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1. POWER DC IN DISK CAPS SCROLL SPEED KANA GREEN ORANGE RED RED GREEN GREED GREEN RED RED GREEN 1 2 8 41 AS CPU ACTUATED AT HIGH SPEED CLOCK 10Mhz GREEN LIGHT AS CPU ACTUATED AT LOW SPEED CLOCK BMhz RED LIGHT 2 AS BATTERY BEING CHARGED RAPIDLY ORANGE LIGHT AS STATUS OF LOW BATTERY RED FLICKERING LIGHT AS BATTERY HAS BEEN COMPLETED GREEN LIGHT 45 AS AC ADAPTER IS USED OR CHARGING RED LIGHT AS INPUT VOLTAGE OF OR OUTPUT VOLTAGE AT POWER ON TIME IS ABNORMAL RED FLICKERING LIGHT FIG 6 5 239 495 1 POWER SUPPLY CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PORTABLE COMPUTER This application is a continuation of application Ser No 07 541 978 filed Jun 22 1990 now abandoned BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to computers and more specifically the power supply of a portable bat tery operated computer The invention includes both a system and the methods for controlling efficiently the power supply of such a portable computer As is known recently computers have been devel oped which are convenient to carry In conventional computers of these types there are two primary meth ods for supplying the power In one case the power is supplied by an alternating current AC adapter In the other case the power is supplied by internal batteries In these two methods mentioned above the central processing unit hereafter called CPU2. 5 EXPANDED 1 YRS PUNI l EXPANDED CONNECTOR 40 1 10 5 3 POWER SUPPLY VBK CONTROL VPH CIRCUIT VMH VLD 1 M BATT S BATT 3ib Sheet 2 of 8 5 239 495 Aug 24 1993 U S Patent 826 913 GTA HdA Hp 32A mu 10133134 10133134 LN3334095 u3133ANOO2 24 24 O lt LINN 9 ble 2 33110U1NO02 u3183ANO2 2 v a PE RV 926 2 142 i YILdvav ov euu 11 116 LEGIT 1311 0841 9 1 11 WOVE 80 TINdD 13534 WALSAS 391 LOE 90 39V383 1NI 0 1 13 1 U S Patent Aug 24 1993 Sheet 3 of 8 5 239 495 TO POWER ON ROUTINE FIG 3 Sheet 4 of 8 5 239 495 Aug 24 1993 U S Patent GNILNOU 330 YamOd OL Oud 128 330 i3MOd 906 ON NO 5 43 04 SLI 03123 02 N338 SVH LINN ba 55302043 4 18 4 4 15 U S Patent Aug 24 1993 Sheet 5 of 8 5 239 495 B B11 NORMAL CHARGEABLE ES j NO 2 ABNORMAL DISCHARGABLE RR NO NORMAL INPUT OF e AL AP NO YES B2I TRANSMIT SYSTEM POWER OFF REQUEST TO MAIN CPU D FIG 4 b U S Patent Aug 24 1993 Sheet 6 of 8 5 239 495 U S Patent Aug 24 1993 Sheet 8 of 8 5 239 495
3. must always verify the status of the external power supply and the charge level of the internal batteries However in con ventional methods and systems of these types a single CPU also must control the voltages of the external power supply and internal batteries and this creates a burden for one CPU The presently known systems and methods for power supply control using one CPU are not efficient Also the known systems do not include any means for indicating to an operator the voltage or power supply status such as whether or not the power is off SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly an object of the invention is to effi ciently control a chargeable power supply and current flowing from an AC adapter to internal batteries con stantly A further object of the invention is to indicate the status of a power supply for a portable computer Still another object of the invention is to display the status of the power supply of a portable computer to the computer s operator such as whether or not the power is off In accordance with one aspect of the present inven tion the foregoing objects are achieved by providing a power supply control system for a computer having a central processing unit CPU and operable in response to power from a rechargeable battery or an alternating current AC adapter The computer includes a charge circuit for controlling a power from the AC adapter to the rechargeable battery and a power control mi
4. controlling the charging current in accordance with the determination of said status of the charging current and determining a status of a discharging current from the rechargeable battery to the computer and indicating the determined status of a discharging current 31 The method of claim 28 further comprising the steps of determining a power capacity of the rechargeable battery comparing the determined capacity with a reference value determining said status of the power in accordance with a result of the comparison indicating said status of the power 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 32 The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of transmitting a power off request signal from the power control means to the central processing unit of the computer whenever the determined power capacity is below the referenced value 33 The method of claim 28 further comprising the steps of detecting an input voltage of the alternating current adapter comparing the detected input voltage with a refer ence value and indicating a state of the input voltage of the alternat ing current adaptor in accordance with a result of the comparison 34 The method of claim 30 31 or 33 wherein the indicating step includes generating a light control signal representing the operating state of the computer by the power control means to a display medium through a parallel input outpu
5. data to serial data wherein the computer has a system bus coupled to the central processing unit of the computer the inter nal bus means is connected to the power control means and the serial input output interface means and the serial input output interface means is cou pled to the system bus to communicate with the central processing unit of the computer such that the operation of the power control means is not affected by the clock speed of the central process ing unit of the computer 8 power saving system for indicating a status of voltage and current in a computer to an operator the computer having a power switch comprising means for controlling the power regardless of turning the power switch on or off means for detecting an output voltage of an alternat ing current adapter and a rechargeable battery and a current into one or more current detectors cou pled to the adapter means for providing a reference voltage and current means coupled to the detecting means for compar ing the detected voltage and current with the refer ence voltage and current and means coupled to the comparing means for display ing the status of voltage and current in the com puter to the operator in accordance with a result of the comparison such that the display means dis plays a voltage abnormality status whenever a voltage abnormality is present 9 The power saving system of claim 8 wherein the display means includes an
6. BRUCE LEHMAN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
7. 4 a and 4 b illustrate a flowchart of a con trol sequence performed by PC microprocessor 306 of FIG 2 which will be described in detail below FIG 5 is a perspective view of computer system 1 looking from the front thereof when a display cover 401 of computer system 1 is open FIG 5 6 is a perspective view of computer system 1 looking from the rear thereof when display cover 401 is closed As shown in an enlarged area of FIG 5 5 the edges of a push button switch 301 on a side surface 405 of computer body 402 is surrounded by a protect wall la to prevent the operator from unintentionally pushing push button switch 301 while carrying computer system 1 but allow the operator to intentionally push push button switch 301 anytime As shown FIGS 5 a and 5 b LED 5 239 495 5 displays L1 12 and 1 3 etc are disposed an edge portion adjoining surfaces 1 14 of rectangular block 1b and exposed regardless of whether display cover 401 is open or closed Therefore the operator can easily identify the operating states of the components of 5 computer system 1 even when display cover 401 is closed The flowcharts of FIGS 3 4 a and 4 b describe a process whereby PC microprocessor 306 FIG 2 con trols the power supply PC microprocessor 306 in power supply control circuit 30 of FIG 1 detects the ON OFF state of power switch 301 at all times When power switch 301 is off PC microprocessor 306
8. Computer Reference Manual No date Toshiba T5200 Portable Personal Computer Reference Manual No date User s Manual Four bit Microcontroller and Periph eral Memory TLCS 47E 47 470 470A portions of title are in the Japanese language pp 5 211 through 5 223 and unnumbered final page published by Toshiba Corporation dated 1991 Toshiba Desk Station I User s Manual 1990 Primary Examiner Tan V Mai Attorney Agent or Firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett and Dunner 57 ABSTRACT A power supply control system for a portable computer having a central processing unit CPU and operable in response to power supplied from a rechargeable battery or an alternating current AC adapter The control system includes a charge unit for charging the recharge able battery current detectors for detecting power status and a power control microprocessor for control ling the charge unit independently of the CPU in re sponse to a detected power status 45 Claims 8 Drawing Sheets KEYBOARD FOARSES EXPANDED CUR wp c XPANDED CONNECTOR 0 2371 S BATT U S Patent TIMER V BK gt MODULE e Aug 24 1993 Sheet 1 of 8 5 239 495 EXTERNAL LF DD U CONTROLLER I YT S INTERFACE A R T pes 35 KEYBOARD TI LCONTROLLER EY BOARD 36 Loo 1 CRT 1 3
9. LED device capable of dis playing at least two different colors for displaying infor mation representing at least three different kinds of status 10 The power saving system of claim 8 wherein the display means includes a driver circuit coupled to the comparing means for controlling the displaying of the status of voltage and current in accordance with the result of the comparison 11 The power saving system of claim 8 wherein the computer includes a main body having a plurality of operative compo nents each having a predetermined function a display cover having a closed position against the main body and swingable away from the body to an open and viewable position for displaying infor mation 5 239 495 11 the displaying means includes means for displaying operative status of the operative components to the operator at times when the display cover is open or closed 12 The power saving system of claim 8 further com prising means coupled to the detecting means for changing the reference voltage and current in accor dance with the detected voltage and current 13 computer system for controlling direct current power from a rechargeable battery or an alternating current adapter comprising a data processing assembly including central processing unit program storage means for storing programs for controlling the central processing unit and for storing data processing results a backup memory for sto
10. VDC A keyboard controller 23 controls access to a keyboard 36 connected thereto A display controller DISP CONT 24 controls display of data on an LCD 37 A video random access memory VRAM 25 is a refresh memory to store data to be displayed on LCD 37 or CRT display 38 and is provided with VBK A kanji ROM 26 is accessible by kanji character codes and stores kanji character patterns A power supply interface PS IF 28 controls a power supply control circuit 30 and is connected to CPU 11 via a system bus 10 to be shown in FIG 2 in more detail An AC adapter 29 converts an AC voltage 120 V to a DC voltage 12 VDC and is plugged into computer system 1 via a DC in 12 V pack A main battery M BATT 31a and a sub battery S BATT 315 each includes a rechargeable battery i e a nickel cad minum battery to provide 7 8 VDC and may be a removable pack An external floppy disk drive FDD 33 may be con nected to FDC 20F by a cable An RS 232C interface unit 35 is connectable to a serial input output interface UART 22 by a cable and LCD 37 is connected to display controller 24 LCD 37 is provided with a volt age VLD 22 VDC An expanded connector unit 40 is connected to a system bus 10 and is connectable to expanded units not shown by a cable Thus there are several alternatives to choose FIG 2 shows a detailed diagram of the power supply control circuit of FIG 1 In FIG 2 power supply con trol circuit 30 ha
11. process skips to step B27 where a system power off process is performed which is described in detail hereafter If NO in step B7 PC microprocessor 306 determines as in step B8 whether the command is a back light ON OFF request If the determination in step B8 is YES PC microprocessor 306 sends a turn off signal to back light controller 308 through parallel I O interface 305 and back light controller 308 turns off the back light in response as in step B9 and then the process advances to B11 If the determination in step B8 is NO it is determined as in step B10 whether AC adapter 29 is in use If it is in use a red light or red flickering light in LED L3 is activated in accordance with an output control signal from PC microprocessor 306 as in step B10 Also PC microprocessor 306 sends a low battery state signal to CPU 11 through S10 inter face 317 When a POPUP menu on the display 37 is called the amount of power remaining in M BATT 31a is displayed as of seven levels If the determination in step B6 is NO it is determined in step B11 whether a value representing the current from charge unit 311 detected by current detector 312 and a value representing the current from M BATT 31 to DC DC converter 315 detected by current detector 314 are transferred i e the current value detected by current detector 314 subtracted from the current value detected by current detector 312 is within a predeter mined range betwee
12. state of mode switch 304 15 expanded unit 40 is used by the computer then it is determined in step B3 whether DC DC converter 315 supplies predetermined voltages of for example 5 VDC 12 VDC 9 VDC and 22 VDC to the computer s components which voltages are sent to PC microprocessor 306 through A D converter 316 If the determination in step B3 is NO then as in step B26 PC microprocessor 306 sends a signal to LED driver 309 through parallel I O interface 305 to activate LED L3 to flicker red light 5 239 495 7 If the determination in step B3 is YES then as in step B4 PC microprocessor 306 outputs a system reset sig nal to a system reset controller 330 through parallel I O interface 305 and system reset controller 330 in turn sends the system reset signal to CPU 11 CPU 11 sets up the computer s components in response to the system reset signal In step 5 as in step B3 it is determined whether DC DC converter 315 supplies predetermined voltages to the computer components If the determination in step 5 is NO the process skips to step B26 If the determination in step B5 is YES it is determined as in step B6 whether CPU 11 has sent a command to PC microprocessor 306 through PS IF 28 of FIG 1 and serial I O interface 317 of FIG 2 If the determination in step B6 is YES it is deter mined as in step B7 Whether the command is a System Power Off Command If the determination in step B7 is YES the
13. D 37 in response to a set of variable registers to control the intensity of back light of LCD 37 An LED driver 309 controls an LED 1 1 for indicating the ON OFF state 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 of power switch 301 and the actuating speed of CPU 11 as shown FIG 5 in more detail LED L2 for indicating the capacity state of the battery as shown FIG 5 in more detail and an LED L3 for indicating whether AC adapter 29 of FIG 1 is present as shown FIG 5 in more detail Each LED displays L1 L2 and L3 each may display three different colors e g red green and orange as shown in FIG 6 in more detail For example when the green light of LED is on CPU 11 is actuated at a high speed clock frequency of 10 MHz When the red light of LED L1 is on CPU 11 is actuated at a low speed clock frequency of 8 MHz When the orange light of LED L2 is on batteries M BATT 314 and S BATT 315 are charged rapidly When the red light of LED 1 2 is flickering 314 is in a low battery state When the green light of LED L2 is on charging of M BATT is completed When the red light of LED L3 is on AC adapter 29 of FIG 1 is in use or charging When the red light of LED L3 is flickering an abnor mality is present in the input voltage of AC adapter 29 or in the output voltage at the power on time or in the self test of the power supply control circuit A digital to analog D A
14. United States Patent Nanno et al 54 POWER SUPPLY CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PORTABLE COMPUTER Nobuyki Nanno Kazuo Akashi Hiromi Seimiya all of Tokyo Japan Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Kanagawa Japan 21 Appl No 929 498 22 Filed Aug 18 1992 75 Inventors 73 Assignee Related U S Application Data 63 Continuation of Ser No 541 978 Jun 22 1990 aban doned 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Jun 23 1989 JP Jun 23 1989 JP 1 162228 1 162229 Jun 23 1989 JP 1 162231 Jun 23 1989 JP 1 162234 51 Inf ite 06 1 00 52 US Cl isses 364 707 364 708 1 58 Field of Search 364 707 708 371 66 156 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 667 289 5 1987 Yoshida et al 364 707 X 4 769 764 9 1988 Levanon 4 788 658 11 1988 Hanebuth 4 858 162 8 1989 Kieffer et al 364 708 4 945 280 7 1990 Beghelli 315 129 4 984 185 1 199 Saito 364 707 5 008 846 4 1991 Inoue 364 707 5 021 983 6 1991 Nguyen etal 364 707 POWER SUPPLY VBK 1 CONTROL v CIRCUIT US005239495A 1 Patent Number 5 239 495 45 Date of Patent Aug 24 1993 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0273322 7 1988 European Pat Off OTHER PUBLICATIONS Toshiba T1600 Portable Personal Computer User s Manual no date Toshiba T5100 Portable Personal
15. as possible until the power is turned off When the save operation is completed CPU 11 sends a System Power Off Command to PC microprocessor 306 and enters a halt HL T mode 5 239 495 9 When PC microprocessor 306 receives the system power off command it returns the ACK signal to CPU 11 cuts off the power to the computer compo nents and the process advances to the power off rou tine As mentioned above PC microprocessor 306 per forms the power off routine shown in FIG 3 when the power to the computer components is stopped and performs the power on routine shown in FIG 4 and 4 b when the power is supplied to them Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings It is therefor to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the present invention can be practiced in a manner other than as specifically described herein What is claimed is 1 A power supply control system for controlling direct current power from a rechargeable battery or an alternating current adapter to supply to a computer having a central processing unit comprising charge circuit means coupled to the adapter and the battery for charging the battery means for coupling the adapter or the battery to the computer to transmit power thereto detection means coupled to the charge circuit means and the battery and generating status signals corre sponding to a plu
16. at the expanded unit is being used by the computer if the first power switch is in the on state and outputting a system reset signal to each of the com puter components after an on off state of the mode switch is determined so as to set up the computer 45 The method of claim 44 wherein the controlling method further includes the step of third determining whether predetermined voltages are supplied to the input terminals of the computer and operating the power control means to generate a light control signal to a display medium through an input output interface to represent the operating state of the computer if the third determining step determines that abnormal voltages are being sup plied to the computer UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENTNO 5 239 495 DATED August 24 1993 INVENTOR S NANNO et al It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below IN THE CLAIMS Claim 1 column 9 line 31 change coupler to coupled Claim 2 column 9 line 37 change of to for Claim 5 column 9 line 68 change an to and Claim 10 column 10 line 2 change forth to fourth Claim 13 column 11 line 23 change altrnating to alternating Claim 17 column 12 line 12 insert after switch Signed and Sealed this Eleventh Day of October 1994
17. changing step from changing the de tected power whenever the closed state of the display switch is determined 28 A method for controlling a power to a computer having input terminals for the power from a recharge able battery or an alternating current adapter a central processing unit for processing data a power switch for indicating an operating state of the computer and a power control means for controlling the power com prising the steps of first determining whether specified commands are being received from the central processing unit of the computer detecting an operational state of the power switch counting a predetermined time corresponding to the operational state and changing the power after counting a predetermined time or after the receiving specified commands 29 The method of claim 28 wherein said computer has a back light and wherein the first determining step includes determining whether the power control means has received a back light off command to turn the back light off or a system power off command to turn the power off and further comprising the step of generating a signal corresponding to the back light off command in response to the determination of the receipt by the power control means of the back light off com mand 30 The method of claim 28 further comprising the steps of determining a status of a charging current from the alternating current adaptor to the rechargeable battery
18. converter 310 converts a digital output signal from PC microprocessor 306 to an analog charge control signal and sends the charge control signal to charge unit 311 Charge unit 311 which has a 256 bit DC DC converter charges M BATT 31a in accor dance with the charge control signal from D A con verter 310 Current detector 312 detects a direct current to both M BATT and DC DC converter 315 319 and a cur rent detector 314 detects a direct current to DC DC converter 315 alone DC DC converter 315 converts a DC voltage 12 VDC from AC adapter 29 or M BATT 31 to a power supply voltage of for example 5 VDC 12 VDC 9 VDC and 22 VDC to be supplied to computer system 1 An analog to digital A D converter 316 converts analog input voltages which are associated with de tected current of the current detectors 312 and 314 an output voltage of M BATT 31 the power supply volt ages and the input voltage of the AC adapter etc to a digital voltage for PC microprocessor 306 A D con verter 316 may have an 8 channel analog input terminal so as to equally divide the input analog voltages into 255 sections A serial 1 O interface 317 communicates com mands sent between PC microprocessor 306 and CPU 11 A charge unit 318 charges S BATT 315 and DC DC converter 319 DC DC converter 319 converts a voltage from charge unit 318 and S BATT 319 to VBK to be supplied to expanded RAM 18 backup RAM 19 and VRAM 25 of FIG 1 FIGS 3
19. cro processor independent of the CPU for controlling the charge circuit and a detector for supplying status sig nals representing a plurality of conditions associated with the AC adapter to the microprocessor wherein the battery or the charge circuit and the power control microprocessor includes a circuit for generating control signals to control the charge circuit in response to the status signal In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a power supply control system for indicating the status of voltage and current in a computer system includes means for monitoring the status of the voltage from an AC adapter and at least one rechargeable battery and the current flowing from current detectors com parison means for comparing a detected voltage and 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 2 current with a reference voltage and current and means coupled to a plurality of display elements for displaying the status of voltage and current in response to the comparison means whereby the display element shows a low battery state when the detected voltage is below the reference voltage and a voltage abnormality state when a voltage abnormality is present Other objects features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples while indicating preferred e
20. ered off the display is open and the power switch is in the ON state in accordance with a result of said first and second determinations and changing the OFF operational state of the computer to the ON state in accordance with the power on control signal 41 method for controlling a power to a computer having a computer body a power switch in an ON or OFF state depending on whether the computer is pow ered on or off being connected to the computer body a display cover having a closed position against the com puter body and swingable away from the body to an open and viewable position and a display switch in an ON or OFF state depending on whether the display cover is open or closed comprising the steps of first determining an ON OFF state of each of the power and display switches second determining an operational state of the com puter generating a power off control signal when the com puter is powered on the display cover is open and the power switch is in the ON state and changing the ON state of the computer to the OFF state in accordance with the power off control signal 42 A method for controlling power application to a computer having input terminals for power from a re chargeable battery or an alternating current adapter a central processing unit for processing data a power switch for indicating an operating state of the computer continuously energized power control means for con trolling power applicati
21. es not fall outside the predetermined range it is determined in step A8 whether the voltage of charge unit 311 at the point C in FIG 2 is within a predetermined range be tween 5 VDC and 10 5 VDC If it is not within the predetermined range the process returns to step A2 If it is within the predetermined range the process ad vances to step A9 In step A9 it is determined whether the current of charge unit 311 is higher than 680 mA for example If it is not higher in step A9 charge unit 311 performs one Step up in step A11 A voltage between 3 0 VDC and 11 0 VDC from charge unit 311 is divided by an integer 256 called step and is added to the voltage charging M BATT 31a in accordance with a control signal from PC microprocessor 306 through D A con verter 310 If it is higher in step A9 charge unit 311 performs a one step down In step A10 the voltage charging M BATT 31a is reduced by the one step in accordance with a control signal from PC microproces sor 306 through D A converter 310 When steps 10 or 11 are completed in step A12 it is determined whether display cover 401 is open or closed in accordance with a switch signal representing the ON OFF state of display switch 303 which signal is transferred to parallel I O interface 305 To detect the ON OFF state of switch 303 a line connecting switch 303 to parallel I O interface 305 is set in advance at a signal high level 1 When display cover 401 is closed Swi
22. exe cutes the power off routine shown in FIG 3 As shown in FIG 3 when power switch 301 is on 15 the ON state of power switch 301 is held in parallel 1 interface 305 and a corresponding state signal is sent to PC microprocessor 301 PC microprocessor 301 knowledges the ON state of power switch 306 in step 13 In steps 14 and 15 the ON state of power switch 306 is acknowledged The time of switching on power switch 306 by the operator is detected and then a counter CTR not shown increments one value 1 and process steps of A1 through A15 are repeated until CTR counts to a predetermined value In step A1 it is determined whether the M BATT s voltage exceeds 10 VDC A signal representing M voltage value at point C in FIG 2 is sent to PC microprocessor 306 through A D converter 316 If the determination in step A1 is NO PC microprocessor sends a signal to activate a red light in LED L2 to flicker LED driver 309 sends the signal through paral lel I O interface 305 in step A2 and the process returns to step A1 If the determination in step A1 is YES it is deter mined in step A3 whether AC adapter 29 is in use The voltage value transferred to PC microprocessor 306 through A D converter 316 is anywhere between 0 4 VDC and 10 VDC If the determination in step A3 is NO the process advances to step A12 If the determination in step A3 is YES it is deter mined in step A4 whether the voltage value s
23. harge unit and the power control means for providing an analog control signal corresponding to said control signals 5 The power supply control system of claim 1 wherein the detection means includes first means for detecting a direct current from the charge unit means to the rechargeable battery at the power off time of the computer and second means for detecting a direct cur rent to the computer at the power on of the computer an third means for detecting a direct current from the 5 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 charge unit means and the rechargeable battery and forth means for detecting a direct current from the rechargeable battery as the AC adapter is not plugged in and the power supply control system further comprises an analog to digital converter coupled to the de tection means for providing a digital signal corre sponding to a detected current and said coupling means including a direct current direct current converter coupled to the detection means and the rechargeable battery for providing the power of the computer 6 The power supply control system of claim 1 fur ther comprising internal bus means for transmitting signals between the detecting means and the power control means and between the power control means and the charge circuit means 7 power supply control system of claim 6 fur ther comprising a serial input output interface means for changing
24. mbodiments of the inven tion are given by way of illustration only since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a power supply control system with a power control circuit for use in a computer system according to one embodiment of this invention FIG 2 is a detailed diagram of the power control circuit of FIG 1 FIG 3 4 a and flowcharts illustrating control sequences associated with the power control circuit of FIG 1 FIG 5 a perspective top view of a computer system according to an embodiment the present invention FIGS 5 b and 5 c show another perspective view of the computer system of FIG 5 a and FIG 6 is a diagram illustrating how the operating states of the computer system are displayed in the LEDs used in conjunction with the invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a power supply control system with a power control microprocessor for use in a computer system according to one embodiment of this invention As illustrated computer system 1 includes various computer c
25. n 255 mA 10 for example If the determination in step B11 is NO it is determined as in step B12 whether the current value from M BATT 31a is abnormal for the system M BATT 31a may not be charged up If YES in step B12 as in step B26 LED 1 2 is system activated to flicker red light If NO in step B12 as in step B13 charge unit 311 performs the same steps as in steps A8 A11 If the determination in step B11 is YES as in step B14 it is determined whether the state and the manner for calculating the amount of the remaining power of the remaining capacity of M BATT 31a is low Detec tion of the low battery state and a method of calculating an amount of remaining power is explained in detail in a copending U S patent application Ser No 07 134 370 of the same assignee PC microprocessor 306 changes a battery voltage value when the low battery state is detected in accordance with the current and voltage from M BATT 31a so as to ensure accurate detection of the low battery state If the determination in step B14 is NO the process skips to step B17 0 15 20 45 50 55 65 8 If YES step as in step B15 PC microproces sor 306 determines whether the voltage from M BATT 31a to DC DC converter 315 is below the changed low battery value If the determination in step B15 is NO LED L2 is actuated to flicker red light in response to an output control signal from PC microprocessor 306 The
26. n as in step B17 it is determined whether AC adapter 29 is in use If the determination in step B17 is NO the process skips to step B20 If YES in step B17 as in step B18 it is determined whether the voltage from AC adapter 29 is 100 VDC or 0 VDC If the determina tion in step B18 is NO the process advances to step B26 If it is YES in step B18 as in step B19 LED 13 is activated to flicker red light in accordance with an output control signal from PC microprocessor 306 In step B20 it is determined whether the ON OFF state of reset switch 302 is detected which is transferred through parallel I O interface 305 If the determination in step B20 is NO as in step B22 it is determined whether the ON OFF state of display switch 303 is detected i e whether display cover 401 is open If YES in step B22 the process returns to step B3 If NO in step B22 as in step B23 PC microprocessor 306 determines whether the ON OFF state of power switch 301 is detected If a signal transferred through parallel I O interface 306 is at a logical level 1 the process returns to step B3 If the signal is at a logical level 0 as in step B24 PC microprocessor 301 confirms the ON state of the power switch and CTR increments by one 1 In step B25 it is determined whether CTR has counted up to a predetermined value M If NO in step B25 the process returns to step B3 In step B15 or step B20 or B25 if the determination is YES the process ad
27. nt in accordance with the detected status determining an operational state of the power switch counting a predetermined time corresponding to the determined operational state and changing the detected power after counting the pre determined time 18 The method of claim 17 wherein the controlling step includes detecting an output voltage of the charge unit comparing the detected output voltage with a refer ence voltage and indicating a voltage status of the charge unit in accor dance with a result of the comparison 19 The method of claim 17 wherein the controlling step includes detecting the charging current comparing the detected charging current with a ref erence current and changing an output voltage of the charge unit in accordance with a result of the comparison 20 The method of claim 19 wherein the output voltage changing substep includes increas ing the output voltage of the charge unit whenever the detected current is higher than the reference current and decreasing the output voltage when ever the detected current is lower than the refer ence current 21 The method of claim 17 wherein the controlling step includes detecting a current from the charge unit to the re chargeable battery comparing the detected current with a reference current and indicating a status of current of the charge unit when ever the detected current is within a predetermined range 22 The method of claim 17 further compri
28. ompo nents as follows A CPU 11 operates computer system 1 with pro grams stored ina ROM 12 and RAM 13 ROM 12 stores a basic input or output system program and RAM 13 stores application programs and data for use by an oper ator direct memory access controller DMAC 14 controls and sends data directly between RAM 13 and an input output apparatus for example a hard disk drive HDD 20A and a floppy disk drive FDD 32 etc apart from CPU 11 A programmable interrupt controller PIC 15 a programmable interval timer PIT 16 and a timer mod ule 17 having a real time clock with a backup voltage hereafter called of 5 VDC are provided An expanded RAM 18 using particular card slots provides VBK A backup RAM 19 having display data therein stores the contents of a program counter for a current ly running program various registers and a memory and I O statuses so that it can restart an interrupted job when repowered A hard disk pack 20 which fits particular card slots includes 2 5 inch hard disk drive HDD 20A and a hard disk controller HDC 20B A floppy disk controller 5 239 495 3 FDC 20F controls access to floppy disk drive FDD 32 connected thereto A printer controller PRT CONT 21 controls access to a printer 34 connected thereto by a cable A universal asynchronous receiver transmitter UART 22 is a serial input output interface provided with a voltage VPH 12 VDC and a voltage VMH 9
29. on to the computer and a de 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 16 tachable hard disk pack storing data to be processed by the central processing unit the method comprising the steps of first determining whether specified commands are being received by the power control means from the central processing unit of the computer second determining whether the power switch is in an on state or an off state and changing the state of the power switch after receiv ing the specified commands if the power is in the on state 43 The method of claim 42 wherein the first deter mining step includes determining whether the power control means has received a back light off command to turn the back light off 44 A method for controlling the operation of a com puter the computer including power control means controlling power application to the computer and having input terminals for power from an alternating current adapter or a rechargeable battery a central processing unit for processing data a first power switch for indicating an operating state of the computer mode switch means for indicating whether an expanded unit is connected to the computer and a second power switch for indicating whether the expanded unit is turned on comprising the steps of first determining whether the first power switch is in an on state second determining whether the mode switch is in an on state which indicates th
30. rality of predetermined system conditions related to the operating status of at least the adapter and the battery and power contro means separate from the central pro cessing unit being coupler to the detection means and generating control signals in accordance with said status signals to control the charging of the battery by said charge circuit means 2 The power supply control system of claim 1 wherein the computer includes a plurality of switches each of providing a predetermined function and the power supply control system further comprises input output circuit means coupled to said switches and the power control means for detect ing an ON OFF state of each of the plurality of switches and for providing a signal for each de tected ON OFF state thereby controlling the op eration of the power control means corresponding to the signal 3 The power supply control system of claim 1 wherein the computer includes a back up RAM and a video RAM and wherein the one or more rechargeable batteries include a main battery for supplying a main power to the computer and a sub battery for supplying a back up power to the back up RAM and the video RAM 4 The power supply control system of claim 1 wherein the charge circuit means includes a charge unit for controlling the output voltage of the adapter and the rechargeable battery and the power supply control system further comprises a digital to analog converter coupled to the c
31. ring data during a save operation a keyboard for inputting data and commands and means for displaying the data processing results and a status of the direct current power and a power supply control means including charge circuit means connectable to the altrnating current adapter for controlling a power from the alternating current adapter to the recharge able battery power supply means coupled to the charge circuit means and the rechargeable battery for provid ing a power from one of the rechargeable battery and the charge circuit means to the computer detection means coupled to the rechargeable bat tery and the charge circuit means for detecting a status of power from one of the rechargeable battery and the charge circuit means to the power supply means and for generating a signal associated with the power status and power control means coupled to the detection means and to the data processing assembly for controlling the charge circuit means for control ling the power in accordance with the signal 14 An apparatus for controlling a power to a com puter having a power switch for indicating an opera tional state of the computer and display switch for indi cating an open or closed state of display cover compris ing means for detecting a state of said power means for determining an operational state of the power switch and display switch means coupled to said determining means for count ing a predete
32. rmined time corresponding to a deter mined operational state of the power switch and means coupled to said detecting means for inhibiting to change a detected state of the power whenever the closed state of the display cover is determined 15 The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said determin ing means includes parallel input output interface means for detecting a logical state of the power switch and display switch and means for supplying the logical state of the power switch and display switch through the parallel input output interface means further comprising power control means coupled to the determining means for providing the opera tional state of the power switch and display switch in accordance with the logical state of the power switch and display switch 16 The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said counting means includes a carry counter 5 10 15 20 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 17 method for controlling power from chargeable battery alternating current adapter to a computer having a central processing unit a power switch for indicating an operating state of the computer means for charging the rechargeable battery with a charging current from the alternating current adapter and power control means for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery comprising the steps of detecting a status of said charging current and power controlling said charging curre
33. s a built in 4 bit single chip power control microprocessor PC microprocessor 306 which may be a Toshiba module TMP47C440AF Power contro microprocessor 306 is constantly pro vided a power from M BATT 31a PC microprocessor 306 includes a CPU a RAM for storing data and a ROM for storing a control program for example a program for calculating the remaining capacity of M BATT 31 i e a low battery state and for including a low battery table which is used to detect low battery states with a detected voltage and charging current PC microprocessor 306 controls power to the computer components of computer system 1 in accordance with a current state from a charge unit 311 to M BATT 31a and a DC DC converter 315 which current state is detected by current detectors 312 and 314 and an ON OFF state of power switch 301 a reset switch 302 a display switch 303 and a mode switch 304 A parallel T O interface 305 is connected to power switch 301 and reset switch 302 for initializing the computer compo nents of computer system 1 Display switch 303 supplies a power to LCD 37 and mode switch 304 is set the mode to actuate the expanded unit of computer system 1 Parallel I O interface 305 holds the ON OFF states of switches 301 304 and sends a value representing the ON OFF states of these switches to PC microproces sor 306 via an internal bus 307 or to DC DC converter 315 and 319 directly A back light controller 308 supplies a power to LC
34. s including means for deter mining the operational state of the computer means for providing a control signal in accordance with said operational state and means coupled to the power control means for con trolling an ON OFF state of the power supply circuit means in accordance with said control sig nal 38 The power supply control system of claim 37 wherein the power supply circuit means includes a direct current to direct current converter coupled to the means for controlling an ON OFF state for provid ing said power to the computer in accordance with a controlled ON OFF state 39 The power supply control system of claim 37 wherein the means for determining an operational state 5 239 495 15 includes means for determining whether the computer is use 40 A method for controlling a power to a computer having a computer body a power switch in an ON or OFF state depending on whether the computer is pow ered on or off being connected to the computer body a display cover having a closed position against the com puter body and swingable away from the body to an open and viewable position and a display switch in an ON or OFF state depending on whether the display cover is open or closed comprising the steps of first determining an ON OFF state of each of the power and display switches second determining an operational state of the com puter generating a power on control signal when the com puter is pow
35. sing the steps of detecting a power capacity of the rechargeable bat tery comparing the detected capacity with a reference value and indicating a status of power capacity of the recharge able battery in accordance with a result of the comparison 23 method of claim 17 further comprising the steps of detecting an input voltage of the alternating current adapter comparing the detected input voltage with a refer ence voltage and indicating a status of input voltage of the alternating current adapter in accordance with a result of the comparison 24 The method of claim 18 21 22 or 23 wherein the indicating step includes generating a light control signal representing the operating state of the computer and 5 239 495 13 providing the generating control signal to display medium 25 The method of claim 24 wherein said control signal generating substep includes displaying informa tion associated with the light control signal in at least two different colors 26 The method of claim 17 further comprising the steps of comparing the counted certain value with a reference value and controlling said power to the computer in accordance with a result of the comparison 27 The method of claim 17 wherein the computer includes a a display switch for indicating an open or closed state of a display cover the method further com prising the steps of determining the state of the display switch inhibiting the
36. t interface 35 The method of claim 34 wherein the light control signal generating substep includes displaying informa tion associated with the light control signal in at least two different colors 36 The method of claim 28 further comprising the steps of transmitting a power off request signal to the central processing unit of the computer after counting the predetermined time interrupting a running of programs by the central processing unit of the computer saving information necessary to restart the inter rupted program by the central processing unit of the computer transmitting a power off command signal from the central processing unit of the computer and effecting the termination of said power to the com puter 37 A power supply control system for controlling direct current power from a rechargeable battery or an alternating current adapter to a computer having a computer body and having a central processing unit for processing data a power switch for indicating an opera tional state of the computer comprising power supply circuit means connectable to the re chargeable battery or an alternating current adapter for supplying said power of the computer including power control means coupled to the power switch and the display switch for controlling the power from one of the battery and the alternating current adapter independently of the central processing unit of the computer said power control mean
37. tch 303 is activated to ground the line thus changing the line s logical level from 1 to 0 If display cover 401 is closed in step A12 the process advances to step A1 If display cover 401 is open in step A12 the process advances to step A13 The power off routine from steps A1 to A13 is re peated until the operator activates power switch 301 In step A13 it is determined whether power switch 301 is being turned on Step A13 may be performed for exam ple for 0 4 sec If it is CTR counts up to a predeter mined value N and a power on routine B shown in FIGS 4 a and 4 b is performed As shown in FIGS and 5 the power on rou tine commences in step B1 In step B1 PC microproces sor 306 sends a control signal to converter controllers 326 and 328 through parallel I O interface 305 Con verter controller 326 and 328 control DC DC converter 315 319 respectively in accordance with the control signal turn on switches 322 and 324 respectively at O VDC Then the power is supplied to the components of computer system 1 In step B2 it is determined whether expanded unit 40 is connected to expanded connector unit 40 and its power switch is turned on in accordance with a switch signal representing the ON OFF state of mode switch 304 which signal is provided to parallel I O interface 305 If the determination in step B2 is NO the expanded unit 40 is not used by the computer If it is determined in step B2 that the
38. upplied from AC adapter 29 is within a predetermined range between 11 VDC and 16 VDC If it is outside the prede termined range the process jumps to step A2 If it is within the predetermined range the process advances to step A5 where PC microprocessor 306 sends a signal to LED driver 309 through parallel I O interface 305 to activate a red light in LED L3 In step A6 it is determined whether a charge current supplied to M BATT 31a from charge unit 311 is within a predetermined range between 680 mA and 340 mA for example by detecting a current at point C of FIG 2 by current detector 312 which detected current is transferred to PC microprocessor 306 through A D converter 316 If the detected charged current is within the predetermined range then in step A7 PC micro processor 306 sends a control signal to LED driver 309 through parallel I O interface 305 to activate an orange light in LED L2 to flash when the detected charge current is within the predetermined range or to activate a green light in LED L2 to flash at other times repre senting an adequate charge capacity of M BATT 31 i e the time PC microprocessor 306 detects the charg ing capacity Av of 310 By driving LEDs having multiple colors the operational state of the computer system is indicated in detail even when display cover 401 is being closed 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 6 If in step A6 the detected charged current do
39. vances to step B21 and then step B27 wherein PC microprocessor 306 sends the Sys tem Power Off Request to computer system 1 through serial I O interface 317 and PS IF 28 In response to the system power off request signal CPU 11 sends an ACK to PC microprocessor 306 When PC microprocessor 306 does not receive the signal it determines that abnormalities e g a program overturn are present in computer system 1 and performs power off sequence to protect HDD 20 When it receives the signal it waits for the System Power Off Request from CPU 11 for above minute above five minutes in lower battery state When PC microprocessor receives the System Power Off Request from CPU 11 it returns the signal to CPU 11 The CPU 11 interrupts the program currently running and saves the contents of RAM 13 RAM 18 the I O statuses the contents of the registers etc into backup RAM 19 having a memory capacity of for example 16K bytes If FDD 32 or HDD 20A is accessed the save operation is also per formed after an access end is reached Resume Func tion If PC microprocessor 306 waits for one minute or five minutes but still does not receive the System Power Off Command from CPU 11 it sends a Time Out Power Off Request to CPU 11 When CPU 11 receives the Time Out Power Off Request it returns the ACK signal to PC micro processor 306 and performs the save operation as much
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