CN104124718A - Power supply device and power supply method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a power supply device and a power supply method. The charging unit is coupled to the external power input terminal and the power output terminal. The battery is coupled with the charging unit and the power output end. The voltage boost unit is coupled between the battery and the power output end. The processing unit is coupled with the charging unit, the battery and the pressurizing unit. When the charging unit detects that the external power input terminal receives the external power, the charging unit directly outputs the external power to the power output terminal and charges the battery using the external power. When not receiving the external power, the battery outputs the internal power. When the processing unit detects that the voltage value of the internal power supply output by the battery is lower than the reference voltage value, the processing unit enables the voltage boosting unit to boost the internal power supply to the rated voltage value.

Description

Power supply device and power supply method

technical field

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and in particular to a power supply device and a power supply method.

Background technique

As technology advances day by day, mobile electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones are becoming more and more popular. As people pay more attention to the portability of electronic device products with the progress of technology, the existing mobile electronic devices are all designed towards the direction of light, thin and small. As a result, the battery installation space inside the mobile electronic device is limited, and the battery capacity is also limited accordingly. Therefore, many manufacturers have also designed external batteries, which can be used as mobile power sources to charge mobile electronic devices when they cannot be connected to commercial power sources. However, the external battery (the above-mentioned mobile power supply) usually has a complex detection circuit in order to meet various charging requirements, and under such a setting, it is easy to cause the power to continue to decrease when it is not used for a long time. Therefore, how to configure the external battery for charging/discharging in the simplest way and reduce battery consumption during storage and charging and discharging is one of the problems to be solved in this field.

Contents of the invention

The invention provides a power supply device and a power supply method, which can reduce the loss of the power supply device during storage and charging and discharging, so as to increase the power supply capacity of the battery.

The power supply device provided by the present invention has an external power supply input terminal and a power supply output terminal, and includes a charging unit, a battery, a boosting unit and a processing unit. The charging unit is coupled to the external power input end and the power output end. The battery is coupled to the charging unit and the output end of the power supply. The boost unit is coupled between the battery and the output end of the power supply. The processing unit is coupled to the charging unit, the battery and the boost unit. Wherein, when the charging unit detects that the external power supply input terminal receives an external power supply, the charging unit directly outputs the external power supply to the power supply output terminal, and uses the external power supply to charge the battery. Wherein, when the external power is not received and the power output is connected to an external device, the battery outputs an internal power to the power output. When the processing unit detects that the voltage of the internal power outputted by the battery is lower than a reference voltage, the processing unit enables the boost unit to boost the internal power to a rated voltage.

The power supply method provided by the present invention is suitable for a power supply device, wherein the power supply device includes a battery, and the power supply method includes the following steps. First, it is detected whether an external power is received. When receiving an external power supply, the external power supply is directly output, and the battery is charged by the external power supply. When no external power is received and the power output terminal is connected to an external device, an internal power is output from the battery. When the voltage of the internal power output by the battery is lower than a reference voltage, the internal power is boosted to a rated voltage.

Based on the above, the present invention provides a power supply device and a power supply method, which can simultaneously charge the battery of the power supply device and directly provide the external power to the external device when the external power supply and the external device (such as a mobile electronic device) are connected. And when using the battery in the power supply device to supply power to the external device, the voltage of the power supply can be increased when the voltage is too low.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of a power supply device shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of a power supply device shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of a judging unit shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a method flowchart of a power supply method shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a power supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of reference signs:

10: Power supply device; EXP: External power supply;

110: charging unit; INP: internal power supply;

111: Step-down unit; INP_V: Voltage value of internal power supply;

112: charging manager; REF_V: reference voltage value;

113: switch; CS: control signal;

120: battery; CP: charging power supply;

130: supercharging unit; CV: charging voltage value;

140: processing unit; CI: charging current value;

141: Microprocessor; VH1, VH2: high level voltage;

142: judgment unit; ES: enabling signal;

1421: comparator; EXIN: external power supply input terminal;

1422: OR gate; PWOUT: power output terminal;

S401～S404, S501～S505, S511～S521: steps.

Detailed ways

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the power supply device 10 has an external power input terminal EXIN and a power output terminal PWOUT, wherein the external power input terminal EXIN can be used to connect to the external power supply EXP provided by the power supply device 10, for example, connected to an AC power supply such as a commercial power supply. The DC power provided by the transformer (AC adapter). The power output terminal PWOUT is used to connect an external device that needs to supply power, such as mobile electronic devices such as smartphones, notebook computers, and tablet computers.

Wherein, the power supply device 10 includes a charging unit 110 , a battery 120 , a boosting unit 130 and a processing unit 140 . The charging unit 110 is coupled to the external power input terminal EXIN and the power output terminal PWOUT. The battery 120 is coupled to the charging unit 110 and the power output terminal PWOUT. The boost unit 130 is coupled between the battery 120 and the power output terminal PWOUT. The processing unit 140 is coupled to the charging unit 110 , the battery 120 and the boost unit 130 .

Wherein, when the charging unit 110 detects that the external power input terminal EXIN receives the external power EXP, the charging unit 110 directly outputs the external power EXP to the power output terminal PWOUT, and uses the external power EXP to charge the battery 120 . And when the charging unit 110 does not receive the external power EXP from the external power input terminal EXIN, and the power output terminal PWOUT is connected to an external device (for example, a mobile electronic device as described above), the battery 120 outputs the internal power INP to the power output terminal PWOUT . When the processing unit 140 detects that the voltage of the internal power INP output by the battery 120 is lower than the reference voltage, the processing unit 140 enables the boost unit 130 to boost the internal power INP to a rated voltage.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the battery 120 outputs the internal power INP, the processing unit 140 also detects the current value of the internal power INP. If the current value of the internal power INP is greater than a current threshold, the processing unit 140 enables the boost unit 130 to boost the internal power INP to a rated voltage.

In short, in this embodiment, the reference voltage value corresponds to the maximum voltage value that the battery of the external device can provide, and when the voltage value of the internal power INP supplied to the external device through the power output terminal PWOUT is close to or even lower than the external When the battery of the device can provide the maximum voltage value, such as when the power of the battery 120 is about to run out, the power supply device 10 will not be able to use the internal power supply INP to supply power to the external device, and for example, the current of the battery in the external device may flow back Power supply device 10 and other issues. Therefore, the above-mentioned reference voltage value should be set to be at least greater than the highest voltage value that the battery of the external device connected to the power supply device 10 can provide. When reduced, the power of the battery 120 can continue to supply power until it is completely exhausted, so as to achieve the best use. For example, when the external electronic device is a notebook computer with three battery cells, the reference voltage value can be set to be equal to or greater than 9 volts. However, the above settings will be changed with different external devices, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Because external devices usually have the ability to determine the voltage source according to the voltage level of the power supply, and perform different actions according to the determined voltage source. For example, when the external device determines that the supply is a DC power supply provided by a transformer connected to an AC power source such as a commercial power supply (such as the above-mentioned external power supply EXP), the external device will use this DC power supply to supply the system of the external device. Charge the battery in the external device. And when the power source determined by the external device is the power provided by the external battery or mobile power supply (such as the power supply device 10), the external device will only use this power supply to supply system power, and will not charge the battery in the external device. If the rated voltage value is set too close to the voltage value of the external power supply EXP, the external device may misjudge that the power source is the DC power provided by the transformer (AC adapter), causing the power in the battery 120 to be exhausted rapidly, and at the same time resulting in low efficiency in the use of electricity.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the rated voltage value is set to be between the voltage value of the external power source EXP and the reference voltage value. When the internal power INP is boosted to a rated voltage by the boost unit 130 , it can provide more efficient power for external devices, and at the same time, it will not be misjudged as the DC power provided by the transformer (ACadapter). Taking the external device as a notebook computer with 3 battery cells as an example, the external power supply EXP can be set to 19 volts, the rated voltage value is set to 16 volts, and the reference voltage value is 9 volts, but the above settings will It may vary with different external devices, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

On the other hand, when the processing unit 140 detects that the current value of the internal power supply INP is greater than the current threshold, it means that the external device connected to the power supply device 10 is currently in a high power consumption working mode. For example, the external device is a notebook computer running in SO and S3 states defined by Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI for short). At this time, the processing unit 140 enables the boost unit 130 to boost the internal power INP to a rated voltage value, so as to provide more efficient power supply for external devices.

However, when the processing unit 140 detects that the current value of the internal power supply INP is less than the current threshold, it means that the external device connected to the power supply device 10 is currently in a low power consumption working mode. For example, the external device is a notebook computer running in the S4 and S5 states defined by ACPI. At this time, the processing unit 140 does not use the boost unit 130 to boost the internal power INP, but directly outputs the internal power INP to the external device, so as to reduce the power loss caused by the boost and prolong the power supply time of the battery 120 .

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Wherein, the coupling relationship of each unit in the power supply device 10 is the same as that in FIG. 1 , and will not be repeated here. Compared with FIG. 1 , the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 provides a more detailed implementation of the charging unit 110 and the processing unit 140 . Please refer to FIG. 2 , in this embodiment, the charging unit 110 includes a step-down unit 111 , a charging manager 112 and a switch 113 . The step-down unit 111 is coupled to the battery 120, and the step-down unit 111 can be a step-down DC-to-buck converter (buck converter). When the step-down unit 111 receives the external power EXP from the external power input terminal EXIN through the switch 113, The step-down unit 111 steps down the external power EXP to a charging power CP, and charges the battery 120 with the charging power CP.

The charging manager 112 is coupled to the step-down unit 111 , the processing unit 140 and the external power input terminal EXIN. The charging manager 112 can be a charging integrated circuit (Charger Integrated Circuit, Charger IC for short), when the charging manager 112 receives the external power EXP from the external power input terminal EXIN through the switch 113, the charging manager 112 transmits the control signal CS to the drop The pressure unit 111 is used to adjust the size of the charging power source CP. The switch 113 is coupled between the external power input terminal EXIN and the step-down unit 111 , the charging manager 112 and the power output terminal PWOUT. When the external power input terminal EXIN is coupled to an external power supply device, that is, when the external power supply EXP is received, the switch 113 conducts the path between the external power input terminal EXIN and the charging manager 112 and the external power input terminal EXIN and the power output terminal. The path between PWOUT and the step-down unit 111 .

Please continue to refer to FIG. 2 , in this embodiment, the processing unit 140 includes a microprocessor 141 and a judging unit 142 . The microprocessor 141 is coupled to the battery 120 and the charging manager 112 . The microprocessor 141 detects the charging voltage value CV and the charging current value CI of the battery 120 and the internal power supply INP, and transmits the charging voltage value CV and the charging current value CI to the charging manager 112 . When the charging manager 112 receives the charging voltage value CV and the charging current value CI, the charging manager 112 generates the control signal CS according to the charging voltage value CV and the charging current value CI. Although the charging manager 112 controls the step-down unit 111 to generate the charging power CP to charge the battery through the control signal CS, the actual charging voltage and charging current may still differ from the ideal charging power due to the state of the battery 120 and the influence of surrounding environmental factors. CPs vary. Therefore, the charging manager 112 adjusts the control signal CS according to the current charging voltage value CV and charging current value CI of the battery 120 returned by the microprocessor 141 .

On the other hand, the microprocessor 141 also detects the current value of the internal power supply INP output from the battery. When the current value of the internal power supply INP is greater than the current threshold, the microprocessor 141 outputs the first high level voltage VH1.

The judging unit 142 is coupled to the boost unit 130 and the power output terminal PWOUT, and detects the voltage value of the internal power supply INP output by the battery 120 from the power supply output terminal PWOUT, when the voltage value of the internal power supply 120 output by the battery 120 is lower than the reference voltage value, or When the judging unit 142 receives the first high-level voltage VH1 from the microprocessor 141 , the judging unit 142 sends an enabling signal ES to the boosting unit 130 to enable the boosting unit 130 .

FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of a judging unit shown in an embodiment of the present invention, corresponding to the judging unit 142 shown in FIG. 2 above. Please refer to FIG. 3 , in this embodiment, the judging unit 142 includes a comparator 1421 and an OR gate (OR gate) 1422 . The comparator 1421 is coupled to the power output terminal PWOUT, and compares the voltage value INP_V of the internal power INP output by the battery 120 with the reference voltage value REF_V. When the voltage value INP_V of the internal power supply INP is lower than the reference voltage value REF_V, the comparator 1422 outputs the second high level voltage VH2. The OR gate 1422 is coupled to the comparator 1422 , the microprocessor 141 and the boost unit 130 . When the OR gate 1422 receives the first high-level voltage VH1 or the second high-level voltage VH2 , the OR gate 1422 outputs an enable signal ES to the boost unit 130 to enable the boost unit 130 .

In this embodiment, the boost unit 130 includes an enabling switch and a boost circuit connected in parallel between the battery 120 and the power output terminal PWOUT. The enable signal ES output by the OR gate 1422 is used to control the on/off of the enable switch. When the OR gate 1422 in the judgment unit 142 transmits the enable signal ES to the booster unit 130, the enable signal ES turns off the above-mentioned enable switch, so that the internal power INP output by the battery 120 passes through the booster unit 130. The booster circuit is boosted to the rated voltage. And when the enable switch does not receive the enable signal ES, the enable switch is turned on. At this time, the internal power INP output by the battery 120 is directly output to the power output terminal PWOUT through the path enabled by the enabling switch, that is, bypassing the boost circuit so that the internal power INP is not boosted by the boost circuit. . Here, the judging unit and the supercharging unit are only described using the above-mentioned embodiments, but the judging unit 142 and the supercharging unit 130 in the present invention can also be implemented in other embodiments, for example, the entire judging unit 142 is integrated into a microprocessor 141, and use different ways to enable the booster unit, etc., the present invention is not limited to the above configuration.

The invention also provides a power supply method suitable for the power supply device. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a power supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 4 , first at step 5401 , it is detected whether an external power source is received. In step S402, that is, when the external power is received, the external power is directly output, and the battery is charged by the external power. In step S403 , that is, when no external power is received and the output end of the power is connected to an external device, the internal power is output from the battery. In step S404, that is, when the voltage value of the internal power source output by the battery is lower than the reference voltage value, the internal power source is boosted to a rated voltage value.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a power supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 provides a more detailed step flow. Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 . Firstly, in step S501 , it is determined whether an external device is connected, that is, whether the power output terminal PWOUT is connected to an external device that needs to be powered, such as a mobile electronic device. If not, in step S503, it is further judged whether the external power EXP is received from the external power input terminal EXIN. If yes, step S505 is executed, and when the external power source EXP is received, the battery 120 is charged by the external power source EXP. If not, continue to execute step S503.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S501 is yes, that is, when it is determined that the power output terminal PWOUT is connected to an external device, then in step S511 it is further determined whether the external power supply EXP is received from the external power supply input terminal EXIN. If yes, step S513 is executed, the charging unit 110 directly outputs the external power EXP to the power output terminal PWOUT, and simultaneously uses the external power EXP to charge the battery 120 .

If not, execute step S515, and when it is determined that the power output terminal PWOUT is connected to an external device and does not receive the external power EXP from the external power input terminal EXIN, the battery 120 outputs the internal power INP to the power output terminal PWOUT. Next, in step S517, the judging unit 142 detects the internal power INP from the power output terminal PWOUT, and judges whether the voltage of the internal power INP is greater than the reference voltage. If yes, step S519 is executed, and the microprocessor 141 further determines whether the current value of the internal power supply INP is greater than the current threshold. If it is determined that the voltage value of the internal power supply INP is greater than the reference voltage value, and if the determination result of step S519 is negative, that is, the current value of the internal power supply INP is less than the current threshold value, then the booster unit 130 will not be enabled, and step S515 will be executed. The battery 120 provides internal power to the power output terminal PWOUT.

On the other hand, if the judgment result of step S517 is no, that is, the voltage value of the internal power supply INP is lower than the reference voltage value, or the judgment result of step S519 is yes, that is, the current value of the internal power supply INP is greater than the current threshold value, then step S521 is executed, The judging unit 142 will transmit the enabling signal ES to the boosting unit 130, enabling the boosting unit 130 to boost the internal power INP to a rated voltage value, and output the internal power INP to the power output terminal PWOUT after boosting (step S515) .

To sum up, the present invention provides a power supply device and a power supply method with a simple detection circuit, which can simultaneously charge the battery of the power supply device and directly provide external power when connecting an external power source and an external device (such as a mobile electronic device) to an external device. And when using the battery in the power supply device to supply power to the external device, the voltage of the power supply can be increased when the voltage is too low, or by detecting the current of the output power supply, according to the demand of the external device for power supply (for example, at high efficiency or low efficiency) working mode) to decide whether to boost the power supply, so as to strike a balance between high-efficiency supply and extended power supply time.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present utility model, and are not intended to limit it; although the present utility model has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand : It can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements to some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the embodiments of the present invention Scope of technical solutions.

Claims (9)

1. an electric supply installation, has an external power source input and a power output end, it is characterized in that, comprising:

One charhing unit, couples this external power source input and this power output end;

One battery, couples this charhing unit and this power output end;

One compress cell, is coupled between this battery and this power output end; And

One processing unit, couples this charhing unit, this battery and this compress cell,

Wherein, when this charhing unit detects this external power source input and receives an external power source, this charhing unit is directly exported this external power source to this power output end, and utilizes this external power source this battery that charges;

Wherein, when this charhing unit does not receive this external power source, and this power output end is while being connected to an external device (ED), and this battery is exported an internal electric source to this power output end; And

The magnitude of voltage of this internal electric source that detects the output of this battery when this processing unit is during lower than a reference voltage level, and this this compress cell of processing unit activation is with this internal electric source to one load voltage value of supercharging.

2. electric supply installation according to claim 1, is characterized in that,

When output is during this internal electric source, this processing unit detects the current value of this internal electric source, wherein when the current value of this internal electric source is greater than a current threshold, this this compress cell of processing unit activation with this internal electric source of supercharging to this load voltage value.

3. electric supply installation according to claim 2, is characterized in that, this charhing unit comprises:

One pressure unit, couples this battery, and when this pressure unit receives this external power source from this external power source input, this this external power source of pressure unit step-down is a charge power supply, and with this charge power supply, this battery is charged;

One charging manager; couple this pressure unit, this processing unit and external power source input; when this Charge Management receives this external power source by this external power source input, this charging manager transmits one and controls signal to this pressure unit to adjust the size of this charge power supply; And

One switch, when this external power source input couples an external power source, the path between this external power source input of this switch conduction and this charging manager and the path between this external power source input and this power output end.

4. electric supply installation according to claim 3, is characterized in that, this processing unit comprises:

One microprocessor; couple this battery and this charging manager; wherein; this microprocessor detects a charging voltage value and a charging current value and this internal electric source of this battery; and transmit this charging voltage value and this charging current value to this charging manager; and when the current value of this internal electric source is greater than this current threshold, this microprocessor output one first high level voltage; And

One judging unit, couple this compress cell and this power output end, from this power output end, detect the magnitude of voltage of this internal electric source of this battery output, when the magnitude of voltage of this internal electric source of this battery output is lower than this reference voltage level, or this judging unit is while receiving this first high level voltage from this microprocessor, this judging unit transmit an enable signal to this compress cell with this compress cell of activation

Wherein, when this charging manager receives this charging voltage value and this charging current value, this charging manager produces this control signal according to this charging voltage value and this charging current value.

5. electric supply installation according to claim 4, is characterized in that, this judging unit comprises:

One comparator, couples this power output end, magnitude of voltage and this reference voltage level of this internal electric source that relatively this battery is exported, and when the magnitude of voltage of this internal electric source is less than this reference voltage level, this comparator output one second high level voltage; And

One or door, couple this comparator, this microprocessor and this compress cell, when this or door receive this first high level voltage or this second high level voltage, should or this enable signal of door output to this compress cell with this compress cell of activation.

6. a method of supplying power to, is applicable to an electric supply installation, and wherein this electric supply installation comprises a battery, it is characterized in that, described method of supplying power to comprises:

Detect and whether receive an external power source;

When receiving this external power source, directly export this external power source, and utilize this external power source this battery that charges;

When not connecting this external power source, and this power output end is while being connected to an external device (ED), by this battery, exports an internal electric source to this power output end; And

When the magnitude of voltage of this internal electric source of this battery output is during lower than a reference voltage level, this internal electric source to one load voltage value of supercharging.

7. method of supplying power to according to claim 6, is characterized in that, after the described step of being exported this internal electric source by this battery, described method also comprises:

Detect the current value of this internal electric source, wherein when the current value of this internal electric source is greater than a current threshold, this compress cell of activation with this internal electric source of supercharging to this load voltage value.

8. method of supplying power to according to claim 7, is characterized in that, utilizes the charge step of this battery of this external power source to comprise:

This external power source of step-down is a charge power supply, utilizes this charge power supply this battery that charges; And

Monitor a charging voltage value and a charging current value of this battery, and according to this charging voltage value and this charging current value, adjust the size of this charge power supply.

9. method of supplying power to according to claim 6, is characterized in that, the step whether detection receives this external power source comprises:

Judge whether to connect this external device (ED); And

When receiving external power source from this external power source input, but while not connecting this external device (ED), utilize this external power source to this battery charging.