TWI644832B - Power control device of electronic speed control and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A power supply control device suitable for an electronic transmission of a bicycle includes: a power supply, a motion state trigger, a controller and a power supply conveyor. The power supply provides power for the operation of the electronic transmission. The motion state trigger sends a trigger signal or a static signal. The controller includes a signal transceiver for transmitting and receiving variable speed signals, and a timer for accumulating idle time. When the controller receives the static signal, the controller starts the timer. When the accumulated idle time reaches the first preset time, the controller sends a shutdown signal. When receiving the shutdown signal, the motion state trigger sends a power-off signal. According to the trigger signal or the power-off signal, the power transmitter selectively provides or stops the power supplying power to the controller.

Description

Power control device and power control method of electronic transmission

The invention relates to a power supply control device and a power supply control method, in particular to a power supply control device and a power supply control method for supplying operating power for a bicycle electronic transmission.

The electronic transmission system is a milestone in the history of bicycle kit development. Compared with the common problems of traditional mechanical shifting, such as: stretching of the shifting line, damage to the line tube, etc., the electronic shifting system can control the motor to move linearly at a constant speed, so that the movement when switching gears is stable; the control button installed on the handle The keystroke is fixed, and the position of the button will not be offset by the vibration of the route, so it has accurate and fast gear shift. The electronic transmission can also reduce chain wear, and has simple post-maintenance, and the transmission performance will not change over time.

Generally speaking, the battery used in the bicycle electronic transmission system is divided into a seat tube type and a modular type. The seat tube battery is embedded in the inner wall of the seat tube or fixed outside the seat tube, and can simultaneously supply the power required by the front derailleur and the rear derailleur. There are usually two modular batteries, which are respectively integrated into the front derailleur and the rear derailleur of the bicycle, and each supply power to the front and rear derailleurs. Since the seat tube can accommodate more space than the front and rear derailleurs, the volume of the seat tube battery is often larger than that of the modular battery in battery design. A larger battery volume represents a higher battery capacity . Therefore, for a bicycle electronic transmission system that uses a modular battery, the battery capacity limit must be taken into consideration when designing. In the electronic transmission system, the most power consuming part is the master controller (Master Control Unit, MCU) located in the handle and the slave controller (SCU) located in the motor drive. In order to save battery power consumption, a simple implementation is to make the MCU and SCU enter sleep mode when no communication connection is required. However, the MCU and SCU in sleep mode still consume power slightly and continuously. This is a design made to retain the function of awakening the MCU and SCU at any time, but for batteries with limited capacity, the above implementation is still wasteful Suspected of electricity.

In view of this, the present invention proposes a power control device for an electronic transmission and a power control method for the device, which supplies power to the controller in the electronic transmission only after the sensor is triggered, and adjusts the SCU or The power consumed by the MCU, and shut down when the predetermined conditions are reached, fully save the battery power of the electronic transmission.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a power control device for an electronic transmission, which is suitable for an electronic transmission of a bicycle, includes: a power supply, a motion state trigger, a controller, and a power supply conveyor. The power supply is used to provide operating power for the electronic transmission. The motion state trigger is electrically connected to the power source. The motion state trigger is for being installed on the bicycle and used to sense its own motion state. The motion state trigger selectively sends a trigger signal or a static signal according to its motion state, and when When the motion state trigger receives the shutdown signal, the motion state trigger sends the power off signal. The controller is electrically connected to the motion state trigger and the motor driver. The controller includes a signal transceiver and a timer. The signal transceiver is used to receive or send the variable speed signal used to control the motor driver, and the timer is used to accumulate the idle time. When the controller receives the static signal, the controller starts a timer and accumulates the idle time. When the idle time reaches the first preset time, the controller sends a shutdown signal. When the controller receives the trigger signal, the controller resets the timer to re-accumulate the idle time. The power supply conveyor is electrically connected to the power supply, controller and motion state trigger. When the power transmitter receives the trigger signal, the power transmitter supplies power to the controller; when the power transmitter receives the power-off signal, the power transmitter stops providing power to the controller.

The power control method for an electronic transmission described in an embodiment of the present invention is applicable to the power control device for an electronic transmission described above. The power control method includes: the motion state trigger senses the static state and sends a static signal; after the controller receives the static signal, the controller starts a timer to accumulate the idle time; after the idle time reaches the first preset time , The controller sends a shutdown signal; after the motion state trigger receives the shutdown signal, the motion state trigger sends the power off signal; and after the power transmitter receives the power off signal, the power transmitter stops providing power to the controller.

With the above structure, the power control device disclosed in this case supplies the power of the controller in the electronic transmission through the trigger of the motion state trigger. The controller itself also includes a shutdown procedure, which includes the accumulation according to the timer. Adjust the scan frequency of the signal transceiver, and cut off the power supply of the controller after the sensor confirms the standstill and idle time to reach the preset time to save unnecessary battery power consumption.

The above description of the content of the disclosure and the following description of the embodiments are used to demonstrate and explain the spirit and principle of the present invention, and provide a further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

The following describes in detail the detailed features and advantages of the present invention in the embodiments. The content is sufficient for any person skilled in the relevant art to understand and implement the technical content of the present invention, and according to the contents disclosed in this specification, the scope of patent application and the drawings Anyone skilled in the relevant arts can easily understand the objects and advantages related to the present invention. The following examples further illustrate the views of the present invention in detail, but do not limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

Please refer to Figure 1. In one embodiment of the present invention, the disclosed power control device of the electronic transmission includes: a power supply 10, a motion state trigger 20, a controller 30, a first power supply conveyor 40 and a second power supply conveyor 42.

The power supply 10 is, for example, a lithium ion battery in the form of a module or a seat tube. In practice, the power supply 10 is disposed adjacent to the front derailleur or rear derailleur where the bicycle is installed. The power supply 10 is used to supply the power source of each component of the electronic transmission. In particular, the manner in which the controller 30 adjusts the power supply through the first power transmitter 40 is the focus of the power supply device and the power supply method of the present invention.

The motion state trigger 20 is, for example, a gravity sensor (G-sensor) or an accelerometer (Accelerator), and provides a speed change or displacement change sensed by itself. When the motion state trigger 20 is installed on a bicycle, it reflects that the bicycle system is in a moving state or in a stationary state, and accordingly sends a trigger signal or a stationary signal. In practice, the motion state trigger 20 is usually provided in the accommodable space of the front derailleur or the rear derailleur. The motion state trigger 20 is electrically connected to the second power supply 42 to obtain the power of the power supply 10. Since the motion state trigger 20 needs to be sensed for a long time, the second power transmitter 42 must remain in an activated state to ensure the power supply of the motion state trigger 20. In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, the motion state trigger 20 does not actively send a trigger signal or a static signal, but when the motion state trigger 20 receives a return signal, the motion state trigger 20 is sensed according to the time When the motion state is reached, a trigger signal or a static signal is sent. When the motion state trigger 20 does not receive a return signal, the motion state trigger 20 does not send a trigger signal or a static signal. In another embodiment of the present invention, when the motion state trigger 20 senses its own motion state, it actively sends a trigger signal or a static signal.

The controller 30 is, for example, a microprocessor or a system on chip, and receives a variable speed signal transmitted from the shift knob by wireless or wired communication through the signal transceiver 32, and then the controller 30 uses a pulse width, for example The modulation (Power Width Modulation, PWM) mode controls the motor driver 34 to operate to achieve the effect of driving the motor to adjust the transmission gear set. In an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 30 is electrically connected to the motion state trigger 20 in the form of, for example, an integrated circuit bus (Inter-Integrated Circuit Bus) to receive the trigger signal sensed by the motion state trigger 20 Or still signal.

Considering the actual application scenario of an electronic transmission installed on a bicycle, the controller 30 does not need to continuously maintain the operating state. Usually, the controller 30 only needs to start operation before the driver performs gear shifting. Therefore, in order to accumulate the time that the controller 30 has not operated during several operations (hereinafter referred to as "idle time"), the controller 30 further includes a timer for accumulating the idle time. In detail, the specific scenario where the controller is not operating, for example, the controller 30 does not scan the variable speed signal through the signal transceiver 32, or the controller 30 does not control the motor driver 34 to operate, etc. The idle time is the duration of the above non-operating scenario The sum of time. When the accumulated idle time of the timer is greater than or equal to the first preset time, the controller 30 sends a shutdown signal. In other words, when the controller 30 determines that it has been idle for more than a period of time, it sends a shutdown signal for turning off the controller 30 to the motion trigger 20. In addition, the starting method of idle time accumulation is added: In an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 30 actively sends a return signal to request the motion state trigger 20 to respond to the current motion state. If the controller 30 receives a static signal, it starts to accumulate Idle time. In another embodiment of the present invention, the motion state trigger system 20 actively sends a trigger signal or a static signal. When the controller 30 receives the static signal for the first time, it starts to accumulate the idle time. However, the method for starting the accumulation of idle time according to the present invention is not limited to the above two embodiments.

However, if the controller 30 receives the trigger signal from the motion state trigger 20 while the timer accumulates the idle time, the controller 30 stops the timer and clears the currently accumulated idle time value. In short, the controller 30 resets the timer. After resetting, the controller 30 restarts the timer, that is, after the time point of the trigger signal this time, the controller 30 re-accumulates its own idle time. It is additionally noted that, in an embodiment of the invention, the controller 30 passively receives the trigger signal or the static signal sent by the motion state trigger 20. In another embodiment of the present invention, the controller 30 actively sends a report signal to the motion state trigger 20 to request the motion state trigger 20 to immediately report the current sensed state.

In another embodiment of the present invention, in addition to setting the first preset time in advance so that the controller 30 can determine whether to send the shutdown signal through the idle time value accumulated by the timer, it also includes presetting the second preset time, wherein The second preset time is less than the first preset time. When the accumulated idle time value of the timer is greater than or equal to the second preset time, the controller 30 increases the transceiver period of the signal transceiver 32. In other words, after the idle time exceeds the second preset time, the controller 30 first reduces the working frequency of the communication connection, and then the controller 30 sends the shutdown signal when the idle time exceeds the first preset time. By adjusting the second preset time value, the power consumption of the signal transceiver 32 can be reduced before the controller 30 is completely powered off. In practice, a third preset time, a fourth preset time, etc. can be added, and as the accumulated value of the idle time reaches the third preset time and the fourth preset time, the signal transceiver 32 gradually increases The transmission and reception cycle further slows down the consumption rate of the power supply 10.

Please continue to refer to Figure 1. The motion state trigger 20 also receives the shutdown signal from the controller 30 and sends a power-off signal accordingly. From the perspective of an application field, when the motion state trigger 20 senses that the bicycle is moving, the delegate may be about to send a shift signal. Therefore, the controller 30 must be immediately energized and activated in order to immediately respond to the demand for shifting. From the perspective of another application field, when the controller 30 judges that it has been idle for more than the first preset time according to the value of the timer, and no idle trigger signal is received during the idle process (equivalent to the stationary state of the bicycle At a preset time interval), the power source of the controller 30 should be cut off immediately in order to save battery power.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the motion state trigger 20 has a motion state sensor and a power management unit. The motion state sensor is used to sense the motion state of itself to selectively send a trigger signal or a static signal. The power management unit is electrically connected to the motion state sensor, and when the power management unit receives the shutdown signal, it sends the power-off signal. In short, the motion state trigger 20 can also implement the sensing function and the power management function separately through a modular design, which can increase the flexibility of the actual application of the motion state trigger 20.

Regarding the transmission part of the power source of the controller 30 and the motion state trigger 20, as shown in FIG. 1: the first power transmitter 40 is electrically connected to the power source 10, the controller 30 and the motion state trigger 20. The second power supply 42 is electrically connected to the power supply 10 and the motion state trigger 20. The first power supply 40 is used to provide a current path from the power supply 10 to the controller 30. The second power supply 42 is used to continuously provide the power of the power supply 10 to the motion state trigger 20. In practice, the first power transmitter 40 and the second power transmitter 42 can use a linear dropout regulator (LDO) or a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor, MOSFET ) The implemented analog switch does not limit the types of hardware components of the first power transmitter 40 and the second power transmitter 42. When the first power transmitter 40 receives the trigger signal from the motion state trigger 20, the first power transmitter 40 provides the power of the power source 10 to enable the controller 30; when the first power transmitter 40 receives the trigger from the motion state When the power-off signal of the power supply 20 is interrupted, the first power transmitter 40 stops supplying power from the power supply 10 to turn off the controller 30.

FIG. 2 illustrates a shutdown flowchart of the power control method disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention, which is applicable to the foregoing power control device. Please refer to step S0, the controller resets the timer, that is, when the electronic transmission is turned on, the controller 30 resets the idle time value of the timer to zero, and then uses the signal transceiver 32 to wait for the shift signal at the shift knob end, or the controller 30 Receive the trigger signal or the static signal sent by the motion state trigger 20. Please refer to step S1. In an embodiment, the controller 30 actively sends a report signal to obtain a trigger signal or a static signal, and the controller 30 starts accumulating idle time when acquiring the static signal. In another embodiment, the motion state trigger actively sends a trigger signal or a static signal, so when the controller 30 receives the static signal sent by the motion state trigger 20 for the first time, it starts to accumulate idle time. Then, step S2 is entered, and the timer starts to accumulate the idle time in this static state. When the idle time reaches the first accumulated time, as shown in steps D3 to S4, the controller 30 sends a shutdown signal and stops timing. Otherwise, as shown in steps D3 to S2, the timer continues to accumulate idle time. Please refer to step S5. When the motion state trigger 20 receives the shutdown signal from the controller 30, the motion state trigger 20 sends a power-off signal to the first power transmitter 40. When the first power transmitter 40 receives the power-off signal, the first power transmitter 40 stops supplying the power of the power source 10 to the controller 30, so the controller 30 enters a shutdown state and no longer consumes battery power, as shown in step S7 Show.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the restart of the power control method disclosed in another embodiment of the present invention, which is applicable to the aforementioned power control device. Steps S0 to S1 in FIG. 3 are the same as steps S0 to S1 in FIG. 2 and will not be repeated here. Please refer to step S21 of FIG. 3 directly. During the accumulated idle time of the timer, if the motion state trigger 20 sends a trigger signal and the controller 30 receives the trigger signal, it returns to step S0 and the controller 30 resets the timer Device. Please continue to refer to step D2. If the idle time has reached the second preset time, the controller 30 increases the transceiver cycle of the signal transceiver 32, as shown in step S3. Increasing the transmission and reception cycle can reduce the power consumed by the signal transceiver 32. Please refer to step S22. After the idle time exceeds the second preset time and the timer continues to accumulate the idle time, if the motion state trigger 20 sends a trigger signal and the controller 30 receives the trigger signal, it returns to the step S0; otherwise, if the controller 30 does not receive any trigger signal, the accumulated idle time of the timer will gradually increase and reach the first preset time, and then as shown in steps S4 to S6 (here and the steps of FIG. 2 S4 to step S6 are the same), the controller 30 sends a shutdown signal, the motion state trigger 20 receives the shutdown signal and sends a power-off signal, and the first power transmitter 40 receives the power-off signal and stops supplying power to the controller 30. After step S6 is executed, the controller 30 enters a shutdown state and no longer consumes power. Please refer to step D13. If the motion state trigger 20 does not sense the movement state and sends a trigger signal, then step S7 is entered, and the controller 30 maintains the shutdown state. It should be noted here that after the first power transmitter 40 stops supplying the power of the power source 10 so that the controller 30 enters the shutdown state, the motion state trigger 20 still obtains the power of the power source 10 through the second power transmitter 42, so The motion state trigger 20 can send a trigger signal at any time according to the sensed bicycle motion status. Please refer to steps D13 to S8. If the first power transmitter 40 receives the trigger signal sent by the motion state trigger 20, the first power transmitter 40 provides the power of the power source 10 to the controller 30. Then restart to enter the power-on state, and then return to step S0, the controller 30 resets the timer for the next idle time accumulation. On the contrary, if the first power supply 40 does not receive any trigger signal when the controller 30 remains off, the controller 30 continues to remain off. As shown in step S7.

Based on the above, the power control device and power control method of the electronic transmission of the present invention can achieve the self-defined complete power off of the controller or partial power off of the controller through the cooperation of the timer in the controller and the motion state trigger Conditions, saving battery power consumption in electronic transmissions. On the other hand, the controller in the shutdown state can still sense the movement of the bicycle through the motion state trigger and the action of the first power supply conveyor, and supply power to the controller in real time, so that the controller immediately responds to the subsequent shift operation .

Although the present invention is disclosed as the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, all modifications and retouching are within the scope of the patent protection of the present invention. For the protection scope defined by the present invention, please refer to the attached patent application scope.

10‧‧‧Power

20‧‧‧Motion state trigger

30‧‧‧Controller

32‧‧‧Signal transceiver

34‧‧‧Motor driver

40‧‧‧The first power conveyor

42‧‧‧Second Power Conveyor

S0-S8, S21, S22

D11-D13, D3‧‧‧Judgment steps

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a power control device according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a shutdown flowchart of a power control method according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of restarting after shutdown according to a power control method according to another embodiment of the invention.

Claims (10)

A power supply control device for an electronic transmission, suitable for an electronic transmission of a bicycle, includes: a power supply for providing operating power of the electronic transmission; a motion state trigger, electrically connected to the power source, the motion state trigger is It is installed on the bicycle and used to sense its own movement state to selectively send a trigger signal or a stationary signal, and when the movement state trigger receives a shutdown signal, the movement state trigger sends a power off Signal; a controller, electrically connected to the motion state trigger and a motor driver, the controller includes a signal transceiver and a timer, the signal transceiver is used to receive or send a variable speed signal used to control the motor driver, The timer is used to accumulate an idle time; when the controller receives the static signal, the controller starts the timer and accumulates the idle time; when the idle time reaches a first preset time, the controller sends the Shutdown signal; when the controller receives the trigger signal, the controller resets the timer to re-accumulate the Set time; and a power supply, electrically connected to the power supply, the controller and the motion state trigger, when the power supply receives the trigger signal, the power supply provides the power of the power supply to the controller; When the power transmitter receives the power-off signal, the power transmitter stops providing power from the power source to the controller. The power supply control device according to claim 1, further comprising: when the idle time accumulated by the timer reaches a second preset time, the controller increases a transmission and reception cycle of the signal transceiver. The power control device according to claim 1, wherein when the motion state trigger receives a return signal sent by the controller, the motion state trigger senses its own motion state and sends the trigger signal or sends the standstill Signal, when the motion state trigger does not receive a return signal sent by the controller, the motion state trigger does not send the trigger signal nor the static signal. The power control device according to claim 1, wherein the motion state trigger has a motion state sensor and a power management unit, the motion state sensor is used to sense its own motion state to selectively send the trigger signal Or send the static signal; the power management unit is electrically connected to the motion state sensor, and when the power management unit receives the shutdown signal, the power off signal is sent. The power control device according to claim 1, wherein the signal transceiver is a wireless Bluetooth transceiver. The power supply control device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply conveyor is a first power supply conveyor, and the power supply control device further includes a second power supply conveyor, the second power supply conveyor is electrically connected to the power supply And the motion state trigger, the second power transmitter is used to provide power of the power source to the motion state trigger. A power control method for an electronic transmission, which is suitable for the power control device of the electronic transmission described in claim 1, includes: sensing a stationary state with the motion state trigger and sending the stationary signal; receiving the stationary signal at the controller After that, the controller starts the timer to accumulate the idle time; after the idle time reaches the first preset time, the controller sends the shutdown signal; after the motion state trigger receives the shutdown signal, Sending the power-off signal with the motion state trigger; and after the power transmitter receives the power-off signal, the power transmitter stops providing the power of the power to the controller. The power control method of the electronic transmission according to claim 7, further comprising: after the timer is started, when the idle time accumulated by the timer reaches a second preset time, the controller increases the signal transceiver In the receiving and sending cycle, the second preset time is less than the first preset time. The power control method of the electronic transmission according to claim 7, further comprising: before the idle time reaches the first preset time, when the controller receives the trigger signal, the controller resets the timer and Re-accumulate the idle time. The power supply control method of the electronic transmission according to claim 7, further comprising: after stopping the supply of the power of the power supply to the controller, sensing the moving state with the motion state trigger and sending the trigger signal; After the power transmitter receives the trigger signal, the power transmitter provides the power of the power source to the controller; and after the power of the power source is supplied to the controller, the signal transceiver sends or receives to control the motor driver Variable speed signal.