Patent ID: 7615963

Claim:
A charging/discharging apparatus comprising: a receiving terminal for receiving power from a power supplying apparatus; a position controlling portion for controlling a position of the receiving terminal relative to said power supplying apparatus such that said receiving terminal is connected to a supplying terminal to which said power supplying apparatus supplies power; a transmitting terminal for transmitting charging mode determining data indicating which of a plurality of power supplying modes the power supplying apparatus is to operate in; and a recessed setting portion provided in association with a deciding switch of the power supplying apparatus indicating which of a plurality of power supplying modes the power supplying apparatus is to operate in, wherein one of a plurality of power supplying modes is selected as a function of both 1) the shape of the recessed setting portion which identifies a type of charging/discharging apparatus and 2) a presence/absence of charging mode data transmitted to the power supplying apparatus via the transmitting terminal, wherein the shape of the recessed setting portion indicating the type of charging/discharging apparatus and a transmission of data in response to a request for charging mode data triggers a charging mode changeover switch in the power supplying apparatus to change from a resting terminal to one of two power supply mode terminals, and wherein, after the charging mode changeover switch is changed to a power supply mode terminal, a charging changeover switch is changed to a power supplying terminal for one of two power supplying modes.