JPH01143493A - Battery wear alarming device for remote control equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain a small sized transmission section and cost-down by allowing a reception section to output a mechanism control signal different at that of the normal state at a battery voltage drop so as to eliminate need for an exclusive alarm output device in a remote control equipment comprising the transmission section employing a battery as the power supply and the reception section having a mechanism control output. CONSTITUTION:A battery wear detector 17 of a battery-driven communication equipment 1 has a comparator in its inside and a voltage of a battery 16 is compared with a predetermined specified value. When a command of battery wear detection is inputted from an operation means 15, a CPU 14 references the detector 17 to patternize the information relating to wear of battery and to output it to an oscillation circuit 18. The oscillation circuit 18 processes it into a high frequency and sends the result from a transmission reception antenna 11. The signal is amplified by an amplifier 3 receiving it, detected by a detection circuit 4 and the result is given to a CPU 5. The CPU 5 uses the received signal so as to discriminate whether or not the battery is worn and when it is discriminated to be battery wear, the CPU 5 drives a prescribed drive transistor 8 for plural number of times in ON/OFF state. The operator confirms the operation visually to recognize it that the built-in battery in the batterydriven communication equipment 1 is worn.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a dead battery warning device for a remote control device, which is composed of a transmitting section using a battery as a power source and a receiving section having an expansion power on the mechanism side. The present invention relates to a dead battery alarm device that issues an alarm when battery voltage drops without using a dedicated alarm.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional remote control device includes a transmitter powered by a battery, receives a command signal sent from the transmitter, and converts it into a signal for controlling the mechanism.

and a receiving section that controls the mechanism.

In such a remote control device, when the voltage of the battery in the transmitting section decreases, the level of the signal output from the transmitting section decreases, making it impossible for the receiving section to accurately receive command signals. Further, when the output level of the transmitting section decreases, the receiving section is easily affected by noise, causing a problem that the controlled mechanism malfunctions.

For this reason, it is important to detect in advance whether the battery in the transmitter is running out. Conventionally, in order to notify the user that the battery is running out, the transmitter has been provided with an alarm means such as a β switch for detecting running out of the battery and a pilot lamp that lights up when the switch is pressed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above conventional technology requires an alarm device dedicated to detecting a dead battery to be installed in the transmitter, so there is no consideration given to the installation space, and the problem is that the transmitter becomes large due to the space required for installation. Moreover, the manufacturing cost was high, and there was also a problem in terms of economic efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a low-battery warning device that eliminates the problems of the prior art described above and is economical and space-saving.

[Means for solving problems]

The above object is to enable, in a remote control device consisting of a transmitting section using a battery as a power source and a receiving section having a mechanism control output, the receiving section output a mechanism control signal different from that during normal operation when the battery voltage drops. This is achieved by:

[Operation] The receiving section outputs a mechanism control signal that turns on only once when the battery voltage is normal. but.

When the battery voltage decreases, the mechanism control signal is repeated multiple times in the following order: OFF → OFF → ON → OFF → . . . → ON.

This notifies the owner of the battery voltage drop in the battery-powered transmitter and allows the battery to be replaced before the battery-powered transmitter becomes unusable.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the invention. In the figure, 1 is a battery-powered communication device, 2 is a receiving antenna, 3 is an amplifier, 4 is a detection circuit, and 5 is a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as C
(referred to as PU), 6 is a mechanism control plunger, 7 is a controlled mechanism such as a door lock, an automobile lock knob, etc., and 8 is a drive transistor.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the battery-powered communication device 1. As shown in FIG. In the figure, 11 is a transmitting and receiving antenna, 12
15 is an amplifier, 15 is a waveform shaper, and 14 is a CPζ15 is an operating means. Further, 16 is a battery, 17 is a battery exhaustion detector, and 18 is an oscillation circuit.

The dead battery detector 17 has a comparator therein, and compares the voltage of the battery 16 with a predetermined value.
If the voltage of the battery 16 is higher than the specified value, the CPU 14 determines that the battery voltage has not decreased. On the other hand, if the voltage of the battery 16 is lower than the specified value, the CPU 14 determines that the battery is dead. A signal pattern indicating this is formed and output to the oscillation circuit 18. The nuclear oscillation circuit 18 converts the signal pattern into a high frequency signal and sends it to the transmitting/receiving antenna 11.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU 5 in FIG. 1.

Now, when a command to detect a dead battery is input from the operating means 15 in FIG. 2, the CPU 14 refers to the dead battery detector 17, forms information regarding the dead battery into a pattern, and outputs the pattern to the oscillation circuit 18vc. The oscillation circuit 18 increases the frequency of the pattern and emits it from the transmitting/receiving antenna 11.

A signal emitted from the transmitting/receiving antenna 11 is received, amplified by an amplifier 3, and detected by a detection circuit 4.

It will be done. Thereafter, the CPU 5vc is input (step S1 in FIG. 5). The CPU 5 determines whether the battery is dead or not based on the received signal (step 82).

When the battery is not dead, the determination in step S2 becomes NO, and the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, a predetermined drive transistor 8 is turned on, and the corresponding plunger 6
is driven only once.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the battery is dead, the CPU 5 turns on and off the predetermined drive transistor 8 a plurality of times (steps 85 to 89).

By visually checking this operation, the operator can confirm that the built-in battery of the battery-operated communication device 1 has run out.
You can tell whether it is true or not.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to notify the user that the VC battery is running out without providing a dedicated alarm device in the battery-operated communication device 1 to notify the user that the battery is running out. The battery-powered communication device 1 can be manufactured in a small size or at low cost.

Note that in the example of the battery-operated communication device 1 shown in FIG. 2, the antenna 11. Although it has an amplifier 12 and a waveform shaper 15, these are not necessarily necessary, and the amplifier 12 and waveform shaper 15 may be deleted.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, there is no need for a dedicated alarm output device, so
This has the effect of making it possible to downsize the transmitter and reduce costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a battery-powered communication device, and FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows operation of PU. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Battery-powered communication device, 3...Amplifier, 4...Detection circuit, 5...Microprocessor (CPU), 6...
... Mechanism control plunger, 7... Controlled mechanism, 8.
・・Driving Tran Akira/III Akira 2 Easy Eye

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A dead battery alarm device for a remote control device comprising a transmitting unit using a battery as a power source and a receiving unit having a mechanism control output, wherein the transmitting unit is configured to detect a voltage drop in the battery. , comprising a means for transmitting the detection result, and wherein the receiving section outputs a mechanism control output signal different from a normal state when receiving a signal indicating a battery voltage drop. Low battery warning device. 2. The dead battery alarm device for a remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the receiver outputs the output more times when the battery voltage is low than when the battery voltage is normal.