JP3484609B1 - Cordless equipment system - Google Patents

Abstract

A cordless device system capable of quick charging is provided. SOLUTION: A cordless device 20 detachable from the charger 10 is attached to the charger 10 for charging. A first power storage unit 12 that can be charged by a DC power supply included in the charger 10,
A second power storage unit 12 ′ which can be charged by the DC power supply and can charge the first power storage unit 12, and a first charge / discharge for controlling charging / discharging of the first power storage unit 12 and the second power storage unit 12 ′ Control circuit 13 and third power storage unit 2 included in cordless device
1 and a second charge / discharge control circuit 22 that controls the charge / discharge of the third power storage unit 21. When installing a cordless device,
At least the third power storage unit 21 is charged from the first power storage unit 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cordless device system in which a cordless device attachable to and detachable from a charger is attached to the charger for charging.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, among cordless devices, the number of cordless devices with built-in batteries is rapidly increasing. As a built-in battery, a disposable primary battery such as a dry battery or a rechargeable secondary battery is often used. However, the primary battery has the trouble of replacing it when electricity is exhausted,
It takes time to replace it. There is also the problem of discarding the exhausted battery. Therefore, a device such as a flashlight for business uses a battery cost and a maintenance cost.

Further, when electricity is exhausted when it is desired to use the secondary battery immediately, it is necessary to charge the secondary battery at a relatively low current for a long time because of the characteristic of utilizing the chemical reaction of the secondary battery. The device could not be used while charging. The secondary battery can be repeatedly charged and discharged, which cannot be performed by the primary battery, but it has a limit and needs to be replaced at the end of its life. In this case, the same problem as the above-mentioned primary battery occurs.

Therefore, it has been considered to use the electric double layer capacitor instead of the secondary battery by taking advantage of the characteristics of the large current charge and discharge of the electric double layer capacitor. The electric double layer capacitor has a structure in which positive and negative electric charges are made to face and accumulate in an electric double layer formed when an electrode and an electrolytic solution are brought into contact with each other. For this reason, it is possible to perform rapid charge / discharge since it does not involve a chemical reaction like a battery. However, electric double layer capacitors have a smaller capacity per volume than secondary batteries,
It is greatly restricted in usage time and usage.

In the configuration of the device using the conventional electric double layer capacitor, the device having the electric double layer capacitor is charged by, for example, a charger. The charger operates on AC power. At present, as a device using an electric double layer capacitor as a power source, an electric vehicle that can be mounted even if the volume of the electric double layer capacitor is large has been prototyped if the device has the same capacity as a conventional secondary battery. .

On the contrary, when the capacity is small and the capacity of the secondary battery is too large, it is applied to a power source for backup of a semiconductor memory device of a computer. However, the use of electric double layer capacitors, which have a smaller capacity per volume than secondary batteries, has not yet been able to replace conventional secondary batteries with electric double layer capacitors in applications such as small cordless devices. The current situation is that there are none.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cordless equipment system capable of effectively and effectively performing rapid charging.

[0008]

A cordless device system of the present invention is a cordless device system in which a cordless device detachable from a charger is attached to the charger for charging, and is included in the charger. A first power storage unit that can be charged by a DC power supply, a second power storage unit that can be charged by a DC power supply and that can charge the first power storage unit, and charge and discharge of the first power storage unit and the second power storage unit. A first charge / discharge control circuit for controlling, and a third power storage unit included in the cordless device,
A second charge / discharge control circuit for controlling charge / discharge of the third power storage unit is provided, and at least the first power storage unit is charged to the third power storage unit when the cordless device is attached .
Of the third power storage unit according to the charging output of the power storage unit of
Switch the power path to the first power storage unit or DC power supply
Characterized in that the.

In the cordless equipment system of the present invention, preferably, the first power storage unit and the third power storage unit are constituted by an electric double layer capacitor or an electrochemical capacitor.

In the cordless equipment system of the present invention, the second power storage unit is preferably composed of a chargeable / dischargeable battery. In the cordless device system of the present invention, the second power storage unit can be charged by the DC power supply.

In the cordless device system of the present invention, preferably, the third power storage unit can be charged by the first power storage unit or the DC power supply.

[0012]

In the cordless equipment system of the present invention, the second charge / discharge control circuit is preferably included in the cordless equipment or the charger.

In the cordless equipment system of the present invention, preferably, a plurality of the first power storage units are connected in parallel to the DC power supply.

According to the present invention, the first power storage unit and the second power storage unit are charged in advance by the DC power supply built into the charger, and when the cordless device is connected, the charger first The first power storage unit charges the power storage unit of the cordless device. At this time, the second power storage unit charges the first power storage unit so as to immediately supplement the electricity discharged from the first power storage unit from the second power storage unit. As a result, there is no voltage drop in the first power storage unit, the voltage between the first power storage unit and the third power storage unit does not approach, and a certain potential difference is secured.
Therefore, it becomes possible to perform rapid charging from the first power storage unit to the third power storage unit.

If the third power storage unit does not reach the rated voltage at this point, the circuit is switched to the supply from the DC power supply, and the circuit is charged by the power supply from the DC power supply until the rated voltage is reached. It is also possible to complete. In the present invention, there is no voltage drop in the first power storage unit, the voltage between the first power storage unit and the third power storage unit does not approach, a certain potential difference is ensured, and the voltage from the first power storage unit to the third power storage unit is maintained. By rapidly charging the power storage unit, it can be effectively applied to rapid charging of various cordless devices.

The charge / discharge control circuit for the third power storage unit is
It can be placed on the cordless device side instead of the charger side. If the first power storage unit of the charger of the present invention is composed of an electric double layer capacitor or an electrochemical capacitor, the power storage unit of the charger can also be rapidly charged. Further, by connecting a plurality of first power storage units of the charger to the DC power source in parallel, a large amount of current can be supplied, and the battery can be fully charged immediately. In addition, it is possible to switch and use, by switching sequentially when a cordless device is connected,
Can be fully charged immediately. Therefore, it is possible to realize a cordless device system that can always be rapidly charged. Further, the second power storage unit has a function of instantly supplying electricity when the electricity of the first power storage unit is discharged. As a result, the voltage required for the first power storage unit can be secured at all times, and the charging speed can always be maintained above a certain level.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a specific configuration example of a cordless device system to which the present invention is applied. In this embodiment, as a cordless device, a guide rod 20 that is attachable to and detachable from the charger 10 is provided.
It is configured to be attached to and charged by.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the charger 10.
The charger 10 includes a DC power supply 11 that is supplied with power from a household power supply or the like to generate a DC current, a power storage unit (first power storage unit) 12 and a second power storage unit 12 ′ that can be charged by the DC power supply 11. , A charge / discharge control circuit (first charge / discharge control circuit) 13 for controlling charge / discharge of these power storage units 12 and 12 '.
Includes and. These are arranged in the casing 14, and the DC power supply 11 is fed from the terminal 15. In addition, the case 14
A charging terminal 16 to be connected according to attachment / detachment of the guide rod 20 is disposed on the upper part of the.

FIG. 3 shows a structural example of the guide rod 20.
The guide rod 20 has a rod shape, and has a power storage unit (third power storage unit) 21.
And a charging / discharging control circuit (second charging / discharging control circuit) 22 that controls charging / discharging of the power storage unit 21. Inside the light emitting unit 23, a plurality of light sources (LEDs) are provided by the retainer 24.
25 are arranged in a row. The LED 25 is turned on and off by operating the switch 26. A charging terminal 2 to be connected to the lower portion of the guide rod 20 according to attachment / detachment to / from the charger 10.
7 are provided.

Here, FIG. 4 shows a charger 10 and an induction rod 2.
The configuration of a cordless device system including 0 is shown.
The third power storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20 is composed of an electrochemical capacitor. The electrochemical capacitor used here is also called a pseudo-capacitance capacitor, and a pseudo-capacitance due to a redox reaction using RuO ₂ or IrO ₂ which is an oxide of platinum-based elements Ru (ruthenium) or Ir (iridium) as an electrode. It is the capacitor used. As for capacity,
More than twice the electric double layer capacitor per unit volume has already been put into practical use. The high-current charge / discharge capacity is comparable to that of electric double layer capacitors.

In this example, two electrochemical capacitors in the third electricity storage unit 21 were connected in parallel at a voltage of 2.3V-120F. In the charger 10, the DC power supply 11 is 12
The electric double layer capacitor of V, 2A, and the first power storage unit 12 was further connected in parallel with two units each including 5 units of 2.3V-60F connected in series. The connection is simply called 5 series 2 parallel) 1
It is 1.5V-24F. The nickel-hydrogen battery of the second power storage unit 12 'uses 1.2V-1600mAh in 4 parallels and 4.8V-1600mAh.

When charging the first power storage unit 12 or the third power storage unit 21, the first charge / discharge control circuit 13 and the second charge / discharge control circuit 22 do not exceed a predetermined voltage (rated voltage) or higher. Control (overvoltage control function),
Further, when discharging from the first power storage unit 12 or the third power storage unit 21, control is performed so as to maintain a predetermined voltage (constant voltage control function).

In the above structure, first power storage unit 12 and second power storage unit 12 'of charger 10 are charged in advance by DC power supply 11. By mounting the induction rod 20 on the charger 10, the charging terminal 16 and the charging terminal 27 are connected, and the electricity stored in the electricity storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is first stored in the third electricity storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20. Is charged rapidly.
Immediately after this, the first power storage unit 12 is charged from the second power storage unit 12 '. In this embodiment, the power storage unit 21 is fully charged in 15 seconds and then 3
It was available for hours.

During charging by the first power storage unit 12 of the charger 10, if the third power storage unit 21 does not reach the rated voltage,
The switch 17 switches the charging circuit to charging by the DC power supply 11. And DC power supply 1 until the rated voltage is reached
The power is supplied to the third power storage unit 21 by 1 to complete the charging.
In this case, the timing of switching the charging by the first power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 to the charging by the DC power supply 11 is preferably just before the current value of the first power storage unit 12 falls below the rated current value of the DC power supply 11. is there.

In the above case, the first power storage unit 1 of the charger 10
As for 2, if an electric double layer capacitor (or an electrochemical capacitor) alone is used to charge the third power storage unit 21 on the cordless device side, a large capacity electric double layer capacitor (electrochemical capacitor) is required, Charger 10
May become larger, resulting in higher costs. On the other hand, when the capacity of the electric double layer capacitor (electrochemical capacitor) is reduced, if the power storage unit 21 on the cordless device side is to be charged, a large capacity DC power supply 11 is required. The second power storage unit 12 ′ is extremely effective for the purpose of preventing the first power storage unit 12 and the DC power supply 11 from increasing in size. Therefore, the capacities of the power storage unit 12 and the power storage unit 12 ′, and the capacity of the DC power supply 11 are set to be appropriate depending on the charging conditions.

As a comparison between the power storage unit 21 of the cordless device and the power storage unit 12 of the charger 10, the voltage is the charger 1
It is preferable that the voltage of power storage unit 12 of 0 is higher. The larger the voltage difference, the faster the speed of movement of electricity. As for the capacity, it is preferable that the capacity of the power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is higher, but there is no problem unless it is extremely small because additional charging by the DC power supply 11 is possible.

As a comparison between the DC power supply 11 and the first power storage unit 12 and the second power storage unit 12 'with the built-in charger 10,
The voltage of DC power supply 11 is preferably equal to or higher than the charging voltage of power storage unit 12 and power storage unit 12 '. The current value is preferably 1
A to 10A, more preferably 1.5A to 6A. If the current value is smaller than 1 A, the charging time for the power storage unit 12 with the built-in charger 10 and the power storage unit 21 on the cordless device side becomes long. If it is larger than 6 A, the power source becomes large and the cost becomes high.

(Second Embodiment) Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Will be described. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a cordless device system including the charger 10 and the guide rod 20 in this embodiment. In the electricity storage unit 21, two electrochemical capacitors having a voltage of 2.3V-120F were connected in parallel. In the charger 10, the DC power supply 11 is 12V, 2
A, and the electric double layer capacitor of the first power storage unit 12 is
2.3V-24F with 5 series and 4 parallel connections, 1
It is 1.5V-48F. The nickel-metal hydride battery of the second power storage unit 12 'is 4.8V-1600mAh, which is obtained by connecting four 1.2V-1600mAh in series. Particularly in this example, in the charger 10, the second charge / discharge control circuit 1
8 are included.

In the second embodiment, the first power storage unit 12 and the second power storage unit 12 'of the charger 10 are precharged by the DC power supply 11. Guide rod 20 to charger 10
The charging terminal 16 and the charging terminal 27 are connected to each other, and the electricity stored in the power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is first rapidly charged in the power storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20. Immediately after this, power storage unit 12 is charged from power storage unit 12 '. In this embodiment, the power storage unit 21 operates for 15 hours.
It was fully charged in seconds and could be used for 3 hours thereafter.

(Third Embodiment) Next, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Will be described. FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a cordless device system including the charger 10 and the guide rod 20 in this embodiment. In the third power storage unit 21,
Two electrochemical capacitors were connected in parallel at a voltage of 2.3V-120F. In the charger 10, the DC power supply 11 is 12
The electrochemical capacitor of V, 5A, and the first power storage unit 12 is 2.3V-120F in which 5 series and 2 parallel connection is 11.5V-48F. Particularly in this example, the power storage unit 12 in the charger 10 is composed of an electrochemical capacitor.

In the third embodiment, the first power storage unit 12 and the second power storage unit 12 'of the charger 10 are charged in advance by the DC power supply 11. Guide rod 20 to charger 10
When the charging terminal 16 and the charging terminal 27 are connected to each other, the electricity stored in the first power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is rapidly charged in the third power storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20. It Immediately after this, the second power supply unit 12
Charging is performed from the power storage unit 12 '. In this embodiment, the third power storage unit 21 was fully charged in 10 seconds and could be used for 3 hours thereafter.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Will be described. FIG. 7 shows the configuration of a cordless device system including the charger 10 and the guide rod 20 in this embodiment. In the third power storage unit 21, two electrochemical capacitors having a voltage of 2.3V-120F were connected in parallel. In the charger 10, the DC power supply 11 is 12
The electric double layer capacitor of V, 5A, and the first power storage unit 12 is 2.3V-60F connected in 5 series and 3 in parallel.
Connect 3 units of 1.5V-36F in parallel. Particularly in this example, in the charger 10, a plurality of power storage units 12 are connected in parallel, and each of them is configured to be appropriately switched by the changeover switch 19.

In the fourth embodiment, the power storage unit 12 and the power storage unit 12 'of the charger 10 are charged in advance by the DC power supply 11. By attaching the induction rod 20 to the charger 10, the charging terminal 16 and the charging terminal 27 are connected, and the electricity stored in the power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is rapidly charged in the power storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20. To be done. Immediately after this, power storage unit 12 is charged from power storage unit 12 '.
In this embodiment, the electricity storage unit 21 was in a fully charged state in 8 seconds and could be used for 3 hours thereafter.

Here, in the modified example of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, in the third power storage unit 21, the electric double layer capacitor has two 2.3V-120F voltages connected in parallel. In the charger 10, the DC power supply 11 is 12V, 5A,
Further, the electrochemical capacitor of the first power storage unit 12 is 2.3
5 series 2 parallel connection of V-120F, 11.5V-48
It is F.

In this modification, power storage unit 12 and power storage unit 12 'of charger 10 are charged in advance by DC power supply 11. By attaching the induction rod 20 to the charger 10, the charging terminal 16 and the charging terminal 27 are connected, and the electricity stored in the power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is rapidly charged in the power storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20. To be done. Immediately after this, power storage unit 12 is charged from second power storage unit 12 '. In this embodiment, the power storage unit 21 was fully charged in 6 seconds and could be used for 1.5 hours thereafter.

In yet another modification of the present invention, the electric double layer capacitor in power storage unit 21 has a voltage of 2.3V.
Two -60F were connected in parallel. In the charger 10, the DC power supply 11 is 12V, 5A, and the electric double layer capacitor of the power storage unit 12 is 11.5V-48F by connecting 2.3V-60F in 5 series and 4 parallel.

In this modification, power storage unit 12 and power storage unit 12 'of charger 10 are charged in advance by DC power supply 11. By attaching the induction rod 20 to the charger 10, the charging terminal 16 and the charging terminal 27 are connected, and the electricity stored in the power storage unit 12 of the charger 10 is rapidly charged in the power storage unit 21 of the induction rod 20. To be done. Immediately after this, the first
The second power storage unit 12 'charges the power storage unit 12 of FIG. In this embodiment, the third power storage unit 21 was fully charged in 6 seconds, and could be used for 1.5 hours thereafter.

Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention, and those modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention. For example, the specific numerical values such as the voltage and the current described in the above embodiment show the suitable values, and can be appropriately changed as necessary. Also,
In the above embodiment, the guide rod was mainly described as the cordless device, but the cordless device system of the present invention is
It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to any type of cordless equipment such as an electric shaver, an electric toothbrush, a small cleaner, and an electric drill, and the same effects as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, as compared with the charging time of the conventional secondary battery, there are advantages such as quick charging, miniaturization of the charger and cost reduction. Have

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a specific configuration example of a cordless device system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a charger in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of an inductor as a cordless device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a cordless device system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a cordless device system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a cordless device system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a cordless device system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a modified example of the cordless device system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 charger 11 DC power supply 12 First power storage unit 12 'Second power storage unit 13 First charge / discharge control circuit 14 Box 15 terminals 16 charging terminals 20 induction rod 21 Third power storage unit 22 Second charge / discharge control circuit 23 Light emitting part 25 LED 27 charging terminal

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toyota Ikeuchi 1-16-7 Kitamae, Chatan-cho, Nakagami-gun, Okinawa Prefecture Sun Bridge Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-11-136872 (JP, A) JP Patent Hei 9-308104 (JP, A) JP 2000-245072 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H02J 1/00-1/16 H02J 7/00-7 / 36

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cordless device system in which a cordless device attachable to and detachable from a charger is attached to the charger for charging, and a first power storage unit that can be charged by a DC power source included in the charger. And a second power storage unit that can be charged by the DC power supply and that can charge the first power storage unit, and a first charge / discharge that controls charging / discharging of the first power storage unit and the second power storage unit. A control circuit, a third power storage unit included in the cordless device, and a second charge / discharge control circuit that controls charging / discharging of the third power storage unit, and at least when the cordless device is mounted. so as to charge the first power storage unit to the third storage unit, in accordance with the charge output of the first power storage unit, the third power storage
The charging path to the first power storage unit or the direct current
A cordless device system characterized by being switched to a power source . 2. The cordless device system according to claim 1, wherein the first power storage unit and the third power storage unit are configured by an electric double layer capacitor or an electrochemical capacitor. 3. The second power storage unit is configured by a chargeable / dischargeable battery.
Cordless equipment system described in. 4. The cordless device system according to claim 1, wherein the second power storage unit can be charged by the DC power supply. 5. The cordless device system according to claim 1, wherein the third power storage unit can be charged by the first power storage unit or the DC power supply. Wherein said second charging and discharging control circuit is characterized in that included in said cordless device or said battery charger, cordless equipment system according to any one of claims 1-5. Wherein said first power storage unit, and wherein a plurality of parallel-connected to the DC power source, a cordless device system according to any one of claims 1-6.