ELECTRIC APPARATUS, COMPUTER APPARATUS, CONTROLLER, AND BATTERY SWITCHING METHOD AND PROGRAM
First Claim
1. ] An electric apparatus comprising:
- a first battery which supplies electric power to a main body, said first battery being a rechargeable battery having a temperature sensor which provides an indication of the temperature of said first battery;
a second battery, different from said first battery, which supplies electric power to the main body; and
a controller which couples said first and second batteries and which switches the supply of electric power to the main body by stopping the supply of electric power by said first device and starting the supply of electric power by said second battery in response to a temperature indication by the temperature sensor which exceeds a predetermined temperature.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electric apparatus, computer apparatus, controller, and battery switching method and program is provided to prevent a system shutdown caused by a reduction of electric power from a battery. A computer apparatus is constructed to be able to accept and be powered by a rechargeable main battery and a rechargeable sub-battery. An embedded controller in the computer apparatus monitors a remaining capacity at a pre-specified temperature of the sub-battery under discharge by receiving information from CPU. When the monitored temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature and when the monitored remaining capacity becomes less than a predetermined capacity, the embedded controller receives electric power from the main battery by switching the power supply circuit to provide power from the main battery instead of the sub-battery.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. ] An electric apparatus comprising:
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a first battery which supplies electric power to a main body, said first battery being a rechargeable battery having a temperature sensor which provides an indication of the temperature of said first battery;
a second battery, different from said first battery, which supplies electric power to the main body; and
a controller which couples said first and second batteries and which switches the supply of electric power to the main body by stopping the supply of electric power by said first device and starting the supply of electric power by said second battery in response to a temperature indication by the temperature sensor which exceeds a predetermined temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. ] An electric apparatus comprising:
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a main body;
a temperature monitor which monitors the temperature of a first battery which supplies electric power to said main body; and
a switch, operatively coupled to said main body and to said temperature monitor, which switches the supply of electric power to an other power source different from the first battery in response to a temperature as monitored by said temperature monitor exceeding a predetermined temperature. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. ] A computing apparatus comprising:
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a main unit equipped to be able to receive electric power from a main battery and a sub-battery, both the main battery and the sub-battery being a charge-discharge battery;
a temperature monitor operatively coupled to said main unit which monitors the temperature of the sub-battery under discharge; and
a battery switch, housed within said main unit, which switches to the main battery from the sub-battery and which receives electric power supplied by the main battery when a temperature as monitored by said temperature monitor exceeds a predetermined temperature. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. ] A computing apparatus, comprising:
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a first connector which provides connection to a first battery unit;
a second connector which provides connection to a second battery unit constructed as a different unit from the first battery unit; and
a discharge transfer circuit which couples said first and second connectors and which transfers discharge to the second battery unit provided on said second connector prior to termination of electric power supplied to a system by activating a protection function disposed to the first battery unit when receiving said discharge from the first battery unit provided on said first connector. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. ] A controller comprising:
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a monitor which monitors the temperature and remaining capacity of a battery cell in a first battery unit coupled to a system main body for discharging to the system main body; and
a switch which couples to said monitor and which effects a switchover to discharge from a second battery unit coupled to the system main body if a temperature as monitored by said monitor exceeds a predetermined value and the remaining capacity decreases below a predetermined value.
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18. ] A battery switching method comprising the steps of:
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detecting a cell temperature of a battery unit that is discharging electrical power to a main body having a plurality of battery units;
comparing the detected cell temperature with a temperature predetermined based on the operating temperature of a battery protection facility; and
effecting a switchover to discharge from another battery unit based on the result of said comparison step. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. ] A battery switching method comprising the steps of:
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supplying electric power to a main body by discharging from a battery unit coupled to the main body wherein the main body is adapted to receive electric power from the battery unit and an electric power supply which derives electric power from a commercial power source; and
stopping the discharge from the battery unit and switching over to discharge electric power from the power source if the cell temperature of the battery unit exceeds a predetermined temperature.
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22. ] A program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer to which a plurality of battery units can be coupled, the computer readable program code in said program product implementing the functions of;
detecting the cell temperature of one of the plurality of battery units that is discharging;
presetting a reference temperature determined based on a condition under which battery protection is activated and storing said reference temperature in a memory;
comparing the detected cell temperature with the stored reference temperature; and
effecting a switchover to discharge from another coupled battery unit if the cell temperature exceeds the reference temperature. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification