JPH1040966A - Battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new type battery which is sufficiently profitable even if a purchase cost is reduced besides an added value can be increased by the realization of a high function. SOLUTION: In a battery 2 installed in an electronic equipment as a power source so as to be mountable-demountable, it has a semiconductor storage device 8 which receives supply of electric power from this and in which read only fixed information is stored at least in a part. Therefore, various information such as a usage instructions of the battery 2 or the electronic equipment can be offered to a user, and convenience in use is improved. When advertisement information is contained as the fixed information, a price of the battery 2 can be reduced by the extent that advertisement rates from an enterprise is obtained. It can work well when means 10 and 12 to restrict the number of advertisement times or the like are arranged. On the other hand, when a plane display device 16 is arranged in the battery 2, the information to a user can be displayed on this, and a new function (an image display function) can be added to the electronic equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery which is detachably attached to an electronic device as a power source.
The present invention relates to increasing the value of a battery by adding a function of providing various information to a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, batteries have been widely used as power sources for various portable electric devices. In general, batteries are broadly classified into non-rechargeable primary batteries and rechargeable secondary batteries. Primary batteries are basically disposable, but are generally widely used as general-purpose portable power supplies suitable for various uses because they are generally inexpensive and easy to use. In contrast,
Rechargeable batteries take advantage of their characteristics of being recharged and used repeatedly.
Currently, power supplies of various shapes and specifications are being supplied mainly as dedicated power supplies for portable electronic devices according to the battery storage space.

[0003]

However, the use of secondary batteries is still limited as compared with primary batteries, and the energy per unit volume has been increased in order to cope with the expansion of uses and the enhancement of the performance of portable electronic devices. From the viewpoints of improving density, increasing the number of repetitive chargings, or shortening the charging time, performance competition including charging materials is currently being strongly promoted.

Further, from the viewpoint of a dedicated power supply, since it is always mounted when a specific electronic device is used, there is a possibility of a development direction in which not only a simple power supply but also a higher function is promoted. Regarding this point, it started with an indicator that displays the remaining battery level, and recently, it has a built-in microcomputer and displays the remaining battery level in minutes, or a mobile phone battery vibrates to receive an incoming call. There are even things that let you know. However, in the future, rechargeable batteries will increasingly attract attention as a resource-saving portable power source,
Considering that the market size of portable information devices is expected to grow,
It is difficult to say that the potential of rechargeable batteries as a dedicated power source is still fully utilized.

[0005] On the other hand, as the performance of secondary batteries has been improved, the running cost required per unit usage time has increased.
Secondary batteries that can be charged and used repeatedly are becoming cheaper than primary batteries, but in connection with the limited use and insufficient mass production effects,
Initial investment amount of secondary battery compared to primary battery (purchase unit price)
Has the disadvantage of being expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and proposes and provides a new type of battery that can be sufficiently profitable even if the purchase unit price is reduced while enhancing the functionality and increasing the added value. The purpose is to:

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and achieve the above object, a battery according to the present invention is a battery which is detachably attached to an electronic device as a power supply. A semiconductor memory device is supplied with power from a battery and has read-only fixed information stored at least in part. As a result, the user can be provided with various information such as a usage description of the battery or the electronic device, in addition to the conventional simple display of the remaining amount of the battery.

[0008] In particular, if the information to be provided (fixed information) is not limited to the above-mentioned notification at the time of use, and if advertising information such as advertisement of a company or a product is sent to a user, an advertisement fee from the company will be reduced. The price of the battery can be reduced by the amount obtained. At that time, since the advertisement is displayed for the user every time the battery is used, it is difficult to use even if the price is low, and the advertising value of the product etc. may decrease after the time Then, it is preferable to limit the number of advertisements and the period. In this case, with respect to the fixed information from the semiconductor storage device, reference setting means for generating a reference signal indicating a reference for limiting the output (for example, the number of times of output or the time after the first output), And output control means for prohibiting the user from being notified of the fixed information.

The fixed information may be either an image or a sound, and the notification to the user may be made by using an image output means or a sound output means provided in an electronic device such as a liquid crystal panel or a speaker. Further, at the time of the transmission, for example, an AC signal may be superimposed on DC (power voltage) using an existing power supply terminal provided in the battery, or an electrical signal may be converted into an optical signal or a wireless signal.

On the other hand, if a flat display device such as a liquid crystal panel is provided on the battery case, not only can the above-mentioned information to be displayed to the user be displayed thereon, but also new functions can be added to the electronic equipment. It becomes possible. For example, by simply attaching this battery to an electronic device, a small-sized liquid crystal panel can be added to an old video camera without a liquid crystal panel, thereby improving the visibility of a captured image that has been difficult to see with a viewfinder alone.

Although the present invention has been made for the purpose of increasing the value of a secondary battery as described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a battery of a type that replaces a normal cylindrical primary battery. Etc., and can be widely applied.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The battery of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The electronic device to which the battery is detachably attached is not particularly limited,
For example, in addition to information devices such as mobile phones, facsimile machines, word processors, personal computers, camcorders, portable personal information tools such as electronic notebooks, and power supplies such as radios, televisions, portable audio devices, flashlights, portable karaoke machines, and game machines. Various devices using batteries are included.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment will be described using a video camera as an example. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a battery for a video camera according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram thereof. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a battery body 4 is built in the battery 2 as a DC power supply, and its electrodes are connected to two power supply terminals 6a and 6b provided on the outer surface of the case body of the battery 2. .

In the present invention, a semiconductor memory 8 in which read-only information (referred to as fixed information in the present invention) is stored in the battery 2 in advance, and a data output for accumulating the number of times of output of the fixed information from the semiconductor memory 8 An output enable signal (hereinafter, referred to as an OE signal) to the semiconductor memory 8 based on the counting signal from the counting circuit 10 and the count signal from the data output counting circuit 10 on condition that the number of outputs of the fixed information has reached a predetermined value. And an OE signal control means 12 for stopping the output of the OE signal. The data output counting circuit 10 functions as a reference setting unit that determines a standard for restricting the output of fixed information, and the OE signal control unit 12 functions as an output restriction unit. Although not particularly shown, these may be built into the CPU (the battery 2 may be built in, or the CPU of the video camera body).
OE signal is also sent from the CPU to the OE signal.
It is provided to the signal control means 12.

The type of the semiconductor memory 8 is not particularly limited, and may be a nonvolatile memory such as various ROMs.
A volatile material such as a RAM or a DRAM may be used. The number is not limited.

In the present embodiment, the fixed information read from the semiconductor memory 8 is superimposed on the direct current of the power supply voltage and sent from the power supply terminals 6a and 6b of the battery 2 to the video camera body. Therefore, the I /
A high-pass filter 14 is provided between the O terminal and the data output counting circuit 10 for counting the number of outputs, to remove a DC component.

The fixed information stored in advance in the semiconductor memory 8 includes, in addition to usage information such as usage instructions such as remaining battery power and precautions for charging, and usage notification information to be notified to a user such as usage instructions for a video camera. Contains advertising information such as advertisements of companies and products.

In the present invention, the data output counting circuit 10 and the OE signal control circuit 12 described above can be omitted, but these circuits 10, 12 are provided in the present embodiment. Is deeply related to the inclusion of advertisement information in the fixed information. That is, based on a contract with a specific company which is an advertising entity, when the battery 2 is shipped from the factory, advertisement information of the specific company and its products is written in advance in the semiconductor memory 8 and an advertisement fee is obtained from the company. Therefore, the price of the battery 2 can be reduced, which is desirable. However, for the user, an advertisement is displayed every time the battery 2 is used, so that the user is not comfortable even if the price is low. Also, in consideration of the fact that the advertisement value of a product or the like may decrease after a certain period, in this embodiment, the data output counting circuit 10
And the OE signal control circuit 12, thereby limiting the number of advertisements. In addition, as fixed information,
For example, it is also possible to increase the price by selling a photograph or a picture of a talent or a popular character.

FIG. 3 shows a state after the battery 2 having such a configuration is attached to the video camera body. Advertising information is
As shown in the drawing, every time the user attaches the battery 2 to the video camera body, the battery 2 is displayed on the liquid crystal panel or the viewfinder for a predetermined time.

Next, the circuit operation in the battery 2 will be briefly described. Usually, a push button switch which is pushed in by a battery case is provided on a battery mounting portion of the video camera body to confirm the mounting. When the user attaches the battery 2 to the video camera body, for example, a signal from this push button switch causes a CP (not shown)
The OE signal is output from U to the OE signal control circuit 12.
If the count signal input to the OE signal control circuit 12 has not yet indicated the predetermined value, the OE signal is output from the OE signal control circuit 12 to the semiconductor memory 8 (FIG. 2).

Therefore, the semiconductor memory 8 can output data, the CPU accesses the semiconductor memory 8, and fixed information (read data) is output from the I / O terminal. The read data is input to the video camera body via power supply terminals 6a and 6b provided on the outer surface of the case body of the battery 2, and is displayed from the liquid crystal panel or the viewfinder for a certain time as shown in FIG. Is done.

On the other hand, in the battery 2, the read data is input to the data output counting circuit 10 after the DC component is removed by the high-pass filter 14. In the data output counting circuit 10, the count value of the built-in counter is added each time the read data is input. The above operation is repeated every time the battery 2 is mounted on the video camera body.

When the count number of the data output counting circuit 10 reaches a predetermined number, and the OE signal control circuit 12 determines this based on the count signal, the OE signal control circuit 12
Stops the output of the OE signal. Therefore, from the next time the battery is mounted, even if the CPU accesses the semiconductor memory 8, data cannot be read from now on. In addition,
When the battery 2 is reused, for example, the battery body 4 is replaced and the counter of the data output counting circuit 10 is reset.

The present invention is not limited to the above description, and various modifications are possible. For example, fixed information (read data)
A dedicated terminal may be provided on the outer surface of the case body of the battery 2,
After converting the electrical signal into an optical signal or a wireless signal, the electrical signal can be sent to the electronic device. The read data is not limited to image information and may be audio information.

The reference setting means of the present invention is not limited to the above description. For example, a timer is built in the data output counting circuit 10 to count the time from when the fixed information is first read out. The stop control of the OE signal by the OE signal control circuit 12 may be performed based on a reference signal indicating information, or another method may be used.

The output restricting means of the present invention is not limited to the OE signal control circuit 12, but may be, for example, means for controlling the stop of the chip enable signal of the memory. Means for prohibiting the access itself can be provided. When a terminal dedicated to fixed information (read data) is provided, a means for interrupting a signal path based on a reference signal (for example, a count signal) may be provided between the terminal and the semiconductor memory 8.

In the present embodiment, the semiconductor memory 8 in the battery 2 only needs to store fixed information in a part thereof. When there are a plurality of semiconductor memories 8, one of them is R
Alternatively, the OM may be configured with a RAM and the fixed information may be stored only in the ROM. In the above description, the case of a video camera has been described. For example, in the case of a mobile phone, for example, a message, an ID number, or the like is stored in another area (including another semiconductor memory) of the semiconductor memory 8 where fixed information is stored. It is also possible to provide the battery 2 with a function of storing rewritable information of the battery pack 2.
There are no restrictions on what you can give.

Although the illustrated battery 2 is a secondary battery dedicated to a video camera, the battery body 4 in FIG. 2 may be constituted by a replaceable primary battery. In this case, the semiconductor memory 8 is preferably a non-volatile memory capable of retaining data even when power supply is interrupted.

Second Embodiment In the above-described first embodiment, an image output unit prepared in advance in an electronic device, for example, a liquid crystal panel of a video camera or a viewfinder is used as a fixed information output unit. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the battery 2 of the first embodiment is used.
In this case, a fixed information output means is further added.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a perspective view and a schematic configuration diagram showing the appearance of the battery 2, respectively. The battery 2 of this embodiment is also basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. As illustrated, in the present embodiment, for example, a liquid crystal panel 16 is provided as a flat display device on the upper surface of the case body of the battery 2, and is connected between both electrodes of the battery body 4 to receive power. Then, fixed information is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 16 through the same circuit operation as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a state after the battery 2 is mounted on the video camera body. The battery 2 of the present embodiment also has the first
An effect similar to that of the embodiment is obtained. In particular, such a battery 2 with a liquid crystal panel is suitable for a case where the video camera body is an old type having no liquid crystal panel as shown in the figure. If the battery 2 itself does not have a liquid crystal panel as in the first embodiment, when the battery 2 is attached to an old-type video camera as shown in FIG. , The advertising effect cannot be obtained because the advertising content cannot be confirmed unless it is brought close. Therefore, it is expected that a company that is the main body of advertising will be reluctant to make an advertisement request or keep an advertisement fee low. The battery 2 of the present embodiment has an advantage that a certain advertising effect can be obtained regardless of the conditions of the electronic device.

Third Embodiment The battery of this embodiment is not a function of providing fixed information to a user as in the first and second embodiments described above, but is a case where the function of the electronic device itself is enhanced by the battery. is there. The appearance of the battery 2 of the present embodiment is not much different from that of the second embodiment except that an image input terminal 18 is provided as shown in FIG. In contrast, the internal configuration is significantly different. That is, although not particularly shown, this battery 2
Semiconductor memory 8 and data output counting circuit 1 in FIG.
0, the OE signal control circuit 12 and the high-pass filter 14 are all omitted, and are constituted by the battery body 4 and the liquid crystal panel 16.

As shown in FIG. 7, the battery 2 of the present embodiment is mounted on a video camera main body, and a video input terminal 18 of the battery 2 and a video output terminal mounted on the video camera main body are connected by a code. By connecting, the video signal is input. As a result, a function called a liquid crystal panel is added to an old video camera that is not equipped with a liquid crystal panel, and it is possible to easily view a captured image and improve operability. The liquid crystal panel 1 of the battery 2
6 allows the user to enjoy the reproduced image.

[0034]

As described above, according to the battery of the present invention, a semiconductor memory device is built in, and read-only fixed information is stored in the semiconductor memory device, thereby providing information to a user. Can be added to the battery. If the fixed information is use notification information such as instructions for use, the usability of the battery and the electronic device to which the battery is attached can be improved. If the fixed information is advertisement information, the price of the battery can be reduced by the amount of the advertisement fee. .

In addition to this, when a flat display device is provided on the case body of the battery and the flat display device displays an image of the fixed information, an image or character information can be displayed even when the electronic device cannot display an image. Become like Further, even when the image display of the electronic device is difficult to see, the visibility of the fixed information can be improved. As a result, when the fixed information is the advertising information, various effects such as improvement in the advertising effect, acquisition of many advertising requests, and high advertising fees are provided.

On the other hand, if the electronic device itself cannot display an image even if the flat display device is provided in a normal battery, the function of the electronic device is enhanced. By increasing the value of the battery as described above, it is possible to differentiate it from similar products, and to obtain economic benefits such as setting the price higher.

As described above, it is possible to propose and provide a new type of battery which can be sufficiently profitable even if the purchase unit price is reduced while enhancing the functions and increasing the added value.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a battery according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the battery of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the battery of FIG. 1 is attached to a video camera body and an advertisement is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a battery according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of the battery of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the battery of FIG. 4 is attached to a video camera body and an advertisement is displayed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which a battery according to a third embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a video camera body and a captured image is displayed.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 battery, 4 battery body, 6a, 6b power supply terminal (electric contact terminal), 8 semiconductor memory (semiconductor memory device), 10 data output counting means (reference setting means), 1
2 OE signal control means (output regulating means), 14 high pass filter, 16 liquid crystal panel (flat display device), 18
... Video input terminal.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A battery which is detachably attached to an electronic device as a power supply and has a semiconductor storage device which receives power supplied from the battery and has at least a part of read-only fixed information stored therein. 2. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor memory device includes: a read-only semiconductor memory device; and a data rewritable semiconductor memory device. 3. The fixed information includes advertisement information in addition to use-time notification information to be notified to a user.
The battery according to 1. 4. A reference setting means for generating a reference signal indicating a reference for limiting the output of the fixed information from the semiconductor memory device, and the fixed information is notified to a user based on the reference signal. The battery according to claim 3, further comprising: an output restricting unit that prohibits the operation. 5. The battery according to claim 4, wherein the criterion is the number of times of outputting the fixed information. 6. The battery according to claim 4, wherein the criterion is a time from when the fixed information is first output. 7. An image reproducing means provided in the electronic device, wherein an electrical contact terminal is provided on a case body of the battery, and the fixed information is sent into the electronic device via the electrical contact terminal. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the battery is notified to a user from a sound reproducing unit. 8. The battery according to claim 7, wherein the electrical contact terminal is a power supply terminal provided on an outer surface of a case body of the battery. 9. The battery according to claim 1, further comprising means for converting the fixed information from an electrical signal to an optical signal and outputting the signal. 10. The battery according to claim 1, further comprising means for converting the fixed information from an electric signal to a wireless signal and outputting the signal. 11. A battery detachably attached to an electronic device as a power supply, wherein a flat display device is provided on an outer surface of a case body of the battery. 12. A semiconductor memory device which is supplied with power from the battery and has read-only fixed information stored at least partially in the semiconductor memory device, wherein the fixed information read from the semiconductor memory device is displayed on the flat display. The battery according to claim 11, which is notified to a user from the device. 13. The container with a built-in battery according to claim 12, wherein the fixed information includes advertisement information in addition to in-use notification information to be notified to a user. 14. A reference setting means for generating a reference signal indicating a reference for limiting an output of the fixed information from the semiconductor memory device, and the fixed information is notified to a user based on the reference signal. 14. The battery according to claim 13, further comprising: an output restricting unit that prohibits the operation. 15. The battery according to claim 14, wherein the criterion is the number of times of outputting the fixed information. 16. The battery according to claim 14, wherein the reference is a time from when the fixed information is first output.