Electrical transmission or interconnection systems – Plural load circuit systems – Plural sources of supply
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-17
2003-03-25
Riley, Shawn (Department: 2838)
Electrical transmission or interconnection systems
Plural load circuit systems
Plural sources of supply
C702S064000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06538341
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to a universal power supply unit for different small electrical appliances and consists of an energy station with an integrated voltage source and a downstream voltage converter associated with a given small appliance, for supplying an output voltage and an output current and of a standard adapter cable with an appliance-specific connector plug for transmitting the available output power to a given small appliance.
2. The Prior Art.
Compact small electrical appliances of high technical utility are being increasingly used in households, industry and while traveling. Among these, the largest segment are mobile appliances from the fields of telecommunications, data processing and audio; mobile telephones, palmtop computers or portable CD-players may be mentioned as typical examples. One characteristic of such devices is that for the sake of reduced weight and more compact dimensions they have no power packs. Instead, there usually is provided a battery receptacle for batteries which are replaceable by a user and/or a connector for supplying external power. In many cases, for instance in mobile telephones, a mains adapter is commonly furnished with the device for charging removable batteries and for simultaneously supplying power to the appliance.
Aside from the mains-powered appliances, other possibilities for energizing small appliances also exist. For instance, automotive charge cables are available for mobile telephones which in the simplest cause a drop in voltage by means of diodes and thus reduce the automobile voltage of 12 V by generating heat, to the lower charge voltage of the mobile telephone. In technically more sophisticated versions a switch transducer is provided in such a cable making the described adjustment with a high degree of efficiency. Such versions lead, however, to a significant increase in the dimensions of the cable since they require integration of a complete circuit including housing. As disclosed by German Patent specification DE 197 56 626, the NOKIA 1611 Solar or by a paper of the Fraunhofer Institut ISE at Freiburg, Germany (see 1998 Annual Report), solar current supply devices have also been proposed or realized in the field of mobile telephones.
Connector plugs containing electronic components are also know in the field of measurement technology: For instance, the Ahlborn enterprise of Holzkirchen, Germany, is marketing a sensor system called “ALMEMO” in which sensor circuits are integrated in special connector plugs, thus reducing internal interferences. In German patent application No. DE 195 27 972, a measuring resistor integrated in the end of a cable detects ruptures in water pipes. The possibility of externally controlling power supplies by removal of voltage setting or current limiting components is also known in the art.
In the mentioned supply devices the external current supply is usually designed to accommodate a certain related small appliance. This excludes the universal application of such current supply devices in connection with other small appliances provided with different connectors or requiring different feed voltages. Consequently, a large number of supply devices are used in connection with small appliances of similar power characteristics which, in principle, could be energized by a single adaptable supply apparatus.
Universal current supply devices for small appliances of different feed voltages and connectors have been known for a long time. For instance, power adapters with output voltages of from 3 to 12 V are available with a set of 4 to 6 common low power plugs and equipped with a switch for selecting the output voltage. They are suitable for operation with many audio devices as well as portable computers. Also, chargers are known in the field of solar current supplies which are provided with a plug-in cable and multiple plug adapter (see Conrad Catalog '98, e.g. “Sito Solar Charger”). They are suitable for feeding appliances of 3 V feed voltages. Other solar current supply devices are also capable of furnishing different output voltages by means of switches mounted on the supply device (see German utility model U 188 01 229 or “Sunline Solarkoffer” in Conrad Catalog, '99, page 323).
The state of the art upon which the invention is based is described in the pamphlet Solarc—innovative Solarprodukte—Variante 3: CSM9.040A02T” of the Solarc enterprise, state 09/98. It describes a universal energy station of credit card format consisting of a combination of a battery charge module and a voltage converter module. These modules are furnished for individual output voltages and connector cables which may be adapted to predetermined small appliances by the factory or by skilled users. The output voltage is set in the circuit of the energy station by a single component disposed in the negative feedback branch of a switching transducer. Upward and downward transformations of voltages are made possible with a high degree of efficiency by such switching transducers.
However, the described as well as other mentioned universal current supply devices suffer from three grave characteristics which make operating specific small appliances, such as, for instance, modern mobile telephones all but impossible for an average user. Firstly, with most small appliances their manufacturer does not reveal level and flow of the required feed voltage and of the feed current. Secondly, a user who is not technically astute cannot be expected to adjust the feed voltage and even, in some cases, the maximum current. Thirdly, the very specific connector plugs are often exclusively designed for one type of apparatus, and they are not commercially available either as accessories for universal power supply devices or individually.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION.
The technical task of the invention, therefore, resides in providing a universal and compact energy supply unit which makes possible an uncomplicated and, at the same time, cost-efficient adaptation to many different small electrical appliances, yet allows simple utilization without adjustments such as, for instance, the selection of feed voltages. The module is also to be robust and practical. For some applications, the device is to be constituted as an autarchic energy apparatus, for instance as a solar module for energizing mobile telephones and audio devices while traveling. Such a version, in particular, requires a circuit arrangement with power losses as low as possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
The task is accomplished by the invention by the provision in the appliance-specific adapter cable of a group of electronic components for generating an individual programming signal which when coupling the adapter cable to an energy station is detected by a switch control unit at the voltage converter and is correspondingly converted by the voltage converter to set the required output power.
By dividing the power supply unit in accordance with the invention into a technically more elaborate energy station as the core unit and an uncomplicated peripheral part as an exchangeable component, all the requirements mentioned are attained: The application of the switching or voltage converter in the energy station results in a compact structure and to high degrees of efficiency; the design of the adapter cable with but a few structural components makes possible a low-cost adaptation to many small appliances. For the user, this entails a very simple operation. All he needs are the adapter cables fitting his small appliances. Adjustments of the energy station are completely eliminated. The output power required for a given small appliance is set automatically simply by connecting the appropriate adapter cable. Since any adjustment choices have been eliminated no mismatching can occur. The correct association of the adapter cables with the small appliances is accomplished by the appliance-specific output plug of the cables.
In order to recognize the programming signals generated by the adapter cable, the voltage converter
Hormann Karl
Riley Shawn
SOLARC Innovative Solarprodukte GmbH.
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