CN102073567A - Testing device capable of controlling charging and discharging - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a testing device capable of controlling charging and discharging, which comprises a switch module and a controller. The switch module is electrically connected between the power input port of the portable computer system and an external power supply. The switch module can selectively electrically connect the power input port to an external power source. The controller is electrically connected to the switch module and coupled to the portable computer system. The controller receives a control instruction from the portable computer system, and controls the switch module to be in a conducting or cutting-off state according to the control instruction.

Description

Test device that can control charging and discharging

technical field

The invention relates to a testing device, in particular to a testing device capable of controlling charging and discharging.

Background technique

Notebook computers have always occupied a place in the market of computer-related products because of their portability.

After the notebook computer is produced, it needs to undergo various tests to ensure that the notebook computer can operate normally. For example: keyboard knocking test, power switch and connector plug and pull test, power switch and connector plug test, screen cover opening and closing test, shutdown drop test, startup drop test, operating temperature test, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned test procedures, there is another test procedure for restarting and hibernating. In this test procedure, the notebook computer will continuously and automatically perform restart and hibernation procedures to confirm the stability of the notebook computer.

This testing procedure can often take more than a day. Therefore, notebook computers are usually connected to an external power supply to ensure that the power supply is safe during the test. However, in the process of rebooting and hibernation, some related problems may be caused due to the charging and discharging of the battery (for example, the temperature of the notebook computer is too high or the current is too high to cause the computer to crash, etc.).

In order to test possible problems caused by charging and discharging of the battery in the process of rebooting and hibernation, the prior art manually controls the charging and discharging of the battery. Because the way of manual manipulation requires a lot of manpower and time, the cost of testing will be greatly increased. The improvement of the test cost will further increase the total cost of the notebook computer. In this way, the competitiveness of this notebook computer in the market will decline.

Contents of the invention

In view of the above problems, the present invention proposes a test device capable of controlling charging and discharging, which is suitable for testing a portable computer system. The test device that can control charging and discharging can automatically and alternately carry out the procedure of charging and discharging the portable computer system, so as to save manpower consumed in testing.

The invention discloses a test device capable of controlling charging and discharging, which is suitable for testing a portable computer system. The portable computer system has a battery, a control command output port, and a power input port. The power input port Electrically connected to an external power source, the test device that can control charging and discharging includes:

a switch module, electrically connected between the power input port and the external power supply; and

a controller, coupled to the portable computer system, and electrically connected to the switch module;

Wherein, the controller receives a control instruction from the portable computer system, and the controller controls the switch module according to the control instruction, so that the switch module selectively electrically connects the power input port to the external power supply .

When an electric quantity of the battery is lower than a first reference value, the control command is a conduction command, and when the controller receives the conduction command, the controller controls the switch module to conduct the power input port and connection between this external power supply.

When an electric quantity of the battery is higher than a second reference value, the control command is a power-off command, and when the controller receives the power-off command, the controller controls the switch module to cut off the power input port and the connection between external power sources.

The switch module is a relay switch.

The portable computer system includes a control instruction output device, and the controller is coupled to the control instruction output device and used for outputting the control instruction.

The control instruction output device is a universal serial bus.

The control instruction output device is a general input and output port.

The control instruction output device is a wireless signal output module.

The switch module is electrically connected between the power input port of the portable computer system and the external power supply. The switch module can selectively electrically connect the power input port to an external power source. The controller is electrically connected to the switch module, and the controller is coupled to the portable computer system. The controller receives a control command from the portable computer system, and the controller controls the switch module to be on or off according to the control command.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the portable computer system includes a control command output device. The controller is coupled to the control command output device and used for outputting control commands. Among them, the control command output device can be Universal Serial Bus (Universal Serial Bus, USB), General Purpose Input Output Port (General Purpose Input Output, GPIO), PS/2 interface, RS232 interface, Ethernet module, Bluetooth module (Bluetooth) ), an infrared module (Infrared, IR) or a wireless network (Wireless) module.

After receiving the control command, the controller controls the switch module to selectively electrically connect the power input port to the external power supply. When the switch module connects the power input port with the external power, the external power can be input into the portable computer system and charge the battery of the portable computer system. When the switch module cuts off the power input port and the external power, the external power cannot be input to the portable computer system, and the battery of the portable computer system will be discharged. Therefore, the portable computer system can automatically perform the charging or discharging test, so as to save manpower and time spent on the test, and reduce the cost required for the test. Furthermore, the cost of the portable computer system is reduced to enhance the competitiveness of the portable computer system.

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

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a system block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a flow chart of a testing procedure according to the present invention.

Among them, reference signs:

10 Test device that can control charge and discharge 20 Switch module

30 Controller 80 External power supply

90 Portable computer system 91 Power input port

92 Control command output device

Detailed ways

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail below in the embodiments, the content of which is sufficient for any person skilled in the art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the content disclosed in this specification, the claims and the appended FIG. 1 , any person skilled in the art can easily understand the related objects and advantages of the present invention. The following examples are to further describe the viewpoints of the present invention in detail, but not to limit the scope of the present invention in any respect.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a system block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. According to the test device 10 capable of controlling charging and discharging proposed by an embodiment of the present invention, the testing device 10 capable of controlling charging and discharging includes a switch module 20 and a controller 30 . The test device 10 capable of controlling charging and discharging is suitable for testing a portable computer system 90 .

The switch module 20 is electrically connected between the power input port 91 of the portable computer system 90 and the external power source 80 . The switch module 20 can selectively electrically connect the power input port 91 to the external power source 80 . In other words, the switch module 20 can turn on or cut off the connection between the power input port 91 and the external power source 80 .

In an embodiment of the present invention, the switch module 20 is a relay switch. Relays can be divided into electromagnetic relays, inductive relays, electric relays and electronic relays according to their working principles. The various relays mentioned above can be used here. A relay has an input circuit and an output circuit. The input circuit can be connected to the controller 30 , and the output circuit can be connected between the external power source 80 and the power input port 91 . When the controller 30 transmits a signal to the input circuit, the output circuit will be turned on; and vice versa.

The controller 30 is electrically connected to the switch module 20 , and the controller 30 is coupled to the portable computer system 90 . The controller 30 receives a control command from the portable computer system 90 , and the controller 30 controls the switch module 20 to be on or off according to the control command.

The test device 10 capable of controlling charge and discharge can control the battery of the portable computer system 90 to charge or discharge by turning on or cutting off the connection between the power input port 91 and the external power source 80 .

The above only illustrates the basic concept of the test device 10 capable of controlling charging and discharging. The detailed test process of using the test device 10 capable of controlling charge and discharge and the integration of the test device 10 capable of controlling charge and discharge and the portable computer system 90 are described below.

The test device 10 capable of controlling charge and discharge and the portable computer system 90 can form a test system. Preferably, the portable computer system 90 is a notebook computer. The portable computer system 90 has a rechargeable battery inside. The rechargeable battery can provide the power required for the portable computer system 90 to operate when there is no external power supply.

The portable computer system 90 is used to execute a test program. The test program can automatically restart and sleep the program. In addition, the test program can also send control commands to the controller 30 through the control command output device 92 of the portable computer system 90 according to the state of the battery.

Generally speaking, the portable computer system 90 has a power management module, and the power management module has a function of monitoring battery power. The power management module can measure the voltage value of the battery, and convert the voltage value through analog/digital conversion, and then convert the voltage value to predict the remaining capacity of the battery. The remaining power of the battery is usually expressed as a percentage. For example, when the battery is fully charged, the remaining power is 100%. The state of the battery described in the preceding paragraph is the remaining power described here. The test program can read the value of one of the registers from the power management module to know the state of the battery.

In more detail, when the test program detects that the battery power of the portable computer system 90 is lower than a first reference value, the control command sent by the control command output device 92 is a conduction command. When the controller 30 receives the conduction command, the controller 30 controls the switch module 20 to conduct the connection between the power input port 91 and the external power source 80 . At this time, the external power source 80 can be input into the portable computer system 90 to charge the battery of the portable computer system 90 .

On the other hand, when the test program detects that the battery capacity of the portable computer system 90 is higher than a second reference value, the control command sent by the control command output device 92 is a power-off command. When the controller 30 receives the power-off command, the controller 30 controls the switch module 20 to cut off the connection between the power input port 91 and the external power source 80 . At this time, the external power source 80 will not be able to input the portable computer system 90, and the battery of the portable computer system 90 will be discharged.

The above-mentioned first reference value and second reference value can be determined by testers. For example, the first reference value is 10% of the full capacity of the battery, and the second reference value is 90% of the full capacity of the battery. The values of the first reference value and the second reference value are not limited by the present invention. However, it should be noted that the second reference value must be greater than the first reference value. The smaller the distance between the first reference value and the second reference value, the higher the frequency of charging and discharging the battery.

In addition, in order not to increase the cost of testing, the control command can be transmitted through the existing output device of the portable computer system 90 . That is to say, the existing output device transmission of the portable computer system 90 can be used as the control instruction output device 92 . The control instruction output device 92 is coupled to the controller 30 , and the control instruction output device 92 can be used to output the control instruction to the controller 30 .

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control command output device 92 can be a Universal Serial Bus (Universal Serial Bus, USB), a General Purpose Input Output port (General Purpose Input Output, GPIO), a PS/2 interface, an RS232 interface, an Ethernet Network module, Bluetooth module (Bluetooth), infrared module (Infrared, IR) or wireless network (Wireless) module.

Among them, the USB, GPIO, PS/2 interface, RS232 interface and the Ethernet module need to be connected through physical lines. The controller 30 needs to have a corresponding jack (such as a USB type A connector or a B type connector), and a receiving device corresponding to the control command output device 92 .

On the other hand, the Bluetooth module (Bluetooth), the infrared module (Infrared, IR) or the wireless network (Wireless) module is transmitted through wireless. The controller 30 needs to have a corresponding receiving antenna to receive the wireless signal sent by the control instruction output device 92 .

In this embodiment, the test procedure can be represented by the following flowchart. Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a flow chart of the testing procedure of the present invention.

Determine whether the power of the battery is lower than a first reference value (S110). When the power of the battery is lower than the first reference value, send a conduction command to the controller (S120); when the power of the battery is higher than or equal to the first reference value, continue to judge whether the power of the battery is higher than the second reference value ( S130). When it is judged that the power of the battery is higher than the second reference value, a power-off command is sent to the controller (S140); when it is judged that the power of the battery is lower than the second reference value, the procedures of restarting and sleeping are repeated (S150).

In step S110 and step S130, it is judged whether the power of the battery is lower than the first reference value or higher than the second reference value, and a comparator may be used for the judgment. The comparator has two input ports (the first input port and the second input port). When the value of the first input port is greater than the value of the second input port, the output of the comparator is "logic 1". When the value of the first input port is less than or equal to the value of the second input port, the output of the comparator is "logic 0". This test program can input the power of the battery and the first reference value or the second reference value into the first input port and the second input port, and judge whether the output of the comparator is "logic 0" or "logic 1", that is Step S110 and step S130 can be completed.

In step S120 and step S140 , the test program can send a signal to the controller 30 through the control instruction output device 92 .

In step S150, the sleep program can be in S3 mode or S4 mode. Wherein, the S3 mode is to stop the power supply of the random access memory. S4 is to stop the power supply of the hard disk.

The test program can be stored in a storage element in the form of program code. The storage element can be but not limited to DRAM, flash memory or hard disk. And the program code can be read by the processor from the storage element to execute the steps corresponding to the program code.

After receiving the control command, the controller controls the switch module to selectively electrically connect the power input port to the external power supply. When the switch module connects the power input port with the external power, the external power can be input into the portable computer system and charge the battery of the portable computer system. When the switch module cuts off the power input port and the external power, the external power cannot be input to the portable computer system, and the battery of the portable computer system will be discharged. Therefore, the portable computer system can automatically perform the charging or discharging test, so as to save manpower and time spent on the test, and reduce the cost required for the test. Furthermore, the cost of the portable computer system is reduced to enhance the competitiveness of the portable computer system.

Claims (8)

1. A test device capable of controlling charge and discharge, suitable for testing a portable computer system, the portable computer system has a battery, a control command output port, a power input port, and the power input port is electrically Connected to an external power supply, it is characterized in that the test device that can control charging and discharging includes: a switch module, electrically connected between the power input port and the external power supply; and a controller, coupled to the portable computer system, and electrically connected to the switch module; Wherein, the controller receives a control instruction from the portable computer system, and the controller controls the switch module according to the control instruction, so that the switch module selectively electrically connects the power input port to the external power supply . 2. The test device capable of controlling charging and discharging as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the electric quantity of the battery is lower than a first reference value, the control command is a conduction command, and when the controller receives When the conduction instruction is given, the controller controls the switch module to conduct the connection between the power input port and the external power supply. 3. The test device capable of controlling charging and discharging as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the electric quantity of the battery is higher than a second reference value, the control command is a power-off command, and when the controller receives When the power-off instruction is issued, the controller controls the switch module to cut off the connection between the power input port and the external power supply. 4. The test device capable of controlling charging and discharging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switch module is a relay switch. 5. The test device capable of controlling charging and discharging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portable computer system includes a control command output device, the controller is coupled to the control command output device, and is used to output the control command. 6. The test device capable of controlling charging and discharging as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control command output device is a Universal Serial Bus. 7. The test device capable of controlling charging and discharging according to claim 5, wherein the control instruction output device is a general-purpose input and output port. 8. The test device capable of controlling charge and discharge according to claim 5, wherein the control command output device is a wireless signal output module.

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