Vehicle-mounted charging apparatus for portable telephone sets

• US 5,351,283 A
• Filed: 12/08/1992
• Issued: 09/27/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kunitomo, Kouichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chiang, Jack
• Application Number:
  US07/986,745
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: 379/442, 379/58, 379/59, 379/63, 379/429, 455/38.3, 455/89, 455/90, 320/35, 320/36, 307/60, 307/61, 307/64, 307/66, 307/38, 307/21, 307/116, 307/117, 307/130
• US Class Current: 455/573
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007194 of the battery
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3883 Arrangements for mounting batteries or battery chargers

Abstract

In a vehicle-mounted charging apparatus for a portable telephone set comprising a portable telephone set and a vehicle-mounted charger in combination, a constant voltage charging control microcomputer in the charger receives information on a voltage of a battery pack and information on the on/off state of power supply to the telephone set and performs charging control so that rapid charging is performed within an appropriate charging temperature range, while trickle charging is performed outside the appropriate charging temperature range, on the basis of information on the temperatures in the battery pack detected by a temperature sensor 15 provided in the battery pack. When trickle charging should be performed, a charging-special microcomputer is switched to a trickle charging mode. In this state, when the telephone set is supplied with power from the battery pack and the voltage of the battery pack is low, a constant voltage source in the charger is operated to supply power to the telephone set. When the charging-special microcomputer is switched to the rapid charging mode, the operation of the constant voltage source is stopped. Thus, the vehicle-mounted charging apparatus for a portable telephone set constructed as above is adapted to any condition of use in a vehicle-mounted state.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted charging apparatus for a portable telephone set comprising:

a portable telephone set and a vehicle-mounted charger in combination, said portable telephone set comprising;

a temperature sensor for sensing temperatures within a battery pack connectable to said telephone set,

an analog/digital converter for converting a voltage of the battery pack to a digital signal, and

an internal circuit for receiving an output from the analog/digital converter and information on the state of power supply from the battery pack to said telephone set and outputting a digital signal representing an operating state of said telephone set;

and said vehicle-mounted charger comprising;

a constant current drive transistor for supplying a charging current to the battery pack,

a charge-special microcomputer for receiving a sensing output signal from the temperature sensor to control the constant current drive transistor in accordance with the operating state of said telephone set,

a constant voltage source for providing an emergency power source to said telephone set, and

a constant voltage charging control microcomputer for receiving the digital signal from the internal circuit and an output from the charge-special microcomputer to control operation of the constant voltage source to provide emergency power to said telephone set in response to said telephone set not receiving sufficient power from said battery pack when a switch for applying power to said portable telephone set is in the ON state.

2. A vehicle-mounted charging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charge-special microcomputer is constructed to control the operation of the constant current drive transistor by designating one of rapid charging mode and trickle charging mode in response to the sensing output signal from the temperature sensor.

3. A vehicle-mounted charging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, while said portable telephone set is put to use, when the voltage of the battery pack indicated by the digital signal from the internal circuit has fallen to have a value equal to or lower than a predetermined minimum value, in a state of said vehicle-mounted charger operating in the trickle charging mode in accordance with the designation by the charge-special microcomputer, the constant voltage charging control microcomputer of said vehicle-mounted charger controls to actuate the constant voltage source.