Battery control circuit and electronic device

• US 7,196,496 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2003
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries LLC (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamada, Susumu, Yatsu, Tsunehiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Gray; David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fantu; Yalkew
• Application Number:
  US10/696,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20050046392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 320/149, 320/132, 320/134, 320/136, 320/150
• US Class Current: 320/149
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/16542 for batteries charge condition monitoring in G01R31/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3648 comprising digital calculation means, e.g. for performing an algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/386 using test-loads
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4207 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/482 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A battery control circuit having a battery voltage detecting section for detecting the voltage of a battery includes a resistor and a switching element which are connected in series and which are connected to the battery in parallel, and a battery controlling section for acquiring information relating to a change in the voltage of the battery, which is detected by the battery voltage detecting section, by turning on the switching element to allow a current of the battery to flow through the resistor. The battery controlling section determines the residual capacity of the battery based on the information relating to the change in the voltage of the battery.

Claims

1. A battery control circuit comprising:

a battery voltage detecting section for detecting a voltage of a battery

a resistor and a switching element connected in series being connected to said battery in parallel; and

a battery controlling section for acquiring information relating to a change between the voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section when said switching element is ON and the voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section when said switching element is OFF by turning on said switching element to allow a current of said battery to flow through said resistor and by turning off said switching element; and

a voltage recovery time measurement section for measuring a time period from a time when said switching element is turned off to a time when the voltage of the battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section recovers to a predetermined voltage value,

wherein said battery controlling section determines a residual capacity of said battery based on the information relating to the change in the voltage of said battery, and

wherein the information relating to the change is said time period measured by said voltage recovery time measurement section.

2. The battery control circuit according to claim 1,

wherein said battery voltage detecting section comprises first and second voltage-dividing resistors connected in series, and

said first and second voltage-dividing resistors are connected to said resistor and said switching element in parallel, and a voltage at a connection point between said first and said second voltage-dividing resistors is detected as the voltage of said battery.

3. The battery control circuit according to claim 1,

wherein the information relating to the change is a change amount between the voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section when said switching element is OFF and the voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section when said switching element is ON.

4. The battery control circuit according to claim 1, further comprising:

a storing section for storing characteristics information of relation between the information relating to the change and said residual capacity of said battery,

wherein said battery controlling section refers to said characteristic information in said storing section to determine the residual capacity of said battery based on the information relating to the change.

5. The battery control circuit according to claim 2,

wherein the information relating to the change is a change amount between the voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section when said switching element is OFF and the voltage of said battery detected by said battery voltage detecting section when said switching element is ON.

6. The battery control circuit according to claim 2, further comprising:

a storing section for storing characteristic information of relation between the information relating to the change and said residual capacity of said battery,

wherein said battery controlling section refers to said characteristic information in said storing section to determine the residual capacity of said battery based on the information relating to the change.

7. The battery control circuit according to claim 3, further comprising:

a storing section for storing characteristic information of relation between the change amount and said residual capacity of said battery,

wherein said battery controlling section refers to said characteristic information in said storing section to determine the residual capacity of said battery based on the information relating to the change.

8. The battery control circuit according to claim 5, further comprising:

a storing section for storing characteristic information of relation between the information relating to the change and said residual capacity of said battery,

wherein said battery controlling section refers to said characteristic information in said storing section to determine the residual capacity of said battery based on the information relating to the change.

9. An electronic device comprising:

the battery control circuit according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8,

wherein operating power is supplied from said battery.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein said resistor is an actually operating load of the electronic device.