Technical Field
The present invention relates to operate an electronic device in a low-temperature environment, and more particularly, to a heating circuit, an electronic apparatus, and a method for entering an operation mode in a low-temperature environment.
Related Art
In a low-temperature environment, for example, an environment at a temperature lower than −20° C., a part of electronic components in an electronic apparatus cannot operate normally, and even be damaged in operation. Especially for a fluid dynamic bearing in a common hard disk driver, in the low-temperature environment, a viscous liquid film in the fluid dynamic bearing is likely to be solidified. When the viscous liquid film in the fluid dynamic bearings is solidified, if the disk of the hard disk driver rotates, the disk may be damaged, and data stored in the hard disk driver is damaged.
A rugged electronic apparatus, such as a rugged laptop computer, has one or more built-in heaters for heating the hard disk driver or the battery in the rugged electronic apparatus. The purpose of heating the hard disk driver or the battery is to maintain the viscous liquid film or the electrolyte in the fluid dynamic bearing in a liquid state without being solidified. Before booting up, such an electronic apparatus allows the user to turn on the heaters manually, so as to heat the aforementioned electronic components and then switch the electronic apparatus to boot up after a period of heating.
Theoretically speaking, heating the hard disk drivers by multiple heaters simultaneously, the electronic apparatus can boot up as soon as possible. In fact, the average electric power obtained by each heater from the power supplier is reduced when the number of the heaters is increased; therefore, a heating efficiency of each hard disk driver is reduced.
The present invention is directed to a heating circuit for hard disk drivers, an electronic apparatus, and a method for entering an operation mode in a low-temperature environment, to solve the problems mentioned above.
The present invention provides a heating circuit, applicable in a situation that plural electronic devices are not activated. The heating circuit includes a plurality of thermal sensors, a controller, and a plurality of heaters. The thermal sensors are provided for respectively detecting a temperature of each electronic device. The controller is provided for obtaining the temperatures of all the electronic devices through the thermal sensors, determining whether the temperatures of all the electronic devices reach a threshold value, and generating a plurality of enable signals when the temperatures of at least two electronic devices are lower than the threshold value. The waveforms of the enable signals vary alternately. The heaters are provided for respectively receiving one of the enable signals, and heating at least one of the electronic devices according to the received enable signal.
The present invention also provides an electronic apparatus, which includes a processor, plural electronic devices, a plurality of thermal sensors, a controller, and a plurality of heaters. The thermal sensors are provided for respectively detecting a temperature of each electronic device. The controller is provided for obtaining the temperatures of all the electronic devices through the thermal sensors. Before the electronic devices are activated, the controller determines whether the temperatures of all the electronic devices reach a threshold value, and generates a plurality of enable signals when the temperatures of at least two electronic devices are lower than the threshold value. The waveforms of the enable signals vary alternately. The heaters are provided for respectively receiving the enable signals, and heating at least one of the electronic devices according to the received enable signal.
The present invention further provides a method for entering an operation mode in a low-temperature environment, applicable in a situation that plural electronic devices in an electronic apparatus are not activated. By performing the method, an electronic apparatus obtains a temperature of each electronic device after receiving a request of a user, wherein the request includes an event of requiring the electronic apparatus to enter the operation mode.
Then, the electronic apparatus determines whether the temperatures of all the electronic devices reach a threshold value. If the temperatures of at least two electronic devices do not reach the threshold value, the electronic apparatus generates a plurality of enable signals corresponding to the electronic devices having the temperature lower than the threshold value, wherein waveforms of the enable signals vary alternately. Then the electronic apparatus transfers the enable signals to the corresponding heaters, in which each enable signal is transferred to at least one of the heaters, so as to heat one of the electronic devices by each heater according to the received enable signal.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
Referring to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The controller 140 obtains the temperatures Td1, Td2 of the hard disk drivers through the thermal sensors 130a, 130b, and determines whether both the temperatures Td1, Td2 of the hard disk drivers reach a threshold value Tth.
When both the temperatures Td1, Td2 of the hard disk drivers 900a, 900b are lower than the threshold value Tth, the controller 140 respectively transfers a first enable signal PWM1 and a second enable signal PWM2 to the corresponding first heater 120a and the corresponding second heater 120b. Then, the first heater 120a and the second heater 120b respectively heat the hard disk driver 900a, 900b according to the first enable signal PWM1 and the second enable signal PWM2.
The first heater 120a heats the hard disk driver 900a when the first enable signal PWM1 is at a high-voltage level, and stops heating the hard disk driver 900a when the first enable signal PWM1 is at a low-voltage level. Similar to the heating mode of the first heater 120a, the second heater 120b heats the hard disk driver 900b when the second enable signal PWM2 is at the high-voltage level, and stops heating the hard disk driver 900b when the second enable signal PWM2 is at the low-voltage level.
The first enable signal PWM1 and the second enable signal PWM2 can be pulse width modulation (PWM) signals, and the waveforms of the enable signals vary alternately. As illustrated in
In this manner, an overload situation of the power supplier 110 caused by heating the hard disk drivers 900a, 900b by the heaters 120a, 120b simultaneously and continuously is prevented. If the waveforms of the first enable signal PWM1 and the second enable signal PWM2 are totally non-overlapped, and an instantaneous electrical power output to the heaters 120a, 120b by the power supplier 110 is close to, but does not exceeds, a maximal load of the power supplier 110.
Referring to
Referring to
In this embodiment, the heating circuit includes a plurality of heaters (120a, 120b . . . , 120N), a plurality of thermal sensors (130a, 130b . . . 130N), and a controller 140. Each thermal sensor (130a, 130b . . . 130N) is provided for respectively detecting the temperature of one single hard disk driver (900a, 900b . . . 900N), to obtain the temperatures (Td1, Td2 . . . TdN) corresponding to the hard disk drivers (900a, 900b . . . 900N). The controller 140 is an EC or a keyboard controller. In this embodiment, the structures and the heating modes of the heaters (120a, 120b . . . 120N) are the same as those of the first heater 120a in the first embodiment.
The controller 140 obtains the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) of all the hard disk drivers (900a, 900b, . . . , 900N) through the thermal sensors (130a, 130b, . . . , 130N), and determines whether the temperatures (Td1, Td2 . . . TdN) of the hard disk drivers reach a threshold value Tth.
When at least two of the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) of the hard disk drivers are lower than the threshold value Tth, for example, Td1 and Td2 among the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) are lower than the threshold value Tth, the controller 140 generates corresponding enable signals (PWM1, PWM2) according to the temperatures (Td1, Td2) lower than the threshold value Tth. The waveforms of the enable signals PWM1, PWM2 vary alternately. Then, the enable signals PWM1, PWM2 are transferred to the corresponding heaters 120a, 120b, so as to heat the hard disk drivers 900a, 900b having the temperatures Td1, Td2 lower than the threshold value Tth. The enable signal (PWM1/PWM2 . . . /PWM N) is a PWM signal, and the waveforms of the enable signals are totally non-overlapped, alternately switched, or partially overlapped.
In this embodiment, the controller 140 only generates the plurality of enable signals (PWM1, PWM2, . . . , PWM N) for heating the electronic devices having the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) lower than the threshold value Tth, when the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) of at least two electronic devices are lower than the threshold value Tth. In practice, the controller 140 can also generate other enable signals (PWM1, PWM2, . . . , PMW N) for heating the other electronic devices having the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) higher than or equal to the threshold value Tth.
Furthermore, each enable signal (PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PMW N) is transferred to at least one heater (130a/130b/ . . . /130N). For example, when only a signal heater (130a/130b/ . . . /130N) is disposed on each hard disk driver (900a/900b/ . . . /900N), each enable signals (PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PMW N) is transferred to one single heater (130a/130b/ . . . /130N). If plural heaters (130a, 130b . . . 130N) are disposed on one hard disk driver, one single enable signal (PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PMW N) is transferred to all the heaters (130a, 130b . . . 130N) on the same hard disk driver (900a/900b/ . . . /900N).
Furthermore, the present invention provides an electronic apparatus 800, which can be a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable navigation device (PND), or a tablet computer. As illustrated in
The electronic apparatus 800 includes a heating circuit, a power supplier 110, a controller 140, a central processing unit (CPU) 810, a bridge chip 820, a system memory 840, a plurality of hard disk drivers 900a, 900b . . . 900N, a display interface 860, a display module 870, and a read only memory (ROM) 880. The heating circuit includes a plurality of heaters (120a, 120b . . . , 120N), and a plurality of thermal sensors (130a, 130b . . . 130N). The controller 140 is an EC or a keyboard controller. As the elements are substantially the same as those in a common laptop computer, only different elements are described hereafter.
First, in the situation that the electronic devices are not activated, the electronic apparatus is in a shutdown mode (S5), a dormant mode (S4), or a sleep mode (S3) of an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).
After the electronic apparatus 800 receives a request of a user, the controller 140 obtains the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) of the hard disk drivers (900a, 900b, . . . , 900N) through the thermal sensors (130a, 130b, . . . , 130N) (S11). The request of the user includes an event of requiring the electronic apparatus 800 to enter an operation mode (for example, an operation mode (S0/G0) of the ACPI). The event of the present invention may be an event generated by software or firmware or a signal generated by hardware.
After obtaining the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) of all the hard disk drivers (900a, 900b, . . . , 900N) through the thermal sensors (130a, 130b, . . . , 130N), the controller 140 determines whether the temperatures of all the hard disk drivers reach a threshold value (S12).
If the controller 140 determines that the temperatures (Td1, Td2 . . . TdN) of all the hard disk drivers 900a, 900b . . . , and 900N reach the threshold value Tth, the controller 140 enables the electronic apparatus 800 to enter the operation mode (S13). After the electronic apparatus 800 enters the operation mode, the hard disk drivers (900a, 900b . . . 900N) operate normally.
If the controller 140 determines that the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) of at least two hard disk drivers (900a, 900b, . . . , 900N) do not reach the threshold value Tth, the controller 140 generates enable signals PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N corresponding to the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N having the temperatures (Td1, Td2, . . . , TdN) lower than the threshold value Tth (S14). The waveforms of the generated enable signals PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N vary alternately.
In this embodiment, the controller 140 only generates the enable signals PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N corresponding to the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N having the temperatures lower than the threshold value Tth. In practice, the controller 140 can also generate the enable signals PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N corresponding to the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N having the temperatures Td1, Td2 . . . TdN higher than or equal to the threshold value Tth.
The alternately varying waveforms described in this embodiment may be totally non-overlapped waveforms, alternately switched waveforms, or partially overlapped waveforms of the enable signals PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N.
For example, when only Td1, Td2, TdN among the temperatures of all the hard disk drivers obtained by the controller 140 are lower than the threshold value Tth, the controller 140 only generates the enable signals PWM1, PWM2, PWM N. The waveforms of the enable signals PWM1, PWM2, PWM N are totally non-overlapped, as illustrated in
Next, the controller 140 transfers the enable signals to the corresponding heaters (S15), in which each enable signal PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N is transferred to at least one heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N. For example, if the controller 140 only generates the enable signals PWM1, PWM2, PWM N, the controller 140 respectively transfers the enable signals PWM1, PWM2, PWM N to the corresponding heaters 120a, 120b, 120N.
After the heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N receives the enable signal PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N generated by the controller 140, each heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N heats the hard disk driver 900a/900b/ . . . /900N according to the received enable signal PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N (S16). For example, if only the enable signals PWM1, PWM2, PWM N are transferred to the corresponding heaters 120a, 120b, 120N, the heaters 120a, 120b, 120N heat the hard disk drivers 900a, 900b, 900N according to the enable signals PWM1, PWM2, PWM N.
Furthermore, each enable signal PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N is transferred to at least one heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N. For example, when only one single heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N is disposed on each hard disk driver 900a/900b/ . . . /900N, on single enable signal PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N is only transferred to the single heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N. If plural heaters 120a/120b/ . . . /120N are disposed on one hard disk driver 900a/900b/ . . . /900N, the single enable signal PWM1/PWM2/ . . . /PWM N is transferred to all the heaters 120a/120b/ . . . /120N on the same hard disk driver 900a/900b/ . . . /900N.
After the heater 120a/120b/ . . . /120N heats the hard disk driver 120a/120b/ . . . /120N for a preset time, Steps S11-S16 are repeated. Till the controller 140 determines that the temperatures (Td1, Td2 . . . TdN) of all the hard disk drivers 900a, 900b . . . , 900N reach the threshold value Tth, the controller 140 enables the electronic apparatus 800 to enter the operation mode S0/G0 of the ACPI (S13).
According to the embodiments of the present invention, before the electronic apparatus 800 boots up, the temperatures of the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N are first confirmed, and after it is confirmed that the temperatures of the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N exceed the threshold value, the electronic apparatus 800 is enabled to enter the operation mode. Thus, the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N are prevented from operating in a low-temperature state. In this embodiment, the hard disk drivers 900a/900b/ . . . /900N are heated simultaneously, such that at least one enable signal and other enable signals are at least partially non-overlapped, and thus the heaters can achieve an optimal heating efficiency, and an instantaneous total electric power of the heater will not be excessively high.
While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011 1 0072145 | Mar 2011 | CN | national |
This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) on U.S. Provisional Application 61/429,739 filed on Jan. 4, 2011 and priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 201110072145.9 filed in China on Mar. 15, 2011, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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