JPH1127873A - Portable electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable electronic apparatus, which can prevent such nonconformity that the inputted information vanishes by the short charge of a spare battery or that the speech breaks, etc., without power down, caused by the short charge of a spare battery, by detecting each residual quantity of a main battery or the spare battery. SOLUTION: This electronic apparatus is equipped with apparatus body 1 which has a body circuit 3, and a battery part 2 which is capable of mounting on the apparatus body 1 and accommodates a main battery 4 and a spare battery 5. Then, the main body 1 is equipped with detection means 11 and 12 which detect the residual quantities of charge of the main battery 4 and the spare battery 5, a switching control means 13 which performs the switching between the main battery 4 and the spare battery 5, based on the detection result of the detection means 11 and 12, and supplies the body circuit 3 with power, and information means 14 and 15 which inform a user of the residual quantities of charge of the main battery 4 and the spare battery 5, based on the detection results of the detection means 11 and 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, and more particularly to a portable electronic device suitable for use in a battery-removable portable wireless terminal, a battery-removable portable information device, a battery-removable portable information terminal, and the like. It relates to electronic equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of battery-removable portable wireless terminal, a battery unit containing a main battery and a spare battery is detachable, and a standby time and a talk time are determined by the capacity of the main battery. When the capacity of the main battery runs out during a call, power supply from the main battery becomes impossible, and switching to power supply from the spare battery is performed. By replacing the main battery after switching to the spare battery, the call will not be interrupted,
The main battery can be replaced without turning off the terminal.

For example, a cordless telephone handset disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-200140 has a voltage detector for detecting an output voltage of a main battery, and a battery switching means for switching a driving power supply to the main battery or a spare battery. And a control unit for controlling the switching of the battery based on the output signal of the voltage detector, and a battery replacement time display means for externally displaying a voltage drop of the main battery, and a spare battery before the main battery runs out. , The call is not interrupted when the battery is replaced. Further, by externally displaying the voltage drop of the main battery, telephone communication can be continued without any trouble, and the necessity of replacing the main battery can be recognized.

[0004]

The problem with this type of conventional equipment is that there is a means for detecting the remaining charge of the main battery, but lacks a means for detecting the remaining charge of the spare battery. Another problem is that the remaining charge of the spare battery is not known. Even if switching from the main battery to the spare battery, if the spare battery is not charged, the power of the wireless terminal or telephone will be turned off, and the information input to the terminal will be lost or the call will be interrupted. Inconveniences such as accidents may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. By detecting the remaining charge of each of a main battery and a spare battery, there is no power failure due to insufficient charging of the spare battery, and the power failure is caused by the power failure. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device capable of preventing occurrence of troubles such as disappearance of input information or interruption of a call.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention employs the following portable electronic device. In other words, the portable electronic device according to claim 1 includes a device main body having a main body circuit, and a battery unit detachably attached to the device main body and containing a main battery and a spare battery as a driving power supply, Detecting means for detecting the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery, and switching between the main battery and the spare battery based on the detection result of the detecting means to supply power to the main body circuit A switching control unit; and a notifying unit for notifying the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery based on a detection result of the detecting unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the portable electronic device, the notifying unit includes a display unit that displays a remaining charge amount of each of the main battery and the spare battery, and a remaining charge amount of one of the main battery and the spare battery. And a warning means for issuing a warning when the value becomes equal to or less than a prescribed value.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the portable electronic device, wherein a power cord connectable to an AC power supply is provided on the main body of the device.

In the portable electronic device according to the first aspect, the detection means detects the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery. Next, the switching control means does not perform switching to the spare battery when the remaining charge of the main battery exceeds a specified value based on the detection result of the detecting means, and when the remaining charge of the main battery is equal to or less than the specified value. Switching to a spare battery is performed, and power is always supplied to the main circuit. The notification means notifies the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery based on the detection result of the detection means.

By detecting the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery, the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery can be confirmed.
It is possible to reliably operate the portable electronic device such as a wireless terminal or a telephone without turning off the power due to insufficient charging of the spare battery. Therefore, the main battery can be replaced without turning off the power, and problems such as disappearance of information input to an electronic device such as a terminal or interruption of a call are eliminated.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a portable electronic device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a battery-removable portable wireless terminal (portable electronic device) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the portable radio terminal, which is a main part of the portable radio terminal. Reference numeral 2 denotes a battery unit which is detachable from the main body. In the battery unit 2, a main battery 4 and a spare battery 5 as driving power sources are exchangeably housed. Normally, the power supply from the battery unit 2 is
The spare battery 5 supplies power instead of the main battery 4 when the remaining charge of the main battery 4 becomes low.

A main battery capacity detecting section (detecting means) 11 which is detachably connected to the main battery 4 and detects the remaining charge thereof, is connected to the main body 1 of the apparatus. And a main battery circuit that switches between the main battery 4 and the spare battery 5 based on the detection results of the main battery capacity detection unit 11 and the spare battery capacity detection unit 12, respectively. Switching control means 13 for supplying power to power supply unit 3, main battery capacity detection unit 11, and spare battery capacity detection unit 12
Notification means 14, 1 for notifying the remaining charge of each of main battery 4 and spare battery 5 based on the respective detection results.
5 are provided. And, in this device body 1,
A power cord 16 that can be connected to an AC power supply is provided.

The switching control means 13 includes a battery switching control section 21 for controlling battery switching based on the detection results of the main battery capacity detecting section 11 and the spare battery capacity detecting section 12, and an output signal of the battery switching control section 21. And a switch 22 for performing switching based on the power supply to the main circuit 3.

The notifying means 14 includes a main battery capacity detecting unit 1
1, a light emitting diode (hereinafter, abbreviated as LED: display means) 31 for displaying the remaining charge of the main battery 4 based on the detection result, and a warning when the remaining charge of the main battery 4 becomes less than a specified value. It comprises a buzzer 32 (warning means) that emits.

Similarly, the notification means 15 includes an LED (display means) 33 for displaying the remaining charge of the spare battery 5 based on the detection result of the spare battery capacity detection unit 12, and the remaining charge of the spare battery 5 being equal to or less than a specified value. And a buzzer 34 (warning means) for issuing a warning when the condition is reached.

The LEDs 31 and 33 change to green, yellow, and red in response to an output signal from the main battery capacity detector 11 or the spare battery capacity detector 12, respectively. For example, in the case of green, the state of charge is close to 100%, in the case of yellow, the state of charge is close to about 50%, and in the case of red, the state of charge is almost empty, and so on. It has been done.

Next, the operation of the battery detachable portable radio terminal will be described. Normally, electric power is supplied to the main body 1 from the main battery 4. In a state where power is supplied to this terminal, whether in a call or in a standby state,
The remaining charge of the main battery 4 decreases.

The main battery capacity detection unit 11 detects the remaining charge of the main battery 4 and outputs a signal to the battery switching control unit 21 and the LED 31 based on the detection result. Similarly, the spare battery capacity detecting unit 12 detects the remaining charge of the spare battery 5 and outputs a signal to the battery switching control unit 21 and the LED 33 based on the detection result. On the other hand, the LEDs 31 and 33 receiving these signals
In each case, each color changes depending on the magnitude of the received signal.

On the other hand, when the remaining charge of the main battery 4 becomes equal to or less than the specified value, the buzzer 32 emits a warning sound based on a signal from the main battery capacity detection unit 11. Similarly,
When the remaining charge of the spare battery 5 becomes equal to or less than the specified value, the buzzer 34 emits a warning sound based on a signal from the spare battery capacity detector 12.

The battery switching control section 21 receives output signals from the main battery capacity detecting section 11 and the spare battery capacity detecting section 12 and switches the signal for switching to the spare battery 5 when the remaining charge of the main battery 4 becomes low. 22. The switch 22 that has received the switching signal switches the power supply source of the main circuit 3 from the main battery 4 to the spare battery 5 or from the spare battery 5 to the main battery 4. Simultaneously with the switching between the batteries 4 and 5, the buzzers 32 and 34 generate an alarm sound based on the output signals from the main battery capacity detection unit 11 and the spare battery capacity detection unit 12.

According to the portable wireless terminal with detachable battery, the main battery capacity detecting section 11 for detecting the remaining charge of the main battery 4 and the spare battery capacity detecting section 12 for detecting the remaining charge of the spare battery 5 are provided. A switching control means 13 for switching between the main battery 4 and the backup battery 5 based on the detection results and supplying power to the main circuit 3, and charging the main battery 4 and the backup battery 5 based on the detection results. Since the notifying units 14 and 15 for notifying the remaining amount are provided, it is possible to check the remaining charge amount of each of the main battery 4 and the spare battery 5, and thus it is possible to prevent the call from being interrupted.

[0023]

As described above, according to the portable electronic device of the present invention, in the device main body, detecting means for detecting the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery, and the detection result of the detecting means Switching control means for switching between the main battery and the backup battery based on the power supply to supply power to the main body circuit, and notifying the remaining charge amount of each of the main battery and the backup battery based on the detection result of the detection means. Since the notification means is provided, the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery can be confirmed by detecting the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery, and the device can be reliably operated. . Therefore, the main battery can be replaced without turning off the power, and problems such as disappearance of information input to an electronic device such as a terminal or interruption of a call can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a battery-equipped portable wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device main body 2 Battery part 3 Main circuit 4 Main battery 5 Spare battery 11 Main battery capacity detection part (detection means) 12 Spare battery capacity detection part (detection means) 13 Switching control means 14, 15 Notification means 21 Battery switching control part 22 Switch 31, 33 LED (display means) 32, 34 Buzzer (warning means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus main body having a main body circuit, and a battery unit detachably attached to the apparatus main body and storing a main battery and a spare battery as a driving power supply, wherein the main body and the spare battery are provided in the apparatus main body. Detecting means for detecting the remaining charge of each battery, switching control means for switching between the main battery and the spare battery based on the detection result of the detecting means and supplying power to the main body circuit,
A portable electronic device comprising: a notifying unit that notifies a remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery based on a detection result of the detecting unit. 2. The notifying means includes: display means for displaying the remaining charge of each of the main battery and the spare battery; and when the remaining charge of one of the main battery and the spare battery becomes less than a prescribed value. 2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, comprising one or both of warning means for issuing a warning. 3. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the device main body is provided with a power cord connectable to an AC power supply.