TWI383559B - Charging system and charging method - Google Patents

Description

Charging system and charging method

This invention relates to a charging system and method, and more particularly to a charging system and method for providing power by a variable power source.

Most of the current portable electronic devices use stable commercial power as a source of charging power. However, while the development and research of alternative energy sources are maturing, if alternative energy sources can be used to provide portable electronic devices during operation and charging. Electricity, even if the portable electronic device is in an environment away from the mains system, can be powered by a variety of alternative sources of energy.

However, in general, one of the characteristics of the alternative energy source is that the electrical parameters at the time of power supply are unstable, that is, the supplied voltage value and current value float with time. Current portable electronic devices lack the ability to apply such floating voltage and current values and can therefore only be charged by utility power.

In order to enable the portable electronic device to have the ability to apply such floating voltage values and current values, a charging system and a charging method are proposed herein in order to effectively utilize the power of the alternative energy source.

The technical aspect of the present invention provides a charging system for providing power required for charging an electronic device by a variable power source and setting an appropriate charging current to charge a battery of the electronic device. Therefore, it can make more effective use of the variable power supply around the life.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a charging system is provided having Variable power receiving module, galvanometer, current setting module and charging module. A variable power source is used as a source of power for charging. The variable power receiving module receives a variable power supply and the ammeter reads the current value of the variable power supply. Moreover, the current setting module sets a charging current value according to the current value of the variable power source, and the charging module charges at least one battery of the battery pack according to the charging current value.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a charging method for charging a battery of an electronic device by using a variable power source to supply power required for charging the electronic device, thereby more effectively utilizing a variable power source around the living environment. .

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a charging method having the steps of: (a) receiving a variable power source; (b) reading a current value of a variable power source; and (c) calculating a current value according to the variable power source. Setting a charging current value; and (d) charging at least one battery of the battery pack according to the charging current value.

For electronic devices, especially for portable electronic devices, it is likely to be used for a long time in the absence of utility power. However, there are many types of alternative energy sources, such as solar power, wind power, and hydropower. Therefore, even if the stable power provided by the utility power is lacking, if the power of such alternative energy sources can be fully utilized, it will be sufficient to supply the power required for the long-term operation of the portable electronic device.

The following embodiment takes a notebook computer as an example to illustrate the first embodiment. The operation details of the charging system and the operation flow of the charging method of the second embodiment. It should be noted that the field of application of the present invention is not limited to notebook computers, but can be applied to, for example, multimedia players, personal digital assistants, global positioning systems, and mobile phones.

Referring to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of a charging system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The charging system 100 has a variable power receiving module 110, an ammeter 130, a battery selection module 140, a current setting module 150, and a charging module 190. In order to set an appropriate charging current value according to the current value of the variable power source 910 to avoid unstable charging, the charging system 100 receives the variable power source 910 by using the variable power receiving module 110, and reads the current meter 130. The current value of the variable power source 910. Moreover, the current setting module 150, such as a keyboard controller in the notebook computer, will set a charging current value according to the current value of the variable power source 910. The charging module 190, for example, a charger IC in a notebook computer, charges the first battery 921 or the second battery 923 in the battery pack 920 according to the charging current value.

Since the current setting module 150 can set a charging current value according to the current value of the variable power source 910, the stability of the charging current value can be ensured. When the first battery 921 or the second battery 923 is charged according to the set charging current value, the battery cannot be smoothly charged due to the instability of the current value of the variable power source 910, and the battery life is shortened.

It should be noted that the term "variable power supply" refers to a power supply whose output value is not fixed, which is different from general utility power. Specifically, the "variable power source" is the aforementioned alternative energy source, such as a solar power generator, a mechanical power generator, or a charger on a car. Among them, the mechanical generator can be a wind power generator, Tidal generators, hydroelectric generators, etc.

In the first embodiment, the current setting module 150 has a first determining unit 151 and a first setting unit 153. When the current meter 130 reads the current value of the variable power source 910, the first determining unit 151 determines whether the current value of the variable power source 910 is greater than the rated maximum charging current value of the first battery 921 or the second battery 923. When the current value of the variable power source 910 is greater than, for example, the rated maximum charging current value of the first battery 921, a threshold value is set by the first setting unit 153 to the rated maximum charging current value of the first battery 921. In addition, when the current value of the variable power source 910 is less than or equal to the rated maximum charging current value of the first battery 921, a threshold value is also set to the current value of the variable power source 910 by the first setting unit 153. In this way, it will be possible to surely avoid the situation where the charging current value exceeds the rated maximum charging current value in the subsequent calculation processing.

The current setting module 150 further has an incrementing unit 155, a second judging unit 157 and a second setting unit 159. After the threshold value is set by the first determining unit 151 and the first setting unit 153, the incrementing unit 155 adds an initial value plus a unit increment as the first set value. The second determining unit 157 can then be used to determine whether the first set value is less than or equal to the threshold value. When the first set value is less than or equal to the threshold value, the second setting unit 159 sets the charging current value to the first set value.

In this embodiment, the current setting module 150 further has a third determining unit 161 and a third setting unit 163. When the first set value is greater than the threshold value, the third determining unit 161 will determine whether the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold value. When the judgment result is that the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold value, the third setting unit 163 sets the charging current value to the initial value.

The current setting module 150 also has a decrementing unit 171, a fourth judging unit 173, and a fourth setting unit 175. After confirming that the initial value itself exceeds the threshold value, the decrement unit 171 subtracts the initial value from the unit value as a second set value. Next, the fourth determining unit 173 is used to determine whether the second set value is less than or equal to the threshold value. If the result of the fourth determination unit 173 is that the second set value is less than or equal to the threshold value, the fourth setting unit 175 sets the charging current value to the second set value.

The current setting module 150 of the charging system 100 of the present embodiment further has a fifth setting unit 181. When the second set value is greater than the threshold value, the charging current value is set to a minimum charging current value, for example, 0.5 amp, via the fifth setting unit 181. This minimum charging current value is typically lower than the minimum current value of the variable power supply 910, such as 1 amp, and the variable power supply 910 must have a current value greater than 1 amp to trigger the battery charging operation.

Since the first setting unit 153 has set the threshold value to the rated maximum charging current value of the first battery 921 or the current value of the variable power source 910. In the case where the threshold value is the current value of the variable power source 910, the aforementioned setting and determination are performed in order to allow the charging current value to vary depending on the size of the variable power source 910. That is, when the current value of the variable power source 910 changes with time, the charging current value will be incremented by one unit per unit time, minus one unit of the accumulated value or not, to gradually follow the variable power source 910. The current value is so as to prevent the charging current value from increasing or decreasing in a short time, causing the first battery 921 to be unstable in charging and shortening the life of the first battery 921. Even when the current value of the variable power source 910 drops, the charging current value is set to the lowest charging current value.

However, the above description is based on the first battery 921 as an example to illustrate the present invention. In the operation of the charging system, the charging system described above can also perform charging operations for the characteristics of the second battery 923.

In summary, the charging current value is only slightly changed or not changed in the adjacent unit time, so that the first battery or the second battery can be charged by the progressive charging current value. In this way, the stability of the charging operation of the first battery 921 can be maintained, and the life of the first battery 921 can be ensured.

In addition, the charging module 190 is provided with a battery selection module 140 and a charging unit 191. When the number of batteries in the battery pack is multiple, the battery selection module 140 selects a standby state from among the batteries. A battery to be charged.

Taking the first battery 921 and the second battery 923 in the first embodiment as an example, they are alternately discharged and charged, that is, when the first battery 921 supplies operating power of the operating system, the second battery 923 is charged. operation. After a period of time, the remaining power of the first battery 921 will be below a threshold, for example 10%. Thereafter, the second battery 923 is stopped from being charged, and the operating power of the operating system is turned on by the second battery 923, and charging of the first battery 921 is started.

In order to select a battery to be charged according to the power supply status of the individual battery, the charging system 100 further has a battery selection module 140. The battery selection module 140 has a power detecting unit 141, a determining unit 143, and a state setting unit 145. The power detecting unit 141 is configured to detect the power of the battery, for example, the power of the first battery 921, and the determining unit 143 determines whether the power is less than a critical value. The state setting unit 145 sets the first battery 921 as the battery to be charged when the power is less than the threshold, and then the charging unit 191 starts charging the first battery 921.

In other words, the power detecting unit 141 and the determining unit 143 respectively detect the amount of power of the first battery 921 and determine whether the power is less than a threshold. The threshold is, for example, ten percent of the maximum capacity of the first battery 921. When it is judged whether the electric quantity is less than the critical value, the power supply operation of the first battery 921 is stopped, and charging is started.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a graph of current value and charging current value versus time for a variable power supply in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. Comparing the current variation curve A indicating the current value of the variable power source during 20 seconds with the current variation curve B indicating the charging current value, with the charging system of the first embodiment, the charging current value can be made with the current value of the variable power source The size is chosen to adjust incrementally, flatly or gradually. Therefore, the charging system of the first embodiment will judge whether it is necessary to increase, maintain or reduce the charging current value before the start of each unit time. In this way, the charging current value can be maintained stably. For a battery that requires a stable charging environment, the charging current value provided by the charging system will help maintain the battery life.

As seen from Fig. 2, it is assumed that the charging current value is calculated every 0.1 seconds, and when the charging system is to calculate the charging current value of the sixth second, the initial value can be set to the charging current value of the 5.9th second. Compared with the initial value of the 5.9th second, the charging current value of the 6th second may be higher than one unit of the increment or lower by one unit of the subtraction value, or is unchanged.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of electricity of two batteries in the battery pack according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Comparing the electric quantity change curve C of the first battery 921 with the electric quantity change curve D of the second battery 923, since the first battery 921 supplies power to the operating system, it can be seen from the figure that the electric quantity of the first battery 921 increases from the maximum electric power with time. The capacity (ie 100%) is gradually reduced. During the discharge of the first battery 921, the second battery 923 is always charged, so that the internal power is gradually increased. After about 180 minutes, because the amount of electricity in the first battery 921 is too low, for example, about 5% of the maximum capacity, the charging system will then charge the first battery 921 and switch to the second battery 923. Discharge to the operating system.

As such, alternately charging and discharging the first battery 921 and the second battery 923, respectively, can extend the operating time of the operating system. As shown in Fig. 3, in the case where the alternating charge and discharge are not originally employed, the first battery 921 can supply only the electric power required for the operation system to operate for 180 minutes. After alternately charging and discharging the first battery 921 and the second battery 923, the stored power is sufficient to supply the operating system for 420 minutes of operation. That is, the notebook computer can effectively charge the battery using the alternative energy source by the charging system of the first embodiment, and prolong the operation time of the operating system.

In addition to charging the notebook computer with the variable power source by the charging system of the first embodiment, the notebook computer can be charged with the variable power source via the charging method of the second embodiment. The charging method provided in the second embodiment will be exemplified below. Through the steps of the charging method, the effect of fully utilizing the variable power source around the life can also be achieved.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flow chart of a charging method in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. The charging method of the portable electronic device provided in this embodiment has the following steps: Step 310: Receive a variable power source; Step 330: Read the current value of the variable power source; Step 350: According to the current value of the variable power source , setting a charging current value; and

Step 390: Charge at least one battery according to the charging current value.

By performing steps 310-390, a charging current value can be set according to the current value of the variable power source 910, so that the stability of the charging current value can be ensured. If the battery is charged according to the set charging current value, the current value of the variable power source is not unstable, so that the battery cannot be smoothly charged and the battery life is shortened.

For notebook computers, step 350 is performed by a keyboard controller that typically integrates power management and wafer control modules. Step 330 can be performed, for example, by charging a wafer.

After completing step 330, the charging method then proceeds to the following steps: step 343: issue an interrupt command to the keyboard controller; and step 345: set the charging flag of the keyboard controller.

The keyboard controller is triggered by the peripheral hardware of the notebook computer then performing the actions as described in steps 343 and 345. The keyboard controller then begins a series of determinations and set actions to set the appropriate charge current value to the charge wafer.

Hereinafter, a series of determination and setting operations performed by the keyboard controller will be exemplarily described. Referring to FIG. 5, a detailed flowchart of the steps of setting the charging current value in FIG. 4 is shown. That is, the charging method of the embodiment further performs the following steps: Step 351: Initialize the processing procedure of the battery pack charging; Step 353: Determine whether the battery pack is connected to the notebook computer; and the process of initializing the processing procedure of the battery pack charging in Step 351 can be For example, by enabling the battery charging processor during 0.5 seconds, the battery charging processor can perform the action of step 353 later.

Then, the keyboard controller performs the following steps: Step 355: If the battery pack is connected to the notebook computer, it is determined whether the current value is greater than the minimum charging current value; and step 357: if the battery pack is not connected to the notebook computer, the battery pack is terminated. Handler.

In step 355, the keyboard controller determines whether the current value is greater than the minimum current value, for example, 1 amp via the value of the charging flag. If the result of the determination is that the current value is less than 1 amp, the process proceeds to step 357 to end the processing procedure of the battery pack charging. In the second embodiment, steps 351 to 357 are used to confirm whether the notebook computer is currently connected to the battery pack, and the power supply capability of the variable power source is confirmed, and the subsequent charging current value setting operation is started.

To ensure that the current value of the variable power supply is stable, that is, the variation of the current value is within an acceptable range. The foregoing process of setting the charging current value also has the following steps: Step 359: Confirming the current value of the variable power source and the charging flag.

Wherein, the read current value can be converted into a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal via the peripheral hardware of the notebook computer, and the keyboard controller will then calculate the current value according to the PWM signal. Perform a series of subsequent judgments and setting operations.

Since the battery pack usually includes two batteries, before charging the battery, it is necessary to charge one of the batteries according to the state of charge or the standby state of the batteries. Therefore, the process of setting the charging current value has the following steps: Step 361: When the number of the batteries is multiple, the one that is in the standby state is selected as the battery to be charged.

In more detail, the person who is in the standby state is selected from the battery as the waiting The rechargeable battery also needs to include the following steps (not shown): (a) detecting the amount of power of the battery in the power supply state; (b) determining whether the power is less than a critical value; and (c) when the power is less than a critical value, for example, When the maximum capacity of the battery 921 is 5%, the first battery 921 is set as the battery to be charged, and then the charging module starts charging the first battery 921.

That is, the charging method detects the power of the battery in the power supply state by the foregoing steps, and when the power is lower than the threshold, stops the power supply operation of the battery and starts charging it.

After selecting the battery to be charged, you need to analyze the current value of the variable power supply to set the appropriate charging current value. Therefore, the process of setting the charging current value further includes the following steps: Step 363: determining whether the current value of the variable power source is greater than the rated maximum charging current value of the battery; and step 365: when the current value of the variable power source is greater than the rated maximum of the battery When the charging current value is set, the threshold value is set to the rated maximum charging current value of the battery, and when the current value of the variable power source is less than or equal to the rated maximum charging current value of the battery, the threshold value is set to the current value of the variable power source. .

Step 363 is used to determine whether the current value of the variable power source exceeds the maximum charging current value that the battery can accept, and the threshold value is set to the current value of the variable current or the maximum charging current value by step 365. In this way, it can be avoided that in the subsequent calculation and analysis work, the charging current value exceeds the rated maximum charging current value.

In order to avoid shortening the life of the battery caused by the excessively large charging current value, the aforementioned setting of the charging current value process also has the following steps: Step 367: adding an initial value to a unit of the cumulative value as a first set value; step 369: determining whether the first set value is less than or equal to the threshold value; and step 371: when the first set value is less than or equal to the threshold value When the charging current value is set to the first set value; step 373: when the first set value is greater than the threshold value, determine whether the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold value; step 375: when the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold value, The charging current value is set to an initial value: step 377: subtracting the initial value from the unit value as a second setting value; step 379: determining whether the second setting value is less than or equal to the threshold value; and step 381: when the second When the set value is less than or equal to the threshold value, the charging current value is set to the second set value.

The step of setting the charging current value also includes: Step 383: When the second set value is greater than the threshold value, the charging current value is set to the lowest charging current value.

The minimum charge current value in step 383 is typically lower than the minimum current value of the variable power source, such as 1 amp, and the variable power source must have a current value greater than 1 amp to trigger the battery charging operation.

Since the threshold value has been set in step 365 to the rated maximum charging current value of the battery or the current value of the variable power source. In the case where the threshold value is the current value of the variable power source, the setting and judgment performed in the foregoing steps 367 to 383 are for changing the charging current value according to the magnitude of the current value of the variable power source. That is, the charging current value will be added by one unit per unit time. The value is added, minus one unit of the reduced value or no change, to gradually follow the current value of the variable power source, so that the charging current value can be prevented from increasing or decreasing in a short time, resulting in unstable battery charging and shortening the battery life. Even when the current value of the variable power source drops, the charging current value is set to the lowest charging current value.

Similarly, if the threshold value is set to the rated maximum charging current value in step 365, the setting and judgment performed in the foregoing steps 367 to 383 can prevent the charging current value from exceeding the threshold value, thereby enabling the charging current. The change in value does not exceed the rated maximum charge current value.

In summary, the charging current value is only slightly changed or not changed in the adjacent unit time, so that the battery can be charged by the progressive charging current value. In this way, the stability of the charging operation of the battery can be maintained and the life of the battery can be ensured.

While the present invention has been described above in terms of the first and second embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧Charging system

110‧‧‧Variable power receiving module

130‧‧‧ galvanometer

140‧‧‧Battery selection module

141‧‧‧Power detection unit

143‧‧‧judging unit

145‧‧‧Status setting unit

150‧‧‧current setting module

151‧‧‧First Judgment Unit

153‧‧‧First setting unit

155‧‧‧Incremental unit

157‧‧‧Second judgment unit

159‧‧‧Second setting unit

161‧‧‧ third judgment unit

163‧‧‧ third setting unit

171‧‧‧Decrement unit

173‧‧‧fourth judgment unit

175‧‧‧fourth setting unit

181‧‧‧ fifth setting unit

190‧‧‧Charging module

191‧‧‧Charging unit

910‧‧‧Variable power supply

920‧‧‧Battery Pack

921‧‧‧First battery

923‧‧‧Second battery

310, 330, 343, 345, 350, 351, 353, 355, 357, 359, 361, 363, 365, 367, 369, 371, 373, 375, 377, 379, 381, 383, 390 ‧ ‧ steps

A, B‧‧‧ current curve

C, D‧‧‧ electricity curve

The above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become more <RTIgt; Functional block diagram.

Figure 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the current value and the charging current value versus time for a variable power supply in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing a battery pack in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. A diagram of the charge versus time for two batteries.

Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a charging method in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a detailed flow chart showing the steps of setting the charging current value in Fig. 4.

100‧‧‧Charging system

110‧‧‧Variable power receiving module

130‧‧‧ galvanometer

140‧‧‧Battery selection module

141‧‧‧Power detection unit

143‧‧‧judging unit

145‧‧‧Status setting unit

150‧‧‧current setting module

151‧‧‧First Judgment Unit

153‧‧‧First setting unit

155‧‧‧Incremental unit

157‧‧‧Second judgment unit

159‧‧‧Second setting unit

161‧‧‧ third judgment unit

163‧‧‧ third setting unit

171‧‧‧Decrement unit

173‧‧‧fourth judgment unit

175‧‧‧fourth setting unit

181‧‧‧ fifth setting unit

190‧‧‧Charging module

191‧‧‧Charging unit

910‧‧‧Variable power supply

920‧‧‧Battery Pack

921‧‧‧First battery

923‧‧‧Second battery

Claims (18)

The charging system comprises: a variable power receiving module for receiving a variable power source; an ammeter for reading the current value of the variable power source; and a current setting module for changing according to the variable The current value of the power source is set to a charging current value; and a charging module is configured to charge at least one battery of the battery pack according to the charging current value. The charging system of claim 1, wherein the current setting module comprises: an incrementing unit for adding an initial value to a unit of increment value as a first set value; and a second determining unit And determining, by the second setting unit, the charging current value is set to be the first when the first setting value is less than or equal to the threshold value. Set value. The charging system of claim 2, wherein the current setting module comprises: a third determining unit, configured to determine whether the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold when the first set value is greater than a threshold value And a third setting unit configured to set the charging current value to the initial value when the initial value is less than or equal to a threshold value. The charging system of claim 3, wherein the current setting module comprises: a decrementing unit for subtracting a unit of the reduced value from the initial value as a second set value; a fourth determination a unit, configured to determine whether the second set value is less than or equal to the threshold value; and a fourth setting unit, configured to set the charging current value to the second set value when the second set value is less than or equal to the threshold value Two set values. The charging system of claim 4, wherein the current setting module comprises: a fifth setting unit, configured to set the charging current value to a minimum when the second setting value is greater than the threshold value Charging current value. The charging system of claim 5, wherein the current setting module comprises: a first determining unit, configured to determine whether a current value of the variable power source is greater than a rated maximum charging current value of the battery; a first setting unit, configured to set the threshold value to a rated maximum charging current value of the battery when the current value of the variable power source is greater than a rated maximum charging current value of the battery, and when the current value of the variable power source is When less than or equal to the rated maximum charging current value of the battery, the first setting unit sets the threshold value to the current value of the variable power source. For example, the charging system described in claim 1 of the patent scope further includes: A battery selection module is configured to select a standby state from the plurality of batteries when the number of the batteries is plural, as a battery to be charged. The charging system of claim 7, wherein the charging module comprises: a charging unit, configured to charge the battery pack to be charged according to the charging current value. The charging system of claim 7, wherein the battery selection module comprises: a power detecting unit for detecting the power of the battery in the power state; and a determining unit for determining the Whether the amount of power of the battery in the power supply state is less than a threshold value; and a state setting unit configured to set the power state of the battery to the battery pack to be charged when the power is less than the threshold. A charging method of a portable electronic device, comprising at least the steps of: receiving a variable power source; reading a current value of the variable power source; setting a charging current value according to a current value of the variable power source; and according to the charging The current value charges at least one battery of a battery pack. The charging method of claim 10, wherein the step of setting the charging current value comprises: adding an initial value to a unit of the cumulative value as a first setting value; determining whether the first setting value is less than or Equal to a threshold; and when the first set value is less than or equal to the threshold, the charging current value is set to the first set value. The charging method of claim 11, wherein the step of setting the charging current value comprises: determining whether the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold value when the first set value is greater than the threshold value; When the initial value is less than or equal to the threshold value, the charging current value is set to the initial value. The charging method of claim 12, wherein the step of setting the charging current value comprises: subtracting the initial value from a unit of the reduced value as a second set value; determining whether the second set value is less than Or equal to the threshold value; and when the second set value is less than or equal to the threshold value, the charging current value is set to the second set value. The charging method of claim 13, wherein setting the charging current value comprises: setting the charging current value to a minimum charging current value when the second setting value is greater than the threshold value. The charging method of claim 14, wherein the step of setting the charging current value comprises: determining whether a current value of the variable power source is greater than a rated maximum charging current value of the battery; and when the current of the variable power source When the value is greater than the rated maximum charging current value of the battery, the threshold value is set to the rated maximum charging current value of the battery. The charging method of claim 15, wherein the step of setting the charging current value comprises: setting a threshold value when the current value of the variable power source is less than or equal to a rated maximum charging current value of the battery The current value of the variable power supply. The charging method of claim 10, wherein the charging the at least one battery pack according to the charging current value comprises: when the number of the batteries is plural, selecting from the batteries is on standby a state, as a battery to be charged; and charging the battery to be charged according to the charging current value. The charging method of claim 17, wherein the step of selecting the battery from the battery is as follows: detecting the battery in the battery state; determining Whether the amount of electricity is less than a threshold value; and when the amount of electricity is less than the threshold value, setting the power state of the batteries to the battery to be charged.