JP7515691B2 - Power supply control device, power supply control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a power supply control device, a power supply control method, and a program.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-044612, filed on March 18, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Previously, technology has been proposed that enables the continuous operation of backup equipment in an emergency by providing power from automobiles at appropriate times to each of a facility's backup batteries (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2013-27163 A

However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, power is supplied to the backup storage battery based on pre-registered backup device information. Therefore, in the past, when power from the storage battery was supplied to devices, there were cases where the power supply could not be controlled for devices that were not pre-registered.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a power supply control device, a power supply control method, and a program that can control the power supply to any connected device when power from a storage battery is supplied to the device.

The power supply control device, power supply control method, and program of the present invention have the following configuration.

(1): A power supply control device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a power supply control device that includes a connection unit capable of individually outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device, a recognition unit that recognizes the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit, and a control unit that controls the output of power by the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the priority recognized by the recognition unit.

(2): In the above aspect (1), a communication unit is further provided that communicates with the device, and the recognition unit recognizes the priority based on the result of communication with the device.

(3): In the above aspect (2), the recognition unit acquires device information regarding the priority of the device that has been input to the device from the device, and recognizes the priority of the device based on the acquired device information.

(4): In the above aspect (2) or (3), the recognition unit communicates with a new device in response to the new device being connected to the connection unit, and updates the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit based on the communication results.

(5): In the above aspect (1), the device further includes a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device capable of obtaining information regarding the device connected to the connection unit, and the recognition unit recognizes the priority based on the communication results with the terminal device.

(6): In the above aspect (5), the recognition unit acquires device information regarding the priority of the device from the terminal device, and recognizes the priority of the device based on the acquired device information.

(7): In the above aspect (6), the recognition unit requests the terminal device to transmit the device information in response to a new device being connected to the connection unit.

(8): In any of the above aspects (1) to (7), the control unit stops the supply of power to the devices with the lowest priority when the remaining charge of one or more of the storage batteries falls below a threshold value.

(9): In the aspect (8) above, the control unit notifies the device to be stopped before stopping the device to be stopped.

(10): In any of the above aspects (1) to (9), the connection unit is capable of acquiring power from a device among the plurality of connected devices that is capable of outputting power and supplying the power to the other devices, and the control unit, when a low-priority device that is capable of outputting power from its built-in battery and has a lower priority than the other devices, operates the connection unit to acquire power from the low-priority device and supply the acquired power to the other devices.

(11): A power supply control method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a power supply control method in which a computer capable of controlling a connection unit capable of individually outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the computer recognizes the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit, and controls the output of power by the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the priority recognized by the recognition unit.

(12): A program according to one embodiment of the present invention is a program that causes a computer capable of controlling a connection unit capable of individually outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the computer to recognize the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit, and controls the output of power by the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the priority recognized by the recognition unit.

According to (1) to (12), a computer capable of controlling a connection unit capable of individually outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device recognizes the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit, and controls the output of power from the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the priority recognized by the recognition unit, thereby making it possible to control the power supply to any connected device when power from the storage battery is supplied to the device.

2 is a diagram showing an outline of power supply control by the battery device of the embodiment; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a battery device according to an embodiment; 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a battery device according to an embodiment; 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of management information of a target device in the battery device of the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow for registering a target device by the battery device of the embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow in which the battery device of the embodiment stops power supply to a target device depending on the remaining charge of a power supply battery.

Below, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the power supply control device, power supply control method, and program of the present invention are described.

1 is a diagram showing an outline of the power supply control by the battery device 1 of this embodiment. The battery device 1 has a battery (not shown) inside and can supply the power stored in the battery to devices connected to the device itself. The battery device 1 is an example of a "power supply control device". For example, in the example of FIG. 1, the battery device 1 is connected to a first terminal device 2, a refrigerator 3, and a medical device 4, and supplies battery power to each of these devices. Hereinafter, the devices connected to the battery device 1 and to which the battery device 1 supplies power are referred to as "target devices". In FIG. 1, the first terminal device 2, the refrigerator 3, and the medical device 4 are examples of target devices. The battery device 1 recognizes the priority of power supply for each target device connected to the device itself, and supplies power preferentially to target devices with high priority based on the recognized priority.

The first terminal device 2 and the refrigerator 3 have a communication function and can communicate with the battery device 1. In this embodiment, the battery device 1, the first terminal device 2, and the refrigerator 3 are capable of communicating with each other via wireless communication, but communication between the devices may be achieved by wired communication or a combination of wired and wireless communication. For target devices that can communicate with the battery device 1, such as the first terminal device 2 and the refrigerator 3, the battery device 1 recognizes the priority order based on the results of communication with the target devices. For example, the battery device 1 communicates with the target devices to obtain device information related to the target devices from the target devices, and recognizes the priority order of the target devices based on the obtained device information.

On the other hand, the medical device 4 does not have a communication function and cannot communicate with the battery device 1. In this case, the battery device 1 communicates with a second terminal device 5 that has a communication function and can acquire information about the medical device 4, and recognizes the priority of the medical device 4 based on the communication result with the second terminal device 5. For example, in this case, the second terminal device 5 acquires device information about the medical device 4 by reading the two-dimensional code 41 displayed on the medical device 4, and transmits the acquired device information to the battery device 1. The battery device 1 recognizes the priority of the medical device 4 based on the device information received from the second terminal device 5. Hereinafter, a terminal device that communicates with the battery device 1 in place of the medical device 4 that does not have a communication function in this way will be referred to as an "alternative communication device."

The battery device 1 configured in this manner recognizes the priority of power supply to the target device based on the results of communication with the target device or with the second terminal device 5 that communicates with the battery device 1 on behalf of the target device. Therefore, when supplying battery power to a device, the battery device 1 can control the power supply to any connected target device. The configuration of the battery device 1 that achieves these effects is described in detail below.

2 and 3 are block diagrams showing an example of the configuration of the battery device 1 of the embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a case where the battery device 1 communicates with a target device 7A having a communication function, and FIG. 3 shows a case where the battery device 1 communicates with an alternative communication device 8 instead of a target device 7B having no communication function. For example, the first terminal device 2 and the refrigerator 3 in FIG. 1 correspond to the target device 7A, the medical device 4 corresponds to the target device 7B, and the second terminal device 5 corresponds to the alternative communication device 8. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, although the subject that provides the device information to the battery device 1 is different, the method in which the battery device 1 recognizes the priority of the target devices based on the provided device information is the same. Therefore, in the following, the configurations of the target devices 7A, the target devices 7B, and the alternative communication device 8 will first be described, and then the configuration of the battery device 1 will be described. Hereinafter, when there is no distinction between the presence or absence of a communication function, the target devices 7A and 7B will be collectively referred to as the target devices 7.

2 shows the common configuration of the target device 7A as a target device having a communication function. Therefore, in FIG. 2, device-specific functions (e.g., functions as a refrigerator, functions as a terminal device, etc.) are omitted. The target device 7A includes, for example, an internal battery 701, a power input unit 702, a communication unit 710, a second display unit 730, a storage unit 740, and a control unit 750. At least the control unit 750 among these components is realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory (a storage device having a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

The internal battery 701 is a battery composed of one or more storage batteries that store the power required for the operation of the target device 7A. The power input unit 702 is a power interface that connects the target device 7A to an external power source. For example, when receiving power from the battery device 1, the power input unit 702 is connected to the device connection unit 103 of the battery device 1. When the power input unit 702 is connected to an external power source, it supplies the power supplied from the external power source to each part of the target device 7A and charges the internal battery 701, and when it is not connected to an external power source, it supplies the power stored in the internal battery 701 to each part of the target device 7A. Note that the target device 7A may operate only by power supplied from an external power source, in which case the internal battery 701 is not essential. The power input unit 702 may also have a function of detecting whether or not it is connected to an external power source, and may be configured to notify the control unit 750 of the detection result.

The communication unit 710 is a communication interface for the target device 7A to communicate with an external communication device. For example, the communication unit 710 may communicate by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark, the same applies below), or may be a LAN interface. The communication unit 710 may also communicate with an external communication device via a WAN including a cellular network or the Internet. The communication unit 710 may communicate by either wireless communication or wired communication. The communication unit 710 communicates with the battery device 1.

The second display unit 730 is configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a touch panel, etc. The second display unit 730 can display any information under the control of the control unit 750.

The storage unit 740 is configured using a storage device such as an HDD or flash memory. The storage unit 740 stores various information related to the operation of the target device 7A. For example, the storage unit 740 stores information related to the priority of the target device 7A (hereinafter referred to as "device information") in advance, as well as programs executed by the control unit 150 and setting information.

The control unit 750 has a control function for the target device 7A. For example, the control unit 750 includes a device information transmission unit 751 and a notification receiving unit 752. The device information transmission unit 751 acquires device information from the storage unit 740 and transmits the acquired device information to the battery device 1 via the communication unit 710. The device information transmission unit 751 may transmit device information in response to the target device 7A being connected to the battery device 1, or may transmit device information in response to a request from the battery device 1 that has detected that the target device 7A has been connected. In this case, the device connection unit 103 or the power supply switching unit 104 may be configured to detect that the target device 7A has been connected to the battery device 1 by monitoring the presence or absence of power output to the connected target device 7A.

The notification receiving unit 752 receives a notification from the battery device 1. The notification receiving unit 752 may cause the content of the notification to be displayed on the second display unit 730. Note that displaying the content of the notification on the second display unit 730 is one example of a manner of outputting a notification, and the means of outputting the notification is not limited thereto. For example, the manner of outputting the content of the notification may be audio output, or information transmission to another communication device.

Next, the configuration of the target device 7B will be described. FIG. 3 shows the common configuration of the target device 7B as a target device without a communication function. Therefore, in FIG. 3, the device-specific functions (e.g., functions as a medical device, etc.) are omitted. In this case, for example, the target device 7B has an internal battery 701 and a power input unit 702 like the target device 7A, and has a first display unit 703 for device information on the surface of the device. The first display unit 703 corresponds to the two-dimensional code affixed to the surface of the medical device 4 in FIG. 1, for example. Note that the target device 7B may have a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or a touch panel as the first display unit 703.

In this case, the alternative communication device 8 reads the first display unit 703 of the target device 7B to obtain device information, and transmits the obtained device information to the battery device 1 instead of the target device 7B. The alternative communication device 8 corresponds to, for example, the second terminal device 5 in FIG. 1. The alternative communication device 8 includes, for example, an imaging unit 801, a communication unit 810, an input unit 820, a display unit 830, a storage unit 840, and a control unit 850. Of these components, at least the control unit 850 is realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as a HDD or flash memory (a storage device with a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium (non-transient storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device.

The imaging unit 801 is an imaging device such as a camera including an image sensor such as a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). The imaging unit 801 generates image data of a subject by performing an imaging operation in response to a shutter operation input to the input unit 820, and outputs the generated image data to the control unit 850.

The communication unit 810 is a communication interface for the alternative communication device 8 to communicate with an external communication device. For example, the communication unit 810 may communicate by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth, or may be a LAN interface. The communication unit 810 may also communicate with an external communication device via a WAN including a cellular network or the Internet. The communication unit 810 may communicate by either wireless communication or wired communication. The communication unit 810 communicates with the battery device 1.

The input unit 820 is configured using input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, button, switch, etc. The input unit 820 accepts input operations to the alternative communication device 8. The input unit 820 outputs the input information to the control unit 850.

The display unit 830 is configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a touch panel, etc. The display unit 830 can display any information under the control of the control unit 850.

The storage unit 840 is configured using a storage device such as a HDD or flash memory. The storage unit 840 stores various information related to the operation of the alternative communication device 8. For example, the storage unit 840 records image data acquired by the imaging unit 801, device information recognized from the image data, programs executed by the control unit 850, setting information, and the like.

The control unit 850 has a control function of the alternative communication device 8. For example, the control unit 850 includes a device information transmission unit 851, a notification receiving unit 852, and a device information acquisition unit 853. The device information transmission unit 851 and the notification receiving unit 852 are similar to the device information transmission unit 751 and the notification receiving unit 752 of the target device 7A. The device information acquisition unit 853 acquires device information of the target device 7B in cooperation with the imaging unit 801 and the input unit 820. For example, the device information acquisition unit 853 prompts the user to capture an image of a two-dimensional code displayed on the first display unit 703 of the target device 7B, and acquires image data in which the two-dimensional code is captured by having the imaging unit 801 perform an imaging operation in response to the user's shutter operation. The device information acquisition unit 853 recognizes the two-dimensional code in the image by performing image recognition processing on the acquired image data, and acquires device information of the target device 7B by decoding the recognized two-dimensional code. The device information acquisition unit 853 transmits the acquired device information to the battery device 1 via the communication unit 810.

Next, the configuration of the battery device 1 will be described. The battery device 1 includes a power supply battery 101, a battery sensor 102, a plurality of device connection units 103, a power supply switching unit 104, a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a display unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a control unit 150. At least the control unit 150 among these components is realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as an HDD or flash memory (a storage device having a non-transient storage medium), or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM (a non-transient storage medium), and may be installed by mounting the storage medium in a drive device.

The power supply battery 101 is a portable battery for storing power to be supplied to the target device. The power supply battery 101 has one or more portable storage batteries. The power supply battery 101 may be composed of a single battery or may be composed of a combination of multiple batteries.

The battery sensor 102 is a sensor that measures the remaining amount of power that can be supplied by the power supply battery 101. The battery sensor 102 notifies the control unit 150 of the measurement result of the remaining battery amount.

The device connection unit 103 is a power supply interface that connects the target device to the battery device 1. For example, the device connection unit 103 is an outlet into which a power plug is inserted. Power stored in the power supply battery 101 is supplied to the multiple device connection units 103 via the power supply switching unit 104. The battery device 1 includes multiple device connection units 103 and can simultaneously supply power to multiple target devices. The device connection unit 103 may be configured to include multiple types of power supply interfaces.

The power supply switching unit 104 distributes and supplies the power stored in the power supply battery 101 to the multiple device connection units 103, and has a function of switching on and off the power supply to the target devices by the multiple device connection units 103. For example, the power supply switching unit 104 is a distribution board, and can cut off or connect the power supply circuit from the power supply battery 101 for each device connection unit 103. The power supply switching unit 104 switches the power supply on and off based on the control of the control unit 150. The power supply switching unit 104 is an example of a means for switching on and off the power supply to the multiple target devices. The power supply switching unit 104 may be replaced by other means as long as it can switch on and off the power supply to the multiple target devices. For example, each of the device connection units 103 may be configured to be able to switch on and off the power supply, and in this embodiment, a combination of the device connection unit 103 and the power supply switching unit 104 is an example of a "connection unit".

The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for the battery device 1 to communicate with an external communication device. For example, the communication unit 110 may communicate by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth, or may be a LAN interface. The communication unit 110 may also communicate with an external communication device via a WAN including a cellular network or the Internet. The communication unit 110 may communicate by either wireless communication or wired communication. Specifically, the communication unit 110 communicates with a target device 7A having a communication function, and an alternative communication device 8 that substitutes for the communication function of a target device 7B not having a communication function.

The input unit 120 is configured using input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, touch panel, buttons, and switches. The input unit 120 accepts input operations for the battery device 1. The input unit 120 outputs the input information to the control unit 150.

The display unit 130 is configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a touch panel, etc. The display unit 130 can display any information under the control of the control unit 150.

The memory unit 140 is configured using a storage device such as a HDD or flash memory. The memory unit 140 stores various information related to the operation of the battery device 1. For example, the memory unit 140 records device information acquired from the target device 7A and the alternative communication device 8, as well as programs executed by the control unit 150 and setting information.

The control unit 150 has a control function for the battery device 1. For example, the control unit 150 includes a device information acquisition unit 151, a priority recognition unit 152, and a power supply control unit 153. The device information acquisition unit 151 acquires device information of the target device 7A from the target device 7A through communication via the communication unit 110, and acquires device information of the target device 7B from the alternative communication device 8. The device information acquisition unit 151 records the acquired device information in the memory unit 140.

The priority recognition unit 152 recognizes the priority of power supply to each target device 7 based on the device information of the target device 7 acquired by the device information acquisition unit 151. For example, in response to a new target device 7 being connected to the device connection unit 103, the priority recognition unit 152 requests the target device 7 or its alternative communication device 8 to transmit device information of the target device 7, and recognizes the priority of the target device 7 based on the device information received in response to the request.

For example, the device information may be information indicating the device type of the target device. In this case, the priority recognition unit 152 may recognize the priority predetermined for the device type indicated by the device information as the priority of the target device 7. For example, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of management information of the target device. For example, the device management table T1 shown in FIG. 4 is made up of records having values for each of the items "priority", "device type", "registered device", "stoppable", and "threshold". "Priority" is a numerical value indicating the level of priority. Here, a smaller numerical value indicates a higher priority. "Device type" indicates the device type of the target device. FIG. 4 shows medical devices, home appliances, communication terminals, and batteries as examples of device types.

"Registered device" indicates the target device 7 registered as a device corresponding to the corresponding device type. "Can be stopped" indicates whether or not the device corresponding to the corresponding device type is to be subject to power supply stop when the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 is low. The example of FIG. 4 indicates that medical equipment is not subject to power supply stop. "Threshold" indicates the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 that is the threshold when determining whether to stop power supply to the target device 7 corresponding to the corresponding device type. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, when device information indicating "communication terminal" as the "device type" is acquired from the target device 7 or its alternative communication device 8, the priority recognition unit 152 recognizes the priority of the target device 7 as "3" and registers the target device 7 in the device management table T1 as a "registered device" corresponding to the "priority" of "3".

Also, for example, the device information may be information indicating the priority order of the target device 7 itself. In this case, the priority order recognition unit 152 may recognize the priority order according to the order indicated by the device information, and may manage each target device 7 in association with the recognized priority order.

In addition, when the priorities overlap, the priority recognition unit 152 may further rank the overlapping target devices 7. For example, the priority recognition unit 152 may rank them randomly. Also, for example, the priority recognition unit 152 may assign a lower priority to a target device that has been receiving power supply from the battery device 1 for a longer period of time, or may assign a higher priority to a target device that has been receiving power supply from the battery device 1 for a longer period of time. Such a method of determining the priority may be changed depending on the device type of the target device, and information required for ranking in such a case may be included in the device information in advance.

The power supply control unit 153 controls the power supply switching unit 104 based on the priority recognition result by the priority recognition unit 152 to switch on and off the power supply to each target device 7. Specifically, when the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 falls below a threshold, the power supply control unit 153 stops the power supply to the target device 7 in order of lower priority.

For example, if a single threshold value is set for the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101, the power supply control unit 153 may be configured to stop the supply of power to the target devices connected to the battery device 1 in order of lowest priority when the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 falls below that threshold value.

In addition, for example, when a threshold is set for each priority as shown in FIG. 4, the power supply control unit 153 may be configured to stop a target device (registered device) that is registered corresponding to the threshold value reached by the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the process in which the battery device 1 of the embodiment registers the target device 7. Here, a case where the target device 7 is managed in the manner of Figure 4 will be described. First, the device information acquisition unit 151 determines whether or not a new device has been connected to the device connection unit 103 (step S101). Here, if it is determined that a new device has not been connected to the device connection unit 103, the device information acquisition unit 151 repeatedly executes step S101 until a new device is connected to the device connection unit 103. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S101 that a new device has been connected to the device connection unit 103, the device information acquisition unit 151 starts communication with the new device and requests the new device to transmit device information (step S102). The device information acquisition unit 151 receives device information from the new device as a response to the transmission request (step S103).

When the device information is received from the new device, the priority recognition unit 152 then recognizes the device type of the new device based on the received device information (step S104). The priority recognition unit 152 registers the new device as a device to be powered by managing the identification information of the new device in association with the recognized device type (step S105). The identification information of the new device may be obtained from the new device as part of the device information, or address information such as an IP (Internet Protocol) address or a MAC (Media Access Control) address included in the communication header may be used as the identification information. When the new device is recognized as a target device 7, the power supply control unit 153 then controls the power supply switching unit 104 to start power supply to the new device (step S106).

Figure 6 is a flow chart showing an example of a process flow in which the battery device 1 of the embodiment stops supplying power to the target device 7 depending on the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101. This flow may be executed in parallel with the flow of Figure 5, or in series. First, the battery sensor 102 measures the remaining amount of power that can be supplied by the power supply battery 101 (step S201). The battery sensor 102 notifies the control unit 150 of the measurement result of the remaining battery charge.

Next, the power supply control unit 153 compares the measurement value of the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 measured in step S201 with a threshold value (step S202). Based on the result of comparing the measurement value of the remaining battery charge with the threshold value, the power supply control unit 153 determines whether or not there is a target device to which power supply should be stopped (hereinafter referred to as a "stop target device") among the target devices connected to the device connection unit 103 (step S203).

For example, in a case where the registered devices are managed according to the device management table T1 in FIG. 4, if the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 is measured to be 40%, the power supply control unit 153 determines that "terminal a" and "terminal b" registered as "communication terminals" (priority: 3) corresponding to the threshold value of 40% are devices to be stopped, and stops power supply to "terminal a" and "terminal b". In this situation, since the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 exceeds 50%, power supply from the power supply battery 101 has already been stopped for "battery #1" and "battery #2" registered as "battery" (priority: 4) corresponding to the remaining charge of 50%. Furthermore, if the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 continues to decrease from this situation and the remaining charge reaches the threshold value of 30%, next, "refrigerator X", "microwave oven Y" and "cooker Z" registered as "home appliances" corresponding to the threshold value of 30% are determined to be devices to be powered, and power supply to these devices is stopped in sequence. On the other hand, a medical device for which the stop possibility is “not possible” is not determined as a device to be stopped, regardless of the remaining charge of the power supply battery 101 .

Next, the power supply control unit 153 notifies the target device 7 determined as the device to be stopped that power supply will be stopped (step S204). For a target device 7 that does not have a communication function, such as the target device 7B, the power supply control unit 153 may notify the terminal device associated with the target device 7 that power supply will be stopped. For example, the alternative communication device 8 may be registered in the battery device 1 as the notification destination when registering the target device 7B, or another terminal device may be registered as the notification destination. After notifying the target device 7B of the power supply stop, the power supply control unit 153 stops power supply to the device to be stopped (step S205).

The battery device 1 of the embodiment configured in this manner is equipped with an equipment connection unit 103 and a power supply switching unit 104 that can output power from one or more portable storage batteries individually to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device, a priority recognition unit 152 that recognizes the priority of power supply to the target devices connected to the equipment connection unit 103, and a power supply control unit 153 that controls the output of power to the plurality of target devices 7 based on the priority recognized by the priority recognition unit 152, so that when power from the power supply battery 101 is supplied to the target devices, the power supply can be controlled for any connected target device.

Although the battery device 1 of the embodiment is an example of a power supply control device, the battery device 1 may be configured as a power supply control device that can connect at least the power supply battery 101 as an external power source. In this case, the power supply control device may be configured as a device that includes a connection unit that can output the power of one or more portable power supply batteries 101 individually to each of multiple devices connected to the device, a recognition unit that recognizes the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit, and a control unit that controls the output of power to the multiple devices by the connection unit based on the priority recognized by the recognition unit.

The battery device 1 of the embodiment may be configured to allow power to be shared between devices connected to it. In this case, for example, the device connection unit 103 is configured to connect an external power source, input power from the external power source, and output the power input from the external power source from another device connection unit 103. Also, for example, the power supply switching unit 104 is configured to switch the input/output mode of the device connection unit 103. Also, for example, the power supply switching unit 104 is configured to switch the input/output mode according to an instruction from the power supply control unit 153. In this case, when there is a device (hereinafter referred to as a "low priority device") that has a built-in battery and can output the power of the battery and has a lower priority than the other devices among the multiple devices connected to the device connection unit 103, the power supply control unit 153 is configured to switch the input/output mode of the device connection unit 103 to which the low priority device is connected so as to obtain power from the low priority device and supply the obtained power to the other devices. In this case, the power supply control unit 153 may be configured to receive a designation of the device connection unit 103 as the output destination from another device through communication, or may be configured to receive a request to change the input/output mode. With this configuration, power can be exchanged between devices having different connection interfaces by passing through the battery device 1 of the embodiment. For example, even if a first device has a connection interface for an AC outlet and a second device has a connection interface such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) for charging a built-in battery, it is possible to provide the power stored in the second device to the first device (or vice versa) by connecting to the battery device 1.

The above-described embodiment can be expressed as follows.
A storage device storing a program;
a hardware processor;
The hardware processor executes the program stored in the storage device,
A computer capable of controlling a connection unit capable of outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device itself,
Recognizing the priority of devices connected to said connection portion;
controlling an output of power from the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the priority order recognized by the recognition unit;
The power supply control device is configured as follows.

The above describes the form for implementing the present invention using embodiments, but the present invention is in no way limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

1...battery device, 101...power supply battery, 102...battery sensor, 103...device connection unit, 104...power supply switching unit, 110...communication unit, 120...input unit, 130...display unit, 140...storage unit, 150...control unit, 151...device information acquisition unit, 152...priority recognition unit, 153...power supply control unit, 2...first terminal device, 3...refrigerator, 4...medical device, 5...second terminal device, 7, 7A, 7B...target device, 70 1...internal battery, 702...power input unit, 703...first display unit, 710...communication unit, 730...second display unit, 740...storage unit, 750...control unit, 751...device information transmission unit, 752...notification reception unit, 8...alternative communication device, 801...imaging unit, 810...communication unit, 820...input unit, 830...display unit, 840...storage unit, 850...control unit, 851...device information transmission unit, 852...notification reception unit, 853...device information acquisition unit

Claims (12)

A connection unit capable of outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device;
a recognition unit that recognizes a priority of a device connected to the connection unit;
a control unit that controls an output of power from the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the priority order recognized by the recognition unit;
A power supply control device comprising: A communication unit that communicates with the device is further provided.
The recognition unit recognizes the priority order based on a communication result with the device.
The power supply control device according to claim 1 . the recognition unit acquires, from the device, device information relating to the priority order of the device that has been input to the device, and recognizes the priority order of the device based on the acquired device information.
The power supply control device according to claim 2 . the recognition unit communicates with the new device in response to the new device being connected to the connection unit, and updates the priority of the devices connected to the connection unit based on a result of the communication.
The power supply control device according to claim 2 or 3. a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device that can acquire information about the device connected to the connection unit,
The recognition unit recognizes the priority order based on a communication result with the terminal device.
The power supply control device according to claim 1 . the recognition unit acquires device information related to the priority order of the device from the terminal device, and recognizes the priority order of the device based on the acquired device information;
The power supply control device according to claim 5. the recognition unit requests the terminal device to transmit the device information in response to a new device being connected to the connection unit.
The power supply control device according to claim 6. The control unit stops the supply of power to the devices having the lowest priority when the remaining charge of the one or more storage batteries becomes equal to or less than a threshold.
The power supply control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The control unit notifies the user that a device to be stopped is to be stopped before stopping the device.
The power supply control device according to claim 8. the connection unit is capable of acquiring electric power from a device capable of outputting electric power among the plurality of connected devices and supplying the electric power to another device,
when there is a low-priority device among the plurality of devices that is capable of outputting power from a built-in battery and has a lower priority than the other devices, the control unit operates the connection unit to obtain power from the low-priority device and supply the obtained power to the other devices.
The power supply control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A computer capable of controlling a connection unit capable of outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device itself,
Recognizing the priority of devices connected to said connection portion;
controlling an output of power from the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the recognized priority order;
Power supply control method. A computer capable of controlling a connection unit capable of outputting power from one or more portable storage batteries to each of a plurality of devices connected to the device itself,
Recognizing the priority of devices connected to the connection unit;
controlling an output of power from the connection unit to the plurality of devices based on the recognized priority order;
program.

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