CN101813967B - Power supply device and power supply method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a power supply device and a power supply method. The computer system is powered by the main battery module or the second battery module. When the main battery module and the second battery module perform power supply switching, the voltage conversion module supplies power to the computer system until the switching is completed.

Description

Power supply device and power supply method

technical field

The present invention relates to a power supply device, and in particular to a power supply device for a computer system.

Background technique

General notebook computers and various portable electronic computer devices mostly use batteries as the main source of power supply to meet the requirements of portable features. Due to the limitation of the size of the battery, most of them have a certain limited power supply time. For users who operate this type of equipment for a long time, the limited power supply time limits the degree of freedom of the user's operation. Therefore, prolonging the power supply time is a very important issue for portable products.

In order to prolong the power supply time, the power storage capacity of the battery of the computer equipment is generally increased. The Ni-MH batteries and lithium batteries currently used in notebook computers can only maintain a power supply for several hours. However, limited by the volume of the battery and the battery materials used, the ability to increase the battery power supply time of the currently developed batteries is still quite limited.

Another method for extending the power supply time is to add a backup battery to a notebook computer or other portable electronic computing equipment. When the power of the main battery is exhausted, the backup battery replaces the main battery to provide load power to prolong the use time of the notebook computer or other portable electronic computer devices. However, when the main battery and the backup battery are switched, the computer system may have a power outage problem.

Therefore, there is a need for a new power supply device, which can prolong the power supply time and avoid power failure of the computer system.

Contents of the invention

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a power supply device. When the battery module of the power supply device is switched, the voltage conversion module of the power supply device supplies power to prevent the computer system from being powered off.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a power supply device, which can determine whether to switch the battery power supply according to the capacity of the battery.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a power supply method. When the battery module is switched, the voltage conversion module is firstly powered to prevent the computer system from being powered off.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a power supply device, including a main battery module, a second battery module and a voltage conversion module. A computer system is powered by the main battery module or the second battery module. When the power supply of the main battery module and the second battery module is switched, the voltage conversion module supplies power to the computer system until the switching is completed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the present invention further provides a power supply device, which includes a main battery module, a second battery module, a detection module and a voltage conversion module. The main battery module and the second battery module supply power to a computer system.

The detection module detects the discharge states of the main battery module and the second battery module to determine whether to switch between the main battery module and the second battery module. When the main battery module and the second battery module need to be switched, the voltage converting module supplies power to the computer system until the switching is completed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a power supply method, the steps include detecting the capacity of a second battery module; judging whether the capacity of the second battery module is lower than a Default value; when the capacity of the second battery module is lower than a default value, establish a low power signal; when the low power signal is established, start a voltage conversion module to supply power; and determine whether to switch to a main battery module for power supply.

According to the above-mentioned embodiments, the power supply device and method can prevent the computer system from being powered off; on the other hand, the power supply device can also provide power with different voltage levels to the computer system according to requirements.

Description of drawings

In order to make the above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention more comprehensible, the detailed description of the accompanying drawings is as follows:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram illustrating a power supply device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a power supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a power supply method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of main component symbols]

101: Power supply device 103: Computer system

105: Main battery module 107: Second battery module

109: Voltage conversion module 111: External switching interface

113: Charging circuit 201: Power supply device

203: Detection module 301～309: Steps

401～419: steps

Detailed ways

In addition to the computer system to detect the state of the battery module in the power supply device of the following embodiments; in another embodiment, the state of the battery module can also be detected independently of the computer system, and the user operates to switch the battery module and voltage The conversion module prevents the computer system from being powered off; on the other hand, the power supply device can provide power at different voltage levels to the computer system according to requirements.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which shows a block diagram of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The power supply device 101 provides power to the computer system 103, wherein the computer system 103 can be a notebook computer or various portable electronic computer equipment. The power supply device 101 mainly includes a main battery module 105 , a second battery module 107 , and a voltage conversion module 109 . In this embodiment, the computer system 103 can be powered by the main battery module 105 or the second battery module 107 . For example, generally, the main battery module 105 can supply power first. When the main battery module 105 stops supplying power to the computer system 103 due to insufficient circuit, the voltage conversion module 109 first supplies power to the computer system 103, and the main battery module 105 and the second After the switching of the second battery module 107 is completed, the power is supplied to the second battery module 107 .

The voltage conversion module 109 provides power when the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 are switched, and the voltage conversion module 109 may include a buck circuit, a boost circuit, a buck-boost converter ( buck boost circuit) and a low-dropout regulator (Low-Dropout, LDO), to adjust the voltage level of the DC power supply to the voltage level of the main battery module or the second battery module to supply power to the computer system.

For example, if the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 provide power supplies of different voltage levels to the computer system 103, then the voltage conversion module 109 needs the above-mentioned various voltage converters to convert the voltage to provide different voltages Level power supply to replace the main battery module and the second battery module for power supply.

The charging circuit 113 of the power supply device 101 charges the voltage conversion module 109 to maintain the power of the voltage conversion module 109 in a saturated state, so as to provide power to the computer system 103 when needed, wherein the charging power of the charging circuit 113 can come from the main battery module 105, the second battery module 107, or an external power source. Since the voltage conversion module 109 only supplies power when the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 are switched, the power supply time is short, so the voltage conversion module 109 only needs to store a small amount of electric energy instead of consuming a large amount of power.

Besides the main battery module 105 , the second battery module 107 , the voltage conversion module 109 and the charging circuit 113 , the power supply device 101 also includes an external switching interface 111 for users to switch between the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 . The external switch interface 111 can be in the form of a button. When the user touches the button-shaped external switch interface 111 , the external switch interface 111 will trigger the voltage conversion module 109 to supply power to the computer system 103 . Since the voltage conversion module 109 is powered by the external switching interface 111, the computer system 103 does not need to detect the power status of the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 to determine whether to activate the voltage conversion module 109 for power supply.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which shows a block diagram of a power supply device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In addition to the main battery module 105, the second battery module 107, the voltage conversion module 109, the charging circuit 113, and the external switching interface 111, the power supply device 201 of this embodiment also includes a detection module 203 to detect the main battery module 105 And the discharge state of the second battery module 107 to determine whether to switch between the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 . When the main battery module 105 and the second battery module 107 need to be switched, the detection module 203 will trigger the voltage conversion module 109 to supply power to the computer system 103 until the switching is completed.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which shows a flowchart of a power supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention. This power supply method first detects the capacity of the second battery module (step 301), and determines whether the capacity of the second battery module is lower than a default value (step 303). When the capacity of the second battery module is lower than the default value, an insufficient power signal is asserted (step 305 ). The insufficient power signal is asserted, for example, when the capacity of the second battery module is less than 10% of its saturated capacity. When the insufficient power signal is established, first start the voltage conversion module to supply power (step 307), and then the computer system determines whether to switch to the main battery module for power supply (step 309). The voltage conversion module will continue to supply power until the computer system decides to switch to the main battery module to avoid power interruption and shutdown.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which shows a flowchart of a power supply method according to another embodiment of the present invention. The power supply method first detects the capacity of the second battery module (step 401 ), and determines whether the capacity of the second battery module is lower than a default value (step 403 ). When the capacity of the second battery module is lower than the default value, an insufficient power signal is asserted (step 405). Then it is judged whether the insufficient power signal is asserted (step 407 ). When the low power signal has not been asserted, return to step 405 to assert the low power signal. When the power shortage signal is established, first start the voltage conversion module to supply power (step 409), then the computer system judges whether to switch to the main battery module for power supply (step 411), and then actually change to the main battery module for power supply (step 413) . The voltage conversion module will continue to supply power until the computer system decides to switch to the main battery module, so as to avoid power interruption and shutdown.

In addition, the user can also operate the external switching interface to take out the second battery module (step 415 ). When the user operates the external switching interface to take out the second battery module, an alarm signal is asserted (step 417 ). Then it is judged whether the warning signal has been established (step 419), if it has not been established, then return to step 417 to establish the warning signal; if the warning signal is established, then enter step 409 to start the voltage conversion module to supply power, and continue to perform subsequent steps 411～ 413.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, besides the computer system detects the state of the battery module to determine whether to switch the battery module, the power supply device also does not need the computer system to detect, and the user operates to switch the battery module and adjust the voltage. The power supply of the conversion module prevents the computer system from being powered off; on the other hand, the power supply device can also provide power of different voltage levels to the computer system according to the demand.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person familiar with this technology can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. , so the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope defined in the claims.

Claims (9)

1. a power supply device is characterized in that, comprises:

One main battery module;

One second battery module, wherein a computer system is by this main battery module or this second battery module supply power; And

One voltage transformation module is supplied power when switching when this main battery module and this second battery module, gives this computer system by this voltage transformation module supply power and accomplishes up to switching.

2. power supply device according to claim 1 is characterized in that, also comprises an outside switching interface, supplies user operation to trigger this voltage transformation module supply power.

3. power supply device according to claim 1 is characterized in that, also comprises a charging circuit, with this voltage transformation module that charges.

4. a power supply device is characterized in that, comprises:

One main battery module, supply power gives a computer system;

One second battery module, supply power gives this computer system;

One detecting module is detected the discharge condition of this main battery module and this second battery module, to judge whether and need between this main battery module and this second battery module, switch; And

One voltage transformation module, when this main battery module and this second battery module need switch, this voltage transformation module supply power gave this computer system and accomplishes to switching.

5. power supply device according to claim 4 is characterized in that, this detecting module triggers this voltage transformation module, gives this computer system to supply with power supply.

6. power supply device according to claim 4 is characterized in that, also comprises an outside switching interface, supplies user operation to trigger this voltage transformation module power supply.

7. power supply device according to claim 4 is characterized in that, also comprises a charging circuit, so that this voltage transformation module is charged.

8. a power supply method is characterized in that, comprises:

Detect the electric capacity of one second battery module;

Whether the electric capacity of judging this second battery module is lower than a default value;

When the electric capacity of this second battery module is lower than this default value, establish a power shortage signal;

Establish when this power shortage signal, start voltage transformation module power supply; And

Establish when this power shortage signal, judge whether to change by a main battery module for power supply.

9. power supply method according to claim 8 is characterized in that, also comprises:

Take out this second battery module when user's desire, establish an alarm signal; And

Establish when this alarm signal, start this voltage transformation module power supply.

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