TWM636299U - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device includes a fuel cell, a first switch, a rechargeable battery, a second switch, and a relay. The fuel cell provides a fuel voltage. The first switch provides the fuel voltage to a first node according to a first control signal. A rechargeable battery provides a battery voltage. The second switch is coupled to the first node, and charges the rechargeable battery with the fuel voltage according to a second control signal. The relay provides a voltage of the first node to the load according to the third control signal.

Description

electronic device

This work relates to an electronic device with a fuel cell and a rechargeable battery.

With the vigorous development of alternative energy sources, various new types of battery architectures have been continuously proposed, and fuel cells have therefore received attention again. In order to utilize the fuel cell more effectively, it is necessary to optimize the battery pack of the fuel cell, so as to accelerate the application of the fuel cell to real life.

This creation here proposes the combination of fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. The rechargeable batteries can make up for the lack of current drive capability of the fuel cells, and the fuel cells can also continuously replenish the power of the rechargeable batteries to improve battery life. This creation also proposes a protection method and a power calculation method to help ensure the normal operation of the fuel cell combined with the rechargeable battery, and provide users with reliable power information about the rechargeable battery to improve user experience.

In view of this, the present invention proposes an electronic device including a fuel cell, a first switch, a rechargeable battery, a second switch and a relay. The above-mentioned fuel cell provides a fuel voltage. The first switch provides the fuel voltage to a first node according to a first control signal. The above-mentioned rechargeable battery provides a battery voltage. The second switch is coupled to the first node, wherein the second switch uses the fuel voltage to charge the rechargeable battery according to a second control signal. The relay provides the voltage of the first node to a load according to a third control signal.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device further includes a unidirectional conduction element. The unidirectional conduction element is coupled between the fuel cell and the first switch for unidirectionally providing the fuel voltage to the first switch.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the unidirectional conduction element includes a diode. The diode includes an anode terminal and a cathode terminal, wherein the anode terminal is coupled to the fuel cell, and the cathode terminal is coupled to the first switch.

According to some other embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned diode system is a Schottky diode.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned first switch is a metal oxide semiconductor.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned second switch is an insulated gate bipolar transistor.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device further includes a first current detector and a second current detector. The first current detector is coupled between the second switch and the rechargeable battery for detecting a battery current of the rechargeable battery to generate a first current signal. The second current detector is coupled between the first node and the relay, and is used for detecting a load current flowing to the load to generate a second current signal.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first current detector and the second current detector are respectively a Hall detector.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device further includes a first voltage detection circuit and a second voltage detection circuit. The first voltage detection circuit is used to detect the fuel voltage to generate a first voltage detection signal. The second voltage detection circuit is used to detect the battery voltage to generate a second voltage detection signal.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device further includes a driving circuit and a controller. The driving circuit generates the first control signal, the second control signal and the third control signal according to a driving signal. The controller generates the driving signal according to the first current signal, the second current signal, the first voltage detection signal and the second voltage detection signal.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device further includes a peripheral power supply. The peripheral power supply is used to supply power to the first voltage detection circuit, the second voltage detection circuit, the first current detector, the second current detector, the driving circuit and the controller.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned rechargeable battery is composed of a plurality of lithium battery cells, and the above-mentioned electronic device further includes a protection circuit. The protection circuit is used to maintain the voltage of each of the lithium battery cells not greater than a second threshold voltage.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the protection circuit further includes a first temperature detection circuit. The first temperature detection circuit is used to detect the temperature of the first switch to generate a first temperature detection signal, wherein the first temperature detection circuit provides the first temperature detection signal to the controller.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, when the controller determines that the temperature of the first switch exceeds a first temperature according to the first temperature detection signal, the drive circuit does not conduct the first switch, the second switch, and the relay.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the protection circuit further includes a second temperature detection circuit. The second temperature detection circuit is used to detect the temperature of the rechargeable battery to generate a second temperature detection signal, wherein the temperature detection circuit provides the second temperature detection signal to the controller.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, when the controller determines that the temperature of the rechargeable battery exceeds a second temperature according to the second temperature detection signal, the drive circuit does not conduct the first switch, the second switch, and the relay.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first temperature detection circuit and the second temperature detection circuit further include a negative temperature coefficient resistor, a first resistor, and a first capacitor. The negative temperature coefficient resistor is coupled between a supply voltage and a second node. The first resistor is coupled between the second node and a ground terminal. The first capacitor is coupled between the second node and the ground terminal, wherein the temperature detection signal is generated at the second node.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the peripheral power supply provides the supply voltage.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, when the controller determines that the fuel voltage exceeds a first threshold voltage according to the first voltage detection signal, the driving circuit does not turn on the first switch.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, when the controller determines that the battery voltage exceeds a second threshold voltage according to the second voltage detection signal, the driving circuit does not turn on the second switch.

The following descriptions are examples of the present invention. Its purpose is to illustrate the general principles of this creation, and should not be regarded as a limitation of this creation. The scope of this creation should be defined by the scope of the patent application.

It can be understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and/or sections, these elements, components, regions , layer, and/or section should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish different elements, components, regions, layers, and/or sections. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, and/or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer, or section without departing from the teachings of some embodiments of the present disclosure. and/or sections.

It should be noted that the content disclosed below may provide multiple embodiments or examples for practicing different features of the invention. The special component examples and arrangements described below are only used to briefly explain the spirit of the creation, and are not intended to limit the scope of the creation. In addition, the following description may reuse the same symbol or word in multiple examples. However, the purpose of repeated use is only to provide simplified and clear description, not to limit the relationship between the embodiments and/or configurations discussed below. Furthermore, descriptions of one feature described in the following specification as being connected to, coupled to, and/or formed on another feature, etc., may actually include many different embodiments, including those features being in direct contact, or including other additional features. The features are formed between the features, etc., such that the features are not in direct contact.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 100 includes a fuel cell 101 , a one-way conduction element 102 , a first switch 103 , a first voltage detection circuit 104 and a first temperature detection circuit 105 .

The fuel cell 101 provides a fuel voltage VFC, and the unidirectional conduction element 102 is used to provide the fuel voltage VFC to the first switch 103 in one direction. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the unidirectional conduction element 102 is a diode. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the unidirectional conduction element 102 is a Schottky diode.

The first switch 103 is coupled between the fuel cell 101 and the first node N1, and is turned on and off according to the first control signal SW1. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first switch 103 is a metal oxide semiconductor.

The first voltage detection circuit 104 is used for detecting the fuel voltage VFC to generate a first voltage detection signal VS1. The first temperature detection circuit 105 is used to detect the temperature of the first switch 103 to generate a first temperature detection signal TS1.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 100 further includes a rechargeable battery 106 , a second switch 108 , a first current detector 109 , a second voltage detection circuit 110 and a second temperature detection circuit 111 .

Rechargeable battery 106 provides battery voltage VBAT. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the rechargeable battery 106 may be a lead acid battery, a nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery, a lithium ion (Li-ion) battery, a lithium ion polymer (Li-Po) battery, a high voltage lithium ion Polymer battery (Li-HV), lithium iron phosphate (Li-Fe) battery and any other reusable battery.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the rechargeable battery 106 is made of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, lithium-ion polymer (Li-Po) battery, high-voltage lithium-ion polymer (Li-HV) battery or lithium iron phosphate When the battery pack is composed of (Li-Fe) batteries, the electronic device 100 may further include a protection circuit 107, which is used to protect the voltage of each battery unit of the rechargeable battery 106 from exceeding the threshold voltage, and to make the voltage of each battery unit voltages close to each other.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the rechargeable battery 106 is composed of a plurality of lithium-ion batteries or lithium-ion polymer batteries connected in series, the protection circuit 107 is used to protect the voltage of each battery unit from not exceeding 4.2V . According to another embodiment of the present invention, when the rechargeable battery 106 is composed of multiple battery cells connected in series of a high-voltage lithium-ion polymer (Li-HV) battery, the protection circuit 107 is used to protect the voltage of each battery cell. more than 4.35V. According to another embodiment of the present invention, when the rechargeable battery 106 is composed of a plurality of lithium iron phosphate battery cells connected in series, the protection circuit 107 is used to protect the voltage of each battery cell from exceeding 3.65V.

The second switch 108 is coupled between the first node N1 and the rechargeable battery 106 , and charges the rechargeable battery 106 with the voltage of the first node N1 according to the second control signal SW2 . According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second switch 108 is an insulated gate bipolar transistor (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, IGBT). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the rechargeable battery 106 is discharged to the load LOAD through a diode added by the second switch 108 (not shown in FIG. 1 ).

The first current detector 109 is coupled between the rechargeable battery 106 and the second switch 108 for measuring the battery current IBAT to generate a first current detection signal IS1. According to some embodiments of the present invention, battery current IBAT includes a charge current for charging rechargeable battery 106 and a discharge current for rechargeable battery 106 .

The second voltage detection circuit 110 is used for detecting the battery voltage VBAT of the rechargeable battery 106 to generate a second voltage detection signal VS2. The second temperature detection circuit 111 is used to detect the temperature of the rechargeable battery 106 to generate a second temperature detection signal TS2.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 100 further includes a relay 112 , a second current detector 113 , a driving circuit 114 , a controller 115 and a peripheral power supply 116 . The relay 112 is coupled between the first node N1 and the load LOAD, and provides the voltage of the first node N1 to the load LOAD according to the third control signal SW3.

The second current detector 113 is coupled between the first node N1 and the relay 112 for measuring the load current IL flowing to the load LOAD to generate the second current detection signal IS2. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second current detector 113 is used to detect the total output current of the fuel cell 101 and the rechargeable battery 106 . According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first current detector 109 and the second current detector 113 are Hall detectors.

The driving circuit 114 generates a first control signal SW1 , a second control signal SW2 and a third control signal SW3 according to the driving signal SC, and then controls the first switch 103 , the second switch 108 and the relay 112 to be on or off. The controller 115 is based on the first temperature detection signal TS1, the second temperature detection signal TS2, the first current detection signal IS1, the second current detection signal IS2, the first voltage detection signal VS1 and the second voltage detection signal VS2 to generate a driving signal SC. The driving circuit 114 and the controller 115 will be described in detail below.

The peripheral power supply 116 is coupled to the first node N1 and used to supply power to the electronic device 100 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the relay 112 is coupled behind the peripheral power supply 116 , and the second current detector 113 detects the sum of the current flowing to the load LOAD and the current flowing to the peripheral power supply 116 .

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the controller and the driving circuit of the electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the peripheral power supply 116 is for the first temperature detection circuit 105, the first current detector 109, the second temperature detection circuit 111, the second current detector 113, the drive circuit 114 and the controller 115 for power supply.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the peripheral power supply 116 provides supply voltage to the first temperature detection circuit 105, the first current detector 109, the second temperature detection circuit 111, the second current detector 113, and the driving circuit 114 and controller 115.

According to other embodiments of the present invention, when the fuel cell 101 reacts to generate the fuel voltage VFC, auxiliary circuits (not shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 ) are needed to assist the fuel cell 101 to react efficiently, and these auxiliary circuits are Powered by peripheral power supply 116 .

In addition, the controller 115 receives the first voltage detection signal VS1 generated by the first voltage detection circuit 104 , the first temperature detection signal TS1 generated by the first temperature detection circuit 105 , the first temperature detection signal TS1 generated by the first current detector 109 The first current detection signal IS1 generated, the second voltage detection signal VS2 generated by the second voltage detection circuit 110, the second temperature detection signal TS2 generated by the second temperature detection circuit 111 and the second current detection The second current detection signal IS2 generated by the detector 113 generates the driving signal SC, and the driving circuit 114 uses the first control signal SW1, the second control signal SW2 and the third control signal SW3 to drive the first switch according to the driving signal SC. 103 , a second switch 108 and a relay 112 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , since the steady-state voltage response time of the fuel cell 101 is relatively slow and the instantaneous current driving capability is insufficient, the electronic device 100 further includes a rechargeable battery 106 to supplement the low current driving capability of the fuel cell 101 . According to other embodiments of the present invention, when the rechargeable battery 106 is not lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, lithium-ion polymer (Li-Po) battery, high-voltage lithium-ion polymer battery (Li-HV), lithium iron phosphate When any of the (Li-Fe) batteries is used, the electronic device 100 can omit the protection circuit 107 to reduce the cost.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Comparing the electronic device 300 in FIG. 3 with the electronic device 100 in FIG. 1, the unidirectional conduction element 102 in FIG. 1 is replaced by a diode D1, and the second switch 108 further includes an additional diode D2. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the rechargeable battery 106 supplies power to the load LOAD through the second switch 108 and the diode D2.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the diode D1 includes an anode terminal NA and a cathode terminal NC, wherein the anode terminal NA is coupled to the fuel cell 101 , and the cathode terminal NC is coupled to the first switch 103 . According to another embodiment of the present invention, the diode D1 can be a Schottky diode, so as to further reduce the power loss caused by the cross voltage of the diode.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a first mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, when the controller 115 judges that the fuel voltage VFC of the electronic device 400 is greater than the battery voltage VBAT and the charging current of the rechargeable battery 106 exceeds the maximum charging current IP, the controller 115 operates in the first mode to generate driving signal SC, and the driving circuit 114 turns on the first switch 103 and the relay 112 according to the driving signal SC, and turns on the second switch 108 periodically, so that the average charging current of the rechargeable battery 106 is the maximum charging current IP.

（公式1） According to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 115 samples the battery current IBAT N times within the first time T1, and averages them to generate an average current IAVE, wherein the average current IAVE is shown in Formula 1:

(Formula 1)

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the average current IAVE is not greater than the maximum charging current IP, it means that the rechargeable battery 106 can be safely charged by the second switch 108 being continuously turned on, so the second switch 108 is continuously turned on to charge the rechargeable battery 106 Safe continuous charging.

（公式2） According to another embodiment of the present invention, when the average current IAVE is greater than the maximum charging current IP, in order to make the charging current per unit time not exceed the maximum charging current IP, the conduction period ratio DON of the second switch 108 is as shown in Formula 2 Show:

(Formula 2)

），其餘時間內（即，

）第二開關108係為不導通，使得可充電電池106之平均充電電流不超過最大充電電流IP。 In other words, when the average current IAVE is greater than the maximum charging current IP, the second switch 108 can only be turned on during the first time T1 for the conduction period ratio DON (ie,

), and the rest of the time (ie,

) The second switch 108 is non-conductive, so that the average charging current of the rechargeable battery 106 does not exceed the maximum charging current IP.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a second mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, when the controller 115 judges that the fuel voltage VFC of the electronic device 500 is greater than the battery voltage VBAT and the battery voltage VBAT exceeds the threshold voltage, it means that the rechargeable battery 106 has sufficient power, and the controller 115 operates in the second mode to generate a driving signal SC, and the driving circuit 114 turns on the first switch 103 and the relay 112 according to the driving signal SC, and turns off the second switch 108 .

When the driving circuit 114 does not turn on the second switch 108 , the fuel voltage VFC of the fuel cell 101 directly supplies power to the load LOAD, and the rechargeable battery 106 can supply power to the load LOAD through the second switch 108 plus the diode D2 . Since the second switch 108 is non-conductive, the fuel cell 101 does not charge the rechargeable battery 106 .

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a third mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, when the controller 115 judges that the fuel voltage VFC of the electronic device 600 is lower than the battery voltage VBAT, the controller 115 operates in the third mode to generate the driving signal SC, and the driving circuit 114 will drive according to the driving signal SC. The relay 112 is turned on, and the first switch 103 and the second switch 108 are not turned on. Therefore, the battery voltage VBAT of the rechargeable battery 106 supplies power to the load LOAD through the second switch 108 and the external diode D2.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a fourth mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, when the controller 115 judges that the fuel voltage VFC of the electronic device 700 is equal to the battery voltage VBAT, the controller 115 operates in the fourth mode to generate the driving signal SC, and the driving circuit 114 will drive according to the driving signal SC. The first switch 103 and the relay 112 are turned on, and the second switch 108 is not turned on.

Since the first switch 103 is turned on, the fuel voltage VFC of the fuel cell 101 supplies power to the load LOAD. Moreover, the battery voltage VBAT of the rechargeable battery 106 supplies power to the load LOAD through the second switch 108 and the external diode D2.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a voltage detection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the voltage detection circuit 800 includes a first resistor RA and a second resistor RB, wherein the voltage detection circuit 800 uses the first resistor RA and the second resistor RB to divide the voltage VX to be measured to generate a voltage detection The voltage detection signal VS is detected, and the voltage detection signal VS is provided to the controller 115 .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the voltage detection circuit 800 corresponds to the first voltage detection circuit 104 in FIG. 1 , and is used to detect the fuel voltage VFC of the fuel cell 101 to generate the first voltage detection signal VS1. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the voltage detection circuit 800 corresponds to the second voltage detection circuit 110 in FIG. 1 , and is used to detect the battery voltage VBAT of the rechargeable battery 106 to generate the second voltage detection signal VS2.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature detection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9 , the temperature detection circuit 900 includes a thermistor RT, a third resistor RC and a first capacitor C1. The thermistor RT is coupled between the supply voltage VDD and the second node N2, the third resistor RC is coupled between the second node N2 and the ground, and the capacitor is coupled between the second node N2 and the ground. between. According to one embodiment of the invention, the thermistor RT has a negative temperature coefficient. In other words, the resistance value of the thermistor RT decreases as the temperature rises.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the resistance value of the thermistor RT changes with temperature, the supply voltage VDD is divided by the thermistor RT and the third resistor RC to generate a temperature detection at the second node N2. Therefore, the controller 115 can deduce the ambient temperature according to the voltage value of the temperature detection signal TS. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the supply voltage VDD is provided by the peripheral power supply 116 in FIG. 1 . According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first capacitor C1 is used to stabilize the voltage value of the temperature detection signal TS.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the temperature detection circuit 900 corresponds to the first temperature detection circuit 105 in FIG. 1 , and is used for detecting the temperature of the first switch 103 to generate the first temperature detection signal TS1 . According to another embodiment of the present invention, the temperature detection circuit 900 corresponds to the second temperature detection circuit 111 in FIG. 1 , and is used for detecting the temperature of the rechargeable battery 106 .

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing a protection method according to an embodiment of the invention. The following description of the protection method 1000 in FIG. 10 will be combined with the electronic device 100 in FIG. 1 for detailed description.

First, the controller 115 determines whether the fuel voltage VFC exceeds the first threshold voltage according to the first voltage detection signal VS1 generated by the first voltage detection circuit 104 (step S1010 ). When judging that the fuel voltage VFC exceeds the first threshold voltage, the controller 115 uses the driving signal SC to control the driving circuit 114 to turn off the first switch 103 (step S1020 ).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the fuel voltage VFC exceeds the first threshold voltage, the excessively high fuel voltage VFC may burn the load LOAD and/or the rechargeable battery 106. In order to protect the load LOAD and the rechargeable battery 106, it is necessary Firstly, the fuel cell 101 is disconnected by using the first switch 103 .

Going back to step S1010, when it is determined that the fuel voltage VFC does not exceed the first threshold voltage, the controller 115 determines the battery voltage of the rechargeable battery 106 according to the second voltage detection signal VS2 generated by the second voltage detection circuit 110 Whether VBAT exceeds the second threshold voltage (step S1030). When judging that the battery voltage VBAT exceeds the second threshold voltage, the controller 115 uses the driving signal SC to control the driving circuit 114 to turn off the second switch 108 (step S1040 ).

According to one embodiment of the present invention, when the battery voltage VBAT exceeds the second threshold voltage, it means that the rechargeable battery 106 is fully charged or nearly fully charged. In order to protect the rechargeable battery 106, the second switch 108 is not turned on to avoid possible The rechargeable battery 106 is overcharged. However, the rechargeable battery 106 can still provide power to the load LOAD through the second switch 108 and a diode (such as D2 shown in FIG. 3 ).

Returning to step S1030, when judging that the battery voltage VBAT does not exceed the second threshold voltage, the controller 115 determines whether the temperature of the rechargeable battery 106 is exceeds the first temperature (step S1050). When it is judged that the temperature of the rechargeable battery 106 exceeds the first temperature, The controller 115 uses the driving signal SC to control the driving circuit 114 to turn off the first switch 103 , the second switch 108 and the relay 112 (step S1060 ).

When judging that the temperature of the rechargeable battery 106 does not exceed the first temperature, the controller 115 judges whether the temperature of the first switch 103 exceeds the second temperature according to the first temperature detection signal TS1 generated by the first temperature detection circuit 105 (step S1070). When it is judged that the temperature of the first switch 103 exceeds the second temperature, the controller 115 uses the driving signal SC to control the driving circuit 114 to turn off the first switch 103, the second switch 108 and the relay 112 (step S1060).

When judging that the temperature of the first switch 103 does not exceed the second temperature, the controller 115 ends the protection method 1000 . According to some embodiments of the present invention, the controller 115 executes the protection method 1000 every predetermined time to ensure that the electronic device 100 operates normally.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, because high temperature will reduce the life of the rechargeable battery 106, and high temperature often comes from the abnormal operation of the rechargeable battery 106, so when the temperature of the rechargeable battery 106 exceeds the first temperature, stop the load LOAD power supply to avoid danger. According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the first switch 103 is a component that operates for a long time in the electronic device 100, in order to protect the first switch 103, the temperature of the first switch 103 must be continuously monitored to prevent the first switch 103 from Damaged by high temperatures.

Fig. 11 is a flow chart showing the electricity calculation method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The following description of the power calculation method 1100 in FIG. 11 will be combined with the electronic device 100 in FIG. 1 for detailed description.

First, when the electronic device 100 is initialized and the relay 112 is not conducting, the controller 115 judges the battery voltage VBAT of the rechargeable battery 106 according to the second voltage detection signal VS2 generated by the second voltage detection circuit 110, and Calculate the state of charge of the rechargeable battery 106 according to the battery voltage VBAT (step S1110 ).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 115 stores a look-up table. When the controller 115 obtains the battery voltage VBAT when the relay 112 is off, the controller 115 searches the look-up table for the power corresponding to the battery voltage VBAT, and uses the found power as the power of the rechargeable battery 106. The rechargeable battery 106 corresponds to a different look-up table.

Next, the controller 115 determines whether the battery current IBAT exceeds the first current according to the first current detection signal IS1 generated by the first current detector 109 (step S1120 ). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the battery current IBAT represents the charging current and the discharging current of the rechargeable battery 106 .

When judging that the battery current IBAT does not exceed the first current and lasts for more than the first predetermined time (step S1130 ), the controller 115 calculates the state of charge of the rechargeable battery 106 again by using the open circuit voltage method (step S1110 ). According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first predetermined time is 30 minutes.

When judging that the battery current IBAT exceeds the first current, the controller 115 calculates the battery capacity by using the ampere-hour method (step S1140 ). According to some embodiments of the present invention, the first current is 1 amp. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the controller 115 is to use the open circuit voltage method to obtain the initial value of the electric quantity of the rechargeable battery 106. When the battery current IBAT is large enough (that is, the charging current and/or discharging current of the rechargeable battery 106 exceeds the first current), the controller 115 uses the open circuit voltage method to The initial value of the electric quantity obtained by the voltage method is used to calculate the electric quantity of the rechargeable battery 106 after being charged and/or discharged by using the ampere-hour method.

This creation here proposes the combination of fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. The rechargeable batteries can make up for the lack of current drive capability of the fuel cells, and the fuel cells can also continuously replenish the power of the rechargeable batteries to improve battery life. This creation also proposes a protection method and a power calculation method to help ensure the normal operation of the fuel cell combined with the rechargeable battery, and provide users with reliable power information about the rechargeable battery to improve user experience.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages have been disclosed above, it should be understood that those skilled in the art can make changes, substitutions and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the process, machine, manufacture, material composition, device, method and steps in the specific embodiments described in the specification, and anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can implement some In the disclosure content of the examples, it is understood that the current or future developed processes, machines, manufacturing, material compositions, devices, methods and steps can be used as long as they can perform substantially the same function or obtain substantially the same results in the embodiments described here. Some examples of this disclosure use . Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure includes the above-mentioned process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, device, method and steps. In addition, each patent application The scope constitutes an individual embodiment, and the scope of protection of the present disclosure also includes the combination of various patent scopes and embodiments.

100,200,300,400,500,600,700: electronic devices

101: Fuel cells

102: Unidirectional conduction element

103: First switch

104: The first voltage detection circuit

105: The first temperature detection circuit

106: Rechargeable battery

107: Protection circuit

108: Second switch

109: The first current detector

110: the second voltage detection circuit

111: the second temperature detection circuit

112: Relay

113: the second current detector

114: drive circuit

115: Controller

116: Peripheral power supply

800: voltage detection circuit

900: temperature detection circuit

1000: protection method

1100: Power Calculation Method

VFC: fuel voltage

VBAT: battery voltage

N1: the first node

N2: second node

SW1: The first control signal

SW2: Second control signal

SW3: The third control signal

VS1: the first voltage detection signal

VS2: Second voltage detection signal

SC: drive signal

IS1: The first current detection signal

IS2: Second current detection signal

TS1: The first temperature detection signal

TS2: Second temperature detection signal

IBAT: battery current

IL: load current

LOAD: load

D1: Diode

D2: External diode

NA: anode end

NC: cathode terminal

RA: first resistance

RB: second resistor

RC: the third resistor

VX: voltage to be measured

VS: voltage detection signal

RT: Thermistor

C1: the first capacitor

VDD: supply voltage

S1010~S1070, S1110~S1140: step process

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention: Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the controller and the driving circuit of the electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a first mode according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a second mode according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a third mode according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device operating in a fourth mode according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a voltage detection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 is a circuit diagram showing a temperature detection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 10 is a flow chart showing a protection method according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 11 is a flow chart showing the electricity calculation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

100: Electronic device

101: Fuel cells

102: Unidirectional conduction element

103: First switch

104: The first voltage detection circuit

105: The first temperature detection circuit

106: Rechargeable battery

107: Protection circuit

108: Second switch

109: The first current detector

110: the second voltage detection circuit

111: the second temperature detection circuit

112: Relay

113: the second current detector

114: drive circuit

115: Controller

116: Peripheral power supply

VFC: fuel voltage

VBAT: battery voltage

N1: the first node

SW1: The first control signal

SW2: Second control signal

SW3: The third control signal

VS1: the first voltage detection signal

VS2: Second voltage detection signal

SC: drive signal

IS1: The first current detection signal

IS2: Second current detection signal

TS1: The first temperature detection signal

TS2: Second temperature detection signal

IBAT: battery current

IL: load current

LOAD: load

Claims (20)

An electronic device comprising: a fuel cell providing a fuel voltage; a first switch, which provides the fuel voltage to a first node according to a first control signal; a rechargeable battery providing a battery voltage; a second switch coupled to the first node, wherein the second switch charges the rechargeable battery with the fuel voltage according to a second control signal; and A relay provides the voltage of the first node to a load according to a third control signal. The electronic device of claim 1 further includes: A unidirectional conduction element, coupled between the fuel cell and the first switch, is used to unidirectionally provide the fuel voltage to the first switch. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the above-mentioned one-way conducting element includes: A diode includes an anode terminal and a cathode terminal, wherein the anode terminal is coupled to the fuel cell, and the cathode terminal is coupled to the first switch. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the above-mentioned diode system is a Schottky diode. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first switch is a metal oxide semiconductor. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second switch is an insulated gate bipolar transistor. The electronic device of claim 1 further includes: a first current detector, coupled between the second switch and the rechargeable battery, for detecting the battery current of the rechargeable battery to generate a first current signal; and A second current detector, coupled between the first node and the relay, is used to detect a load current flowing to the load to generate a second current signal. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the first current detector and the second current detector are respectively a Hall detector. The electronic device of claim 7 further includes: a first voltage detection circuit, used to detect the fuel voltage to generate a first voltage detection signal; and A second voltage detection circuit is used to detect the battery voltage to generate a second voltage detection signal. The electronic device of claim 9 further includes: a drive circuit, generating the first control signal, the second control signal, and the third control signal according to a drive signal; and A controller generates the drive signal according to the first current signal, the second current signal, the first voltage detection signal and the second voltage detection signal. The electronic device of claim 10 further includes: A peripheral power supply for supplying power to the first voltage detection circuit, the second voltage detection circuit, the first current detector, the second current detector, the driving circuit and the controller. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the above-mentioned rechargeable battery is composed of a plurality of lithium battery cells, wherein the above-mentioned electronic device further includes: A protection circuit is used to maintain the voltage of each of the lithium battery cells not greater than a second threshold voltage. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the protection circuit further includes: A first temperature detection circuit for detecting the temperature of the first switch to generate a first temperature detection signal, wherein the first temperature detection circuit provides the first temperature detection signal to the controller . The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein when the controller determines that the temperature of the first switch exceeds a first temperature according to the first temperature detection signal, the driving circuit does not conduct the first switch, the second switch and above relays. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the protection circuit further includes: A second temperature detection circuit is used to detect the temperature of the rechargeable battery to generate a second temperature detection signal, wherein the temperature detection circuit provides the second temperature detection signal to the controller. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein when the controller determines that the temperature of the rechargeable battery exceeds a second temperature according to the second temperature detection signal, the driving circuit does not conduct the first switch, the second switch and above relays. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the first temperature detection circuit and the second temperature detection circuit further include: a negative temperature coefficient resistor coupled between a supply voltage and a second node; a first A resistor is coupled between the second node and a ground terminal; and a first capacitor is coupled between the second node and the ground terminal, wherein the temperature detection signal is generated at the second node. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the peripheral power supply provides the supply voltage. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein when the controller judges that the fuel voltage exceeds a first threshold voltage according to the first voltage detection signal, the driving circuit does not conduct the first switch. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein when the controller judges that the battery voltage exceeds a second threshold voltage according to the second voltage detection signal, the driving circuit does not turn on the second switch.

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