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1. 30N33 3 J 1 JIYA ASt 259 ZH 006 1594 TVN9IS 135390 WN9IS 1 3534 WNOIS AYSLLVE MOT Hd Zhd i 1 2 8 IVN9IS 0d JOYNLNOD l1ndlno P t LNdLNO NOISSINSNVH L 7 35 HOLIMS 9 IndNI 39VL10A 901VNV NOISSINSNVH L IV143S O9d 2 8 LdOJH3 LNI lndlnO YAWIL 900 HOLVM 6 5 339 446 Sheet 3 of 6 Aug 16 1994 H3MOd JO lN3W31dd0S 9015 9v 3oNano3s JJO 43MOd WHodH3d Gv 3OOW 17H NI M31N3 GNVWWOO 43 40 3904 QN3S W3 LSAS GNSS NOI 1VH3dO ER Q3AI3O3M 51 ONVAWOO JAYS JO NOILLJ1dWOO NOdn vg a JJO H3MOd WALSAS J tV 34J0 H3MOd WALSAS cy OL gins LS3n034 195390 3AVS WMHOdM3d 0 35 Q3AI3O3H SI 4JO0 M3 Od LNO SWIL GN3S 03594773 SVH S3 LONIW U S Patent a dJO M3MOd LNO dl 3Al34 YO SLANIW H3ldV CV 440 M3MOd LNO AWIL by OL dIMS Q3AI3O34M 51 QNVWWOO Q3Ll3 dWOO SI JJO J3MOd 5 dl SS3OOV 314 Q3WHO433d SI 11 8 HOS NOILVH3dO 3 VS 4355320 S3LnNIN 4 SLANIW ONISS SI QGH SO 003 Ji ONVIWWOO 340 43MOd dn 5va W3lSAS lIVM Q3AI3933 NI 5 316193 QNV Sn LV LS Sl XOV dl SV OL dbis O 1 AYOWSW dO S LN3 LNOO Q3AI32934M LON SI HOV 31 CV SAVS ONY G3SLNDAX3S SNI38 WVY90Yd LdN
2. 4 143 283 3 1979 Graf et al 364 900 4 193 025 3 1980 Frailing et al 4 198 698 4 1980 Ongetal 4 203 153 5 1980 Boyd 4 234 920 11 1980 Van Ness et al 364 200 4 307 455 12 1981 Juhasz et al s 364 900 4 365 290 12 1982 Nelms et al 4 422 163 12 1983 Oldenkamp 4 458 307 7 1984 McAnlis et al 364 200 List continued on next page FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0164890 12 1985 European Pat Off 58 72266 4 1983 Japan 1 26086 5 1983 Japan 59 33521 2 1984 Japan 61 214042 9 1986 Japan 21219714 1 1984 United Kingdom OTHER PUBLICATIONS IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol 27 No 4A Sep 1984 Toshiba Personal Computer T1100 Plus Owner s Man ual Toshiba Corporation Apr 1986 T1200 Portable Personal Computer User s Manual Toshiba America Inc 1987 List continued on next page Primary Examiner Kevin A Kriess Attorney Agent or Firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett amp Dunner 57 ABSTRACT A power supply for use in a computer system according to this invention has a one chip microcomputer having built in A D converter The microcomputer which has a communication function performs power off sequence for a computer system and a power off se quence for a hard disk drive built in the computer sys tem while communicating with the computer system Further the microcomputer detects the voltage and current of a
3. To start the self test 9 ACK To inform a signal reception completed The system power off sequence will now be ex plained referring to FIGS 3 and 4 As shown in FIG 3 upon detection of the off state of power switch 13 or the low battery signal of battery 7 the IPS sends the 5 5 tem Power Off Request to computer system 11 In response to this request signal computer system 11 returns the ACK to the IPS When the ACK does not return to the IPS the IPS discriminates that some kind of abnormality such as a program overrun has occurred on the computer system side and performs the HDD power off sequence to protect HDD 27 HDD 27 is generally driven at a high speed so that abrupt turn ing off of the motor of HDD 27 may crash the head 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 6 Therefore the motor should be stopped after the head is retracted to a shipping zone HDD 27 assembled in computer system 11 has a function to automatically move the head to the shipping zone when the 12 V power for the motor one of three types of powers 12 V and 5 V for the motor and 4 5 V for the circuitry supplied to HDD 27 is turned off first The IPS turns the 5 V off and after for example 3 seconds turns the 4 5 V and V ccr 5 V off This can ensure the retraction of the head Upon reception of the ACK the IPS waits for the System Power Off Command from com
4. a charge completion display section means for calculating a charged capacitance and a remaining capacitance of said battery and a charg ing time based on a value of a current flowing from said battery means for determining the completion of charging said battery from said calculated charged capaci tance remaining capacitance and charging time and means for causing said charge completion display section to indicate said completion of charging 24 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said power output section includes an AC adapter input voltage display section means for detecting an input voltage of said AC adapter and means for causing said AC adapter input voltage display section to indicate a voltage abnormality when said voltage abnormality occurs 25 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said computer system includes power switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a computer system assembly disk switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a disk drive and reset switch means for indicating a system initializa tion and wherein said power control section includes means for detecting an ON or OFF signal from said power switch disk switch and reset switch and means for outputting a signal to either supply power or inhibit the supply of power to said power output section 26 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said power cont
5. section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section having coupling means for connecting said power control system through a serial transmission path means including a microcomputer for detecting a degradation of said power supply section output voltage indicative of impending power failure for receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said serial transmission path to command a save oper ation to be performed by said computer system the computer system saving at least contents of the main memory and the registers into the bat tery backed up RAM in response to the system power off request signal and for receiving an acknowledgment signal through said serial trans mission path to confirm the completion of said save operation and means for transmitting said power off signal to said power output section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said acknowledgment signal 13 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said power output section includes means for supplying power to said battery for a charging operation and wherein said power control section includes a charge completion display se
6. therefore the power sup ply would be stopped before the save operation is com pleted As a result when the power is supplied again to continue an interrupted program the program may overrun In addition detection of a low battery in a conven tional battery driven computer system is determined only by a battery voltage With this method however when a load status changes a low battery time cannot be accurately detected SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above in mind therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a power supply for use in a computer system which has a microcomputer built therein so that it can confirm a save operation of the computer system by communicating with the computer system through the microcomputer and can stop the power supply to the system after the confirmation To achieve the above object a power supply for use in a computer system of this invention comprises a power supply section constituted by at least one of a battery and an alternating current AC adapter a power control section having a microcomputer and coupled to the power supply section and the computer system through a serial transmission path for sending an externally supplied power off request signal to the computer system and outputting a power off signal upon reception of a power off acknowledge signal from the computer system and 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 a power output
7. any of a battery and adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section including controler means for automatical detecting a presence or absence of the AC adapter and the battery from a first reference voltage represent ing a driving voltage of the controller means a second reference voltage representing a maxi mum voltage of the battery and an analog input voltage input to the power control section such that the presence of both the AC adapter and the battery are detected when the analog input volt age is less than the second reference voltage the absence of the AC adapter and the presence of 5 339 446 21 the battery detected when the analog input voltage is between the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage and the presence of the AC adapter and the absence of the battery are detected when the analog input voltage is greater than or equal to the second reference voltage 66 The system according to claim 65 wherein said data processor assembly includes means for upon re ception of said power off request signal from said power contro section causing said central processing un
8. capacitance to the remaining capacitance RC and changes the color LED from the red LED to the green therefore CC 0 and 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 above process prevent excess charging thus preventing the battery life from being shortened The chargeable battery is detachable Therefore it is necessary to detect the detachable state of the battery in order to control the charging operation and calculate the accurate battery capacitance The relationship be tween the battery voltage and the analog input voltage of microcomputer 19 is given as follows Battery Status Battery Present No Battery AC adapter in use AC adapter input V par lt 9 8 V 9 8 V present No AC adapter input 5V lt Vpar lt 9 8 V FIG 6 illustrates an example of a battery monitoring circuit built in power supply section 1 As shown in FIG 6 an input voltage of 12 V is input from AC adapter 9 to a voltage divider 55 through a Zener diode 53 The 1 voltage divider 55 divides the input voltage Vin into 1 and supplies the resultant voltage to analog input terminal Ain of microcomputer 19 voltage from AC adapter 9 is also reduced through a resistor 57 to V par which is input to a 3 voltage divider 59 The voltage divider 59 divides the battery voltage into and supplies the resultant voltage to analog input terminal Ain7 of microcomputer 19 In addition
9. request signal is sent to said computer system when a disk drive switch provided on said computer system is turned off 40 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein an externally supplied power off request signal is sent to said computer system when power of said battery is below a predetermined value 41 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein said power control section includes means for informing said computer system of a battery s remaining capacitance in response to a battery remaining capaci tance check request from said computer system 42 The power supply system according to claim 41 wherein said power control section includes means for detecting the completion of the charge operation after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the charging operation 43 A power supply system for use in a computer comprising a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section including controller means for automatically detecting a presence or absence of the AC adapter and the battery from a first reference voltage represent ing a driv
10. section includes an AC adapter input voltage display section means for detecting an input voltage of said AC adapter and means for causing said AC adapter input voltage display section to indicate a voltage abnormality when said voltage abnormality occurs 10 15 25 35 40 45 50 55 65 10 4 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said power output section includes power switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a computer system assembly disk switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a disk drive and reset switch means for indicating a system initializa tion and wherein said power control section includes means for detecting an ON or OFF signal from said power switch disk switch and reset switch and means for outputting a signal to either supply power or inhibit the supply of power to said power output section 5 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said power control section includes analog to digital converter means for converting voltage values and current values from said battery and said AC adapter into digital values 6 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said computer system is a small size personal computer 7 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig nal is sent to said computer system when a power pro vided on said computer system is turned of
11. the battery current supplied to a current amplifier 61 from a current source with 7 5 V 220 mAH The output of current amplifier 61 is supplied to analog input termi nal Ain6 of microcomputer 19 FIG 7 illustrates the relationship between the battery voltage and the terminal voltage supplied to analog input terminal Ain7 of microcomputer 19 When the battery voltage and the analog input voltage lie in the shaded region in FIG 7 it is considered that the battery is present The detection of the low battery will now be ex plained According to conventional personal comput ers the low battery detection is determined only by the battery voltage This method presents a problem that the low battery time cannot be accurately detected if a load status is changed According to the IPS of the present invention microcomputer 19 changes the volt age value for detecting the low battery in accordance with the current flowing from battery 7 so as to ensure accurate low battery detection FIG 8 illustrates discharging voltage curves In this drawing the time is taken on the abscissa while the battery voltage is taken on the ordinate As should be clear from FIG 8 the low battery detection is per formed in three stages from LB0 to LB2 In the LB0 low battery 0 stage the low battery indicator flickers In the LB1 low battery 1 stage the system power off sequence is performed and in the LB2 low battery 2 stage the power supp
12. the low battery signal 3 HDD Power Off Request Generated upon detection of the off state of HDD switch 15 4 Battery Status To inform computer system 11 of the remaining ca pacitance of battery 7 in 8 levels to computer system 11 5 IPS Status 1 To inform computer system 11 of an abnormal output of a DC voltage excess output or insufficient output and an abnormal input of the AC adapter excess input or insufficient input 6 IPS Status 2 To inform computer system 11 of the types of abnor mal DC outputs ie VCC VRAM VDD and VLCD 7 ACK command to inform a signal reception completed 8 Time Out Power Off Command Generated at the time out 2 Commands from Computer System to IPS 1 Sys tem Power Off Command To permit power off Q HDD Power Off Command To permit or request HDD power off 3 HDD Power On Command To request HDD power on 4 Battery Status Read Request To request the status of the remaining capacitance of the battery 5 Battery Status Set Command To set the remaining capacitance of the battery in 8 levels Since the battery is replaceable and the IPS does not know the remaining power of a replaced battery a user can set 8 levels of the remaining capacitance in cluding full and empty 6 IPS Status 1 Read To request reading of the IPS Status 1 abnormal state 7 IPS Status 2 Read To request reading of the IPS Status 2 abnormal type i 8 Test Start
13. PS for use in a computer system according to this invention This IPS comprises a power supply sec tion 1 a power supply regulator 3 and a power supply 5 339 446 3 contro section 5 Power supply section 1 is constituted by a chargeable battery 7 i e a nickel cadmium bat tery of a DC 7 to 8 V and an AC adapter 9 for con verting an AC voltage 120 V to a DC voltage 12 VDC Power supply regulator 3 is coupled to outputs of power supply section 1 and supplies power of for example 5 V 12 V 9 V 15 V 5 V or 12 V to a computer system Whether to output or stop outputting the individual power to the computer system is determined by control signals supplied to the regula tor 3 for power supply control section 5 Power supply control section 5 receives ON OFF information from a power switch 13 a hard disk drive HDD switch 15 and a reset switch 17 provided on a computer system assembly 11 and checks the voltage and current of battery 7 and DC voltage of AC adapter 9 Power supply control section 5 also sends to power supply regulator 3 control signals to indicate the power supply or inhibition of the power supply of the individ ual powers of 5 V 12 V 9 V 15 V 5 V and 12 V to computer system 11 The control section 5 further monitors various output voltages from power supply regulator 3 and outputs a power off signal to stop the power supply when any of the output voltages is out of a normal volta
14. United States Patent Yamasaki et al 5339446 11 Patent Number 5 339 446 45 Date of Patent Aug 16 1994 h nti cim 322 54 POWER SUPPLY AND METHOD FOR USE IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM TO CONFIRM A SAVE OPERATION OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND TO STOP A SUPPLY OF POWER TO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AFTER CONFIRMATION 75 Inventors Takuma Yamasaki Yuuichi Saito both of Tokyo Japan 73 Assignee Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Kawasaki Japan 21 Appl No 62 733 22 Filed May 18 1993 Related U S Application Data 63 Continuation of Ser No 962 039 Oct 15 1992 aban doned which is a continuation of Ser No 884 451 May 14 1992 abandoned which is a continuation of Ser No 571 839 Aug 23 1990 abandoned which is a continuation of Ser No 134 370 Dec 17 1987 aban doned 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Dec 26 1986 JP JAPAN ec scc 61 315314 51 Int CES osea GO6F 11 00 59 U S CL 395 750 364 DIG 2 364 948 4 364 948 5 364 948 9 364 943 91 58 Field of Search __ a 395 750 800 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 3 755 806 8 1973 Bunting 3 757 302 9 1973 Pollitt 364 900 3 801 963 4 1974 Chen 3 959 778 5 1976 Brette 3 979 657 9 1976 Yorksie 4 061 955 12 1977 Thomas et al 4 079 448 3 1978 N Gayen etal 4 096 560 6 1978 Footh 4 122 359 10 1978 Breikss
15. YYSLNI Z8 u MOV HO LIVM 153003 440 DE HOV Xov QU U3MOd W3ISAS LINSNVYL QN3S 153003 334dO M3M Od AYSLLVG MOI YO JJO HOLIMS WALSAS JO NOI Ld3934H NOdN 4 LS3N03SY YSMOd dO NO ILOSLSG NOdn V j43O M3M O0d W3LSAS WALSAS YALNdWOO Aldd S YAMOd LNSASITIALNI U S Patent Aug 16 1994 Sheet 4 of 6 5 339 446 31 IS SYSTEM POWER OFF SEQUENCE OPERATION TRANSMIT SYSTEM POWER OFF REQUEST HAS BEEN RECEIVED HAS RETRY BEEN PERFORMED YES HAS SYSTEM POWER OFF COMMAND BEEN RECEIVED HAS ONE MINUTE PASSED TRANSMIT TIME OUT POWER OFF REQUEST YES STOP SUPPLEMENT OF POWER SUPPLY FOR HDD STOP SUPPLEMENT OF POWER SUPPLY FOR SYSTEM U S Patent Aug 16 1994 Sheet 5 of 6 5 339 446 BATTERY CHARGE VOLTAGE VBAT CURRENT CC OH IH 5H CHARGING TIME FROM AC 53 2 ADAPTER VIN 1 4 VOLTAGE Aino H2 V DIVIDER 1 2 VOLTAGE I DIVIDER Ain7 75V 2200MAH T zd 45V Dem PET gt gt CURRENT AMPLIF IER 1 098 FIG 6 U S Patent Aug 16 1994 Sheet 6 of 6 5 339 446 Ain7 0 2 4 SS 6 9810V VBAT FIG 7 TIME FIG 8 5 339 446 1 POWER SUPPLY AND METHOD FOR USE IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM TO CONFIRM A SAVE OPERATION OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND TO STOP A SUPPLY OF POWER TO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AFTER CONFIRMATION This application is a continuation under 37 CFR 1 62 of pen
16. aim 59 wherein said power control section includes means for waiting for said acknowledgment signal from said data processor assembly and for sending a time out signal to said data processor assembly and a control signal to said power output section when said acknowledgment signal is not received upon the elapse of a predetermined period of time thereby stopping the supply of power to said disk drive 62 A portable computer system comprising a data processor assembly including a central processing unit program storage means for storing a program for controlling said central processing unit and a data processing result backup memory and a disk drive a serial transmission path coupled to said data proces sor assembly a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including 5 15 20 25 30 40 45 50 55 65 20 coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section including means including a microcomputer for charging the battery and for detecting completion of a charge operation when any of the following conditions 15 satisfied when the battery voltage drops from a peak value
17. arging is performed 0 RC RC fldt From the above The charge completion control will now dis cussed The IPS detects the completion of the charging operation from three values the battery voltage V BAT Charged capacitance CC and charging time CT FIG 5 isa graph illustrating the relationship between a charged capacitance and a battery voltage with the horizontal scale representing the charging time and the vertical scale representing the battery voltage In the drawing the solid line indicates the battery voltage and the broken line indicates the charged capacitance As illustrated in FIG 5 during n about one hour period after the charging has started the charging completion will not be checked because the chemical reaction in the battery during this period is not stable After one hour period after the start of the charging the end of the charging is repeatedly checked in the following se quence i It is considered that the charging is completed when the battery voltage drops from the peak value by a given value AV ii It is considered that the charging is completed when the charged capacitance CC becomes 150 provided that the nominal capacitance of the battery being 100 ili The charging is considered to be completed when the charging time exceeds 10 hours Upon detection of the completion of the charging the IPS stops the charging operation sets the nominal
18. by a given value when a charged capacitance of the battery be comes 150 provided that a nominal capaci tance of the battery is 100 and when a charging time of the battery exceeds 10 hours 63 The system according to claim 62 wherein said data processor assembly includes means for upon re ception of said power off request signal from said power control section causing said central processing unit to interrupt a currently running program saving informa tion necessary to continue said interrupted program to said backup memory and returning a power off ac knowledgment signal to said power control section 64 The system according to claim 63 wherein said power control section includes means for waiting for said power off acknowledgment signal from said data processor assembly and for sending a time out signal to said data processor assembly and a control signal to said power output section when said power off acknowledg ment signal is not received upon the elapse of a prede termined period of time thereby stopping the supply of power to said disk drive 65 A portable computer system comprising a data processor assembly including a central processing unit program storage means for storing a program for controlling said central processing unit and a data processing result a backup memory and a disk drive a serial transmission path coupled to said data proces sor assembly a power supply section comprising
19. chargeable battery discriminates a low battery state monitors a power switch a hard disk drive switch and a reset switch and monitors an input output voltage 67 Claims 6 Drawing Sheets 5V 12V 9V 15V 5V H2V 5 339 446 Page 2 _ U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 907 183 3 1990 Tanaka 4 908 790 3 1990 Little et al 4 461 003 7 1984 Tamaki 4 984 185 1 1991 Saito 4 489 700 7 1989 Morioka et al 5 028 806 7 1991 Stewart et al 4 517 517 5 1985 Kinney 5 128 552 7 1992 Fang etal 4 559 497 12 1985 Farrugia DES 4 564 798 1 1986 Young 4 571 690 2 1986 Munetsugu OTHER PUBLICATIONS 4 593 349 6 1986 Chase et al Toshiba T1600 Portable Personal Computer User s 4 611 289 9 1986 Coppola 4 4 618 779 10 1986 WIscombe Manual Toshiba Corporation 1988 4 633 418 12 1986 Bishop Patent Abstracts of Japan vol 10 No 266 P 496 4 645 943 2 1987 Smith Jr et al 2322 Sep 11 1986 for JP A 6191708 Fanuc Ltd 4 654 818 3 1987 Wetterau Jr May 9 1986 4 660 027 4 1987 Davis Patent Abstracts of Japan vol 2 No 106 E 54 5625 4 674 031 6 1987 Siska Jr 4 678 998 7 1987 Muramatsu Aug 31 1978 for JP A 537185 Daini Seikosha 4 707 795 11 1987 Alber et al Jun 26 1978 4 730 121 3 1988 Lee etal Schuman D Step by Step Design Yields Battery 4 737 702 4 1988 Koenck Supply for Portable uC 2119 E D N El
20. claim 43 wherein an externally supplied power off request signal is sent to said computer system when a disk drive switch provided on said computer system is turned off 51 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein externally supplied power off request signal is sent to said computer system when power of said battery is below a predetermined value 52 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein said power control section includes means for informing said computer system of a battery s remaining capacitance in response to a battery remaining capaci tance check request from said computer system 53 A portable computer system comprising a data processor assembly including a central processing unit program storage means for storing a program for controlling said central processing unit and a data processing result a backup memory and 5 339 446 17 disk drive a serial transmission path coupled to said data proces sor assembly a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section having coupling means for connecting said p
21. ction means for calculating a charged capacitance and a remaining capacitance of said battery and a charg ing time based on a value of a current flowing from said battery means for determining the completion of charging said battery from said calculated charged capaci tance remaining capacitance and charging time and means for causing said charge completion display section to indicate said completion of charging 14 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said power output section includes UA 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 an AC adapter input voltage display section means for detecting an input voltage of said AC adapter and means for causing said AC adapter input voltage display section to indicate a voltage abnormality when said voltage abnormality occurs 15 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said computer system includes power switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a computer system assembly disk switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a disk drive and reset switch means for indicating a system initializa tion and wherein said power control section includes means for detecting an ON or OFF signal from said power switch disk switch and reset switch and means for outputting a signal to either supply power or inhibit the supply of power to said power output section 16 The power supply sys
22. ding coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section including means including a microcomputer for charging the battery and for detecting completion of a charge operation when any of the following conditions is satisfied when the battery voltage drops from a peak value by a given value when a charged capacitance of the battery be comes 15046 provided that a nominal capaci tance of the battery is 10096 and when a charging time of the battery exceeds 10 hours 33 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein said power output section includes means for supplying power to said battery for a charging operation and wherein said power con trol section includes a charge completion display section means for calculating a charged capacitance and a remaining capacitance of said battery and a charg ing time based on a value of a current flowing from said battery means for determining the completion of charging said battery from said calculated charged capaci tance remaining capacitance and charging time and means for causing said charge completion display section to indicate said completion of charging 34 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein said power control section includes an AC adapter input voltage display
23. ding prior application Ser No 07 962 039 filed Oct 15 1992 which is a continuation of application Ser No 07 884 451 filed May 14 1992 which is a continuation of application Ser No 07 571 839 filed Aug 23 1990 which is a continuation of application Ser No 07 134 370 filed Dec 17 1987 all now aban doned BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a power supply with a built in microcomputer for use in a computer system In general when a power switch of a computer is turned off or the voltage of the computer s built in battery decreases a power off signal is sent to the com puter from a power supply section and power supply to the computer is inhibited after a predetermined time Within this predetermined time the computer stops the current job and performs a save operation to save the contents of various registers L O statuses memory contents etc so that it can start the interrupted job when powered again However when the computer receives the power off signal while accessing an input output I O device such as a disk drive that requires a long accessing time the computer cannot perform the save operation until the access operation is completed This is because when a recording medium driving motor of for example a hard disk drive is stopped while its head is accessing the recording medium rotating at a high speed the head is likely to be crushed or damaged With the above restriction
24. e and causing a low battery dis play section to indicate a low battery when said detected voltage value is below said reference volt age value the comparing step including the steps of dividing a level of said low battery into first through third sub levels in accordance with said detected current value causing said low battery display section to indicate said low battery upon detection of said first sub level sending a power off request signal to said computer system upon detection of said second sub level and 5 339 446 11 outputting said power off signal to said power output section receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said serial trans mission path to command a save operation to be performed by said computer system receiving an acknowledgment signal through said serial transmission path to confirm the completion of said save operation and transmitting said power off signal to said power out put section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said ac knowledgment signal 12 power suppiy system for use in a computer having a main memory registers and a battery backed up random access memory RAM comprising a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply
25. ectrical De 4 747 041 5 1988 Engel et al sign News vol 28 Sep 1983 No 19 pp 197 208 4 754 160 6 1988 Ely 41768162 8 1988 Nishimura W A Lopour et al System and I O Device Power 4 782 355 11 1988 Sakai et al Control Using Micro Processor Technical 4 792 743 12 1988 Tsujino et al Disclosure Bulletin vol 23 No 5 New York Oct 4 809 163 2 1989 Hirosawa et al 1989 2079 2082 4 816 862 3 1989 Taniguchi et al J T Eaton et al Design of HP s Portable Computer 4 827 220 5 1989 Figh Family amily Hewlett Packard Journal vol 37 No 7 Am 4 833 459 5 1989 Geuer et al 1 NL Jul 1986 4 13 4 849 682 7 1989 Bauer et al stelveen NL Jul 1986 4 13 4 851 756 7 1989 Schaller et al Method for Warning Users of Low Battery Condi 4 860 185 8 1989 Brewer et al tion on a Battery Powered Computer IBM Technical 4 879 624 11 1989 Jones et al Disclosure Bulletin vol 29 No 6 New York Nov 4 907 150 3 1990 Arroyo etal 1986 2641 2643 Sheet 1 of 6 5 339 446 Aug 16 1994 U S Patent W3 LSAS 1 AZH AS ASI tfA6 AZI AS Indino H3MOd 11 8 MOT 135994 4 0 1530038 4 0 HO LV 11934 A ldans NOI LO3S lOH LNOO Aldd nS H3MOd t Old H3MOd H3MOd MJ3ldvav ov 6 Sheet 2 of 6 5 339 446 Aug 16 1994 U S Patent NOISYSANOD 557 Q V 9 1
26. f 8 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig nal is sent to said computer system when a disk drive switch provided on said computer system is turned off 9 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig nal is sent to said computer system when power of said battery is below a predetermined value 10 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said power control section includes means for informing said computer system of a battery s remaining capacitance in response to a battery remaining capaci tance check request from said computer system 11 A method for cutting off a supply of power by a power supply system for use in a computer the power supply system including a power supply section com prising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage and a power output section coupled to said power supply section said power output section having a coupling for supply ing power from said power supply section to said com puter system and being responsive to a power off signal to inhibit the supply of all power to said computer sys tem the method comprising the steps of monitoring a voltage and a current of said battery changing a reference voltage value in accordance with a detected current value comparing a detected voltage value with said refer ence voltage valu
27. ge range In addition in response to the ON OFF request signals from power switch 13 HDD switch 15 and reset switch 17 power supply control section 5 outputs the ON OFF request signals to power supply regulator 3 and outputs a reset signal to computer system 11 The power supply control section 5 has a built in 4 bit one chip microcomputer 19 which may be TMP47C440AF a Toshiba product This one chip microcomputer 19 comprises a central processing unit CPU 20 a random access memory RAM 21 for storing data a read only memory ROM 22 for storing a control program and an analog to digital A D con verter 23 for converting an analog input voltage to a digital voltage The one chip microcomputer need not to be pro vided with the A D converter if it is externally coupled to such an A D converter A D converter 23 may have an 8 channel analog input terminal so as to equally divide an input analog voltage into 255 sections Computer system 11 is a battery driven lap top type personal computer which comprises a central process ing unit CPU 24 of 8 bits a ROM 25 for storing a control program to control CPU 24 a RAM 26 for storing data etc a 3 5 inch HDD drive 27 serving as a high speed external memory device a 3 5 inch floppy disk drive 28 a backup memory 29 for storing data that Should be saved at the time of a save operation a liquid display 30 and an RS232C port 32 As shown in FIG 2 microcomputer 19 has a serial transmiss
28. his can prevent the head of the disk drive from being crushed or damaged due to the power off opera tion 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 block diagram illustrating a power supply with a built in microcomputer for use in a computer system according to one embodiment of this invention FIG 2 is a diagram illustrating the microcomputer built in a power supply control section shown in FIG 1 FIG 3 is a conceptual diagram of sequences con ducted between the power supply of this invention and a computer system FIG 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control sequence among the sequences of FIG 3 which is performed by the microcomputer built in the power supply control section FIG 5 is a diagram illustrating a characteristic with a battery voltage vs a charging time for explaining a charge control FIG 6 is a circuit diagram exemplifying a battery monitoring circuit FIG 7 is a diagram illustrating a correlation between a battery voltage and an analog input voltage used to detect a battery detachment and FIG 8 is a diagram illustrating discharge voltage curves used to detect a low battery DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG 1isablock diagram of a microcomputer built in power supply hereinafter called intelligent power sup ply I
29. ing voltage of the controller means a second reference voltage representing a maxi mum voltage of the battery and an analog input voltage input to the power control section such that the presence of both the AC adapter and the battery are detected when the analog input volt age is less than the second reference voltage the absence of the AC adapter and the presence of the battery are detected when the analog input voltage is between the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage and the presence of the AC adapter and the absence of the battery are detected when the analog input voltage is greater than or equal to the second reference voltage 44 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein said power output section includes 5 10 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 16 means for supplying power to said battery for a charging operation and wherein said power control section includes a charge completion display section means for calculating a charged capacitance and a remaining capacitance of said battery and a charg ing time based on a value of a current flowing from said battery means for determining the completion of charging said battery from said calculated charged capaci tance remaining capacitance and charging time and means for causing said charge completion display section to indicate said completion of charging 45 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein said p
30. ion having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and 2 power control section including coupling means for connecting said power control section to said computer system through a serial transmission path means including a microcomputer for detecting a degradation of said power supply section output voltage indicative of impending power failure for receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said serial transmission path to command a save oper ation to be performed by said computer system the computer system saving at least contents of the program storage means into the backup memory in response to said system power off request signal and for receiving an acknowledg ment signal through said serial transmission path to confirm the completion of said save operation and means for transmitting said power off signal to said power output section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said acknowledgment signal 57 system according to claim 56 wherein said data processor assembly includes means for upon re ception of said power off request signal fro
31. ion input termi nal P81 for receiving transmission data from computer system 11 The serial transmission data is also supplied to an interrupt terminal 80 so that when serial trans mission data is sent from computer system 11 mi crocomputer 19 is interrupted and a serial transmission program stored in ROM 22 is executed Along input terminals Ain7 0 are of an 8 channel type and receive various input voltages from battery 7 AC adapter 9 etc More specifically analog input terminals 0 to Ain7 are respectively supplied with an input voltage Vin 12 V from AC adapter 9 an output voltage 5 V for computer system 11 an output voltage V RAM 5 V for backup RAM 29 an output voltage V pp 12 V for RS232C port 32 an output voltage VEE 9 V for RS232C port 32 an output voltage 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 4 Vicp 15 V for LCD 30 a battery voltage V p4rand a battery current Switch input terminals P03 P01 are of 4 channel type and receive ON OFF information from power switch 13 HDD switch 15 and reset switch 17 Mi crocomputer further has a reset signal input terminal RST for receiving a reset signal from computer system 11 a clock signal input terminal OSC for receiving a clock signal of 500 KHz and input terminals Ver and Vass for receiving 5 V and 0 V voltages as A D conversion reference voltages The microcomputer 19 has on its output side a watch dog timer output
32. it to interrupt a currently running program saving informa tion necessary to continue said interrupted program to 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 22 said backup memory and returning a power off ac knowledgment signal to said power control section 67 The system according to claim 66 wherein said power control section includes means for waiting for said power off acknowledgment signal from said data processor assembly and for sending a time out signal to said data processor assembly and a control signal to said power output section when said power off acknowledg ment signal is not received upon the elapse of a prede termined period of time thereby stopping the supply of power to said disk drive UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENTNO 5 339 446 DATED August 16 1994 INVENTOR S Takuma Yamasaki et al It is certified that error appears in the above indentified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below Claim 1 column 9 line 26 batter should read battery Claim 53 column 17 line 15 having should read including line 34 batter shouid read battery Claim 56 column 18 line 44 signal should read signal Signed and Sealed this First Day of August 1995 oe 2 Chm BRUCE LEHMAN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
33. lained referring to the flowchart of FIG 4 First in step 31 microcomputer 19 determines whether or not the IPS is performing the system power off sequence If the determination in step 31 is NO the System Power Off Request is sent to computer sys tem 11 in step 33 In the next step 35 microcomputer 19 determines whether or not the ACK is sent from the computer system and if NO in step 35 determines whether or not the retry is performed in step 37 If no retry has been performed steps 33 and 35 are repeated If it is determined in step 31 that the system power off sequence is running and is determined in step 35 that the ACK is returned from computer system 11 the pro cess advances to step 39 where microcomputer 19 de termines whether or not the System Power Off Com mand from computer system 11 is received If the determination in step 39 is NO it is determined whether or not one minute has elapsed in step 41 If one minute has not been elapsed microcomputer exits this routine On the other hand if it is determined in step 41 that one minute has been elapsed the Time Out Power Off Request is sent to computer system 11 in step 43 Mi crocomputer then determines in step 45 whether or not the ACK is sent from computer system 11 If the 5 339 446 7 determination is NO in step 45 it is then determined in step 47 whether or not the retry has been performed no retry has been performed yet
34. ly section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of ali power to said computer system and a power control section having coupling means for connecting said power control section to said computer system through a serial transmission path means including a microcomputer for detecting a degradation of said power supply section output voltage indicative of impending power failure for receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said 5 339 446 13 serial transmission path to command save ation to be performed by said computer system and for receiving an acknowledgment signal through said serial transmission path to confirm the completion of said save operation means for transmitting said power off signal to said power output section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said acknowledgment signal and means for performing a disk drive power off sequence if said receiving means receives no acknowledg ment signal during a predetermined period of time 23 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said power output section includes means for supplying power to said battery for a charging operation and wherein said power control section includes
35. ly is stopped no power off se quence What is claimed is 1 A power supply system for use in a computer com prising a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including 5 339 446 9 coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer system and a power control section having coupling means for connecting said power control section to said computer system through a serial transmission path means including a microcomputer for detecting a degradation of said power supply section output voltage indicative of impending power failure for receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said serial transmission path to command a save oper ation to be performed by said computer system and for receiving an acknowledgment signal through said serial transmission path to confirm the completion of said save operation means for transmitting said power off signal to said power output section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said acknowledgment signal a low batter display section means for monitoring a voltage and a current
36. m and a power control section including coupling means for connecting said power control section to said computer system through a serial transmission path means including a microcomputer for detecting a degradation of said power supply section output voltage indicative of impending power failure for receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said serial transmission path to command a save oper ation to be performed by said computer system and for receiving an acknowledgment signal through said serial transmission path to confirm the completion of said save operation and means for transmitting said power off signal to said power output section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said acknowledgment signal and means for performing a disk drive power off sequence if said receiving means receives no acknowledg ment signal during a predetermined period of time 60 The system according to claim 59 wherein said data processor assembly includes means for upon re ception of said power off request signal from said power control section causing said central processing unit to interrupt a currently running program saving informa tion necessary to continue said interrupted program to said backup memory and returning said acknowledg ment signal to said power control section 61 The system according to cl
37. m said power control section causing said central processing unit to interrupt a currently running program saving informa tion necessary to continue said interrupted program to Said backup memory and returning said acknowledg ment signal to said power control section 58 The system according to claim 57 wherein said power control section includes means for waiting for Said acknowledgment signal from said data processor assembly and for sending a time out signal to said data processor assembly and a control signal to said power output section when said acknowledgment signal is not received upon the elapse of a predetermined period of time thereby stopping the supply of power to said disk drive 59 A portable computer system comprising a data processor assembly including central processing unit program storage means for storing a program for controlling said central processing unit and a data processing result a backup memory and 5 339 446 19 disk drive a serial transmission path coupled to said data proces sor assembly a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and including coupling means for supplying power from said power supply section to said computer system and means responsive to a power off signal for inhibit ing the supply of all power to said computer syste
38. of said battery changing a reference voltage value in accordance with a detected current value comparing a detected voltage value with said reference voltage value and causing said low battery display section to indicate a low battery when said detected voltage value is below said reference voltage value and means for dividing a level of said low battery into first through third sub levels in accordance with said detected current value causing said low battery display section to indicate said low bat tery upon detection of said first sub level send ing said power off request signal to said com puter system upon detection of said second sub level and outputting said power off signal to said power output section 2 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said power output section includes means for supplying power to said battery for a charging operation and wherein said power control section includes a charge completion display section means for calculating a charged capacitance and a remaining capacitance of said battery and a charg ing time based on a value of a current flowing from Said battery means for determining the completion of charging said battery from said calculated charged capaci tance remaining capacitance and charging time and means for causing said charge completion display section to indicate said completion of charging 3 The power supply system according to claim 1 wherein said power output
39. ower control section to said computer system through a serial transmission path means including a microcomputer for detecting a degradation of said power supply section output voltage indicative of impending power failure for receiving an externally supplied power off request signal and subsequently transmitting a system power off request signal through said serial transmission path to command a save oper ation to be performed by said computer system and for receiving an acknowledgment signal through said serial transmission path to confirm the completion of said save operation means for transmitting said power off signal to said power output section to inhibit the supply of power through said power output section after receipt of said acknowledgment signal a low batter display section means for monitoring a voltage and a current of said battery changing a reference voltage value in accordance with a detected current value comparing a detected voltage value with said reference voltage value and causing said low battery display section to indicate a low battery when said detected voltage value is below said reference voltage value and means for dividing a level of said low battery into first through third sub levels in accordance with said detected current value causing said low battery display section to indicate said low bat tery upon detection of said first sub level send ing said power off request signal to said com pute
40. ower control section includes an AC adapter input voltage display section means for detecting an input voltage of said AC adapter and means for causing said AC adapter input voltage display section to indicate a voltage abnormality when said voltage abnormality occurs 46 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein said computer system includes power switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a computer system assembly disk switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a disk drive and reset switch means for indicating a system initializa tion and wherein said power control section includes means for detecting an ON or OFF signal from said power switch disk switch and reset switch and means for outputting a signal to either supply power or inhibit the supply of power to said power output section 47 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein said power control section includes analog to digital converter means for converting voltage values and current values from said battery and said AC adapter into digital values 48 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein said computer system is a small size personal computer 49 The power supply system according to claim 43 wherein an externally supplied power off request signal is sent to said computer system when a power provided on said computer system is turned off 50 The power supply system according to
41. puter system 11 for one minute five minutes in the case of low bat tery When receiving the System Power Off Request from the IPS and returning the thereto com puter system 11 interrupts the currently running pro gram and saves the content of memory 26 the I O statuses the contents of the registers etc into backup RAM 29 with a memory capacity of for example 16K bytes which is provided on the computer system side At this time when FDD 28 or HDD 27 is being ac cessed the save operation is performed after an access end is reached Resume Function When the IPS waits one minute or five minutes yet does not receive the System Power Off Command from computer system 11 it sends the Time Out Power Off Request to computer system 11 and per forms the HDD power off sequence Upon reception of the Out Power Off Com mand computer system 11 returns the ACK to the IPS and performs the save operation as much as possi ble during several scores of milliseconds in which the power is turned off When the save operation is com pleted computer system 11 returns the System Power Off Command to the IPS and enters a halt HLT mode Upon reception of the System Power Off Com mand the IPS returns the ACK to computer system 11 per forms the HDD power off sequence and then Stops the power supply The operation of microcomputer 19 built in power supply control section 5 will now be exp
42. r system upon detection of said second sub level and outputting said power off signal to said power output section 54 The system according to claim 53 wherein said data processor assembly includes means for upon re ception of said power off request signal from said power control section causing said central processing unit to interrupt a currently running program saving informa tion necessary to continue said interrupted program to said backup memory and returning said acknowledg ment signal to said power control section 55 The system according to claim 54 wherein said power control section includes means for waiting for said acknowledgment signal from said data processor assembly and for sending a time out signal to said data processor assembly and a control signal to said power output section when said acknowledgment signal is not received upon the elapse of a predetermined period of time thereby stopping the supply of power to said disk drive 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 18 56 portable computer system comprising a data processor assembly including a central processing unit program storage means for storing a program for controlling said central processing unit and a data processing result a backup memory and a disk drive a serial transmission path coupled to said data proces SOr assembly a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply sect
43. rol section includes analog to digital converter means for converting voltage values and current values from said battery and said AC adapter into digital values 27 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said computer system is a small size personal computer 28 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said system power off request signal is sent to said computer system when a power provided on said computer system is turned off 29 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said system power off request signal is sent to said computer system when a disk drive switch pro vided on said computer system is turned off 30 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 nal is sent to said computer system when power of said battery is below a predetermined value 31 The power supply system according to claim 22 wherein said power control section includes means for informing said computer system of a battery s remaining capacitance in response to a battery remaining capaci tance check request from said computer system 32 power supply system for use in a computer comprising a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supply section and inclu
44. section means for detecting an input voltage of said AC adapter and means for causing said AC adapter input voltage display section to indicate a voltage abnormality when said voltage abnormality occurs 35 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein said computer system includes power switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a computer system assembly disk switch means for indicating ON OFF modes of power supply to a disk drive and reset switch means for indicating a system initializa tion and wherein said power control section includes means for detecting an ON or OFF signal from said power switch disk switch and reset switch and 5 339 446 15 means for outputting signal to either supply power or inhibit the supply of power to said power output section 36 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein said power control section includes analog to digital converter means for converting voltage values and current values from said battery and said AC adapter into digita values 37 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein said computer system is a small size personal computer 38 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein an externally supplied power off request signal is sent to said computer system when a power provided on said computer system is turned off 39 The power supply system according to claim 32 wherein an externally supplied power off
45. section coupled to the power supply section and the power control section for inhibiting power from the power supply section from being sup plied to the computer system in response to the power off signal from the power control section According to this invention information can be sent between a power supply and a computer system through a serial transmission power supply to the com puter system can be stopped after a save operation is assuredly performed even during a long accessing oper ation Further according to this invention even when power supply to the computer system is instructed the power supply will be stopped after the contents of a program counter for a currently running program vari ous registers and a memory and I O statuses are written into a backup memory This permits the interrupted program to continue when the computer system is pow ered again In addition it is possible to perform a battery charge control and calculation o the remaining battery power and detect a low battery below a reference voltage and a battery replacement so that in response to a status request from the computer system the requested infor mation can be sent to the computer system through a serial transmission To stop power supply to a disk drive a power off request signal for the disk drive is sent to the computer system and the power supply is stopped upon reception of a power off acknowledge signal from the computer system T
46. signal to computer system 11 vi Power Supply Stop Control To perform the controls of a HDD power off se quence a system power off and a low battery power off These controls will be described later vii Charge Control To perform the measurement of a charging time of battery 7 calculation of a charged capacitance and remaining capacitance discrimination of completion of the charging and control of the start and end of the charging operation viii To discriminate low battery 0 1 or 2 in detecting the low battery The low batteries 0 1 and 2 will be described later ix To start the self test as a control for self diagnosis and display the result of the test Transmission between the IPS and the computer system is carried out using two signal lines one for sending and the other for reception in a 512 bps s serial non synchronous mode The format for data transmis sion is such that each unit data is sent with 1 start bit 8 data bits and 1 stop bit mounting to 10 bits When an interrupt signal is input to the input terminal P80 of the microcomputer as shown in FIG 2 a reception routine starts 5 339 446 5 following the commands sent between the IPS and computer system 11 and their functions 1 Commands from IPS to Computer System and Their Functions 1 System Power Off Request Generated upon detection of the off state of power switch 13 2 Low Battery Off Request Generated upon detection of
47. steps 43 and 45 are repeated On the other hand if it is determined in step 45 that the ACK is received and is determined in step 47 that the retry has been performed the process ad vances to step 49 where the power supply to HDD 27 is stopped And in the next step 51 the power supply to computer system 11 is stopped The switch monitoring function of power supply control section 5 will now be explained Power supply control section 5 always monitors power switch 13 HDD switch 15 and reset switch 17 and checks if their switching states have changed When a change in the switching states occurs the control section 5 waits for example 66 msec to prevent a chattering Upon elapse of 66 msec power supply control section 5 checks the switching states again for any change If the change is detected a flag for the switch whose state has changed is set and the switching state is recorded The charge control function will be explained below The charged capacitance CC and remaining capaci tance RC of battery 7 are calculated as follows Pro vided that the current flowing in and out from the bat tery is denoted by I 1A S144 the charged capac itance and remaining capacitance can be calculated by the following equations i When 13I 0 or charging is performed CC RC xfldt From the above therefore CC CC AI and RC RC AI where AI is a value sampled for every second ii when 0SIS4 A or disch
48. tem according to claim 12 wherein said power control section includes analog to digital converter means for converting voltage values and current values from said battery and said AC adapter into digital values 17 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said computer system is a small size personal computer 18 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig nal is sent to said computer system when a power pro vided on said computer system is turned off 19 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig nal is sent to said computer system when a disk drive Switch provided on said computer system is turned off 20 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said externally supplied power off request sig nal is sent to said computer system when power of said battery is below a predetermined value 21 The power supply system according to claim 12 wherein said power control section includes means for informing said computer system of a battery s remaining capacitance in response to a battery remaining capaci tance check request from said computer system 22 power supply system for use in a computer having a disk drive comprising a power supply section comprising any of a battery and an AC adapter said power supply section having an output voltage a power output section coupled to said power supp
49. terminal a serial transmission output terminal voltage output controls an LED output terminal a low battery signal output terminal and a reset signal output terminal Power supply control section 5 further comprises an LED display 21 which is constituted by two color red and green LEDs When the red light is ON it means that battery 7 is being charged When the green light is ON it means that AC adapter 9 is used or charging battery 7 is completed When the red light is flickering it indicates an abnormality in the input voltage of AC adapter 9 or the output voltage at the power on time or an abnormal completion of a self test of the power sup ply When the green light is flickering it indicates a normal completion of the self test The control program for CPU 20 stored in ROM 22 performs the following functions i Switch Monitoring To detect the ON and OFF states of power switch 13 HDD switch 15 and reset switch 17 ii Voltage Monitoring To detect the output voltage and output current of battery 7 the output voltage of AC adapter 9 and vari ous types of output voltages iii To perform a serial input output control for com munication with computer system 11 iv To control the lightening of the red and green LEDs as a control for LED display 21 v To perform the output control of various voltages supplied to computer system 11 from power supply regulator 3 and the output control of the reset signal and low battery

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