Power supply method, power receiving device charging method, and power supply method for power supply device

Abstract

A power supply method is implemented in a connector, a power supply device and a power receiving device, the connector is connected between the power supply device and the power receiving device, and the power supply method comprises the following steps: after confirming that the connector, the power supply device and the power receiving device are successfully connected, starting a microprocessor of the power receiving device to determine whether at least one battery of the power receiving device needs to be charged, and when determining that the at least one battery needs to be charged, the microprocessor confirms the rated voltage of the battery, and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector, then, according to the instruction, the connector makes the power supply device provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery, and the greater the rated voltage of the battery is, the greater the output voltage provided by the power supply device is. By using the power supply method of the application, the voltage drop of the output voltage converted into the rated voltage can be reduced, or in other words, the efficiency of voltage conversion is improved, thereby bringing the benefits of cooling and power saving.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The original application has the application number 201910226206.9, the application date is March 25, 2019, and the invention title is "Power Supply Method". Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to a power supply method, and more particularly to a power supply method that enables a power supply device to provide an appropriate output voltage based on the rated voltage of the battery in the power receiving device. Background Technology

[0003] Because USB Type-C supports the next-generation USB Power Delivery (PD) specification, and the USB PD specification allows power devices to provide different output voltage levels, such as 5 volts, 9 volts, 15 volts, or 20 volts, existing power devices, such as AC adapters, have largely switched to using USB Type-C connectors for power delivery. Furthermore, some manufacturers include Vendor Defined Messages (VDMs) in the powered device that can be recognized by the USB Type-C connector. Therefore, once the powered device is connected to the power supply device via a USB Type-C connector, the USB Type-C connector can use the powered device's VDM to instruct the power supply device to provide a fixed output voltage as the power supply voltage required for the powered device's operation. However, besides the power supply device, the powered device can also be powered by its battery. Upon receiving the output voltage (e.g., 20 volts) provided by the power supply device according to its VDM, the powered device will then convert that 20 volts into its battery's rated voltage, such as 12.6 volts, to charge its battery. However, due to the voltage conversion difference, the efficiency of converting 20 volts to 12.6 volts is definitely worse than that of converting 15 volts to 12.6 volts, so the existing technology mentioned above cannot bring the benefits of cooling and saving power. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the object of the present invention is to provide a power supply method that allows the power supply device to provide an appropriate output voltage based on the rated voltage of the battery in the powered device. To achieve the above object, embodiments of the present invention provide a power supply method implemented in a connector, a power supply device, and a powered device. The connector is connected between the power supply device and the powered device, and the power supply method includes the following steps. After confirming that the connector, the power supply device, and the powered device are all successfully connected, the microprocessor of the powered device is activated to determine whether at least one battery of the powered device needs to be charged. When it is determined that the at least one battery needs to be charged, the microprocessor confirms the rated voltage of the battery and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector. Then, according to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery, and the higher the rated voltage of the battery, the higher the output voltage the connector causes the power supply device to provide.

[0005] To further understand the features and technical content of this invention, please refer to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. However, these descriptions and accompanying drawings are only for illustrating the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. Attached Figure Description

[0006] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a connector, power supply device, and power receiving device provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0007] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart of a power supply method provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart of a power supply method provided in another embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0009] The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating various embodiments thereof. However, the inventive concept may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Furthermore, the same reference numerals in the drawings may be used to denote similar elements, and for ease of description, only the parts relevant to the invention are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.

[0010] The power supply method disclosed in this invention is implemented in a connector, a power supply device, and a power receiving device. The connector is connected between the power supply device and the power receiving device. The power supply method includes: after confirming that the connector, the power supply device, and the power receiving device are all successfully connected, activating a microprocessor of the power receiving device to determine whether at least one battery of the power receiving device needs to be charged. When it is determined that at least one battery needs to be charged, the microprocessor confirms a rated voltage of the battery and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery. The higher the rated voltage of the battery, the higher the output voltage the connector causes the power supply device to provide.

[0011] Optionally, the connector is a USB Type-C connector that supports the USB Power Delivery specification, and the power supply and power receiving devices are an AC adapter and an electronic device that also support the USB PD specification, respectively.

[0012] Optionally, after confirming that the connector, power supply device, and powered device are all successfully connected, the power supply method further includes: having the power supply device provide an initial voltage to the powered device through the connector, and starting the microprocessor to determine whether the powered device is in a power-on state or a power-off state; if it is in a power-off state, the power supply method continues to execute from the step of starting the microprocessor to determine whether at least one battery of the powered device needs to be charged; if it is in a power-on state, the connector causes the power supply device to change the initial voltage according to the USB PD specification to provide a maximum output voltage as the power supply voltage required for the operation of the powered device, wherein the maximum output voltage is also used to charge at least one battery.

[0013] Optionally, at least one battery may be two or more batteries, each with a different rated voltage and a charging priority.

[0014] Optionally, the steps after the microprocessor determines that at least one battery needs to be charged include: sequentially determining whether one of the batteries needs to be charged according to the order of these charging priorities; and when it is determined that a battery needs to be charged, confirming the rated voltage of the battery and outputting a corresponding instruction to the connector; according to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery until the battery's charge reaches a preset condition, and then returning to the step of sequentially determining whether one of the batteries needs to be charged according to the order of these charging priorities.

[0015] Optionally, when it is determined that the battery does not need to be charged, or the battery charge has reached the preset condition, the power supply method further includes: determining whether the battery's charging priority is the lowest among these charging priorities; if so, returning to the step of having the power supply device provide an initial voltage to the powered device through the connector.

[0016] Optionally, the rated voltage of a battery is determined by the number of batteries connected in series, and the higher the number of series, the higher the rated voltage.

[0017] First, please also refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a connector, power supply device, and power receiving device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart of a power supply method provided in an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that... Figure 2 The power supply method is feasible in Figure 1 The connector 10, power supply device 12, and power receiving device 14 are included, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Figure 1 The specific implementation of the connector 10, power supply device 12, and power receiving device 14. However, as mentioned earlier, since the USBPD specification will allow the power supply device 12 to provide different levels of output voltage, therefore in Figure 1 In some embodiments, connector 10 may be, for example, a USB Type-C connector that supports the USB PD specification, and power supply device 12 and power receiving device 14 may be, for example, an AC adapter and a laptop computer that also support the USB PD specification, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0018] Additionally, the power supply device 12 may be equipped with a male / female connector 121 for connection to the connector 10, and a power plug 123 for connection to mains power (not shown). For the sake of clarity in the following description, this embodiment will only be described assuming that the power supply device 12 is already connected to mains power via the power plug 123. Similarly, the powered device 14 may mainly include a microprocessor and at least one battery (neither shown), and the powered device 14 may be equipped with a female connector 141 for connection to the connector 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, the connector 10 connects the power supply device 12 and the powered device 14. After confirming that the connector 10, the power supply device 12, and the powered device 14 are all successfully connected, the connector 10 can transmit the output voltage (not shown) provided by the power supply device 12 to the powered device 14 according to the USB PD specification.

[0019] like Figure 2As shown, in step S100 after confirming that connector 10, power supply device 12, and powered device 14 are all successfully connected, the power supply method of this embodiment allows power supply device 12 to provide an initial voltage to powered device 14 through connector 10. After receiving the initial voltage, powered device 14 converts the initial voltage into the operating voltage required for its microprocessor to operate, and provides the operating voltage to the microprocessor to start the microprocessor to execute step S120, that is, to determine whether at least one battery of powered device 14 needs to be charged. It is worth mentioning that the present invention does not limit the specific implementation of how to confirm whether connector 10, power supply device 12, and powered device 14 are all successfully connected, nor does it limit the specific implementation of the microprocessor determining whether at least one battery needs to be charged. Those skilled in the art should be able to make these related designs according to actual needs or applications. Moreover, in this embodiment, the initial voltage can be, for example, 5 volts, and the operating voltage can be, for example, 3.3 volts, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0020] Next, if it is determined that at least one battery does not need to be charged, the power supply method of this embodiment should return to step S100. However, if it is determined that at least one battery needs to be charged, the power supply method of this embodiment will execute steps S130, S140, and S150. In step S130, the microprocessor confirms the rated voltage of the battery that needs to be charged and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector 10. Then, in step S140, according to the instruction, the connector 10 causes the power supply device 12 to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery. It can be understood that the rated voltage of the battery that needs to be charged refers to the ideal charging voltage required by the battery during charging, and the higher the rated voltage of the battery that needs to be charged, the higher the output voltage that the connector 10 should cause the power supply device 12 to provide. In addition, in other embodiments, the microprocessor may also swap the order of steps S130 and S120 and make slight corresponding modifications to the battery objects in the two steps. In other words, the microprocessor can determine whether the battery needs to be charged only after confirming the rated voltage of at least one battery of the power receiving device 14, and after determining that the battery needs to be charged, it outputs the corresponding instruction to the connector 10. In short, this does not affect the implementation of the present invention.

[0021] For example, if connector 10 supports the USB PD 3.0 specification, it can allow power supply device 12 to provide an output voltage of 5 volts, 9 volts, 15 volts, or 20 volts. Therefore, if the rated voltage of the battery to be charged is 8.4 volts, connector 10 should enable power supply device 12 to provide a corresponding 9-volt output voltage. This is because, due to voltage conversion differences, the efficiency of converting 9 volts to 8.4 volts is significantly better than that of converting 15 volts or 20 volts to 8.4 volts. Similarly, if the rated voltage of the battery to be charged is 12.6 volts, connector 10 should enable power supply device 12 to provide a corresponding 15-volt output voltage. This is because, due to voltage conversion differences, the efficiency of converting 15 volts to 12.6 volts is also significantly better than that of converting 20 volts to 12.6 volts. In other words, after the connector 10 receives an instruction to know the ideal charging voltage required by the battery during charging, the connector 10 should enable the power supply device 12 to select and provide an output voltage that is closest to the ideal charging voltage, thereby reducing the voltage drop when the output voltage is converted into the charging voltage, or improving the efficiency of voltage conversion, so as to bring about the benefits of cooling and power saving.

[0022] However, a battery charged to 80% or more is generally considered fully charged, but this invention is not limited to this. Therefore, in step S150, the microprocessor can further determine whether the charge level of the battery being charged has reached a preset condition, such as its charge level being 80% or more. If not, it returns to step S140 to continue charging it; if so, it returns to step S120 to determine whether there are other batteries that need to be charged. Of course, in other embodiments, if it is determined that the charge level of the battery being charged has reached the preset condition, the microprocessor can also change the power supply method flow to return from step S150 to step S100, which does not affect the implementation of this invention. In addition, as mentioned above, the output voltage provided by the power supply device 12 can be used not only to directly charge the at least one battery, but also as the power supply voltage required for the operation of the powered device 14. Therefore, in Figure 2 Step S100 may be followed by step S110, in which the power supply method of this embodiment starts the microprocessor to determine whether the powered device 14 is in a power-on state or a power-off state.

[0023] Similarly, this invention does not limit the specific implementation of the microprocessor determining whether the powered device 14 is in a power-on or power-off state. Those skilled in the art should be able to design accordingly based on actual needs or applications. It is understood that if the powered device 14 is in a power-off state, the power supply method of this embodiment will continue from step S130; however, if the powered device 14 is in a power-on state, the power supply method of this embodiment will proceed to step S160. In step S160, the connector 10, according to the USB PD specification, causes the power supply device 12 to change the initial voltage to provide a maximum output voltage as the power supply voltage required for the operation of the powered device 14. For example, if the connector 10 also supports the USB PD 3.0 specification, the connector 10 can allow the power supply device 12 to provide a maximum output voltage of 20 volts. Therefore, in this embodiment, the maximum output voltage can be, for example, 20 volts, and this maximum output voltage of 20 volts is also used to charge the at least one battery of the powered device 14. Since the detailed information has already been described above, it will not be repeated here.

[0024] Furthermore, to extend battery life or meet the trend of lightweight design, the power receiving device may also include batteries composed of different numbers of cells, for example... Figure 1 The power receiving device 14 may include a bridge battery consisting of 2 strings, a backup battery consisting of 4 strings, and a main battery consisting of 3 strings. It should be noted that the rated voltage of each battery type is determined by the number of strings used in its configuration, and the higher the number of strings, the higher the rated voltage. For example, the rated voltage of the aforementioned bridge battery may be 8.4 volts, and the rated voltages of the main battery and backup battery may be 12.6 volts and 16.8 volts, respectively, but this invention is not limited to these limitations. Furthermore, the aforementioned bridge battery may refer to a memory battery that is not noticed or removed by the user, especially when the user removes the main battery and backup battery, the bridge battery must serve as the sole replacement. Therefore, the bridge battery needs to have the highest charging priority to ensure that the main battery and backup battery can be hot-swapped without system shutdown.

[0025] Furthermore, a backup battery, for example, refers to a standby battery, and it primarily serves two functions: one is to provide backup power when the main battery is depleted or removed; the other is simply to extend battery life. Therefore, while the charging priority of a backup battery is lower than that of a bridging battery, it is still higher than that of the main battery. Finally, the main battery is the core of the power supply, but it cannot extend battery life or serve as power when a hot-swappable backup battery is used. Therefore, the charging priority of the main battery is the lowest. In other words, when the receiving device 14 contains two or more batteries, these batteries can each have different rated voltages and charging priorities. Therefore, please refer to [further details needed]. Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart of a power supply method provided in another embodiment of the present invention, wherein... Figure 3 Part and Figure 2 The same process steps are labeled with the same drawing number, so their details will not be elaborated further here. Additionally, Figure 3 It can be implemented in the same way. Figure 1 The present invention is not limited to the connector 10, the power supply device 12 and the power receiving device 14.

[0026] like Figure 3 As shown, in addition to steps S130 to S150, after determining that at least one battery needs to be charged, the power supply method of this embodiment may further include steps S210, S220, and S230. In step S210, the microprocessor will further determine whether the battery with charging priority i needs to be charged. However, for the convenience of the following explanation, this embodiment can first assume that the charging priorities of these batteries will be represented by integers, and the smaller the value, the higher the charging priority. For example, the charging priority of the bridge battery is 0, while the charging priorities of the backup battery and the main battery are 1 and 2 respectively, but this invention is also limited to this. Therefore, in this embodiment, i will be 0, 1, and 2 in sequence. That is to say, when step S210 is executed for the first time, the microprocessor will first determine whether the bridge battery with charging priority 0 needs to be charged. If not, proceed to step S220; if yes, proceed to step S130, which confirms the rated voltage of the bridge battery (e.g., 8.4 volts) and outputs a corresponding command to connector 10. Then, in step S140, according to the command, connector 10 causes power supply device 12 to provide a corresponding output voltage, such as 9 volts, to charge the bridge battery.

[0027] Then, in step S150, the microprocessor can determine whether the charge level of the bridge battery being charged has reached a preset condition, such as its charge level being above 80%. If not, it returns to step S140 to continue charging it; if yes, it proceeds to step S220. In step S220, the microprocessor determines whether the charging priority of the bridge battery is the lowest among all charging priorities, or in other words, whether i is the lowest among all charging priorities. If yes, it returns to step S100; if not, it proceeds to step S230. Of course, since the charging priority of the bridge battery is not the lowest among all charging priorities, the result of this determination will be to execute step S230. In addition, as mentioned above, since this embodiment assumes that the charging priorities are represented by integers, and the smaller the value, the higher the charging priority, in step S230 of this embodiment, the microprocessor increments i by 1, and after incrementing i by 1, it returns to step S210.

[0028] Alternatively, in other embodiments, we can assume that a larger value of i indicates a higher charging priority. Therefore, in step S230 of other embodiments, the microprocessor decrements i by 1 and returns to execute step S210. In short, the present invention does not limit the specific implementation of step S230, and those skilled in the art should be able to make relevant designs based on actual needs or applications. Similarly, when step S210 is executed for the second time, the microprocessor determines whether the backup battery with a charging priority of 1 needs to be charged. If so, it continues to execute step S130, that is, confirms the rated voltage of the backup battery (e.g., 16.8 volts) and outputs the corresponding instruction to connector 10. Next, in step S140, according to the instruction, connector 10 causes power supply device 12 to provide a corresponding output voltage, such as 20 volts, to charge the backup battery until the backup battery's charge reaches the preset condition. When the microprocessor also determines that the backup battery's charging priority is not the lowest among all charging priorities, the microprocessor performs an i-increment operation and returns to step S210 after i-increment.

[0029] Then, when step S210 is executed for the third time, the microprocessor determines whether the main battery, with a charging priority of 2, needs to be charged. If not, it continues to execute step S220. Since the main battery's charging priority is indeed the lowest among all charging priorities, the result at this point is to return to step S100. In other words, in Figure 3In the steps following the determination that at least one battery needs charging, the microprocessor sequentially determines whether one of the batteries needs charging according to their charging priority. When a battery is determined to need charging, its rated voltage is confirmed, and a corresponding instruction is output to the connector 10. Then, according to the instruction, the connector 10 causes the power supply device 12 to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery until its charge reaches a preset condition. Then, the process returns to the step of sequentially determining whether one of the batteries needs charging according to their charging priority. It is worth noting that since the process returns from step S220 to step S100 at this point, it should indicate that all the batteries in the powered device 14 no longer need charging. Therefore, the power supply method should continue to execute the loop of steps S100, S110, and S120 until the powered device 14 is in a power-on state. After this, the power supply method of this embodiment can proceed from step S110 to step S160. Since the detailed information has already been described above, it will not be repeated here.

[0030] In summary, unlike existing technologies where the power supply device provides a fixed output voltage based on the VDM of the powered device, the power supply method provided in this invention allows the power supply device to provide an appropriate output voltage based on the rated voltage of the battery within the powered device. Especially when the powered device is in a power-off state, when the connector receives an instruction to know the rated voltage of a battery that needs charging, the connector can enable the power supply device to select and provide an output voltage closest to that rated voltage. This reduces the voltage drop during the conversion of the output voltage to the rated voltage, or improves the voltage conversion efficiency, thereby bringing benefits such as cooling and energy saving. Furthermore, regardless of whether the powered device is in a power-off or power-on state, or whether the powered device contains batteries with different charging priorities, the connector can use the power supply method of this invention to allow the power supply device to select and provide an appropriate output voltage.

[0031] Note that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the technical principles employed. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and various obvious changes, readjustments, and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in detail through the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include many other equivalent embodiments without departing from the concept of the present invention, the scope of which is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A power supply method, implemented in a connector, a power supply device, and a power receiving device, wherein the connector is connected between the power supply device and the power receiving device, characterized in that, The power supply method includes: After confirming that the connector, the power supply device and the power receiving device are all successfully connected, the microprocessor of the power receiving device is activated to determine whether at least one battery of the power receiving device needs to be charged. When it is determined that at least one battery needs to be charged, the microprocessor confirms the rated voltage of the battery and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery, and the higher the rated voltage of the battery, the higher the output voltage the power supply device provides; the rated voltage refers to the ideal charging voltage required by the battery during charging; the number of the at least one battery is two or more batteries, and these batteries have different rated voltages and a charging priority; these batteries include a bridge battery, a main battery and a backup battery, the backup battery having a lower charging priority than the bridge battery and a higher charging priority than the main battery; The steps following the microprocessor's determination that at least one battery needs charging include: According to these charging priority orders, it is determined in turn whether one of these batteries needs to be charged, and when it is determined that the battery needs to be charged, the rated voltage of the battery is confirmed and the corresponding instruction is output to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide the corresponding output voltage to charge the battery until the battery's charge reaches a preset condition. Then, it returns to the step of determining whether one of the batteries needs to be charged in order of these charging priorities.

2. The power supply method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The connector is a USB Type-C connector that supports the USB Power Delivery specification, and the power supply device and the power receiving device are an AC adapter and an electronic device that also support the USB PD specification, respectively.

3. The power supply method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, After confirming that the connector, the power supply device, and the power receiving device are all successfully connected, the power supply method further includes: The power supply device provides an initial voltage to the powered device through the connector, and the microprocessor is activated to determine whether the powered device is in a power-on state or a power-off state. If the power is off, the power supply method continues to be executed from the step of starting the microprocessor to determine whether the at least one battery of the powered device needs to be charged; If the power-on state is active, the connector causes the power supply device to change the initial voltage according to the USB PD specification in order to provide a maximum output voltage as the power supply voltage required for the operation of the powered device, wherein the maximum output voltage is also used to charge the at least one battery.

4. The power supply method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, When it is determined that the battery does not need to be charged, or that the battery's charge level meets the preset condition, the power supply method further includes: If the charging priority of the battery is determined to be the lowest among these charging priorities, then the process returns to the step of having the power supply device provide the initial voltage to the power receiving device through the connector.

5. The power supply method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The rated voltage of the battery is determined by the number of series of batteries used in its construction, and the higher the number of series, the higher the rated voltage.

6. A charging method for a power receiving device, characterized in that, The charging method includes: After confirming that the powered device is successfully connected to a connector and a power supply device, the microprocessor of the powered device is activated to determine whether at least one battery of the powered device needs to be charged. When it is determined that at least one battery needs to be charged, the microprocessor confirms the rated voltage of the battery and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery, and the higher the rated voltage of the battery, the higher the output voltage the power supply device provides; the rated voltage refers to the ideal charging voltage required by the battery during charging. The number of the at least one battery is two or more batteries, and these batteries have different rated voltages and a charging priority; these batteries include a bridge battery, a main battery and a backup battery, wherein the charging priority of the backup battery is lower than the charging priority of the bridge battery and higher than the charging priority of the main battery. The steps following the microprocessor's determination that at least one battery needs charging include: According to these charging priority orders, it is determined in turn whether one of these batteries needs to be charged, and when it is determined that the battery needs to be charged, the rated voltage of the battery is confirmed and the corresponding instruction is output to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide the corresponding output voltage to charge the battery until the battery's charge reaches a preset condition. Then, it returns to the step of determining whether one of the batteries needs to be charged in order of these charging priorities.

7. A power supply method for a power supply device, characterized in that, The power supply method includes: After confirming that the power supply device is successfully connected to a connector and a power receiving device, the microprocessor of the power receiving device is activated to determine whether at least one battery of the power receiving device needs to be charged. When it is determined that at least one battery needs to be charged, the microprocessor confirms the rated voltage of the battery and outputs a corresponding instruction to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide a corresponding output voltage to charge the battery, and the higher the rated voltage of the battery, the higher the output voltage the power supply device provides; the rated voltage refers to the ideal charging voltage required by the battery during charging; the number of the at least one battery is two or more batteries, and these batteries have different rated voltages and a charging priority; these batteries include a bridge battery, a main battery and a backup battery, the backup battery having a lower charging priority than the bridge battery and a higher charging priority than the main battery; The steps following the microprocessor's determination that at least one battery needs charging include: According to these charging priority orders, it is determined in turn whether one of these batteries needs to be charged, and when it is determined that the battery needs to be charged, the rated voltage of the battery is confirmed and the corresponding instruction is output to the connector. According to the instruction, the connector causes the power supply device to provide the corresponding output voltage to charge the battery until the battery's charge reaches a preset condition. Then, it returns to the step of determining whether one of the batteries needs to be charged in order of these charging priorities.

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