External battery pack apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed is an external battery pack apparatus for providing a portable appliance with a power-supply voltage. The apparatus includes an adapter for containing a power-supply terminal and output voltage setting terminals, and programming an output voltage by short-circuiting or open-circuiting at least one pair among the above terminals; a cable connected to the adapter; and a main body for containing a battery, a charging controller for charging the battery, and an output controller for performing a DC-to-DC conversion on a voltage charged in the battery and outputting the DC-to-DC converted voltage to the adapter via the cable, detecting a programming status of the adapter, and varying an output voltage in response to the detected programming status.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An external battery pack apparatus for providing a portable appliance with a power-supply voltage, comprising: 
 an adapter for containing a power-supply terminal and output voltage setting terminals, and programming an output voltage by short-circuiting or open-circuiting at least one pair among the above terminals;    a cable connected to the adapter; and    a main body for containing a battery, a charging controller for charging the battery, and an output controller for performing a DC-to-DC conversion on a voltage charged in the battery and outputting the DC-to-DC converted voltage to the adapter via the cable, detecting a programming status of the adapter, and varying an output voltage in response to the detected programming status.    
     
     
         2 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the output controller includes: 
 adapter detecting means for generating different resistance values in response to a programming status of terminals of the adapter; and    a DC/DC converter for converting an output DC voltage according to a signal value of an output signal of the adapter detecting means.    
     
     
         3 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein the adapter detecting means is a feedback circuit for feeding back an output voltage by a resistor array having different resistance values according to a connection status of the adapter terminals, and the DC/DC converter is a PWM circuit controlled by a feedback signal of the feedback circuit.  
     
     
         4 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 3 , wherein the feedback signal is transmitted to the DC/DC converter via an optocoupler circuit.  
     
     
         5 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein the adapter is discriminated from other adapters by a color code having difference colors in response to a setting status of the output voltage setting terminals.  
     
     
         6 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the cable has connectors detachably connected to the main body.  
     
     
         7 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a central controller for checking a charging/discharging state of the battery by controlling the charging controller; and    a communication port connected to the central controller, for transmitting the charging/discharging state information of the battery to a portable appliance.    
     
     
         8 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 7 , wherein the communication port is integrated with the adapter as one body.  
     
     
         9 . The external battery pack apparatus as set forth in  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 a central controller for checking a charging/discharging state of the battery by controlling the charging controller; and    a communication port connected to the central controller, for transmitting the charging/discharging state information of the battery to a portable appliance.    
     
     
         10 . An external battery pack, comprising: 
 a cable having an adapter for providing a portable appliance with a power-supply voltage;    a battery;    a charging controller for charging the battery;    an output controller for performing a DC-to-DC conversion on a power-supply voltage generated from the battery, and transmitting the converted voltage to the cable;    a central controller for controlling the charging controller, and checking a charging/discharging state of the battery; and    a communication port connected to the central controller, for transmitting information of the charging/discharging state of the battery to a portable appliance.