JP2010088158A - Charging cradle and mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to freely select either a state of being fitted to a mobile communication terminal or a charging form of a secondary battery 300 alone, and to charge a plurality of secondary batteries at the same time.
[Solution]
The charger 200 of the present invention includes a power conversion unit 252 that converts commercial power into DC power, a terminal supply unit 254 that supplies DC power to a secondary battery fitted in the mobile communication terminal 400, a secondary battery, A battery supply unit 256 that supplies DC power to another secondary battery 300, and the terminal supply unit 254 and the battery supply unit 256 supply power to the secondary battery and the other secondary battery in parallel. The portable communication terminal 400 according to the present invention is characterized in that the charging information of the secondary battery fitted in the portable communication terminal and the charging information of other secondary batteries are displayed simultaneously or alternately. Yes.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a charger for charging power from a commercial power source and a portable communication terminal.

  In recent years, various portable communication terminals such as PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and the like have been provided. These portable communication terminals include a display unit such as a liquid crystal display as a display interface and an operation unit such as a plurality of switches (keys) and a touch panel, and are configured so that a user can easily refer to and input information on the go. Yes.

  Conventionally, a mobile communication terminal acquires power consumed by itself from a battery. Such batteries generally employ secondary batteries such as lithium ion batteries, nickel / cadmium batteries, and nickel metal hydride batteries.

  However, in recent years, the above-described mobile communication terminals have been increasingly improved due to technological advances, and the power consumption of the mobile communication terminal itself has increased rapidly due to, for example, continuous display of television (One Seg) and game applications. ing. Therefore, the power supply is insufficient with the conventional battery alone, and there is a demand for improvement of the battery, adoption of other power supply means, and the like. Therefore, apart from the battery already fitted in the mobile communication terminal, an increasing number of users further have a spare battery.

  By the way, charging of a battery is normally performed by connecting with a charger in a state where the battery is fitted to a portable communication terminal. However, since the conventional charger only indicates whether or not the charging is completed with an LED or the like (for example, the charging is indicated in red and the end is indicated in green), the user can charge the battery. I could not know exactly.

In view of this, there has been disclosed a charger that notifies a user of the state of charge of a battery of a mobile phone by providing a display unit on the charger and displaying the state of charge as a message in text (for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-178745

  However, recent chargers are not supposed to charge a battery (secondary battery) alone, so the secondary battery must be set in the charger in a state of being fitted in a mobile communication terminal. Therefore, the user having a plurality of secondary batteries as described above cannot charge a plurality of secondary batteries at the same time, and the complicated replacement work of the secondary batteries is forced.

  Therefore, in view of such a problem, the present invention allows a user to freely select either a state of being fitted to a mobile communication terminal or a charging form of a single secondary battery, and a plurality of secondary batteries can be selected. An object is to provide a charger, a portable communication terminal, and a charging method that can be charged simultaneously.

  In order to solve the above problems, a typical configuration of a charger according to the present invention is to supply DC power to a power converter that converts commercial power into DC power and a secondary battery that is fitted to a portable communication terminal. And a battery supply unit that supplies DC power to another secondary battery that is separate from the secondary battery. The terminal supply unit and the battery supply unit include the secondary battery and the other secondary battery. The power can be supplied in parallel.

  With this configuration, the user can freely select the charging mode (a state where the battery is fitted to the mobile communication terminal or a single secondary battery). Therefore, it becomes possible to charge the secondary battery without fitting it into the mobile communication terminal. Moreover, both the secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal and another secondary battery separately can be charged in parallel. Thereby, a some secondary battery can be used in a short time, and it can be made to function suitably as a reserve battery.

  You may further provide the information transmission part which transmits the charging information which shows the charge condition of said other secondary battery to a portable communication terminal.

  Thereby, the charging state of another secondary battery, for example, the charge amount, can be transmitted to the mobile communication terminal, and the charging status of the other secondary battery can be displayed using the display unit of the mobile communication terminal. Can do. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a display unit for reporting the state of charge in the charger, and the occupied volume, cost, and power consumption can be reduced.

  The battery pack may further include an auxiliary charging unit that supplies DC power to the secondary battery having the first predetermined voltage or less when either or both of the secondary battery and the other secondary battery have the first predetermined voltage or less. Good.

  The voltage of the secondary battery decreases due to natural discharge. In the present invention, the secondary battery can be held at the first predetermined voltage or higher through auxiliary charging by the auxiliary charging unit, and an extreme reduction in the amount of charge can be avoided.

  You may further provide the battery discharge part which discharges any one or both of the said secondary battery or another secondary battery to a 2nd predetermined voltage.

  Depending on the type of secondary battery, if it is repeatedly charged with sufficient charge remaining, it has a so-called memory effect in which the usable power capacity is lower than the original power capacity even though the charge remains. There is also. With the configuration including the battery discharge unit, a sufficient power capacity can be ensured even for a secondary battery having a memory effect.

  In order to solve the above problems, another typical configuration of the present invention is a portable communication terminal that operates with the power of a secondary battery, and is separate from the secondary battery fitted in the portable communication terminal. An information receiving unit that receives charging information indicating a charging state of another secondary battery, and any of charging information of a secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal or received charging information of another secondary battery Or a display unit for displaying both of them. The display unit of the mobile communication terminal may display the charging information of the secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal and the received charging information simultaneously or alternately.

  Accordingly, the user can freely select either the state of being fitted to the mobile communication terminal using the display unit of the mobile communication terminal or the charging mode of the secondary battery alone, and a plurality of secondary batteries Can be charged in parallel (simultaneously).

  The components corresponding to the technical idea of the charger described above and the description thereof can also be applied to the mobile communication terminal.

  As described above, according to the charger of the present invention, the user can freely select either the state of being fitted to the mobile communication terminal or the charging mode of the secondary battery alone, and a plurality of secondary batteries Can be charged simultaneously.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiment are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  Since the current charger is not supposed to charge the secondary battery alone, it must be set in the charger with the secondary battery fitted in the portable communication terminal. Therefore, a user who has a plurality of secondary batteries cannot charge a plurality of secondary batteries at the same time, and the complicated replacement work of the secondary batteries is forced.

  Therefore, the present embodiment is intended to allow a user to freely select either a state of being fitted to a mobile communication terminal or a charging form of a single secondary battery, and simultaneously charging a plurality of secondary batteries. It is said. Here, in order to facilitate understanding of the present embodiment, the overall configuration of the power supply system including the charger will be described first, and then the features of the charger and the portable communication terminal will be described in detail.

(Power supply system 100)
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view for explaining a schematic configuration of a power supply system. The power supply system 100 includes a charger 200 and a mobile communication terminal 400.

  The charger 200 receives AC 100V power from the commercial power supply 102 through the plug 202, converts it into effective power in the mobile communication terminal 400, for example, DC 5V power, and is provided in the mobile communication terminal 400. The battery is supplied to either or both of a battery (not shown because it exists in the battery lid 402 in FIG. 1) and the secondary battery 300 alone. In the present embodiment, the charger 200 has a terminal slot 210 having a terminal for terminal (not shown) that fits with the mobile communication terminal 400, and a battery terminal 222 that fits with the secondary battery 300 alone. A battery slot 220 is provided.

  The mobile communication terminal 400 can be composed of various portable electronic devices such as a notebook personal computer in addition to the above-described mobile phone, PHS, and PDA. In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate understanding, a PHS is particularly cited as the portable communication terminal 400. In addition, the portable communication terminal 400 includes a secondary battery 300 that can be detached from the housing. The mobile communication terminal 400 receives the power converted into direct current by the charger 200 via the terminal terminal provided in the terminal slot 210 and charges the secondary battery 300.

  The secondary battery 300 is formed to be able to be fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 and supplies power to each circuit of the mobile communication terminal 400 in the fitted state. As the secondary battery 300, a lithium ion battery, a nickel hydrogen battery, or the like is mainly used. The secondary battery 300 can receive charging power from the terminal slot 210 while being fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 as described above, or the battery terminal of the battery slot 220 as the secondary battery 300 alone. It is also possible to receive charging power directly from 222.

(Charger 200)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the charger according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the charger 200 includes a plug 202 that receives AC 100 V power from the commercial power source 102, a terminal slot 210 having a terminal 212, a battery slot 220 having a battery terminal 222, And a charging control unit 250.

  In the present embodiment, the terminal for terminal 212 and the battery terminal 222 include two terminals for supplying power received from the plug 202 to the positive and negative terminals of the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400, and will be described later. The terminal is configured with three terminals including one terminal that communicates with the information transmission unit 258 or one terminal that communicates with the information reception unit 424.

  In the present embodiment, the charging control unit 250 includes a power conversion unit 252, a terminal supply unit 254, a battery supply unit 256, an information transmission unit 258, an auxiliary charging unit 260, and a battery discharge unit 262. Is done.

  The power conversion unit 252 converts the commercial power from the commercial power source 102 into a DC power that can be charged via the plug 202.

  The terminal supply unit 254 supplies the DC power converted by the power conversion unit 252 to the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 via the terminal terminal 212 provided in the terminal slot 210.

  The battery supply unit 256 is converted by the power conversion unit 252 into a secondary battery 300 separate from the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 via the battery terminal 222 of the battery slot 220. Supply the DC power.

  In the present embodiment, the terminal supply unit 254 and the battery supply unit 256 are connected to the secondary battery 300 of the mobile communication terminal 400 that is inserted into the terminal slot 210 and the secondary battery 300 that is directly inserted into the battery slot 220. Electric power can be supplied in parallel.

  Thereby, both the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 and the separate secondary battery 300 can be charged in parallel. Therefore, the secondary battery 300 can be charged without being fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400, and the plurality of secondary batteries 300 can be used in a short time, and can function suitably as a spare battery. .

  The information transmission unit 258 transmits charging information indicating the charging state of the other secondary battery 300 to the mobile communication terminal 400 via one terminal of the battery terminal 222 of the battery slot 220.

  In the present embodiment, the information transmission unit 258 transmits the charging information to the mobile communication terminal 400 via one terminal of the battery terminal 222, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an existing data connector (not shown). Charging information can also be transmitted using various technologies such as NFC (Near Field Communication).

  Thereby, the charge state of the other secondary battery 300, for example, the charge amount, can be transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 400, and the charge status of the other secondary battery 300 can be transmitted using the display unit of the mobile communication terminal 400. Can be displayed. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a display unit for notifying the charging state in the charger 200, and the occupied volume, cost, and power consumption can be reduced. A display example on the mobile communication terminal 400 will be described later.

  When either or both of the secondary battery or the other secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 reaches the first predetermined voltage, for example, 90% or less of the fully charged voltage, the auxiliary charging unit 260 The DC power converted by the power conversion unit 252 is supplied to either or both of the secondary battery 300 fitted to the communication terminal 400 or the secondary battery 300 inserted by itself.

  Although the voltage of the secondary battery 300 decreases due to spontaneous discharge, the secondary battery can be held at the first predetermined voltage or higher through auxiliary charging by the auxiliary charging unit 260, and an extreme reduction in the charge amount can be avoided. it can.

  The battery discharge unit 262 supplies either or both of the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 or the single secondary battery 300 inserted into the second predetermined voltage, for example, 10% of the fully charged voltage. To discharge.

  Depending on the type of secondary battery, for example, nickel-cadmium storage battery, hydrogen storage battery, and lithium storage battery, if you add and repeat charging with sufficient charge remaining, the power capacity that can be used despite the remaining charge remains. Some have a so-called memory effect that is lower than the original power capacity. With the configuration including the battery discharge unit 262, a sufficient power capacity can be ensured even with the secondary battery 300 having the memory effect.

  As described above, according to the charger 200 according to the present embodiment, the user can freely select the charging mode (the state fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 or the secondary battery 300 alone). Therefore, the secondary battery 300 can be charged without being fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400. Moreover, both the secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 and the secondary battery 300 inserted by itself can be charged in parallel. Thereby, the some secondary battery 300 can be used in a short time, and can be functioned suitably as a reserve battery.

(Mobile communication terminal 400)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the mobile communication terminal. As shown in FIG. 3, the portable wireless terminal 400 includes a terminal control unit 410, a memory 412, a display unit 414, an operation unit 416, a voice input unit 418, a voice output unit 420, and a wireless communication unit 422. , And an information receiving unit 424.

  The terminal control unit 410 manages and controls the entire mobile communication terminal 400 using a semiconductor integrated circuit including a central processing unit (CPU), and uses a program stored in the memory 412 to make a call function, a mail transmission / reception function, an imaging function, and a music playback function. Also performs TV viewing function. The memory 412 includes a ROM, a RAM, an EEPROM, a nonvolatile RAM, a flash memory, an HDD, and the like, and stores a program processed by the terminal control unit 410.

  The display unit 414 includes a liquid crystal display, an EL (Electro Luminescence) display, or the like, and is stored in the memory 412 or provided from a server (not shown) via the communication network 130, and is a GUI for Web contents and applications. (Graphical User Interface) can be displayed.

  The operation unit 416 includes switches such as a keyboard, a cross key, a joystick, and a touch panel, and receives a user operation input.

  The voice input unit 418 includes voice conversion means such as a microphone, and converts the user's voice input during a call into an electrical signal that can be processed in the mobile communication terminal 400. The audio output unit 420 is constituted by a speaker, and converts the voice signal of the other party received by the mobile communication terminal 400 into voice and outputs it. The voice output unit 420 can also output a ring tone, an operation sound of the operation unit 416, an alarm sound, and the like.

  The wireless communication unit 422 employs next-generation PHS communication technologies such as ARIB STD T95 and PHS MoU, for example, and is based on OFDMA / TDD (Time Division Duplex) / (or OFDM / TDD). Wireless communication with the base station 120 is established through the wireless communication method, and data communication such as voice communication with a communication partner or acquisition of Web information is executed.

  When the information receiving unit 424 receives a direct current from the charger 200 to the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400, the information receiving unit 424 also indicates the charging state of the secondary battery 300 that receives power supply from the charger 200. Receive charging information. Then, the information receiving unit 424 displays the received charging information on the display unit 414.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the display unit according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, when the display unit 414 according to the present embodiment receives power from the charger 200 described above to the secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400, the fitted unit 2 The charging information 432 of the other secondary battery 300 fitted to the charger 200 received by the information receiving unit 424 is also displayed together with the charging information 430 of the secondary battery.

  Thereby, the mobile communication terminal 400 can display the charging information 432 of the separate secondary battery 300, for example, the amount of charge, and can notify the user of the charging status of the separate secondary battery 300. Therefore, the display unit 414 of the mobile communication terminal 400 can be used to allow the user to freely select either the state of being fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 or the charging mode of the secondary battery 300 alone, The secondary battery 300 can be charged simultaneously.

  In the present embodiment, the display unit 414 simultaneously displays the charging information 430 of the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 and the received charging information 432 of the separate secondary battery 300. However, the present invention is not limited to this and may be displayed alternately at the same position.

  Here, the display unit 414 of the mobile communication terminal 400 displays the charging information of the secondary battery 300 fitted therein and the other secondary battery 300 fitted into the charger 200, but is not limited thereto. Charging information such as a secondary battery fitted to another mobile communication terminal can also be displayed.

  As described above, also in the mobile communication terminal 400 according to the present embodiment, the user can freely select either the state of being fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 or the charging form of the secondary battery 300 alone, It becomes possible to charge a plurality of secondary batteries simultaneously.

  Next, an example of using a plurality of secondary batteries 300 charged by the charger 200 described above will be shown.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an expansion module as an example of use of a plurality of secondary batteries charged by the charger according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the expansion module 500, a separate secondary battery 300 can be directly fitted together with the portable communication terminal 400, and the portable communication terminal 400 is connected to the secondary battery 300 fitted therein. In addition to the battery 300, the power of the secondary battery 300 fitted directly to the expansion module 500 can be used.

  Such use of power may be performed by connecting the secondary batteries 300 in parallel, or may be performed by switching to the other after waiting for a voltage drop in one. In the latter case, the secondary battery 300 previously fitted directly to the expansion module 500 may be used, and the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 may be used later. In this way, after the secondary battery 300 fitted to the expansion module 500 has finished its role, the mobile communication terminal 400 can be continuously used with the mobile communication terminal 400 removed from the expansion module 500. Is possible.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the secondary battery 300 that can be charged by the charger 200 alone has been described as one, but a plurality of secondary batteries 300 can be charged.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the charging information of the secondary battery 300 is displayed on the display unit 414 of the mobile communication terminal 400. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a separate display unit is provided in the charger 200, and the charger 200 The charging information of the secondary battery 300 can also be displayed on the display unit. In addition, the secondary battery 300 fitted to the mobile communication terminal 400 can be displayed in parallel on the display unit of the charger 200 or can be displayed alternately.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a charger that charges power from a commercial power source and a portable communication terminal.

It is an external appearance perspective view for demonstrating the schematic structure of an electric power supply system. It is the block diagram which showed the hardware constitutions of the charger concerning this embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the hardware constitutions of the mobile communication terminal. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the display part concerning this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the expansion module as a usage example of the some secondary battery charged by the charger concerning this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Power supply system, 102 ... Commercial power supply, 200 ... Charger, 210 ... Terminal slot, 212 ... Terminal terminal, 220 ... Battery slot, 222 ... Battery terminal, 250 ... Charge control part, 252 ... Power conversion Unit, 254 ... terminal supply unit, 256 ... battery supply unit, 258 ... information transmission unit, 260 ... auxiliary charging unit, 262 ... battery discharge unit, 300 ... secondary battery, 400 ... mobile communication terminal, 402 ... battery cover, 414 ... Display unit, 424 ... Information receiving unit, 430 ... Charging information of fitted secondary battery, 432 ... Charging information of other secondary battery, 500 ... Expansion module

Claims (6)

A power converter that converts commercial power into DC power;
A terminal supply unit that supplies the DC power to a secondary battery fitted in a mobile communication terminal;
A battery supply unit for supplying the DC power to another secondary battery separate from the secondary battery;
With
The battery charger, wherein the terminal supply unit and the battery supply unit can supply power to the secondary battery and the other secondary battery in parallel.   The charger according to claim 1, further comprising an information transmission unit configured to transmit charging information indicating a charging state of the other secondary battery to the mobile communication terminal.   The battery pack further includes an auxiliary charging unit that supplies the DC power to the secondary battery having the first predetermined voltage or less when either one or both of the secondary battery and the other secondary battery has the first predetermined voltage or less. The charger according to claim 1 or 2.   The battery charger according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a battery discharge unit that discharges one or both of the secondary battery and the other secondary battery to a second predetermined voltage. . A mobile communication terminal that operates on the power of a secondary battery,
An information receiving unit for receiving charging information indicating a charging state of another secondary battery separate from the secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal;
A display unit for displaying either or both of charging information of a secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal or the charging information of the received other secondary battery;
A mobile communication terminal comprising:   The mobile communication terminal according to claim 5, wherein the display unit displays charging information of a secondary battery fitted to the mobile communication terminal and the received charging information simultaneously or alternately.

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