Electronic apparatus that determines a characteristic of a battery
First Claim
1. An electronic apparatus which is supplied with electric power from a plurality of batteries connected in series, comprising:
- detecting means for detecting a first voltage of a sum of the plurality of batteries connected in series and a second voltage of batteries connected in series at any connecting point between the plurality of batteries; and
determining means for determining a battery type based on the first voltage and the second voltage;
wherein the determining means includes;
first determining means for determining whether primary batteries and secondary batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is small; and
second determining means for determining whether a plurality of types of batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is large; and
wherein the determining means determines a remaining capacity of each of the plurality of batteries.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic apparatus which detects when a battery having a different characteristic is mixed in a plurality of batteries accommodated therein. An average voltage V1 per battery of plural batteries connected in series and an average voltage V2 per battery at a connecting point halfway of those connected batteries are detected. A difference in voltage |V1−V2| between the average voltage V1 and average voltage V2 is compared with a tolerable voltage difference ΔV. If it is determined that a battery having a different characteristic is mixed, the operation of the apparatus is interrupted and an alarm is displayed or the supply of power is shut down.
11 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An electronic apparatus which is supplied with electric power from a plurality of batteries connected in series, comprising:
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detecting means for detecting a first voltage of a sum of the plurality of batteries connected in series and a second voltage of batteries connected in series at any connecting point between the plurality of batteries; and determining means for determining a battery type based on the first voltage and the second voltage; wherein the determining means includes; first determining means for determining whether primary batteries and secondary batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is small; and second determining means for determining whether a plurality of types of batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is large; and wherein the determining means determines a remaining capacity of each of the plurality of batteries. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An electronic apparatus which is supplied with electric power from a plurality of batteries connected in series and driven, comprising:
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a voltage detecting circuit that detects a first voltage of a sum of the plurality of batteries connected in series and a second voltage of batteries connected in series at any connecting point between the plurality of batteries; and a controller that determines a first battery type based on the first voltage and the second voltage, wherein the controller determines a remaining capacity of each of the plurality of batteries, and wherein the controller determines whether primary batteries and secondary batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is small and further determines whether a plurality of types of batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is large. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for controlling an electronic apparatus which is supplied with electric power from a plurality of batteries connected in series, comprising:
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detecting a first voltage of a sum of the plurality of batteries connected in series; detecting a second voltage of a plurality of batteries connected in series at any connecting point between the plurality of batteries; determining a battery type based on the first voltage and the second voltage; determining whether primary batteries and secondary batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is small; and determining whether a plurality of types of batteries are mixed in the plurality of batteries when the current load applied to the plurality of batteries is large, wherein the determining the battery type includes determining means includes determining a remaining capacity of each of the plurality of batteries. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification