Patent ID: 8063510

Claim:
A charge control apparatus operable in a first power mode or a second power mode having power consumption less than that of the first power mode, the apparatus comprising: a main power supply configured to output a first output voltage and a second output voltage based on an external input voltage when the charge control apparatus operates in the first power mode, and output the first output voltage based on the input voltage when the charge control apparatus operates in the second power mode; an auxiliary power supply configured to output an auxiliary voltage in place of the first output voltage when the first output voltage is not output from the main power supply; a charging unit configured to charge the auxiliary power supply by supplying a first charge current or a second charge current having an amount of electric charges per unit time smaller than that of the first charge current based on the first output voltage from the main supply; a time count unit configured to operate based on the second output voltage to count a charging time of the auxiliary power supply by the first charge current; and a charge control unit configured to control the charging unit to operate in a first charge mode in which the auxiliary power supply is charged by the first charge current or a second charge mode in which the auxiliary power supply is charged by the second charge current, wherein the charge control unit controls the charging unit to switch from the first charge mode to the second charge mode upon detecting that the charging time counted by the time count unit is larger than a predetermined time period when the charge control apparatus operates in the first power mode, and wherein the charge control unit controls the charging unit to operate in the second charge mode when the charge control apparatus operates in the second power mode.