A disclosed power supply circuit (1) for receiving an input voltage at an
input terminal (VDD), converting the input voltage to an output voltage
and outputting the output voltage to a load (10) connected to an output
terminal (OUT), comprises: a power supply circuit unit (2) for converting
the input voltage to a predetermined constant voltage and outputting the
converted voltage to the output terminal, the power supply circuit unit
operating in accordance with a first control signal (CE); an output
current detecting circuit unit (3) for detecting a current output (iout)
from the power supply circuit unit, and outputting a second control
signal when the detected current is smaller than a predetermined value
i1; and an output voltage detecting circuit unit (4) for detecting a
voltage output (Vout) from the power supply circuit unit, and operating
while the output current detecting circuit unit outputs the second
control signal, the output voltage detecting circuit unit stopping
operation of the power supply circuit unit with the first control signal
when the detected voltage exceeds a predetermined value Vdet1; whereby
the output supply voltage detecting circuit unit makes the power supply
circuit unit operate when the detected voltage becomes equal to or lower
than a predetermined value Vdet2 that is lower than the predetermined
value Vdet1, and thereby the power supply circuit unit performs
intermittent operations.