Patent ID: 9660464
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: H01M,H02J,H04L,Y02E

Claim:
1. A battery pack used by removably connecting to a plurality of external hardware types each having a different communication protocol, the battery pack comprising: a secondary cell; a connector removably connecting the battery pack to external hardware; a memory storing a plurality of communication protocols; a power discharge circuit performing discharge from the secondary cell to the external hardware; an establisher connected via a line to the connector and communicating with the external hardware via the line and the connector, and establishing communication by specifying a usable communication protocol, among the communication protocols, that communicates with the external hardware; and a controller causing the power discharge circuit to discharge electric power for driving the external hardware when the establisher has established communication with the external hardware, wherein the establisher transmits, via the line and the connector, a communication request signal to the external hardware requesting a response signal using one of the communication protocols, judges whether the response signal has been received from the external hardware via the line and the connector, and when judging that the response signal has been received, specifies the communication protocol used for transmitting the communication request signal as the usable communication protocol, and when judging that the response signal has not been received, sequentially transmitting, via the line and the connector, the communication request signal using different communication protocols until it is judged that the response signal has been received and specifying a communication protocol used for transmitting the communication request signal for the received response signal as the usable communication protocol.