JPH1155872A - Charging monitor for backup battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To monitor a battery correctly for the necessity of charging operation by detecting the ambient temperature of a backup battery and setting the threshold level of charge request alarm based on the detected temperature variably thereby preventing the charge request alarm from being sustained unnecessarily under an environment of high ambient temperature. SOLUTION: When power is supplied from a main power supply 21 by throwing in a power switch SW, the charge control section 31 at a charge monitoring section 30 captures the ambient temperature of a battery measured by a temperature sensor 50 through a temperature detecting section 34. On the other hand operating months counted by an operating month counter 32b is read out from an EPROM 32. Subsequently, a threshold value corresponding to the ambient temperature and the operating months is retrieved from a charging decision table 32a and a threshold value is read out a threshold memory 32c in order to calculate a variable threshold. Subsequently, the voltage of a battery 22 is detected through a voltage operating section 33 and when the detected voltage level reaches the variable threshold, a charge request alarm displayed at an operating panel section 18 is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a backup battery charge monitoring apparatus used in an information processing apparatus having a memory unit requiring a power supply backup, such as a facsimile apparatus and a POS (point of sale information) terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a facsimile apparatus having an image memory for temporarily storing image data to be transmitted to a destination or image data received from the destination is generally stored in the image memory even when the main power supply is cut off. A battery (secondary battery) for power supply backup is mounted so that data can be retained within a certain period of time. This backup battery is connected to the main power supply via a charging circuit, and is charged by power supply from the main power supply while the main power supply is turned on. Then, when the main power supply is interrupted, the discharge is started by the action of the discharge circuit, and the image memory is backed up.

The time during which data in the memory unit can be backed up by a backup battery is mainly determined by the capacity (mAh) of the battery. Therefore, assuming that data can be held if the power outage time is within X minutes as a product specification, the condition is that the battery is charged to at least a capacity that satisfies the backup time for X minutes. However, at the time of shipment or in a state where the power switch is turned off for a long time and the battery is completely discharged, even if the power switch is turned on, the specification of the backup time cannot be satisfied for a while.

[0004] Therefore, among conventional devices having a battery for power supply backup, the capacity of this battery is checked, and if the capacity does not satisfy the specification of the backup time, the user is warned that charging is necessary, and the specification is warned. Some were equipped with a charge monitoring function that erases a warning when sufficient charging has been performed.

[0005]

However, the charging characteristics of the battery vary depending on conditions such as the ambient temperature of the environment where the battery is placed, the consumption time of the battery, and the like. FIG. 3 shows an example of the charging characteristics when the ambient temperature is different. A in FIG. 3 shows a case where the battery is placed in an environment where the ambient temperature is low, and B in FIG. This is the case. That is, in the case where the battery is placed in an environment where the ambient temperature is low and the case where the battery is placed in a environment where the ambient temperature is high, the former is charged in a shorter time than the latter. Similarly, between the battery with a short consumption time and the battery with a long consumption time, the former is charged in a shorter time than the latter.

For this reason, when a warning indicating that the capacity of the battery is insufficient and charging is required is given when the power switch of the apparatus is turned on, if the environment is at a low ambient temperature, the time Ta is used. The battery voltage rises to a threshold voltage Va corresponding to a capacity sufficient to satisfy the backup time specification after the elapse of the warning, and the warning is erased. However, when the ambient temperature is high, the battery voltage becomes high. Did not reach the threshold voltage Va and the warning was not erased indefinitely even though the battery was charged to a capacity almost satisfying the specification of the backup time. This is a problem that can also occur due to differences in battery life.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent a warning requesting charging of a battery from continuing unnecessarily for a long period of time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a backup battery charge monitoring device capable of monitoring the necessity of charging and improving reliability.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a device having a memory unit requiring a power supply backup is charged by power supply from a main power supply, starts discharging upon a power failure of the main power supply, and performs a power supply backup of the memory unit. A backup battery charge monitoring device monitors the voltage of the backup battery during charging of the backup battery, issues a warning if the voltage is below a threshold, and stops the warning if the voltage exceeds the threshold. The first invention relates to a temperature detecting means for detecting an ambient temperature of a location of a backup battery, and variably sets a threshold level based on the atmospheric temperature detected by the temperature detecting means. Threshold changing means. Here, the threshold value changing unit is configured to output the first value when the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit is equal to or lower than a preset reference temperature.
, And when the temperature becomes equal to or higher than the reference temperature, the second level is set lower than the first level.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a consumption time accumulating means for accumulating the consumption time of a backup battery, and a threshold value variably set based on the consumption time obtained by the consumption time accumulation means. Value changing means. Here, the threshold value changing means sets the first level when the consumption time obtained by the consumption time accumulating means is equal to or less than a preset reference time, and sets the second level lower than the first level when the consumption time exceeds the reference time. Set to level.

In a third aspect of the present invention, the temperature detecting means of the first aspect of the invention and the consumption time accumulating means of the second aspect of the invention are provided, and the consumption time obtained by the consumption time accumulating means and the temperature detection means detect the consumption time. The threshold level is variably set based on the ambient temperature.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the charge monitoring device of the present invention is applied to a backup battery of a facsimile machine.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a main configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment. This facsimile apparatus has a facsimile section 10 and a power supply section 20.
And a charge monitoring unit 30. The facsimile unit 10
Main control unit 11, network control unit 12, reading unit 13, recording unit 1
4, image memory unit 15, code decoding unit 16, clock unit 17
And an operation panel section 18, and a main control section 11;
The network control unit 12, reading unit 13, recording unit 14, image memory unit 15, code decoding unit 16, clock unit 17, and operation panel unit 18 are connected by a signal line 19 such as a bus.

The main control unit 11 has a CPU (Central Processes).
The operation of the facsimile apparatus is realized by controlling each unit based on a preset program, mainly using a sing unit. The network control unit 12 includes a modem and controls reception of a facsimile signal transmitted on the communication line C and transmission of the facsimile signal to the communication line C.

The reading unit 13 optically reads a transmission original to generate facsimile data. Recording unit 1
An image 4 prints out an image corresponding to the facsimile data reproduced from the facsimile signal received by the network control unit 12 on recording paper.

The image memory unit 15 has a RAM (Random Acc.)
ess Memoly) for temporarily storing facsimile data reproduced from a facsimile signal received by the network control unit 12 and facsimile data generated from a transmission original read by the reading unit 13.

The code decoding section 16 has a function of coding facsimile data generated from a transmission original read by the reading section 13 and converting the data into a facsimile signal.
And a function for generating facsimile data by combining the received facsimile signal.

The clock section 17 counts the current date and time to manage the reception date and time and transmission date and time of the facsimile data. The operation panel unit 18 includes a display unit including a liquid crystal display and a light emitting diode for displaying various information to the user, and a key switch unit for inputting various information such as a dial number of a facsimile transmission destination.

The power supply section 20 has a main power supply 21 and a backup battery 22. The main power supply 21 and the battery 22 are connected to each other by a charging circuit 23, a power failure detection circuit 24, and a discharging circuit 25. ing. Charging circuit 23
Is a circuit for charging the battery 22 by power supply from the main power supply 21.

The power failure detection circuit 24 is a circuit for detecting a power failure of the main power supply 21. The discharge circuit 25 is a circuit for discharging the battery 22 according to a power failure detection signal from the power failure detection circuit 24.

When the power switch SW is turned on, the main power supply 21 converts the AC power supply E into a DC power supply having a predetermined potential and supplies power to the facsimile unit 10 and the charge monitoring unit 30. The battery 22 supplies DC power of a predetermined potential to the image memory unit 15 which is a memory unit requiring power backup at the time of a power failure of the main power supply 21, and retains data in the image memory unit 15 for a certain period of time. A hydrogen storage battery is used.

The charge monitoring unit 30 includes a charge control unit 31, a nonvolatile memory unit 32, a voltage detection unit 33, and a temperature detection unit 34.
And a charge control unit 31 and a nonvolatile memory unit 3
2. The voltage detection unit 33 and the temperature detection unit 34 are connected by a signal line 35 such as a bus.

The charge control unit 31 is mainly composed of a CPU and controls each unit based on a preset program to realize an operation as a charge monitoring device of the present invention. The main control unit 11 of the facsimile unit 10 And an internal bus 40. The nonvolatile memory unit 32 is, for example, an EPROM
(Erasable Programmable Read Only Memoly), and form respective storage areas of a charge determination table 32a, an operating month counter 32b, and a threshold memory 32c to be described later.

The voltage detector 33 detects a battery voltage corresponding to the amount of charge of the battery 22. The temperature detection unit 34 detects the ambient temperature of the facsimile machine location based on a signal from a temperature sensor 50 installed near the location of the facsimile machine. Here, the temperature detecting unit 34 and the temperature sensor 50 constitute a temperature detecting unit.

The operating month counter 32b is an area in which the number of days counted by the clock unit 17 of the facsimile unit 10 is counted up every one month after the facsimile apparatus is set up by the initial turning on of the power switch SW. It is. Here, the operating month counter 3
2b constitutes a consumption time accumulating means.

The charge determination table 32a is stored in the battery 22
Are classified into a plurality of patterns, and the charge completion of the battery 22 is determined for each pattern of the charge characteristics. The threshold voltage is set in advance. Here, the threshold voltage is set as a relative value when the threshold voltage of the pattern having the best charge characteristics is 1.00.

By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the ambient temperature is lower than the first reference temperature (15 ° C.).
While dividing into three stages higher than the first reference temperature and lower than the second reference temperature (30 ° C.) and higher than the second reference temperature,
The consumption time is divided into three stages: a first reference time (18 months) or less, a time longer than the first reference time, less than the second reference time (37 hours), and more than the second reference time. Investigate the charging characteristics by consumption time for each ambient temperature.

Then, of the nine charging characteristics in total,
As shown in FIG. 3, in the best charge characteristic pattern A (below the first reference temperature and below the first reference time), the charge amount of the battery 22 sufficient to satisfy the power supply backup time specification is reduced. The corresponding threshold voltage Va and its charging time Ta are determined. Then, the threshold voltage V
a is stored in the threshold value memory 32c. Next, another charging characteristic pattern B (only one pattern is shown in FIG. 3)
, The voltage Vb of the battery 22 when the battery 22 is charged to a charge amount that substantially satisfies the specification of the power supply backup time at the time Tb substantially close to the charging time Ta is obtained. Then, the relative value of each voltage Vb when the threshold voltage Va is 1.00 is set in the charge determination table 32a.

When power is received from the main power supply 21 by turning on the power switch SW, the charge control unit 31
Each unit is controlled by the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, the temperature sensor 50 is set as ST (step) 1.
Is taken in via the temperature detecting unit 34. Also, S
The number of operating months y stored in the operating month counter 32c is read from the EPROM 32 as T2.

Next, as ST3, the charging determination table 32a on the EPROM 32 is searched, and the threshold value set in the temperature level range including the ambient temperature x and the month level range including the operating months y is set. Get L.
Thereafter, as ST4, the threshold voltage Va in the threshold memory 32c is read from the EPROM 32, and the variable threshold voltage Vn = Va × L is calculated (threshold changing means).

Next, at step ST5, a voltage V corresponding to the charge amount of the battery 22 is detected via the voltage detector 33.
Then, when the voltage V of the battery 22 is detected, ST6
It is determined whether or not this voltage V has increased to the variable threshold voltage Vn calculated in ST4.

If the voltage V has not risen to the variable threshold voltage Vn, the battery 2 is displayed on the display provided on the operation panel 18 of the facsimile unit 10 in step ST7.
Display a warning message requesting charging of No. 2. After that, the process returns to ST1, and the processes of ST1 to ST6 are executed again.

In step ST6, the voltage V is changed to the variable threshold voltage Vn.
If it is confirmed that the temperature has risen, the warning message displayed on the display section of the operation panel section 18 is deleted as ST8, and this processing ends.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, when the battery 22 is completely discharged, the power switch S
When W is turned on, power is supplied from the main power supply 21 to each unit.
As a result, the facsimile operation of the facsimile unit 10 becomes possible. Further, under the control of the charge control unit 31 in the charge monitoring unit 30, a warning message indicating that the battery 22 needs to be charged is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel unit 18. Charging of the battery 22 is started by power supply from the main power supply 21.

Now, it is assumed that the ambient temperature x of the place where the facsimile apparatus is detected through the temperature detecting section a34 is as low as 10 ° C. It is also assumed that the count value y of the operating month counter 32b is 0. Then, threshold value L = 1.00 is obtained from charge determination table 32 shown in FIG. 2, and variable threshold voltage Vn = Va is calculated. Thereby, the battery 22 detected via the voltage detection unit 33
Is raised to the variable threshold voltage Vn = Va, the warning message displayed on the display of the operation panel 18 indicating that the battery 22 needs to be charged is deleted. At this time, the battery 22 has been charged to a capacity that sufficiently satisfies the specification of the preset backup time, and the charging time is almost Ta.

On the other hand, in the above example, the temperature detecting section a
Assuming that the ambient temperature x of the facsimile machine location detected through the switch 34 is a high temperature of 35 ° C., a threshold L = 0.70 is obtained from the charge determination table 32 shown in FIG. Voltage Vn = 0.70 Va is calculated. As a result, the voltage V of the battery 22 detected via the voltage detection unit 33 becomes equal to the variable threshold voltage Vn = 0.
When the voltage rises to 70 Va, the warning message displayed on the display unit of the operation panel unit 18 and indicating that the battery 22 needs to be charged is deleted. At this time, the battery 22 has been charged to a capacity substantially satisfying the specification of the preset backup time, and the charging time is substantially equal to T.
The time becomes equal to a.

Although the ambient temperature x of the place where the facsimile machine is detected through the temperature detecting section a34 is as low as 10 ° C., the count value y of the operating month counter 32b is used.
Is 21 and the battery 22 is moderately depleted, the threshold value L =
0.78 is obtained, and the variable threshold voltage Vn = 0.78V
a is calculated. As a result, when the voltage V of the battery 22 detected via the voltage detection unit 33 rises to the variable threshold voltage Vn = 0.78 Va, the operation panel unit 1
The warning message displayed on the display unit 8 indicating that the battery 22 needs to be charged is deleted. At this time, the battery 22 has been charged to a capacity substantially satisfying the specification of the preset backup time, and the charging time is substantially equal to Ta.

As described above, in the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment, the charge monitoring unit 30 monitors the capacity of the battery 22 based on the voltage, and when the specification of the power supply backup time is not satisfied, the warning message requesting the charging of the battery 22 is issued. Is displayed on the operation panel section 18 to notify the user.
This warning is continued until the battery 22 is charged by the power supply from the main power supply 21 and the voltage of the battery 22 reaches a threshold voltage corresponding to a capacity capable of satisfying the specification of the power supply backup time.

Here, the threshold voltage to be compared with the voltage of the battery 22 is changed depending on whether the charging characteristics of the battery 22 are good or not. Specifically, the ambient temperature in the environment where the battery 22 is placed is the first
When the temperature is equal to or lower than the reference temperature, the threshold voltage is set to the first level.
Is set to the second level lower than the level. Similarly, when the temperature is equal to or higher than a second reference temperature higher than the first reference temperature, the third level is set lower than the second level.

When the number of operating months of the apparatus corresponding to the consumption time of the battery 22 is less than the first reference month, the threshold voltage is set to the first level. In the case of, the second level is set lower than the first level. Similarly, the second higher than the first reference number of months
3rd lower than the 2nd level when the number of months
Level.

Therefore, the charging characteristics of the battery 22 are as follows:
The warning message requesting charging in accordance with each charging characteristic pattern is deleted, although the temperature decreases as the ambient temperature in the environment where the battery 22 is placed increases and decreases as the consumption time of the battery 22 increases. The threshold level, which is a criterion for determining whether or not to perform charging, is varied.
Does not reach the threshold voltage, and a warning message requesting charging of the battery 22 is kept displayed. As a result, since the warning does not disappear forever, the user does not mistakenly determine that the failure has occurred, and the reliability can be improved.

In the embodiment, the battery 2
The charging characteristic patterns are classified based on both the relationship between the ambient temperature under the environment where the battery 2 is placed and the consumption time of the battery 22, and the threshold voltage is set for each pattern. The charge characteristic patterns may be classified, and a threshold voltage may be set for each pattern.

In the embodiment, the battery 22 is used.
Although the consumption time of the device is managed by the number of operating months of the apparatus, it may be managed by the number of operating days or the number of years of operation. In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention, for example, by applying the charge monitoring device of the present invention to a POS terminal provided with a battery for backing up a power supply of a memory unit for registering product sales data. Of course.

[0043]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a backup battery charge monitoring device that can monitor the necessity of charging the battery while preventing the warning requesting the battery charging from continuing unnecessarily for a long time, and can improve reliability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a main configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an area configuration diagram of a charge determination table shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a battery voltage-charge time characteristic diagram for explaining a difference in a battery charge characteristic pattern.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main part of a control procedure executed by a charge control unit shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Facsimile part 18 ... Operation panel part 20 ... Power supply part 21 ... Main power supply 22 ... Battery 30 ... Charge monitoring part 31 ... Charge control part 32a ... Charge judgment table 32b ... Monthly operation counter 33 ... Voltage detection part 34 ... Temperature detection Part 50: Temperature sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A backup battery that is charged by power supply from a main power supply of an apparatus having a memory unit requiring a power supply backup, starts discharging by a power failure of the main power supply, and performs a power supply backup of the memory unit. The backup battery charge monitoring device monitors the voltage of the backup battery, issues a warning if the voltage is below a threshold, and stops the warning if the voltage exceeds the threshold. Temperature detecting means for detecting the ambient temperature of the location of the battery; and threshold changing means for variably setting the threshold level based on the atmospheric temperature detected by the temperature detecting means. A backup battery charge monitoring device. 2. The threshold value changing means sets a first level when the ambient temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is equal to or lower than a preset reference temperature, and sets the threshold value higher than the first level when the ambient temperature exceeds the reference temperature. The backup battery charge monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the second battery level is set to a low second level. 3. A backup battery, which is charged by power supply from a main power supply of a device having a memory unit requiring a power supply backup, starts discharging upon a power failure of the main power supply, and performs a power supply backup of the memory unit, is charging. The backup battery charge monitoring device monitors the voltage of the backup battery, issues a warning if the voltage is below a threshold, and stops the warning if the voltage exceeds the threshold. And a threshold changing means for variably setting the level of the threshold based on the consumed time obtained by the consumed time accumulating means. Backup battery charging monitoring device. 4. The threshold changing means sets the first level when the consumption time obtained by the consumption time accumulating means is shorter than a preset reference time, and sets the first level when the consumption time exceeds the reference time. 4. The backup battery charge monitoring device according to claim 3, wherein the second level is set to a lower second level. 5. A backup battery, which is charged by power supply from a main power supply of a device having a memory unit requiring a power supply backup, starts discharging due to a power failure of the main power supply, and backs up the power of the memory unit during charging The backup battery charge monitoring device monitors the voltage of the backup battery, issues a warning if the voltage is below a threshold, and stops the warning if the voltage exceeds the threshold. Temperature detection means for detecting the ambient temperature of the location of the battery; consumption time accumulation means for accumulating the consumption time of the backup battery; consumption time obtained by the consumption time accumulation means; and atmosphere detected by the temperature detection means. Threshold value changing means for variably setting the level of the threshold value based on the temperature and
A backup battery charge monitoring device, comprising: