Motor vehicle electrical load management
First Claim
1. A motor vehicle (1) with an electrical load management system comprising:
- a) a plurality of electrical consumer units (6-14) including at least one user-activatable consumer unit (6-14) which has a control (31,32) by which said unit may be activated by a user;
b) an electrical source (22) for supplying electrical current to the consumer units (6-14);
c) a monitoring means (2,4,26-28,10-114) for monitoring the ability of the electrical source to deliver electrical current (I) to the consumer units;
d) an electrical current load controlling means (2,4,106-114) that is responsive to the monitoring means when the ability of the electrical source (22) to deliver electrical current to the consumer units is impaired, in order to limit the electrical current supplied to at least some of the consumer units including said user-activatable consumer unit according to predetermined criteria by which some consumer units are accorded priority over other consumer units as regards any electrical current limitation;
characterised in that e) the electrical current load controlling means are operative, following activation of the user-activatable consumer unit, to alter said criteria temporarily to increase the priority accorded said activated consumer unit (6-14).
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle (1) with an electrical load management system. The electrical load management system comprises: a plurality of electrical consumer units (6-14) including at least one user-activatable consumer unit (6-14) which has a control (31,32) by which said unit may be activated by a user; an electrical source (22) for supplying electrical current (30) to the consumer units (6-14); a monitoring means (2,4,26-28,106-114) for monitoring the ability of the electrical source to deliver electrical current (30) to the consumer units (6-14); an electrical current load controlling means (2,4,106-114) that is responsive to the monitoring means when the ability of the electrical source (22) to deliver electrical current (30) to the consumer units is impaired, in order to limit the electrical current supplied (30) to at least some of the consumer units (6-14) including said user-activatable consumer unit (6-14) according to predetermined criteria by which some consumer units are accorded priority over other consumer units as regards any electrical current limitation. Following activation of the user-activatable consumer unit (6-14), the criteria are temporarily altered to increase temporarily the priority accorded said activated consumer unit (6-14).
46 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A motor vehicle (1) with an electrical load management system comprising:
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a) a plurality of electrical consumer units (6-14) including at least one user-activatable consumer unit (6-14) which has a control (31,32) by which said unit may be activated by a user;
b) an electrical source (22) for supplying electrical current to the consumer units (6-14);
c) a monitoring means (2,4,26-28,10-114) for monitoring the ability of the electrical source to deliver electrical current (I) to the consumer units;
d) an electrical current load controlling means (2,4,106-114) that is responsive to the monitoring means when the ability of the electrical source (22) to deliver electrical current to the consumer units is impaired, in order to limit the electrical current supplied to at least some of the consumer units including said user-activatable consumer unit according to predetermined criteria by which some consumer units are accorded priority over other consumer units as regards any electrical current limitation;
characterised in that e) the electrical current load controlling means are operative, following activation of the user-activatable consumer unit, to alter said criteria temporarily to increase the priority accorded said activated consumer unit (6-14). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of managing electrical load in a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle comprising a plurality of electrical consumer units including at least one user-activatable consumer unit, an electrical source, a monitoring means, an electrical current load controlling means for limiting electrical current to the consumer units, the electrical load controlling means including predetermined criteria by which some consumer units are 3ccorded priority over other consumer units as regards any electrical current limitation, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
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i) activating a user-activatable consumer unit;
ii) supplying from the electrical source electrical current to the consumer units;
iii) using the monitoring means to monitor the ability of ;
he electrical source to deliver electrical current to the consumer units;
iv) using the electrical current load controlling means in response to the monitored current delivering ability to limit the electrical current supplied to at least one of the consumer units;
characterised in that the method comprises the step of;
v) following activation of the user-activatable consumer unit, altering said criteria temporarily to increase temporarily the priority accorded said activated consumer unit.
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Specification