1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electronic device having a structure operable with a battery pack such as a lithium-ion battery pack, a method for the same, and a program for the same.
2. Related Art
Known electronic devices having a structure operable with a battery pack such as a lithium-ion battery pack include digital cameras and video camcorders, and in recent years, portable printers operable with a battery pack (e.g., refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-235957. Such electronic devices operable with a battery pack recently have the problem of an accident such as the rupture of the battery pack which may be caused by the use of a copy or imitation. Here the copy or imitation is an illegal battery pack that imitates a genuine product, not including third-party battery packs. Genuine battery packs such as genuine lithium-ion battery packs accommodates a protection mechanism such as a fuse or a safety circuit and a control circuit that conform to a specified quality standard to prevent danger, thus having a superior level of safety. However, such copy or imitation battery packs often have poor quality without a protection mechanism such as a safety circuit and a control circuit. Accordingly, the use of such copies or imitations can cause not only abnormality of electronic devices but also abnormal heat generation, ignition, or rupture due to overcharge or the like.
Since such inferior copy or imitation battery packs are sold in the market as if they were genuine products, users who are going to buy a genuine battery pack often buy a copy or imitation by mistake. It is difficult for users who are going to buy a battery pack to distinguish a genuine product from copies or imitations just equivalent to genuine products in appearance. Moreover, it is not easy to completely prevent such inferior copy or imitation battery packs from circulating in the market. Accordingly, accidents such as the rupture of battery packs that seems to be caused by copy or imitation battery packs have often happened.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds