KR19990060772A - Wired / wireless input device with secondary battery charging circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

The combined wired / wireless input device of the present invention includes a secondary battery, a charging control unit for charging the same, and a switching unit. When the input device is used as a wire, power input through the wire is supplied to the internal circuit of the input device through the switching unit to operate the input device. Charging of the battery is also performed by the charging control unit using power input through the wire. When the input device is used wirelessly, the power supplied from the secondary battery is supplied to the internal circuit of the input device through the switching unit to operate the input device. In addition, the battery state display unit is used to wirelessly display the state of charge of the secondary battery when used wirelessly so that the user can check the state of charge of the battery.

Description

Wire / wireless input device with secondary battery charging circuit (WIRE / WIRELESS INPUT APPARATUS HAVING SECONDARY BATTERY CHARGING CIRCUIT)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a wired / wireless input device, and more particularly, to a wired / wireless input device operated by a secondary battery.

Wired / wireless input devices include wired / wireless keyboard devices and wired / wireless pointing devices. In particular, wired / wireless keyboard devices are widely used because of their convenient use. When the keyboard device is used by wire, it is connected to the computer body by wire using a separate connection cable. When wirelessly used, an IR method or an RF method is usually used.

1 illustrates that a wired / wireless combined keyboard and the wired / wireless keyboard device are wirelessly connected to a computer system as an example of a conventional wired / wireless input device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional wired / wireless keyboard device 30 includes a wireless transceiver 32. The front and back part of the computer main body 20 which has this keyboard device 30 as an input device is also provided with the wireless transmission / reception part 22. As shown in FIG. In the case of using a wire, a separate connector cable (not shown) is used to connect the computer main body 20 and the keyboard 30. In the case of wireless use, wireless input is performed using the wireless transceivers 22 and 32 provided in the computer main body 20 and the keyboard 30. 2 shows a general circuit configuration of the wired / wireless combined keyboard device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the keyboard device 30 includes a DIN Industrie Norm Jack (DIN) jack 31, a wireless transceiver 32, a microcontroller 33, a key matrix 34, and a primary battery ( 35), a key function display unit 36 is configured.

Referring to FIG. 2, a data signal input from the key matrix 34 is input to the microcontroller 33. The microcontroller 33 inputs a data signal to a computer main body through a DIN connector cable (not shown) connected to the DIN jack 31 when the keyboard is in use by wire, and is wirelessly in use. In this case, a data signal is input from the wireless transceiver 32 of the keyboard to the wireless transceiver 37 of the computer main body. The key function display unit 36 displays a setting state of a specific key, for example, a NUM LOCK, a capital letter lock function, and a scroll lock function. When the keyboard is in use by wires, the power of the computer main body is supplied to the keyboard through the DIN jack 31, and when the keyboard is being used wirelessly, power is supplied to the battery 35.

3 shows a circuit for connecting a wired / wireless keyboard device to a computer main body by wire to supply power to the keyboard and wirelessly to a computer to supply the keyboard with a primary battery. When used in a wired manner, power Vin supplied from the computer main body is supplied to the internal circuit of the keyboard through the first blocking diode D37. When used wirelessly, the power Vbat supplied from the battery is supplied to the internal circuit of the keyboard through the second blocking diode D38.

The wired / wireless input device as described above is very convenient because it is possible to use both wired and wireless. In particular, when using wirelessly, the location is limited and data input is very easy. However, when used wirelessly, the battery is supplied with power, and the following problems may occur.

First, when all the batteries are discharged when performing data input while receiving power from the battery, the user should stop the data input and replace the discharged battery with another battery. And since there is no way for the user to know how much battery is left, this can often happen during keyboard use. Since most of the batteries used are primary batteries, the batteries that have reached the end of their life should be replaced with new batteries. Even when using a secondary battery, it should be charged using a separate charging device. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, when used wirelessly, unnecessary power consumption is generated by the second blocking diode D38 to shorten the life of the battery.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a wired / wireless input device having a secondary battery and a charging circuit for charging the battery, which has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a circuit which extends the battery usage time by preventing unnecessary consumption of battery power when the wired / wireless input device is used wirelessly.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a wired / wireless input device that allows a user to check the remaining amount of a battery installed when using wireless.

1 is a diagram illustrating a wired / wireless combined keyboard connected to a computer system in a wireless form as an example of a conventional wired / wireless input device;

2 is a circuit block diagram showing a general configuration of the wired / wireless combined keyboard device shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a part related to power supply in the wire / wireless combined keyboard device shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a circuit configuration of a wired / wireless combined keyboard device as an example of the wired / wireless combined input device of the present invention; And

FIG. 5 is a detailed circuit diagram of each block shown in FIG. 4.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10 monitor 20 computer body

22, 32: wireless transceiver 30: wired / wireless keyboard device

31: DIN jack 33: microcontroller

34: key matrix 35: primary battery

36: key function display unit 40: internal circuit

50: switching unit 60: charging control unit

70: secondary battery 80: battery status display

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the object of the present invention as described above, a combined wired / wireless input device operated by a secondary battery includes: an internal circuit of the input device; A secondary battery; Switching means for supplying power supplied through the wire to the internal circuit when the input device is used by wire, and supplying power from the battery to the internal circuit when wirelessly used; And a battery charging means for charging the battery with power supplied through the wire when the input device is used by wire.

In this embodiment, the switching means includes means for detecting when the input device is used by wire; Switch means for interrupting power supplied from a battery when the means senses wired use and for supplying power supplied from the battery into the input device when the input device is used wirelessly; Means for preventing the power supplied from the battery from flowing into the battery charging means when the input device is used wirelessly.

In this embodiment, the battery charging means comprises: charging current supply means for supplying charging current to the battery; Means for detecting a state of charge of the battery; Switching means for operating said charging current supply means when said means senses a state in which said battery is to be charged and for stopping said operation of said charging current supply means when said means detects that the battery is fully charged.

In this embodiment, the battery state display means for displaying the state of charge of the battery.

In this embodiment, the battery status display means includes means for detecting a state of charge of the battery; And display means for indicating when the means detects a state in which the battery should be charged.

(Example)

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The novel wired / wireless input device of the present invention includes a secondary battery, a charging control unit for charging the same, and a switching unit. When the input device is used as a wire, power input through the wire is supplied to the internal circuit of the input device through the switching unit to operate the input device. Charging of the battery is also performed by the charging control unit using power input through the wire. When the input device is used wirelessly, the power supplied from the secondary battery is supplied to the internal circuit of the input device through the switching unit to operate the input device. In addition, the battery state display unit is used to wirelessly display the state of charge of the secondary battery when used wirelessly so that the user can check the state of charge of the battery.

4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a circuit configuration of a wired / wireless combined keyboard device as an example of the wired / wireless combined input device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a detailed circuit diagram of each block shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 4, a keyboard / wireless combined keyboard device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a keyboard internal circuit 40, a switching unit 50, a charging control unit 60, and a secondary battery 70. When the keyboard device is used in a wired manner, power Vin supplied from a computer main body (not shown) is supplied to the keyboard internal circuit 40 through the switching unit 50. The charging control unit 60 charges the battery 70 by using a power source Vin provided from the computer main body (not shown). When wirelessly used, power Vbat supplied from the battery 70 is supplied to the keyboard internal circuit 40 through the switching unit 50. In addition, the keyboard device includes a battery status display unit 80 to display the battery 70 when the battery 70 is to be reduced to a predetermined value or less when used wirelessly.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 5, the switching unit 50 includes resistors R51 and R52, a blocking diode D51, and switching transistors Q51 and Q52. When the keyboard device is used in a wired manner, a power supply Vin is supplied from a computer body (not shown) so that transistor Q51 is turned on and transistor Q52 is turned off. Therefore, the power Vbat supplied from the battery 70 is cut off, and the power Vin supplied from the computer main body (not shown) is supplied to the internal circuit of the keyboard through the blocking diode D51. On the other hand, when the keyboard device is used wirelessly, the transistor Q51 is turned off and the transistor Q52 is turned on so that the power Vbat supplied from the battery 70 is supplied to the internal circuit of the keyboard.

The charging control unit 60 includes a charging current supply unit 61, a battery voltage sensing unit 62, a blocking diode D62, and a switching transistor Q63. The battery voltage sensing unit 62 includes split resistors R63 and R64. The division resistors R63 and R64 sense the voltage level of the battery 70 to turn on or turn off the transistor Q63. When the transistor Q63 is turned off, the charging current supply unit 61 supplies a charging current to the battery 70, and when the transistor Q63 is turned on, the operation of the charging current supply unit 61 is stopped.

The charging current supply unit 61 is composed of resistors R61, R62, transistors Q61, Q62. When the transistor Q63 is turned off, a charging operation is started. When the transistor Q61 is turned on, charging current starts to be supplied to the battery 70 through the resistor R62 and the blocking diode D62. At this time, the transistor Q62 is turned on by the potential difference generated across the resistor R62. Therefore, the current applied to the base terminal of the transistor Q61 is reduced and the transistor is turned off again. As described above, the trickle charge for supplying the charging current to the battery 70 is performed while the transistors Q61 and Q62 are repeatedly turned on and off. The amount of charge of the battery 70 may be determined according to the resistance of the resistor R62, and the capacitances of the resistor R62 and the transistor Q61 may be set to trickle charge.

When the battery 70 is fully charged, it is sensed by the split resistors R63 and R64, where the transistor Q63 is turned on. Accordingly, the transistor Q61 is turned off to stop the trickle charge operation. The blocking diode D62 blocks current flowing back from the battery 70 when operated wirelessly.

The battery state display unit 80 includes a battery voltage detector 81, a switching transistor Q81 and Q82, resistors R83 and R84, and a light emitting diode (LED) LED81. The battery voltage detector 81 includes split resistors R81 and R82 for sensing the voltage of the battery 70. When the voltage of the battery 70 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the transistor Q81 is turned on and the transistor Q82 is turned off, so that no current flows in the light emitting diode LED81. However, when the voltage of the battery 70 falls below a predetermined value, the transistor Q81 is turned off, and the transistor Q82 is turned on so that a current flows through the light emitting diode LED81 to emit light. Therefore, the user recognizes that the battery 70 should be charged when the LED LED 81 emits light. Therefore, when the LED LED81 emits light when used wirelessly, the keyboard device may be switched to a wired type.

According to the present invention as described above, since a secondary battery and a charging circuit for charging the same are built in the input / wireless input device, the user does not have to experience the inconvenience of frequently changing the battery. And if the battery is discharged below a certain value when used wirelessly, the user can check this. In this case, the charging of the battery can be performed while the input device is switched to a wired line and continue to use the input device.

Claims (5)

In both wired and wireless input devices operated by secondary batteries: Internal circuitry of the input device; A secondary battery; Switching means for supplying power supplied through the wire to the internal circuit when the input device is used by wire, and supplying power from the battery to the internal circuit when wirelessly used; And a battery charging means for charging the battery with power supplied through the wire when the input device is used by wire. The method of claim 1, The switching means Means for detecting when the input device is used by wire; Switch means for interrupting power supplied from a battery when the means senses wired use and for supplying power supplied from the battery into the input device when the input device is used wirelessly; And means for blocking the power supplied from the battery from flowing into the battery charging means when the input device is used wirelessly. The method of claim 1, The battery charging means Charging current supply means for supplying a charging current to the battery; Means for detecting a state of charge of the battery; And switching means for operating said charging current supply means when said means senses a state in which said battery is to be charged and for stopping said operation of said charging current supply means when said means detects that the battery is fully charged. Combined wired / wireless input device. The method of claim 1, And a battery state display means for displaying the state of charge of the battery. The method of claim 4, wherein The battery status display means Means for detecting a state of charge of the battery; And input means for displaying the battery when the means detects a state in which the battery is to be charged.