Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging – Means to identify cell or battery type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-18
2001-10-30
Wong, Peter S. (Department: 2838)
Electricity: battery or capacitor charging or discharging
Means to identify cell or battery type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06310460
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This document claims priority under 35 USC §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 11-214360 filed on Jul. 28, 1999, the entire contents of which hereby incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electronic instrument, such as a notebook type personal computer, which includes a plurality of battery packs connectable to a bus line provided in a body of the electronic instrument and which is capable of displaying a remaining battery load, and in particular, relates to a bus line address changing apparatus for changing a bus line address separately set and stored in each battery pack.
2. Discussion of the Background
An electronic instrument, such as a notebook type personal computer, utilizing a battery pack as a driving power source, is well known. Namely, such an electronic instrument includes a function of displaying a remaining load on a display section of its body by connecting a battery to a bus line provided in the body. An electronic instrument capable of utilizing a plurality of such battery packs for prolonging an operational time period and displaying a remaining load of the battery has been also known.
A background electronic instrument, such as a notebook type personal computer, as one example of a mobile information instrument, is illustrated in
FIG. 4
, and is provided with a body (hereinafter referred to as an instrument body)
3
having a keyboard and similar devices, and a displaying section
4
pivotally and openably supported with respect to the instrument body
3
. The electronic instrument
1
sometimes includes a first battery pack
9
in a first attaching section
5
, composed of a slot or similar devices, provided at a front end of the instrument body
3
, and a second battery pack
11
in a second attaching section
7
, e.g., a slot.
Thus, the electronic instrument
1
is driven by receiving power supplied from both of the battery packs
9
and
11
. The battery packs
9
and
11
each respectively includes a pack side plus terminal
13
, a pack side minus terminal
15
, and a pack side communication terminal
17
for communicating with a bus line of the instrument body
3
.
An indication of the power of the battery packs
9
and
11
is supplied to the instrument body
3
and a remaining power or similar information of the battery packs
9
and
11
is transmitted to the instrument body
3
, when each terminal
13
,
15
, and
17
is connected to a later mentioned corresponding terminal provided in the instrument body
3
. The instrument body
3
receives and displays the remaining load on an LCD or similar device in the display section
4
. The battery packs
9
and
11
respectively each have substantially a similar constitution which allows the electronic instrument
1
to execute an ordinal operation. Thus, when both battery packs
9
and
11
are attached to the instrument body
3
and are used, an operational time period of the instrument body
3
driven by the battery packs
9
and
11
can be prolonged when compared with a case that only one battery pack is attached to the instrument body
3
.
Furthermore, an electronic instrument in which only one battery pack is attached to the instrument body
3
and another is detached from its attaching section is known. In such a device, a driving device for a floppy disk or a CD-ROM is attached to the attaching section if the operational time period of the instrument body
5
is not required to be prolonged.
Further, in a background art using only one battery pack as illustrated in
FIG. 5
, a serial bus line
25
acting as a transmitting bus line, such as a system management bus line (hereinafter referred to as a SM bus line), for transmitting a communication signal and communication data, and a controller
27
for controlling the bus line
25
, are provided in the instrument body
3
. Further, a body side plus terminal
19
and a body side minus terminal
23
are provided in the first attaching section
5
of the instrument body
3
as a plus terminal and a minus terminal of the instrument body, respectively.
A body side communication terminal
21
for allowing transmission of a communication signal, communication data, and similar information with the battery pack
9
is also provided in the instrument body
3
. The body side plus terminal
19
is connected to a plus side power source line
33
, the body side minus terminal
23
is connected to a minus side power source line
35
, and the body side communication terminal
21
is connected to the bus line
25
.
In such an electronic instrument of the background art, a sequential number written in the parenthesis in
FIG. 5
is utilized and represents a bus line address for an applicable device connected to the bus line
25
. For instance, the bus line controller
27
(with address 0001 000) recognizes that the battery pack
9
, which is one of the devices connected to the bus line
25
, has an address (0001 011). A communication signal and similar information transmitted to the bus line controller
27
from the battery pack
9
may include the bus line address (0001 011). Thus, the bus line controller
27
can surely identify a communication signal transmitted from the battery pack
9
referring to the bus line address (0001 011) included in the communication signal, even if a variety of communication signals are transmitted to the bus line controller
27
from each device via the bus line
25
commonly used by the plurality of devices.
As examples of a device supplied with a power source, for instance, under control of the bus line controller
27
, a cold cathode ray tube driver
29
(with address 0101 101) for illuminating a display section
4
, such as a LCD, from an inside of the instrument body
3
, and a card connecting terminal power source controller
31
(with address 1000 0xx), such as a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) socket, are connected to the bus line
25
.
When the battery pack
9
is attached to the first attaching section
5
of the instrument body
3
, each terminal
13
,
15
, and
17
is electrically connected to each terminal
19
,
23
, and
21
oppositely arranged in the instrument body
3
, respectively. When the battery pack
9
and the instrument body
3
are electrically conducted in such a manner, the instrument body
3
can be supplied with electrical power from the battery pack
9
via the coupling of terminals
13
and
15
, and the coupling of terminals
19
and
23
. In addition, information, such as remaining load of the battery pack
9
, can be transmitted to the instrument body
3
via the terminals
17
and
21
.
As illustrated in
FIG. 6
, the battery pack
9
includes a battery
37
including a charge-impossible battery as a primary battery, such as a manganese battery or an alkaline battery, and a chargeable battery as a secondary battery, such as a nickel cadmium battery or a lithium battery, connected with each other in parallel or serially, in addition to the above-mentioned pack side plus and minus terminals
13
and
15
, and the pack side communication terminal
17
.
Further, a detecting section
43
for detecting a voltage or an output current or the like generated between both poles of the battery
37
, an arithmetic element, such as a micro-computer, and a memorizing element, such as a memory (each not shown), are provided in the battery pack
9
. The arithmetic element may calculate a remaining load of the battery
37
as a result of detection, executed by the detecting section
43
, of the voltage or output current, for example, generated between the both poles of the battery
37
. The arithmetic element may also control the detecting section
43
and communication of signals in a prescribed manner.
A control section
47
may have a memory for storing a bus line address (0001 011) and so on, and a bus line
45
acting as a transmission path
45
connecting the control section
47
with the detecting section and with the pack side communica
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Ricoh & Company, Ltd.
Tibbits Pia
Wong Peter S.
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