COOKING APPLIANCE

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202310339347.8 filed on Mar. 30, 2023 to the CNIPA, and entitled “cooking appliance”, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the technical field of cooking appliances, in particular relates to a cooking appliance.

BACKGROUND

At present, cooking appliances, such as microwave ovens, steam ovens, electric ovens, etc., have a single way of opening the door, and it is common to open the door by directly pulling a handle or pressing a switch.

However, although this way of opening the door allows for rapid opening, when there is a child at home, it is easy for the child to misuse it at a time when the heating has just been finished, which may easily cause a risk of scalding the child after the door is opened, therefore, the safety performance is poor, and a lot of potential safety hazards are brought to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present application lies in the problem existing in the prior art that cooking appliances commonly adopt a way of opening the door by a one-step operation or a one-button switch, which is easy for a child to open it by mistake, and the present application provides a cooking appliance to solve this problem. In order to achieve the above purpose, embodiments of the present application provide a cooking appliance that comprises:

• • a box body, provided with an opening and a box door for closing the opening;
  • a mechanical door lock mechanism, provided on the box body and the box door in a mutually corresponding manner, enabling the cooking appliance to have an unlocked door state and a single-locked door state;
  • an electronic door lock mechanism, provided on the box body and the box door in a mutually corresponding manner;
  • the electronic door lock mechanism having a double-locked door state that causes the box door to be relocked to the box body when the electronic door lock mechanism is energized and the cooking appliance is in the single-locked door state.

Optionally, the electronic door lock mechanism comprises:

• • a solenoid valve, provided on one of the box body and the box door;
  • a door lock retainer, provided on the other of the box body and the box door, wherein a valve spool of the solenoid valve is configured to be insertable into a lock hole of the door lock retainer;
  • an electronic control system, communicatively connected to the solenoid valve.

Optionally, switching from the single-locked door state to the double-locked door state comprises:

• • when the electronic control system detects energization and the cooking appliance is in the single-locked door state, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to be released, so that the valve spool of the solenoid valve becomes inserted into the lock hole of the door lock retainer, thereby relocking the box door to the box body.

Optionally, switching from the double-locked door state to the single-locked door state comprises:

• • after the electronic control system detects an instruction to open the box door, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to engage, so that the valve spool of the solenoid valve becomes detached from the lock hole of the door lock retainer.

Optionally, after switching from the double-locked door state to the single-locked door state, further comprising:

• • after the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to engage, if the box door has not been opened after a predetermined duration has elapsed, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to be released.

Optionally, detecting whether the box door has been opened is done by means of a microswitch, the microswitch being communicatively connected to the electronic control system.

Optionally, the electronic control system comprises an operation panel and a control circuit board that are communicatively connected to each other, the control circuit board is communicatively connected to the solenoid valve.

Optionally, upon inputting a signal through the operation panel to suspend the operation of the electronic door lock mechanism, the control circuit board controls the solenoid valve to engage and then disconnects communication of the control circuit board with the solenoid valve.

Optionally, upon inputting a signal through the operation panel to resume the operation of the electronic door lock mechanism, the control circuit board resumes communication with the solenoid valve and then the control circuit board controls the solenoid valve to be released.

Optionally, the solenoid valve remains in an engaged state when the electronic door lock mechanism is de-energized.

Optionally, the electronic control system further comprises:

• • a power storage module for supplying power to the operation panel, the control circuit board, and the solenoid valve.

Optionally, the power storage module adopts a power storage manner in which a capacitor is integrally provided with the control circuit board, or a power storage manner having an independent capacitor power storage module, or a power storage manner in which an independent battery module is combined with a charging circuit board.

Optionally, the control circuit board is communicatively connected to the power storage module, and the control circuit board is configured to detect in real time the state-of-charge of the power storage module and control a charging process of the power storage module.

The technical solution of the present application has the following advantages over the prior art:

1. The embodiments of the present application provide a cooking appliance that comprises: a box body, provided with an opening and a box door for closing the opening; a mechanical door lock mechanism, provided on the box body and the box door in a mutually corresponding manner, enabling the cooking appliance to have an unlocked door state and a single-locked door state; an electronic door lock mechanism, provided on the box body and the box door in a mutually corresponding manner; the electronic door lock mechanism having a double-locked door state that causes the box door to be relocked to the box body when the electronic door lock mechanism is energized and the cooking appliance is in the single-locked door state.

With this configuration, the electronic door lock mechanism can be directly activated when there is a child at home, thereby causing the cooking appliance to change from a single-locked door state to a double-locked door state, so that the child cannot directly open the box door, thus avoiding scalding the child and improving the overall safety of the cooking appliance.

2. The embodiments of the present application allow for suspending and resuming the operation of the electronic door lock mechanism. With this configuration, users can choose whether to double-lock the door according to their own needs, so as to meet the needs of different users, and improve the applicability of the cooking appliance.

3. The embodiments of the present application can select a solenoid valve to remain in an engaged state in the absence of external power supply, in which case, as the electronically controlled microwave oven door relocking system is able to automatically cancel the door relocking system in the absence of electric power supply, and thus allow for a one-step mechanical opening of the box door of the cooking appliance under such circumstance. Thereby, the situation of inability to open the box door of the cooking appliance in the absence of power supply is prevented from happening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly explain the technical solutions in specific implementations of the present application or in the prior art, accompanying drawings that need to be used in the description of the specific implementations or the prior art are briefly introduced below. Apparently, the accompanying drawings described below only represent some implementations of the present application. For a person with ordinary skill in the art, other accompanying drawings are obtainable according to these accompanying drawings without expenditure of any creative labor.

FIG. 1 is a virtual schematic diagram of individual functional modules of the electronic control section of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is an overall virtual schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application that adopts a power storage manner in which an independent battery module is combined with a charging circuit board;

FIG. 3 is a virtual schematic diagram of individual internal functional modules of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a solenoid valve control circuit of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a circuit schematic diagram of a charging circuit board of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is an electronic control schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a circuit schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application that adopts a power storage manner in which a capacitor is integrally provided with the control circuit board;

FIG. 8 is a virtual schematic diagram of individual functional modules of the electronic control section of an embodiment of the present application that adopts a power storage manner in which a capacitor is integrally provided with the control circuit board;

FIG. 9 is an overall virtual schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application that adopts a power storage manner in which an independent battery module is combined with a charging circuit board.

REFERENCE SIGNS

Q1, first transistor; Q2, second transistor; Q5, fifth transistor; Q6, sixth transistor; EC, energy storage capacitor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the technical solution of the present application will be clearly and completely described in combination with accompanying drawings. Apparently, embodiments described only represent part of the embodiments of the present application, not all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtainable by those ordinarily skilled in the art based on the embodiments described in the present application without expenditure of creative labor all fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that an orientation or position relationship indicated by terms “center”, “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “inside”, “outside”, etc. is based on an orientation or position relationship shown based on the accompanying drawings and is only for the purpose of facilitating the description of the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that an apparatus or element referred to must have a particular orientation or must be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, so that it is not to be construed as a limitation to the present application. In addition, terms “first”, “second”, and “third” are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be understood to indicate or imply relative importance.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly defined and limited, the terms “mount”, “couple”, “connect” should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or a connection in one piece; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or an internal communication of two elements; it may be a wireless connection or a wired connection. For a person with ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

In addition, technical features involved in different implementations of the present application described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

At present, cooking appliances, such as microwave ovens, steam ovens, electric ovens, etc., have a single way of opening the door, and it is common to open the door by directly pulling a handle or pressing a switch. However, although this way of opening the door allows for rapid opening, when there is a child at home, it is easy for the child to misuse it at a time when the heating has just been finished, which may easily cause a risk of scalding the child after the door is opened, therefore, the safety performance is poor, and a lot of potential safety hazards are brought to the user.

Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present application lies in the problem existing in the prior art that cooking appliances commonly adopt a way of opening the door by a one-step operation or a one-button switch, which is easy for a child to open it by mistake, and the present application provides a cooking appliance to solve this problem.

Embodiment 1

As shown in FIGS. 1-9, an embodiment of the present application provides a cooking appliance that comprises: a box body, a box door, a mechanical door lock mechanism and an electronic door lock mechanism, both for locking the box door.

Specifically, in the embodiments of the present application, the cooking appliance may be a microwave oven, a steam oven, an electric oven, etc., and only a microwave oven is taken as an example for illustration in this embodiment. Specifically, the box body is provided with an opening and a box door for closing the opening. The box door can be rotatably connected to the box body by a rotating shaft to open and close the box door. The box door can also be provided separately from the box body, so that a user can pull the box door open and close directly from a lateral side to open and close the box door. When the box door is provided separately from the box body, the electronic door lock mechanism becomes connected to an electrical connection member of the box body during a closing process of the box door, so as to achieve energization, and similarly, the electronic door lock mechanism becomes disconnected from the electrical connection member of the box body during an opening process of the box door, so as to achieve de-energization. Of course, this embodiment is merely an example of the way of connection between the box door and the box body for illustration, but is not a limitation thereto, those skilled in the art may change it according to the actual situation, as long as it is sufficient to be able to produce the same technical effect.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, the mechanical door lock mechanism is a type of door lock mechanism conventionally used by a cooking appliance, and the mechanical door lock mechanism may be provided on the box body and the box door in a mutually corresponding manner, enabling the cooking appliance to have an unlocked door state, in which the mechanical door lock mechanism does not insert the lock core into the lock hole after the box door is closed, and a single-locked door state, in which only the mechanical door lock mechanism inserts the lock core into the lock hole after the box door is closed.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, the electronic door lock mechanism is provided on the box body and the box door in a mutually corresponding manner. Specifically, the electronic door lock mechanism is part of the cooking appliance, so that the electronic door lock mechanism can work normally after the cooking appliance is energized by an external power source, however, the electronic door lock mechanism cannot work normally before the cooking appliance is energized or after it is de-energized. When the user uses the cooking appliance, if there is a child in the use environment, then the user can first lock the box door by using the mechanical door lock mechanism to make it be in a single-locked door state, and then activate the electronic door lock mechanism to relock the box door, so that the box door is in a double-locked door state. That is, the electronic door lock mechanism having a double-locked door state that causes the box door to be relocked to the box body when the electronic door lock mechanism is energized and the cooking appliance is in the single-locked door state.

With this configuration, the electronic door lock mechanism can be directly activated when there is a child at home, thereby causing the cooking appliance to change from a single-locked door state to a double-locked door state, so that the child cannot directly open the box door, thus avoiding scalding the child and improving the overall safety of the cooking appliance.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment of the present application, the electronic door lock mechanism comprises a solenoid valve, a door lock retainer, and an electronic control system. Specifically, the solenoid valve is provided on one of the box body and the box door, the door lock retainer is provided on the other of the box body and the box door, and a valve spool of the solenoid valve is configured to be insertable into a lock hole of the door lock retainer. The electronic control system is communicatively connected to the solenoid valve to control the solenoid valve to be released and engaged.

In the present embodiment, the solenoid valve can be provided on the box door, the door lock retainer is provided at the opening of the box body, and the valve spool of the solenoid valve is provided at a position corresponding to the lock hole of the door lock retainer. Of course, the solenoid valve can also be provided at the opening of the box body and the door lock retainer is provided on the box door. The embodiment is merely an example of the specific position arrangement of the solenoid valve and the door lock retainer to be provided for illustration, but is not a limitation thereto, those skilled in the art may change it according to the actual situation, as long as it is sufficient to be able to produce the same technical effect.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment of the present application, switching from the single-locked door state to the double-locked door state comprises:

• • when the electronic control system detects energization and the cooking appliance is in the single-locked door state, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to be released, so that the valve spool of the solenoid valve becomes inserted into the lock hole of the door lock retainer, thereby relocking the box door to the box body.

Specifically, when the electronic control system detects energization, it indicates that the cooking appliance is energized and ready to work. At this time the electronic control system may control the solenoid valve to be released after a certain reaction time, such as one second, two seconds, or three seconds. The double-locked door operation is completed after the valve spool of the solenoid valve becomes inserted into the lock hole of the door lock retainer. Of course, those skilled in the art may add a prompting device according to the actual situation in order to prompt the user that the double-locked door operation is completed by issuing a prompting signal. For example, the prompting signal may be a beep sound, a ticking sound. In the present embodiment, the ticking sound may be issued twice after the solenoid valve is released as a prompt. The present embodiment is merely an example for illustration, but is not a limitation thereto, as long as it is sufficient to be able to produce the same technical effect.

Optionally, switching from the double-locked door state to the single-locked door state comprises:

• • after the electronic control system detects an instruction to open the box door, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to engage, so that the valve spool of the solenoid valve becomes detached from the lock hole of the door lock retainer.

Specifically, the electronic control system is able to detect an instruction to open the box door when a user wants to open the box door, for example, after pressing a door opening button. Subsequently, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to engage, so that the valve spool of the solenoid valve becomes detached from the lock hole of the door lock retainer. At this time, it then becomes in a single-locked door state. Then, if the user wants to continue to open the box door, the user can open the box door by using the mechanical door lock mechanism.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment of the present application, after switching from the double-locked door state to the single-locked door state, further comprising:

• • after the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to engage, if the box door has not been opened after a predetermined duration has elapsed, for example, after two or three seconds have elapsed, the user does not open the box door, it indicates that the user is not in front of the cooking appliance or the user suddenly changes his/her mind at that time and does not want to open the box door. Then, in order to prevent misusing by a child, the electronic control system controls the solenoid valve to be released, so as to change back to the double-locked door state.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, it is possible to detect whether the box door has been opened by means of a microswitch, the microswitch being communicatively connected to the electronic control system. Of course, those skilled in the art may detect whether the box door is opened in other ways, such as by the use of a displacement sensor, an infrared sensor, an image sensor, or others. The present embodiment is merely an example for illustration, but is not a limitation thereto, as long as it is sufficient to be able to produce the same technical effect.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment of the present application, the electronic control system comprises an operation panel and a control circuit board that are communicatively connected to each other, the control circuit board is communicatively connected to the solenoid valve. Specifically, the user may control the electronic door lock mechanism to stop or resume its operation through the operation panel. For example, if the user wants the electronic door lock mechanism to stop its operation, the user can press a pause button on the operation panel, that is, upon inputting a signal through the operation panel to suspend the operation of the electronic door lock mechanism, the control circuit board controls the solenoid valve to engage and then disconnects communication of the control circuit board with the solenoid valve. If the user wants the electronic door lock mechanism to resume its operation, the user can press a resume button on the operation panel, that is, upon inputting a signal through the operation panel to resume the operation of the electronic door lock mechanism, the control circuit board resumes communication with the solenoid valve and then the control circuit board controls the solenoid valve to be released.

In the embodiments of the present application, the solenoid valve may be controlled to engage via the numerical button “0” on the operation panel, and the electronic door lock mechanism may be controlled to stop or resume its operation via the numerical buttons “7” and “9” on the operation panel. For example, when the user simultaneously presses “7” and “9” for the first time, the electronic door lock mechanism stops its operation, and a prompt signal of stopping the operation is issued; when the user simultaneously presses “7” and “9” for the second time, the electronic door lock mechanism resumes its operation, and a prompt signal of resuming the operation is issued. The present embodiment is merely an example of the operation mode of the operation panel for illustration, but is not a limitation thereto, those skilled in the art may change it according to the actual situation, as long as it is sufficient to be able to produce the same technical effect.

The embodiments of the present application allow for suspending and resuming the operation of the electronic door lock mechanism. With this configuration, users can choose whether to double-lock the door according to their own needs, so as to meet the needs of different users, and improve the applicability of the cooking appliance.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment of the present application, the solenoid valve remains in an engaged state when the electronic door lock mechanism is de-energized. In which case, as the electronically controlled microwave oven door relocking system is able to automatically cancel the door relocking system in the absence of electric power supply, and thus allow for a one-step mechanical opening of the box door of the cooking appliance under such circumstance. Thereby, the situation of inability to open the box door of the cooking appliance in the absence of power supply is prevented from happening.

In another optional embodiment, the valve spool of the solenoid valve can be maintained in an engaged state or a released state when the solenoid valve is de-energized. The principle of the solenoid valve at this time may be as follows:

• • The solenoid valve comprises the core components of a first coil, a second coil, a first magnet, a second magnet, a valve spool and a guide rod. The first magnet and the second magnet have opposite magnetic poles. The magnetic attraction force resulting from the magnetic flux produced by the first coil when energized, in combination with the magnetic force of the first magnet, is greater than the magnetic attraction force generated by the second magnet; or the magnetic attraction force resulting from the magnetic flux produced by the second coil when energized, in combination with the magnetic force of the second magnet, is greater than the magnetic attraction force generated by the first magnet. In this way, the valve spool can be driven to move, and the engaging and releasing action of the solenoid valve can be achieved. When the solenoid valve is de-energized, the valve spool can be attracted by the magnetic force generated by both the first and second magnets, so that it can be maintained in an engaged state or a released state.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3, and FIG. 8, the control circuit board is provided with a solenoid valve control circuit and a main control chip. The solenoid valve control circuit includes two independently configured switch members, the two switch members are connected to the first coil and the second coil respectively, and the main control chip controls the two switch members respectively. The solenoid valve can be de-energized after working momentarily, so that the state can be continuously maintained, achieving low energy consumption and stable state. The two switch members can be two separate transistors, that is, the first transistor Q1 and the second transistor Q2.

As for the two sets of coils in the solenoid valve, which maintain the original state when no current passes through, the main control chip instantly pulls up the drive signal of the solenoid valve drive circuit, making one of the transistors turned on, and the corresponding coil of the solenoid valve instantly forms a closed circuit, which causes the valve spool to engage, thus disconnecting the solenoid valve.

The solenoid valve control circuit includes two transistors. The two output-level signal ends of the main control chip are each connected with a resistor. The first resistor is connected to the base of the first transistor Q1, the second resistor is connected to the base of the second transistor Q2. The emitters of the two transistors are both connected to the ground. The collectors of the two transistors are connected to the first coil and the second coil respectively, and the other end of the first coil and the other end of the second coil are both connected to the 12V power supply.

As shown in FIG. 4, during normal operation, the main control chip outputs a high-level signal for 800 ms, which is input to the base of the first transistor Q1, so that the first transistor Q1 is turned on, electric current flows through the first coil, forming a closed circuit instantly, and thus the solenoid valve becomes released;

When the main control chip sets the electric level to a low level, the first transistor Q1 is turned off, the solenoid valve does not work due to the absence of electric current, thus maintaining the original released state;

The main control chip outputs a high-level signal for 800 ms, which is input to the base of the second transistor Q2 through the second resistor, so that the second transistor Q2 is turned on, electric current flows through the second coil, forming a closed circuit instantly, and thus the solenoid valve becomes engaged;

When the main control chip sets the electric level to a low level, the second transistor Q1 is turned off, the solenoid valve does not work due to the absence of electric current, thus maintaining the original engaged state.

In this optional embodiment, the specific process of switching from the double-locked door state to the single-locked door state and switching from the single-locked door state back to the double-locked door state comprises the following steps:

• • Step 1. The main control chip detects whether a command to cancel the secondary door opening has been input, if no, go to Step 2; if yes, go to Step 7;
  • Step 2. The main control chip decides whether to turn on the function of detecting the door state, if yes, go to Step 3, if no, then go to Step 4;
  • Step 3. The main control chip acquires the door state by means of the microswitch, the microswitch outputting a low level indicates there is no pull-door action, the microswitch outputting a high level indicates there is a pull-door action; if low level, go to Step 4; if high level, go to Step 6;
  • Step 4. The main control chip outputs a high level to Q1, go to Step 5;
  • Step 5. The first transistor Q1 is turned on and the solenoid valve state is set to be released, the door is locked;
  • Step 6. Press the button to input a command to open the door, go to Step 7;
  • Step 7. The second transistor Q2 is turned on and the solenoid valve state is set to engage, the door is opened.

Optionally, in an alternative embodiment, two transistors, including a third transistor and a fourth transistor, may be added.

The collector of the first transistor Q1 is connected to the base of the third transistor through a resistor, the emitter of the third transistor is connected to the 12V power supply, and the collector of the third transistor is connected to the first coil;

The collector of the second transistor Q2 is connected to the base of the fourth transistor through a resistor, the emitter of the fourth transistor is connected to the 12V power supply, and the collector of the fourth transistor is connected to the second coil.

Under normal operation, the main control chip outputs a high-level signal for 800 ms, which is input to the base of the first transistor Q1, the first transistor Q1 is turned on, the collector of the first transistor Q1 is set to a low level, thereby driving the third transistor into a turned-on state. Electric current flows from the 12V power supply to the third transistor and then into the first coil, forming a closed circuit instantly, and thus the solenoid valve becomes released;

When the main control chip sets the electric level to a low level, the first transistor Q1 is turned off, and the third transistor is turned off, the solenoid valve does not work due to the absence of electric current, thus maintaining the original released state;

Similarly, the main control chip outputs a high-level signal for 800 ms, which is input to the base of the second transistor Q2 through the second resistor, the second transistor Q2 is turned on, thereby driving the fourth transistor into a turned-on state. Electric current flows through the second coil, forming a closed circuit instantly, and the solenoid valve becomes engaged;

When the main control chip sets the electric level to a low level, the second transistor Q2 is turned off, and the fourth transistor is turned off, the solenoid valve does not work due to the absence of electric current, thus maintaining the original engaged state;

Optionally, in an optional embodiment of the present application, the electronic control system further comprises a power storage module for supplying power to the operation panel, the control circuit board, and the solenoid valve. Specifically, the power storage module adopts a power storage manner in which a capacitor is integrally provided with the control circuit board, or a power storage manner having an independent capacitor power storage module, or a power storage manner in which an independent battery module is combined with a charging circuit board. Moreover, the control circuit board is communicatively connected to the power storage module, and the control circuit board is configured to detect in real time the state-of-charge of the power storage module and control a charging process of the power storage module.

When adopting a power storage manner in which a capacitor is integrally provided with the control circuit board, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, a high-capacity energy storage capacitor EC can be connected into the solenoid valve control circuit, one end of the high-capacity energy storage capacitor EC is connected to the 12V power supply, and the other end thereof is connected to the ground.

When adopting a power storage manner in which an independent battery module is combined with a charging circuit board, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, the charging circuit board is provided with a charging circuit and a charging chip which are connected to each other. The charging switch in the charging circuit is a fifth transistor Q5, the collector of which is connected to the working selector pin of the charging chip, the emitter thereof is connected to the ground, the base thereof is connected to the current-limiting resistor and the bias resistor, and the other end of the current-limiting resistor is connected to the I/O port of the main control chip. The drain electrode of the MOS tube is connected to the positive terminal of the power supply battery, the gate electrode thereof is connected to the collector of the sixth transistor Q6 through a resistor, and the source electrode thereof is connected to the power supply. The emitter of the sixth transistor Q6 is grounded, and the base of the sixth transistor Q6 is connected to the output pin of the charging chip through a resistor.

When the main control chip detects that the battery module voltage is lower than a preset value, the I/O port of the main control chip outputs a low level, so that the fifth transistor Q5 is turned off. The enable pin of the charging chip has a high level inputted to it, and the charging chip starts to work. Then, the output pin of the charging chip outputs a high level, the sixth transistor Q6 is turned on, and the MOS tube is turned on, so as to supply power to the battery module from the power supply, and the battery module is charged. When the battery module is fully charged, the I/O port of the main control chip detects that the voltage of the battery module is equal to the preset value, the main control chip outputs a high level, so that the fifth transistor Q5 is turned on, the enable pin of the charging chip becomes grounded, so that the charging chip shuts down the signal pin, and the charging chip does not work. Therefore, the sixth transistor Q6 is turned off, the MOS tube is turned off, and the power supply stops charging the battery module.

• • Step 1. The main control chip detects whether the battery voltage is too low, if yes, go to Step 2; if no, go to Step 5;
  • Step 2. The main control chip outputs a low level, go to Step 3;
  • Step 3. The charging chip works, the battery is being charged;
  • Step 4. The battery is in a fully charged state;
  • Step 5. The main control chip outputs a high level, the charging chip does not work, and the battery is in a fully charged state.

Apparently, the above embodiments are only examples for clear illustration and are not a limitation to the implementations. For a person with ordinary skill in the art, other changes or variations in different forms may be made on the basis of the above description. It is unnecessary and impossible to be exhaustive for all implementations herein. Any obvious changes or variations derived therefrom still fall within the scope of protection of the present application.