Device combination system

• US 20050212490A1
• Filed: 03/23/2005
• Published: 09/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Mikio, Horii, Hirofumi
• Granted Patent: US 7,521,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/135
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]

Abstract

In a device combination system of the present invention, END setting parameters are read from a main body. A power supply converter and END setting parameters are obtained from a camera head and a battery. An END setting value is set according to these END parameters. A CPU determines whether or not the battery being mounted is in an unusable state that it is exhausted to a dead level. With the above arrangement, there is provided a device combination system in which a battery check function provided in a power supply device works normally regardless of a type of a device mounted on the power supply device.

Claims

1. A device combination system which comprises a plurality of devices each having a circuit operated by being supplied with power and has such a structure that a battery is mounted on at least one power supply device and a plurality of devices including the power supply device, which are optionally selected from the above plurality of device, are combined with each other and operated by being supplied with power from the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises:

a setting section to set an END setting value, which determines whether or not the battery mounted on the power supply device is in an unusable state that it is exhausted to a dead level, the END setting value being set according to the combination of the plurality of devices; and

a detecting section to detect the unusable state of the battery using the END setting value set by the setting section as a criterion of determination.

2. A device combination system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of devices have parameters relating to their respective power consumption, the combined devices transmit their respective parameters to the power supply device, and the setting section sets the END setting value based on the parameters received from the combined devices.

3. A device combination system which comprises a plurality of devices each having a circuit operated by being supplied with power and has such a structure that a battery is mounted on at least one power supply device and a plurality of devices including the power supply device, which are optionally selected from the above plurality of device, are combined with each other and operated by being supplied with power from the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises:

a setting section to set a determination algorithm, which determines whether or not the battery mounted on the power supply device is in an unusable state that it is exhausted to a dead level, the determination algorithm being set according to the combination of the plurality of devices; and

a detecting section to detect the unusable state of the battery according to the determination algorithm set by the setting section.

4. A device combination system according to claim 3, wherein the setting section sets the determination algorithm as well as sets timing of determination at which the unusable state of the battery is determined according to the combination of the plurality of devices, and

the detecting section detects the unusable state of the battery at the timing of determination set by the setting section according to the determination algorithm set by the setting section.

5. A device combination system according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of devices have parameters relating to their respective power consumption, the combined devices transmit their respective parameters to the power supply device, and

the setting section sets the determination algorithm based on the parameters received from the combined devices.