JPH10233235A - Non-contact charging device for multiple devices - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a charging device capable of charging a plurality of devices having different dimensions, electric power required for charging, and the like by a single device. A charging device is provided with an electromagnetic coupling unit in which a coil is wound around an iron core, and an electronic device has a similar configuration for receiving electric power supplied from the charging device in a non-contact manner. Are provided. The control unit 35 transmits information necessary for charging from the infrared communication device 34. On the charging device 38 side, information necessary for charging sent from the electronic device 39 is received by the infrared communication unit 31, and the amount of power to be applied to the electromagnetic coupling unit 30 is set under conditions based on this information. The electromagnetic coupling unit 30 has an E-shape or a U-shape. Depending on the size of the electronic device 39, the electronic device 39 of various sizes can be charged by appropriately selecting the poles of the iron core to be used. .

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charging apparatus for a device having a built-in rechargeable power supply, such as an information device such as a portable personal computer and a mobile phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent miniaturization of personal computers and the development of portable information devices, various small devices have been commercialized and used at present. These devices can be operated by using electric power from a home or commercial power source, but are intended to be carried around by a person and used anywhere for the purpose of miniaturization. In such a case, there is usually no power supply in the place where it is to be used, and it is necessary to incorporate a power supply such as a battery. Batteries that are generally used include dry cells,
Replacing a dry cell every time the dry cell runs out of power is cumbersome and expensive, and wastes resources. Many electronic devices have a built-in rechargeable battery as a power supply.

[0003]

In these small electronic devices, a 100-volt AC power supply for home use is used, and the AC power supply is converted to a lower voltage DC by using a so-called AC adapter as a power supply. 2. Description of the Related Art A method of charging a battery in a device using a built-in charging circuit is widely used.

However, these electronic devices vary in size, required power, and types of batteries used (NiCd batteries, lithium-ion batteries, etc.), and as a result, the standard of charging power supply (AC adapter) It is difficult to unify the devices, a dedicated AC adapter is required for each device, and a user having a plurality of devices has the inconvenience of handling each device.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging device which can charge a plurality of devices having different dimensions, electric power required for charging, and the like by one unit.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a charging device for supplying charging energy to an electronic device having a built-in charging battery. The charging device is described on a display unit provided in the electronic device. An information reading means for reading information, and means for supplying the charging energy to the electronic device based on the information read by the information reading means are provided.

Alternatively, in a charging device for supplying charging energy to an electronic device having a built-in charging battery, a receiving device for receiving information transmitted from a transmitting device provided in the electronic device, And charging means for supplying the charging energy to the electronic device based on the received information.

According to the present invention as described above, the charging device comprises:
Since charging is performed by obtaining information necessary for charging from electronic devices,
Overcharging can be prevented by supplying excessive power or charging for an unnecessarily long time. In addition, when power is supplied by electromagnetic induction, by appropriately setting the shape of an iron core that supplies an AC magnetic field, devices of various sizes can be charged. Various kinds of electronic devices can be charged.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, (1) an electronic device to be charged has an electromagnetic coupling unit for receiving charging power in a non-contact manner, so that charging energy is input to the electronic device. Has a method (optical mark, that is, a bar code, or a communication function, etc.) indicating an appropriate charging method (charging conditions such as a voltage to be supplied and a charging time) accepted by the device. (2) The charging device on the charging side has a means for outputting charging energy by having an electromagnetic coupling unit for transmitting charging power in a non-contact manner, and has a means for knowing charging conditions from a device to be charged. It is characterized by the following.

When the device to be charged is placed close to the charging device such that the electromagnetic coupling portion approaches, a path is formed from the charging device to supply power to the target device using an AC magnetic field. Also, the charging device obtains necessary charging conditions by reading information from the target device, and automatically outputs to the electromagnetic coupling unit based on necessary charging condition information such as the voltage to be supplied. Set. The device to be charged can be of various sizes, but it is only necessary to be able to electromagnetically couple with the charging device to some extent, so that the degree of freedom in size and shape is given. In addition, since the charging conditions are automatically set, it is possible to prevent the risk of accidentally applying excessive charging power to a device that requires a small amount of electric power and destroying the device. With these two configurations, a single charging device can easily and safely charge a plurality of electronic devices having different sizes and different charging conditions.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the present invention. FIG. 1A is an example of the appearance of a charging device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a charging device main body, 10 is an electromagnetic coupling portion for forming an electromagnetic coupling with an electronic device to be charged,
Reference numeral 11 denotes an infrared transmission / reception unit capable of communicating with an electronic device.

The infrared transmission / reception unit 11 may be of any type as long as it can read the charging information of the electronic device to be charged, and may be a wireless communication device or a wired communication device. . Alternatively, an optical mark such as a barcode on which charging information is written, which is attached to an electronic device to be charged, may be readable. However, in the case of a configuration in which an optical mark is read, it is not possible to perform a process of acquiring the current charging state of the electronic device and taking a corresponding action on the charging device side. That is,
The charging device only performs charging in a fixed manner according to the initially given charging condition.

FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the charging device 1 shown in FIG. 1A is a part of the surface of an iron core 12 embedded in the charging device 1 as shown in FIG.
3 is wound, and an AC magnetic field can be generated in the electromagnetic coupling unit 10 by applying an AC current to the electrode 14 of the coil.

In the case of FIG. 1A, the electromagnetic coupling portion 10
Although only one iron core 12 is provided, the number of iron cores 12 is not limited, and generally one core is provided.
Alternatively, a plurality may be provided.

FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of a case where the charging device 1 charges a notebook computer as an example of a device to be charged. In the figure, reference numerals 15 and 16 denote notebook personal computers mounted on the charging device 1, reference numeral 15 denotes a main body and a keyboard unit, and reference numeral 16 denotes a liquid crystal display unit (LCD). Inside the main body 15 of the notebook personal computer, there is provided an electromagnetic coupling section 17 which can be electromagnetically coupled to the electromagnetic coupling section 10 of the charging device 1. I can receive it. That is, the AC magnetic field generated inside the iron core 12 penetrates into the electromagnetic coupling portion 17 (also made of an iron core or the like), and generates an AC magnetic field inside the iron core of the electromagnetic coupling portion 17. Therefore,
By winding a coil (not shown) around the iron core of the electromagnetic coupling portion 17, a voltage is generated by the action of electromagnetic induction, and the notebook computer 15 can charge the rechargeable battery.

The notebook computers 15 and 16 in FIG.
Has an infrared transmission / reception unit 18 on the rear surface, and
Data communication with the infrared transmission / reception unit 11 of FIG. When the notebook computers 15 and 16 are set in the charging device 1 shown in FIG. 1A, the notebook computers 15 and 16 perform data communication with the infrared transmitting and receiving unit 11 to transmit information necessary for charging the notebook computers 15 and 16 to the charging device 1. Send. The charging device 1 starts charging by setting the intensity of an AC magnetic field generated inside the iron core 12, the charging time, and the like according to the content of the transmitted data.

FIG. 1D is a sectional view showing a case where the same charging device 1 charges an electronic device (for example, an electronic organizer) 19 having a smaller outer shape. The electronic device 19 in this figure also has an electromagnetic coupling unit 20 and an infrared transmitting / receiving unit 21 in the same manner as the notebook computers 15 and 16 in FIG. In the case of this electronic device, the electromagnetic coupling unit 20 is smaller than the notebook computers 15 and 16 in FIG. 1C and is not partly opposed to the electromagnetic coupling unit 10 on the charging device 1 side, but receives charging power. It is possible. That is, even if a part of the electromagnetic coupling part 20 does not completely face the electromagnetic coupling part 10 but partially faces the electromagnetic coupling part 20, the core of the electromagnetic coupling part 20 (as in the case of the notebook computers 15 and 16). , An iron core, etc.), it is possible to generate an AC magnetic field inside. If a coil (not shown) is wound around the electromagnetic coupling part 20, electric energy can be received using an electromagnetic induction phenomenon. I can do it.

Next, the configuration and operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 illustrates an electronic device to be charged and circuit blocks included in the charging device. The upper and lower parts surrounded by two dotted lines are the electronic device 39 and the charging device 38, respectively.

On the side of the electronic device 39 to be charged, the control unit 3 also has a charging circuit for converting AC power input from the electromagnetic coupling unit 33 into DC and charging the built-in battery 36.
There are five. Further, the control unit 35 has a function of notifying the charging device 38 of the information of the charging condition using the infrared communication unit 34. The infrared communication unit 34 may be specially provided for realizing the charging method of the present invention. However, when the target electronic device is originally a small information device and is provided with a communication function. May use it as it is.

On the charging device 38 side, an electromagnetic coupling unit 30 and an infrared communication unit 31 for applying an AC magnetic field to the device are provided.
There is a control unit 32 including a circuit that converts a power input such as a commercial power supply into AC power suitable for charging and supplies the AC power to the electromagnetic coupling unit 30. The control unit 32 receives charging condition information from the device from the infrared communication unit 31 and supplies power appropriately controlled to supply charging power suitable for the target device to the electromagnetic coupling unit 30.

In the other embodiments, the information of the charging condition is transmitted by infrared communication. However, the information is transmitted by another method, for example, a bar code sticker or the like to indicate the charging condition on the back of the device side. An object may be attached, and this may be read on the charging device side.

The charging device 38 is provided with a switch 37, which is a start switch that causes the control section 32 of the charging device 38 to start charging. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a charging operation example of the control unit of the electronic device to be charged.

An instruction to start a charging operation is first required on the electronic device side. In this example, a method of monitoring the supply of power from the electromagnetic coupling unit and using the power supply as an instruction to start charging is described. (Although a method is also conceivable in which the control unit 35 starts charging upon receipt of a charge start instruction signal from the infrared communication unit 34, but the battery of the device to be supplied with power is exhausted and the power required for infrared communication is not left. Considering the case, the above method is considered to be advantageous in this example.) That is, first, the electronic device is in a charging standby state and is waiting for power supply (step S1). ). In step S2, it is determined whether or not power is being supplied. If power is not being supplied, the process returns to step S1 and waits for power to be supplied. If it is determined in step S2 that power is being supplied, the charging condition is transmitted from the infrared communication unit 34 to the charging device 38 in step S3.

At the start of charging, the control unit 35 of the device predicts and calculates the supply time of required charging power and the like based on the current remaining battery level, and transmits the charging conditions to the charging device using the infrared communication unit 34. Then, the power from the electromagnetic coupling unit 33 can be supplied to the battery 36 to start charging (step S4). Then, the control unit 3 monitors the voltage of the battery or stores the past charge / discharge history information.
The state of charge is monitored by a method such as storing the information in a nonvolatile memory in the memory 5 (step S5), and it is checked whether the battery is fully charged (step S6). If the battery is fully charged, the power supply from the electromagnetic coupling unit to the battery is stopped (step S9),
This ends the charging.

The operation from the start to the end of the charging is basically as described above. However, if there is an error in the calculation of the power supply time as the charging condition in step S3 in the flow, the device side determines the required power supply time. A difference occurs between the time supplied by the charging device and the time supplied by the charging device. If the charging is completed earlier than expected, the supply from the charging device is stopped in the processing of steps S10 and S11 in FIG. That is, step S10
It is determined whether or not power is still being supplied. If power is being supplied, a command to stop supplying power is transmitted in step S11. The transmission of this command is, for example,
This is performed using the infrared communication unit 34.

If the actually required power supply time is longer than predicted, the supply is stopped during charging. In this case, the processing in steps S7 and S8 in FIG. 3 is performed, and charging is restarted. Becomes That is, even if the power supply time has elapsed, if the battery is not fully charged in step S6, the process proceeds to step S7 to determine whether or not power is still being supplied. Returning to step S4, charging is continued. If power has not been supplied in step S7, the process proceeds to step S8,
A power supply restart request is transmitted to the charging device. This request is transmitted, for example, using the infrared communication unit 34. After transmitting the power supply restart request in step S8, the process returns to step S1, and charging is performed as described above.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a charging operation example of the control unit of the charging device. Here, it is assumed that the charging device is already on standby by receiving power supply from a commercial power source.

When the start switch 37 in FIG. 2 is pressed, an instruction to start charging is issued. That is, the charging device 38 receives the power supply from the commercial power source, and at the same time, enters a standby state of the start of charging (step S20), and determines whether or not the start switch 37 has been pressed in step S21. The process is repeated between and. The start switch may be manually operated by the user, or may be configured so that the switch is pressed by the weight of the device when placed on the charging device.

The control unit 32 of the charging device includes an infrared communication unit 31
The charging condition data transmitted from the device to be charged is received using (step S22), and the supply of power to the electromagnetic coupling unit is started (step S23). This flowchart corresponds to the case where there is a difference between the power supply time required by the device and the time supplied by the charging device, as described in the above description of FIG. After starting the power supply, the charging device 38 monitors whether or not the transmission data has been received from the electronic device 39 (step S24). If the charging is completed earlier than expected, a request to stop the supply is received. Therefore, the power supply stop is received in step S25, and the process proceeds to step S30 to stop the power supply.

If no power supply stop request is received in step S25, it is determined in step S26 whether the time specified by the charging condition has elapsed. If not, step S24 is performed. Return to the processing of. If it is determined in step S26 that the time specified by the charging condition has elapsed, the supply of the charging power is stopped (step S27). When the supply of charging power is stopped, the electronic device 39
Since a charge restart signal may be sent from the controller, the received data is monitored in step S28, and it is determined in step S29 whether a power supply restart request has been received. If the restart request has not been received, the process returns to step S20 to be in a standby state. If the restart request has been received, the process returns to step S22 to supply the charging power again.

The charging conditions other than the charging time are received in step S22 and set when supplying charging power in step S23. For example, the charging power or the like determines how much alternating current the charging device supplies to the electromagnetic coupling unit, which is set when the supply of charging power is started. is there. The amount of alternating current to be supplied may be directly sent as information from the electronic device side, or a table may be held on the charging device side in accordance with the sent information, and this table may be referred to. Alternatively, the alternating current to be supplied may be determined.

FIG. 5 shows another example of the charging device. FIG.
5 (a) and 5 (b) show an example of a charging device incorporating an iron core having an E-shaped cross section, but in FIG. 5 (a), a U-shaped iron core 4 is shown.
It has a built-in iron core in which two 0 and 41 are arranged. The method of arranging the U-shaped iron cores 40 and 41 is not limited to the method of FIG. 5A, and may be provided so as to be rotated 90 degrees in the horizontal direction. Also, the number of U-shaped iron cores is not limited to two as shown in FIG.
One or three or more may be provided. However, FIG. 5 illustrates a case where two U-shaped iron cores are provided as an example.

FIG. 5B shows the electromagnetic coupling surface of the iron core shown in FIG. In FIG. 5B, the poles of the four iron cores are named A pole, B pole, C pole, and D pole for convenience. A coil is wound around an iron core to generate an AC magnetic field by an electric current, and the charging power is supplied to the device. However, adjacent poles in FIG. The coil is wound. That is, the A pole and the B pole are paired, and the C pole and the D pole are paired. Also, the A pole and the C pole, and the B pole and the D pole can be used as a pair.

FIG. 5 (c) shows the state of the direction of the magnetic field which is output at a moment in a very short time. FIG.
As shown in (c), the magnetic field emitted from the A pole enters the B pole and also enters the C pole, so the A and B poles, or
A pole and C pole can be used as a pair. Similarly, the D pole is C
It can be used as a pair with a pole or a B pole, and can be used with vertically long or horizontally long devices. Such advantages are described below.

FIGS. 5 (d) to 5 (g) are views of the charging device as viewed from directly above, as in FIG. 5 (b), and dotted lines show devices of various sizes placed on the electromagnetic coupling surface of the charging device. This shows how the battery is charged. FIG. 5D shows an example in which a device having a relatively wide bottom surface, such as a notebook personal computer, is placed, and has a built-in iron core capable of receiving power supply using all four magnetic poles. FIGS. 5 (e) and 5 (f) show an example in which a smaller device is placed on a charging device, in which electric power is supplied using only two magnetic poles. Therefore, the battery can be charged regardless of whether it is placed vertically or horizontally. FIG. 5G shows an example of charging a smaller device, for example, a wristwatch-type information device. Even if only one magnetic pole is used, an AC magnetic field is emitted from now on, so by catching this magnetic field on the device side, a voltage can be generated in the iron core inside the device and charging can be performed Can be done. In particular, it is expected that a very small electronic device with low power consumption can receive a sufficient power supply for charging even if only one magnetic pole is used.
By using such an iron core, charging corresponding to devices of various sizes and shapes becomes possible.

In the above description of the embodiment, only the electromagnetic coupling portion having an E-shaped or U-shaped iron core in cross section has been described, but this is merely an example for explaining the invention. The shape of the iron core of the electromagnetic coupling part can be various, and should be appropriately designed in consideration of ease of use.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably perform charging operations for electronic devices of various sizes and power conditions, thereby improving convenience.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates electronic devices to be charged and circuit blocks included in the charging device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a charging operation of a control unit of the electronic device to be charged;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a charging operation example of a control unit on the charging device side.

FIG. 5 is another example of a charging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 38 Charging device 10, 17, 20, 30, 33 Electromagnetic coupling unit 11, 18, 21 Infrared transmitting / receiving unit 12 Iron core 13 Coil 14 Coil electrode 15 Note PC (main body and keyboard) 16 Note PC (liquid crystal display) 19 , 39 Electronic equipment 31, 34 Infrared communication unit 32, 35 Control unit 36 Battery 37 Switch 40, 41 U-shaped iron core

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A charging device for supplying charging energy to an electronic device having a built-in charging battery, comprising: information reading means for reading information written on a display unit provided in the electronic device; And a means for supplying the charging energy to the electronic device based on the information read by the means. 2. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the information is charging power required for charging the electronic device. 3. The charging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is a charging time required for charging the electronic device. 4. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is a bar code. 5. The charging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said charging means is of a non-contact type that performs a charging operation in a non-contact manner using an electromagnetic induction phenomenon. 6. The charging means has an electromagnetic coupling section having an iron core having an E-shaped cross section. By using all or a part of the electromagnetic coupling section, the charging means can be used for electronic devices having different sizes. The charging device according to claim 5, wherein the charging device can perform a charging operation without contact. 7. The charging means has an electromagnetic coupling section having at least one iron core having a U-shaped cross section, and the size of the electromagnetic coupling section differs by using all or a part of the electromagnetic coupling section. The charging device according to claim 5, wherein a charging operation can be performed on the electronic device in a non-contact manner. 8. A charging device for supplying charging energy to an electronic device having a built-in charging battery, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving information transmitted from a transmitting unit provided in the electronic device; Charging means for supplying the charging energy to the electronic device based on the received information. 9. The electronic device according to claim 8, further comprising a transmitting unit that transmits information to a receiving unit provided in the electronic device, wherein the information is transmitted and received between the electronic device and the electronic device. Charging device. 10. The charging device according to claim 8, wherein said charging means is of a non-contact type which performs a charging operation in a non-contact manner utilizing an electromagnetic induction phenomenon. 11. The charging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the information is charging power required for charging the electronic device. 12. The charging device according to claim 8, wherein the information is a charging time required for charging the electronic device. 13. When the charging device receives, from the electronic device, information indicating that the battery has been fully charged earlier than the charging time, the charging device terminates charging based on the information, and resets the charging time. 9. The charging device according to claim 8, wherein charging is restarted when information notifying that the battery is not fully charged even after the passage of time is received. 14. The charging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a communication function of said transmitting means and said receiving means is a wireless communication function. 15. The charging device according to claim 14, wherein the wireless communication function is a communication function using infrared rays. 16. The charging means has an electromagnetic coupling section having an iron core having an E-shaped cross section. By using all or a part of the electromagnetic coupling section, the charging means can be applied to electronic devices having different sizes. The charging device according to claim 10, wherein a charging operation can be performed without contact. 17. The charging means has an electromagnetic coupling portion having at least one iron core having a U-shaped cross section. The size of the charging means differs by using all or a part of the electromagnetic coupling portion. The charging device according to claim 10, wherein a charging operation can be performed on the electronic device in a non-contact manner.