body 1, the positions of the magnets 5 and the hall elements 2 are arranged to face each other.

Each magnet 5 contained in the battery mold case 4 can be moved left and right from the outside by a magnet 7 for moving a magnet different from the battery mold case 4, and is clipped on either the left or the right. ing. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, since three movable magnets 5 are provided, by setting with the magnet 7 for moving the battery magnet, it is possible to select 3 ² combinations of the left and right positions thereof. Since the battery type is represented by the information of this combination, the difference between the 9 types of batteries can be represented.

That is, a plurality (N) of magnets 5 which can be moved to the left and right are built in the battery mold case 4, and the magnets 5 can be positioned to the left or right by a magnet 7 for moving the battery magnets from the outside. By positioning the magnet 5 to the left or right, N ² type batteries can be identified and displayed. The mobile phone main body housing is provided with a Hall element that magnetically detects the position of the magnet 5. For example, when the magnet 5 is located on the right, the Hall element is turned on, and the magnet 5 is located on the left. In this case, it is turned off, and the type of battery is identified by the identification signal from each Hall element 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the structure of the internal circuit. In the figure, the same symbols as in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts, 8 is a display section, 9 is a memory section, and 10 is a control section. , 11 are voltage detectors. The identification signal from each hall element 2 is input to the control unit 10, and the control unit 10 identifies the type of battery. The type of battery is identified as described above. The magnet 5 that sets the battery identification information
May be moved at the time of shipment of the battery mold case 4 having a built-in battery. In the case where the battery mold case 4 is commonly used for various batteries, the user of the mobile phone can The magnet 5 may be set according to the set battery when the battery is set in 4.

The battery identification circuit of the present invention is configured not only to identify the type of battery, but also to identify the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery as needed. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit 8 of the mobile phone main body 1, and in FIG.
Reference numeral 4 indicates a magnet position, which is indicated by the magnet 5 when the battery mold case 4 is fitted into the mobile phone body 1.
The Hall element 2 detects the position information of the
The same figure as the position information of is displayed.
This allows the user to determine the position of the magnet 5 simply by looking at the display section 8. 15 is a battery type display,
This display is also automatically displayed on the display unit 8 based on the battery identification information described above. Reference numeral 16 is a display of the start time of use, which is displayed by the user setting at the start of use of the battery by using the up / down key of the mobile phone.

The magnet position information, the battery type information, and the use start time information are also stored in the memory unit 9,
Further, the terminal (battery) voltage value detected by the voltage detection unit 11 via the battery side connection terminal 6 and the main body side connection terminal 3 is the control unit 1
It is configured to be input to 0. Therefore, in addition to simply identifying the type of battery, the control unit 10 can detect the charge / discharge characteristics from the change in the usage time and voltage value of each battery, and also detect the above memory effect, overcharge, and overdischarge. This can be performed, and these can be displayed on the display unit 8 as needed to inform the user. Therefore, the user of the mobile phone can automatically identify the difference in discharge characteristics and the difference in charging time depending on the type of battery, and also can distinguish between a new battery and an old battery even if they are of the same type. It becomes possible to provide battery switching information and appropriate charging information to a mobile phone user such as a deteriorated battery or a battery having insufficient charge / discharge characteristics at the beginning of use.

In the above description of the embodiment, an example in which the battery identification circuit of the present invention is used in a mobile phone has been described.
It can be used for all electronic devices that use several types of batteries, and the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery can be determined by reading the battery voltage and the start time of use. With the charger of the stand, it is possible to charge several types of batteries with different charging voltage and charging characteristics,
Furthermore, it is possible to charge the battery according to the state of each battery.

In the above embodiment, the combination of the magnet 5 and the hall element 2 is three, but an appropriate number may be selected according to the purpose of use. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the plurality of horizontally movable magnets 5 are arranged vertically, but a plurality of vertically movable magnets may be arranged side by side. Needless to say, the moving direction of the magnet is not limited to the above embodiment.

[0021]

As described above, since the battery identification circuit of the present invention is configured to detect the combination of the moving positions of a plurality of magnets by the hall element, the electronic equipment main body casing and the battery mold case are provided with irregularities. There is no need, and since it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of molds for deforming the shape of the protrusion according to the type of battery, simplification and cost reduction in manufacturing can be achieved. Further, since there is no unevenness, the strength of the housing is not deteriorated, and it is not necessary to make holes necessary for installing the switch, and the structure having excellent impact resistance and waterproofness can be obtained. Furthermore, since it is possible to identify a large number with a simple structure and input the start time of use and the voltage value together, it becomes possible to identify and display individual charging / discharging characteristics of the same type of battery, The user can select the best use condition and charge condition for the battery.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a circuit configuration when the present invention is used in a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example displayed on a display unit 8 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a conventional battery identifying means of this type.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mobile Phone Main Body 2 Hall Element 3 Main Body Side Connection Terminal 4 Battery Mold Case 5 Movable Magnet Provided in Battery Mold Case 6 Battery Side Connection Terminal 7 Magnet for Moving Battery Magnet 8 Display Section 9 Memory Section 10 Control Section 12 Switch 13 Projection 14 Magnet position display 15 Battery type display 16 Use start time display

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A battery identification circuit for identifying the type of a battery contained in the battery side housing by fitting the identification side housing and the battery side housing, wherein an external device is provided inside the battery side housing. Means for providing a plurality of magnets (N pieces) whose positions can be moved, means for providing the same number of Hall elements as the magnets at positions facing the magnets inside the identification side housing, identification side housing The Hall element detects the difference in the position of each of the N magnets depending on the presence or absence of magnetism by fitting the housing and the battery side casing, and obtains N ² different combination information. A battery identification circuit comprising: means for identifying the type of a battery built in the housing. 2. A means for moving and positioning each of a plurality of magnets provided inside the battery side casing,
The battery identification circuit according to claim 1, wherein the battery identification circuit is performed by a magnet for moving from the outside. 3. A battery is obtained from the battery type identification information obtained by the battery identification circuit according to claim 1, information on the start of use of the battery set on the identification side, and detected battery voltage information. In addition to identifying the type of battery, a means for detecting the charge / discharge characteristics of each battery, identification information of the battery type for each battery, information on the start time of use, charge / discharge characteristic information for each battery on the identification side A battery identification circuit comprising: means for displaying in an appropriate manner.