Patent · US Expired

Power supply for an electronic device and power delivery method therefor

US5739596A · kind A · utility

150Cited by
8References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 5, 1996
Grant dateApr 14, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 5, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F1/30
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An electronic apparatus comprises a main circuit having a main CPU and a power supply system which includes plural main batteries for supplying operating power to said main circuit, a back-up battery, a switching circuit connected between each main battery and the main circuit, power means for enabling the operation of the main circuit, a charge detector for detecting the charging level of each main battery, and power controller responsive to the power means and the charge detector and having a sub-CPU for individually controlling the switching circuit according to either a single connection mode or a multiple connection mode. In the single connection mode only one of the main batteries is connected to said main circuit. In the multiple connection mode, at least two main batteries, each in series with a respective diode means, are connected in parallel to the main circuit. The back-up battery is connected to supply power to the power controller only when either no main battery is installed or the charging level of each of the installed main batteries is below a predetermined value required for back-up operation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.