Battery powered electrical equipment with power saving operation

• US 6,947,035 B1
• Filed: 02/03/1997
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Shiraga, Shinji
• Primary Examiner(s): Liang, Regina
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Jennifer T.
• Application Number:
  US08/794,772
• Time in Patent Office: 3,151 Days
• Field of Search: 345/211, 345/212, 345/901, 345/905, 345/102, 345/213, 713/320, 713/321, 713/324, 713/340, 320/132, 320/133, 320/114, 320/14, 320 22- 24, 320/48, 358/406, 358/400, 358/404
• US Class Current: 345/211
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/165 the additional display being small, e.g. for presenting status information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/166 related to integrated arrangements for adjusting the position of the main body with respect to the supporting surface, e.g. legs for adjusting the tilt angle
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/901 Electronic book with display

Abstract

Battery powered electrical equipment such as a portable personal computer operates in one of plural power saving modes to control operating speed and display brightness. The remaining capacity of the battery powering the electrical equipment is derived and one of the power saving modes is selected. The selected power saving mode is automatically displayed in close relationship with the remaining battery capacity so that an operator can readily determine the remaining operating time of the equipment.

Claims

1. An electric equipment having a plurality of power saving modes, wherein each power saving mode is arranged for saving power consumption, comprising:

deriving means for deriving a remaining capacity of a battery,

selecting means for selecting one of the plurality of power saving modes,

calculating means for calculating a remaining operating time from data derived by said deriving means and the one of the plurality of power saving modes selected by said selecting means, and

display means for displaying both the power saving mode selected by said selecting means and the remaining operating time calculated by said calculating means.

2. An electric equipment according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling a processing speed and a brightness of display in said equipment responsive to said selecting means.

3. An electric equipment according to claim 1, further comprising main display means for displaying data in relation to processed data in the electric equipment.

4. An electric equipment according to claim 1, wherein said display means continuously displays the power saving mode and the remaining battery capacity.

5. A method of operating electric equipment, comprising the steps of:

generating a signal representative of a remaining capacity of a battery supplying power to the electric equipment,

selecting one of a plurality of power saving modes, wherein each power saving mode is arranged for saving power consumption,

calculating a remaining operating time from data derived from the remaining battery capacity representative signal and the one of the plurality of power saving modes selected in said selecting step, and

displaying both the power saving mode selected in said selecting step and the remaining operating time calculated in the calculating step.

6. An electric equipment having a plurality of power saving modes, wherein each power saving mode is arranged for saving power consumption, comprising:

deriving means for deriving a remaining capacity of a battery,

selecting means for selecting one of the plurality of power saving modes,

calculating means for calculating a remaining operating time from data derived by said deriving means and the one of the plurality of power saving modes selected by said selecting means,

display means for displaying both the power saving mode selected by said selecting means and the remaining operating time calculated by said calculating means, and

control means for controlling a brightness of display in response to the power saving mode selected by said selecting means.

7. A method of operating electric equipment, comprising the steps of:

generating a signal representative of a remaining capacity of a battery supplying power to the electric equipment,

selecting one of a plurality of power saving modes, wherein each power saving mode is arranged for saving power consumption,

calculating a remaining operating time from data derived from the remaining battery capacity representative signal and the one of the plurality of power saving modes selected in said selecting step,

displaying both the power saving mode selected in said selecting step and the remaining operating time calculated in the calculating step, and

controlling a brightness of display in response to the power saving mode selected by said selecting means.