WO2018097354A1 - Automatically-activated electronic device and charging cable therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic device that is automatically activated when a charging cable is separated therefrom, the electronic device comprising: a connector pin separation detection unit which physically makes contact with connector pins of a charging cable, and detects the separation therefrom of the connector pins of the charging cable making contact therewith; and an operation mode activation control unit which converts the operation mode of the device to an activated mode when the separation of the connector pins of the charging cable is detected by the connector pin separation detection unit.

Description

Automatically activated electronic devices and charging cables for those electronic devices

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a chargeable electronic device, and more particularly, to an electronic device that is automatically activated when a charging cable is disconnected and a charging cable for the electronic device.

Portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, old books, and cameras are equipped with rechargeable power supplies (eg, batteries). Power supply means mounted on portable electronic devices are generally charged by the power supplied from a charging cable or in combination with a charging device.

There is a device that sets the operation mode to be powered off during charging according to the type or use method of the electronic devices, and there is a device that sets the operation mode to the standby mode. In all cases, when the charging operation is completed, the user detaches the electronic device from the charging device or disconnects the charging cable, and then operates a button provided in the electronic device to activate the device.

That is, in a typical portable electronic device, since the charging cable is activated after being disconnected from the charging cable, the user is inconvenient to input a separate command for activating the electronic device, and a predetermined time elapses after the activation command is input. Only after entering the mode in which the electronic device can be used (defined as an activation mode), a waiting time for entering the activation mode is required.

For example, soldiers, police officers, firefighters, etc. are frequently required to go to the scene in response to an emergency dispatch order. If a portable camera or wireless microphone is being charged to record or remotely transmit on-site video or audio, When a dispatch command is issued, it may be impossible to activate a portable camera or a wireless microphone in the operation mode because the equipment is urgently packed.

[Preceding technical literature]

[Patent Documents]

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-1277657

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-1315416

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, the object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that automatically detects and automatically activates when disconnected from the charging cable or charging device,

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is that the connector block in which the connector pins of the charging cable protrude is conveniently coupled with the connector portion formed in the electronic device body, and also automatically detects the charging cable detachment at the same time increasing the coupling force. An electronic device is activated.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a charging cable for an electronic device that is automatically activated.

An electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object,

A connector pin disconnection detecting unit for physically contacting the connector pins of the charging cable and detecting separation of the connector pins of the charging cable in contact;

And an operation mode activation control unit for converting a device operation mode into an activation mode when the separation of the connector pins of the charging cable is detected through the connector pin separation detection unit.

Furthermore, a metal piece which is magnetically coupled to the magnet mounted on the connector block protruding the connector pins of the charging cable to enhance the coupling force between the electronic device body and the connector block is further characterized. ,

The connector pin disconnection detecting unit,

A connector female part in contact with the connector pins;

An analog-to-digital converter for digitally converting a power level supplied from a power pin among the connector pins;

And a voltage level comparison controller for detecting a connector pin separation by comparing the power level converted by the analog-digital converter with a setting level.

The analog-digital converter, the voltage level comparison control unit and the operation mode activation control unit may be implemented as a processor for controlling the operation of the wearable camera or the wireless microphone.

An electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention,

A connector unit in physical contact with connector pins of a charging cable, the connector including a hall sensor for detecting whether the connector pin is coupled to a first magnet mounted on a connector block protruding from the connector pin;

And an operation mode activation control unit for switching the device operation mode to an activation mode when the separation of the connector block of the charging cable is detected through the hall sensor.

The connector unit,

And a metal piece that is magnetically coupled to the second magnet mounted on the connector block to enhance the coupling force between the electronic device body and the connector block.

Furthermore, the operation mode activation control unit is another feature of controlling the operation of the wearable camera or the wireless microphone.

In addition, charging cables for electronic devices that are automatically activated

A connector block on one side of the cable, wherein the connector pins including at least a power pin, a data pin, a ground pin, and an ID pin are protruded to be electrically coupled to a connector female part formed in the electronic device body;

And at least one magnet mounted to the connector block and magnetically coupled to a metal piece or magnet positioned around the connector female part.

According to the above-mentioned problem solving means, the present invention automatically fires the electronic device in the desired operation mode only by disconnecting the electronic device from the charging cable in the emergency situation, firefighters, police, soldiers, etc. You can get the effect of making it work.

Furthermore, the present invention can obtain the effect of increasing the bonding force of the connector pin by mounting a magnet on the connector block of the charging cable and placing a metal piece in the connector portion of the electronic device facing the connector block. When the separation is automatically detected, the device automatically switches to a preset operation mode without a user's operation, so the electronic device can be conveniently used in an emergency.

1 is a diagram illustrating a coupling relationship between an auto activation electronic device and a charging cable according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an exemplary configuration of a charging cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is an illustration of a coupling of a charging cable and an automatically activated electronic device body according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a view for showing the pin structure of the connector portion of the electronic device side according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an exemplary block diagram of a self-activating electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 illustrates the operation of an auto-activated electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is an exemplary block diagram of an auto-activated electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that related known functions or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

For reference, the term 'activation mode' used in the following description is assumed to be an operation mode in which the electronic device user is set to automatically switch when the charging cable is disconnected while charging the electronic device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a coupling relationship between an auto activation electronic device 100 and a charging cable 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration of a charging cable 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Shows an example of coupling the charging cable 200 and the body of the automatically activated electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, FIG. 4 illustrates a view for showing the pin structure of the electronic device side connector unit 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The automatically activated electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a rechargeable smartphone, a tablet PC, a notebook, a wearable camera, a wireless microphone, and the like. However, in the following embodiments, for convenience of explanation, the following description will be given on the assumption that a wearable camera 100 worn by a soldier, a police officer, a firefighter, or the like to record an image of a scene is an automatically activated electronic device. do.

The wearable camera 100 is also equipped with a rechargeable battery therein, like a general portable electronic device, and the battery is charged by receiving charging power through the charging cable 200. As shown in FIG. 2, the charging cable 200 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be provided with a USB connector 210 that can be coupled to a USB port as an example, and a plurality of connector pins 235 are provided on the other side of the USB connector 210. The connector block 220 in which the protrusions are formed is located.

The connector pins 235 may be pogo pins composed of five pins as an example. That is, the connector pins 235 illustrate a charging cable 200 including a power pin (Vcc), a data pin (D +, D-), a ground pin (GND), and an ID pin.

As shown in FIG. 2 to increase the coupling force between the connector pins 235 protruding from the connector block 220 positioned on one side of the charging cable 200 and the connector unit provided in the wearable camera 100, the charging cable ( The connector block 220 of the 200 has a magnet coupling groove 240 for mounting the first and second magnets (230a, 230b) is formed. Accordingly, first and second magnets 230a and 230b may be inserted into and fixed to the magnet coupling groove 240, respectively.

Meanwhile, the connector block 220 formed at one side of the charging cable 200 may be coupled to face the connector unit 110 of the wearable camera 100 which is an automatically activated electronic device as shown in FIG. 3. When the metal pieces 130a and 130b are positioned in the connector part 110 facing the first and second magnets 203a and 230b, the connector block 220 is connected to the connector part 110 of the wearable camera 110 by magnetic force. Since it is in close contact with the coupling force of the connector block 220 and the connector unit 110 is improved. In this case, it will be apparent that the connector pins 235 protruding from the connector block 220 should be in physical contact with the female part formed in the connector part 110 of the wearable camera 100.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, the connector female part 120 is positioned in the connector 110 facing the connector pins 235 derived from the connector block 220 of the charging cable, as shown in FIG. 4. The first metal piece 130a is positioned at the connector 110 facing the first magnet 230a of the connector block 220, and faces the second magnet 230b of the connector block 220. The second metal piece 130b is located in the connector 110 at the place.

The wearable camera 100 may charge the battery by receiving the charging power through the power pin (Vcc) of the magnetically coupled charging cable 200, and in some cases, connect the charging cable 200 through the data pin. Data communication is possible with an external device.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the wearable camera 100 which is automatically activated by detecting the separation of the charging cable 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

First, FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a wearable camera 100 which is an automatically activated electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a wearable camera 100 that is an automatically activated electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figures for explaining the operation of Figures are shown respectively.

As shown in FIG. 5, the wearable camera 100 corresponding to the auto-activated electronic device includes:

A connector pin disconnection detecting unit for physically contacting the connector pins 235 of the charging cable 200 and detecting the disconnection of the connector pins 235 of the charging cable 200 in contact with the connector pins 235;

When the separation of the connector pins 235 of the charging cable 200 is detected through the connector pin detachment detecting unit, an operation mode activation control unit 160 for switching the device operation mode to an activation mode.

The connector pin disconnection detecting unit includes a connector female part 120 positioned in the connector unit 110 and in contact with the connector pins 235, from the power pin Vcc of the connector pins 235. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 140 for digitally converting the supplied power level and a voltage level comparison control unit for detecting disconnection of a connector pin by comparing the power level converted by the analog-digital converter 140 with a setting level And 150.

The analog-to-digital converter 140, the voltage level comparison controller 150, and the operation mode activation controller 160 may be implemented as a processor that controls overall operations of an electronic device such as a wearable camera 100 or a wireless microphone. Can be.

Although not shown in FIG. 5, the wearable camera 100 may further include a lens unit for capturing an image, a servo driver for driving the lens unit, an image signal processor, and a memory. Since these are well known configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted below.

Hereinafter, an operation of the wearable camera 100 having the configuration of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

First, when the connector block 220 of the charging cable 200 and the connector 110 of the wearable camera 100 are coupled by the user, power is supplied by the power pin Vcc of the connector pins 235. As the power supply is output at the digital power level through the analog-to-digital converter 140, the power level of the digital type inputted by the camera-side processor, more specifically, the voltage level comparison control unit 150, is compared with the set level. It is possible to determine whether the school charging power is supplied. Since the supply of the charging power indicates that the charging cable is coupled soon, the voltage level comparison control unit 150 proceeds to the step S20 if the charging cable is coupled (step S10) to perform charging. As the charging is performed, the battery is supplied with charging power, and the charging state may be displayed to the outside through various indicators.

During charging, the voltage level comparison controller 150 continuously determines whether the charging cable is disconnected (S30). As a determination method, it may be determined by comparing the digital power supply level with a setting level. If the digital power level has a smaller value than the set level, it is determined that the input power is cut off, that is, the charging cable 200 is disconnected (step S30), and the determination result is transmitted to the operation mode activation control unit 160. do.

The operation mode activation control unit 160 switches the operation mode of the wearable camera 100 to an activation mode (step S40).

For example, when an emergency dispatch command is generated while the firefighter is charging the wearable camera 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the wearable camera 100 is detached from the charging cable 200 and dispatched. According to the order, the wearable camera 100 is automatically activated to enter a preset camera recording mode.

Therefore, firefighters using an electronic device may obtain an effect of operating the electronic device in a desired operation mode only by separating the electronic device from the charging cable 200 in an emergency situation.

In the above embodiment, it is detected that the charging cable 200 is separated through the presence or absence of power supplied through the power pin, but it may be detected that the charging cable 200 is separated even by checking whether the data is communicated through the data pin.

In another embodiment, detecting that the charging cable 200 is separated by magnetically disengaging the connector block 220 of the charging cable 200 and the connector unit 110 of the electronic device, which are magnetically coupled. can do.

That is, when the hall sensor is positioned instead of the second metal piece 130b at the connector 110 facing the second magnet 230b of the connector block 220 shown in FIG. It may be detected whether the charging cable 200 is separated.

The necessary configuration of the auto activation electronic device in this case is as shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the auto-activated electronic device has a physical contact with the connector pins 235 of the charging cable 200, but is mounted on the connector block 220 in which the connector pins 235 protrude. The connector unit 110 is provided with a hall sensor 112 for detecting the coupling with the magnet,

When the separation of the connector block 220 of the charging cable 200 is detected through the hall sensor 112 and includes an operation mode activation control unit 160 for switching the device operation mode to the activation mode, as shown in FIG. Based on the operation sequence as described above, it is possible to automatically determine whether the charging cable 200 is disconnected and to automatically switch the operation mode of the electronic device that was being charged to the activation mode.

Therefore, firefighters using the electronic device illustrated in FIG. 7 may obtain an effect of operating the electronic device in a desired operation mode only by disconnecting the electronic device from the charging cable 200 in an emergency situation. .

Although the above has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. For example, the embodiment of the present invention has been described on the assumption that the wearable camera is an electronic device that is automatically activated, but the electronic device, for example, a portable computer, a notebook, a smartphone, which is supplied with charging power through a charging cable, may also be used. It is possible to apply the present invention in the same manner without any modification so that it is automatically activated. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

[Description of the code]

100: wearable camera 110: connector

120: connector female 130a, 130b: metal piece

200: charging cable 220: connector block

230a, 230b: first and second magnets 235: connector pins

Claims (9)

A connector pin disconnection detecting unit for physically contacting the connector pins of the charging cable and detecting separation of the connector pins of the charging cable in contact; And an operation mode activation control unit for converting a device operation mode into an activation mode when the connector pin separation detection unit detects separation of the connector pins of the charging cable. The method of claim 1, wherein the connector pins of the charging cable is magnetically coupled to the magnet mounted on the connector block protruding to enhance the coupling force between the electronic device body and the connector block; To automatically activate electronic devices. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connector pin disconnection detecting unit, A connector female portion in contact with the connector pins; An analog-to-digital converter for digitally converting a power level supplied from a power pin among the connector pins; And a voltage level comparison controller for detecting a connector pin disconnection by comparing the power level converted by the analog-digital converter with a setting level. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the analog-to-digital converter, the voltage level comparison controller, and the operation mode activation controller are processors for controlling an operation of a wearable camera or a wireless microphone. A connector unit in physical contact with connector pins of a charging cable, the connector including a hall sensor for detecting whether the connector pin is coupled to a first magnet mounted on a connector block protruding from the connector pin; And an operation mode activation control unit for switching the device operation mode to an activation mode when the separation of the connector block of the charging cable is detected through the hall sensor. The method according to claim 5, The connector portion, And a metal piece magnetically coupled to the second magnet mounted on the connector block to promote a coupling force between the electronic device body and the connector block. The device of claim 5 or 6, wherein the operation mode activation control unit is a processor for controlling an operation of the wearable camera or the wireless microphone. The charging method according to claim 2 or 5, wherein the connector block on which the connector pins protrude is formed on one side of the cable, and at least one magnet is mounted on the connector block for magnetic coupling with the connector portion formed on the electronic device body. An automatically activated electronic device having a cable as an accessory. A connector block on one side of the cable, wherein the connector pins including at least a power pin, a data pin, a ground pin, and an ID pin are protruded to be electrically coupled to a connector female part formed in the electronic device body; And at least one magnet mounted to the connector block and magnetically coupled to a metal piece or a magnet positioned around the connector female part.

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