JP7585066B2 - Rotational charging device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rotational charging device that charges multiple devices equipped with storage batteries, such as tablet terminals, in sequence.

Conventionally, a rotational charging device that charges multiple devices equipped with storage batteries, such as tablet terminals, in sequence has been known to divide the devices into groups and charge each group in rotation, as described in Patent Document 1, for example.

JP 2016-108122 A

However, the rotational charging device described in Patent Document 1 only rotates charging in a preset order, and the charging time for each group is constant until the devices are fully charged, which means that there is a tendency for the charge amount of the devices in each group to differ, and devices with a low charge amount cannot be charged efficiently.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a rotational charging device that is less likely to cause differences in the charge amount of devices in each group and can efficiently charge devices with low charge amounts.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is a rotational charging device that is capable of connecting an apparatus that switches from constant current charging to constant voltage charging when a predetermined amount of charge is reached, and is equipped with a power supply unit that supplies charging power to the connected apparatus, and the power supply unit is divided into a plurality of groups, and performs rotational charging for each of the groups, and is equipped with a current measurement unit that measures the current flowing in a charging circuit, and a control unit that determines the charging order of the groups in the rotational charging, and is characterized in that before starting the rotational charging, the charging current for each of the groups is measured, and the charging order of the groups is determined so that the groups are charged in order starting with the group with the largest measured current value.
In addition, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 2 of the present invention is a rotational charging device that is connectable to an apparatus that switches from constant current charging to constant voltage charging when a predetermined amount of charge is reached, and is provided with a power supply unit that supplies charging power to the connected apparatus, and the power supply unit is divided into a plurality of groups, and rotational charging is performed for each of the groups, the rotational charging device being provided with a current measurement unit that measures a current flowing in a charging circuit, and a control unit that determines a charging time for each of the groups in the rotational charging, and a first charging time that is a standard time and a second charging time that is longer than the standard time are set as the charging time, and further a threshold value is set for comparing with the current value measured by the current measurement unit , characterized in that before starting the rotational charging, the current related to charging is measured for each of the groups , and the measured current value is compared with the threshold value, and the charging time for the group whose measured current value exceeds the threshold value is determined to be the second charging time, while the charging time for the group whose measured current value is equal to or less than the threshold value is determined to be the first charging time .

According to the invention of claim 1, the device includes a current measuring unit that measures the current flowing through the charging circuit and a control unit that determines the charging order of the groups in the rotational charging, and before starting the rotational charging, the charging current for each group is measured, and the charging order of the groups is determined so that the groups are charged in descending order of the measured current value. According to the invention of claim 2, the device includes a current measuring unit that measures the current flowing through the charging circuit and a control unit that determines the charging time for each group in the rotational charging, and sets a first charging time that is a standard time and a second charging time that is longer than the standard time as the charging time, and further sets a threshold value against which the current value measured by the current measuring unit is compared. Before starting the rotational charging, the device measures the current related to charging for each group and compares the measured current value with the threshold value, and determines the charging time for a group whose measured current value is above the threshold value as the second charging time, and determines the charging time for a group whose measured current value is equal to or less than the threshold value as the first charging time . In this way, according to the present invention, the charging order of the groups is determined based on the measured current value (claim 1), and the charging time for each group is determined individually (claim 2), so that differences in the charge amount of devices between groups are unlikely to occur, and devices with small charge amounts can be charged efficiently.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the rotation charging device. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing rotational charging control according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of rotational charging according to the rotational charge control according to the first embodiment; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing rotational charging control according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of rotational charging according to the rotational charge control according to the second embodiment.

Below, a detailed explanation of a rotational charging device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be given with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a rotational charging device 1. As shown in FIG.
The rotational charging device 1 includes four groups of outlet taps 2A-2D, opening/closing units 3A-3D provided for each of the outlet taps 2A-2D for opening and closing an electric circuit for supplying power to the outlet taps 2A-2D, a control device 10 for controlling the rotational charging, and a power plug 9 for receiving power from a commercial power source. The control device 10 also includes an operation unit 4 for starting the rotational charging, a CPU 5 for performing the rotational charging control described below, a relay control unit 6 for operating the opening/closing units 3A-3D under the control of the CPU 5, a current measurement unit 7 for measuring the current flowing through the charging circuit, and a power supply unit 8 for supplying power to the CPU 5. In the rotational charging device 1, commercial power is supplied to each of the outlet taps 2A-2D via the power plug 9 and one of the opening/closing units 3A-3D.

Each of the power outlets 2A to 2D can be connected to multiple devices (e.g., tablet terminals, personal computers, etc.). The power outlets 2A to 2D are installed in, for example, a cabinet or the like that can house and store the connected devices. Furthermore, devices connected to the power outlets 2A to 2D are automatically switched from constant current charging (hereafter referred to as CC charging) to constant voltage charging (hereafter referred to as CV charging) depending on the charge level (CC charging is performed if the charge level has not reached a predetermined level, and switches to CV charging when the charge level has reached the predetermined level).

Here, a first embodiment of the rotational charging control in the rotational charging device 1, which is a main part of the present invention, will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.
When rotation charging is started by operating the operation unit 4, the control device 10 first supplies power to the outlet taps 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D in that order for a predetermined measurement time (e.g., one minute) and measures the current flowing through the charging circuit for each (S1). Next, the control device 10 compares the measured current value with a preset threshold value (e.g., 500 mA) and determines the charging order for the outlet taps 2A to 2D based on the comparison result (S2). Then, the control device 10 performs rotation charging on the outlet taps 2A to 2D according to the determined charging order (S3). The rotation charging performed in S3 is the same as conventional, except for the determination of the charging order, and when power is supplied to a predetermined outlet tap (any of outlet taps 2A to 2D) for a predetermined standard time (times t5-t6, t6-t7, t7-t8, and t8-t9 in FIG. 3, for example 30 minutes), the system switches to the next outlet tap and supplies power to that outlet tap for the standard time. Also, current measurement by the current measurement unit 7 continues during rotation charging, and when the charging current in one outlet tap becomes 0 mA (or a very small value), it is determined that the charging in that outlet tap has reached full charge, and power supply to that outlet tap and subsequent switching are skipped, while power supply to and switching to the other outlet taps continues.

To specifically explain the rotation charging in the first embodiment with reference to Figure 3, the current is measured from t1 to t5, and the measurement results show that the current value at outlet tap 2A is 400mA, the current value at outlet tap 2B is 800mA, the current value at outlet tap 2C is 200mA, and the current value at outlet tap 2D is 600mA. The reason why the current value differs for each outlet tap 2A to 2D is due to the difference in the number of devices being CC charged among the devices connected to each outlet tap 2A to 2D. In other words, when the charging mode of the devices switches from CC charging to CV charging, the current value drops significantly. Therefore, for outlet taps with high current values, there are a large number of devices being CC charged (a large number of devices with low charging amounts). Then, in comparing each current value with the threshold value in S2, the current values in outlet taps 2B and 2D exceed the threshold value, so the priority in the charging order determined in S2 is increased, and it is determined that rotating charging will be performed in the order of outlet tap 2B, outlet tap 2D, outlet tap 2A, and outlet tap 2C, and rotating charging is performed as shown in FIG. 3.

Next, a second embodiment of the rotational charging control in the rotational charging device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the rotation charging is started by the operation of the operation unit 4, the control device 10 first supplies power to the outlet tap 2A, the outlet tap 2B, the outlet tap 2C, and the outlet tap 2D in that order for a predetermined measurement time (for example, one minute), and measures the current flowing through the charging circuit for each case (S11). Next, the control device 10 compares the measured current value with a predetermined threshold value (for example, 500 mA) that is set in advance, and determines the charging time for each of the outlet taps 2A to 2D in the rotation charging based on the comparison result (S12). Then, the rotation charging is performed for the respective determined charging times according to a predetermined charging order (here, the order is the outlet tap 2A, the outlet tap 2B, the outlet tap 2C, and the outlet tap 2D) (S13). Note that in the rotation charging according to the second embodiment, when the rotation charging according to the charging time determined in S12 is completed, the process may return to S11 again to measure the current, and a new charging time for each of the outlet taps 2A to 2D may be determined in S12. In addition, even during rotation charging, the current measurement by the current measurement unit 7 continues, and when the charging current in one outlet tap becomes 0 mA (or a very small value), it is determined that the charging in that outlet tap is fully charged, and power supply to that outlet tap and subsequent switching are skipped, while power supply to and switching to the other outlet taps continues.

To explain the rotational charging in the second embodiment in detail with reference to FIG. 5, the current is measured from t1 to t5, and the measurement results are that the current value at outlet tap 2A is 400mA, the current value at outlet tap 2B is 800mA, the current value at outlet tap 2C is 600mA, and the current value at outlet tap 2D is 200mA. The reason why the current value differs for each outlet tap 2A to 2D is as described above in the first embodiment. Then, in the comparison of each current value with the threshold value in S12, the current value at outlet taps 2B and 2C exceeds the threshold value, so the charging time at outlet taps 2A and 2D is set to the standard time (the time from t5 to t6 and the time from t8 to t9 in FIG. 5, for example, 30 minutes), but the charging time at outlet taps 2B and 2C is set to a long charging time longer than the standard time (the time from t6 to t7 and the time from t7 to t8 in FIG. 5, for example, 60 minutes), and the rotational charging as shown in FIG. 5 is performed.

The rotating charger 1 configured as described above is equipped with a current measuring unit 7 that measures the current flowing through the charging circuit, and a CPU 5 that determines the charging order of the outlet taps 2A-2D in the rotating charge (first embodiment) or determines the charging time for each outlet tap 2A-2D in the rotating charge (second embodiment). Before starting the rotating charge, the current related to charging is measured for each outlet tap 2A-2D, and based on the measured current value, the charging order of the group is determined (first embodiment) or the charging time for each outlet tap 2A-2D is determined (second embodiment). Therefore, the rotating charger 1 is less likely to have differences in the charging amount of the device for each outlet tap 2A-2D, and can efficiently charge devices with a small charging amount.

The rotational charging device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the overall configuration of the rotational charging device as well as the configuration related to the rotational charging control can be modified as necessary.

For example, although the above embodiment is described as being divided into two examples, it is also possible to set in advance both a first rotation charging mode that determines the charging order and a second rotation charging mode that determines the charging time, and provide a selection means in the operation unit that allows the selection of either the first rotation charging mode or the second rotation charging mode as the rotation charging mode.
In the above embodiment, the standard time for charging is set in advance, but the standard time may be set arbitrarily by the operation unit. In this case, in the second embodiment, the long charging time may be set by adding the overtime to the standard time set by the operation unit.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the charging order and charging time are determined by comparing the measured current value with a threshold value, but it is also possible to determine the charging order and charging time by comparing measured current values with each other. By comparing measured current values in this way, for example, if the order of largest current value is outlet tap 2D, outlet tap 2B, outlet tap 2C, and outlet tap 2A, the order of power storage may be outlet tap 2D, outlet tap 2B, outlet tap 2C, and outlet tap 2A in this modified example, whereas in the above first embodiment, the order of power storage is outlet tap 2B, outlet tap 2D, outlet tap 2A, and outlet tap 2C, making it possible to provide a rotational charging device that can charge devices with a small amount of charge more efficiently.
In addition, in the above embodiment, only one threshold value is set, but there is no problem in setting two or more threshold values, and it is also possible to set three or more types of charging time.

1: Rotational charging device, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D: Outlet tap (power supply unit), 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D: Opening/closing unit, 4: Operation unit, 5: CPU (control unit), 6: Relay control unit, 7: Current measuring unit, 10: Control device.

Claims (2)

A rotational charging device capable of connecting a device that switches from constant current charging to constant voltage charging when a predetermined amount of charge is reached, the device being provided with a power supply unit that supplies charging power to the connected device, the power supply unit being divided into a plurality of groups, and the rotational charging device being configured to perform rotational charging for each of the groups,
a current measuring unit that measures a current flowing through a charging circuit; and a control unit that determines a charging order of the groups in the rotation charging,
A rotational charging device characterized in that before starting the rotational charging, the charging current for each of the groups is measured, and the charging order of the groups is determined so that the group with the largest measured current value is charged first . A rotational charging device capable of connecting a device that switches from constant current charging to constant voltage charging when a predetermined amount of charge is reached, the device being provided with a power supply unit that supplies charging power to the connected device, the power supply unit being divided into a plurality of groups, and the rotational charging device being configured to perform rotational charging for each of the groups,
a current measuring unit that measures a current flowing through a charging circuit; and a control unit that determines a charging time for each of the groups in the rotation charging, and sets a first charging time that is a standard time and a second charging time that is longer than the standard time as the charging time, and further sets a threshold value that is compared with the current value measured by the current measuring unit ,
This rotation charging device is characterized in that before starting the rotation charging, the current related to charging is measured for each of the groups and the measured current value is compared with the threshold value, and the charging time of the group whose measured current value exceeds the threshold value is determined to be the second charging time, while the charging time of the group whose measured current value is equal to or less than the threshold value is determined to be the first charging time .

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