Apparatus for controlling power generated by on-vehicle generator on the basis of internal status of on-vehicle battery

• US 20090039836A1
• Filed: 08/06/2008
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Asada, Tadatoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,120,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/152
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/14 Supports; Fastening devices; Arrangements for mounting thermometers in particular locations
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 1/203 Resistors used for electric measuring, e.g. decade resistors standards, resistors for comparators, series resistors, shunts resistors in general H01C; microwave or radiowave terminations H01P1/26; coupling devices H01R
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/364 Battery terminal connectors with integrated measuring arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/1407 on vehicles not being driven by a motor, e.g. bicycles

Abstract

An apparatus for controlling power generation of a generator mounted on a vehicle, the generator charging a on-vehicle battery, comprising a detecting device that detects information indicating the internal status of the battery that includes temperature of the battery, a power supply circuit that supplies power to the detecting device, a calculator for calculating the internal status of the battery using the information detected by the detecting device, a circuit board on which the calculator, the power supply circuit, and the detecting circuit are mounted and a controller that controls the power generation of the generator based on the internal status of the battery. The temperature sensing element is arranged on a bus bar that is electrically connected to the negative terminal of the battery, and the bus bar and the temperature sensing element are coupled thermally to each other.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling power generation of a generator mounted on a vehicle, the generator charging a battery mounted on the vehicle, comprising:

a detecting device that detects information indicating an internal status of the battery, wherein the internal status of the battery includes temperature of the battery and the detecting device includes a detecting circuit for detecting the temperature of the battery using a temperature sensing element, and a power supply circuit that supplies power to the detecting device;

a calculator for calculating the internal status of the battery using the information detected by the detecting device;

a circuit board on which the calculator, the power supply circuit, and the detecting circuit are mounted; and

a controller that controls the power generation of the generator based on the internal status of the battery;

wherein the temperature sensing element is arranged on a bus bar that is electrically connected to a negative terminal of the battery, and the bus bar and the temperature sensing element are coupled thermally to each other.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the bus bar and the circuit board are arranged separately at different layers of at least two planes, the temperature sensing element mounted on the circuit board is arranged in a layer such that the element faces to the bus bar.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the bus bar works as a shunt resistor that detects the current-flowing at the battery, and the temperature sensing element is arranged around two poles that detects a voltage difference at the shunt resistor.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

one of the two poles is electrically connected to the ground terminal of the circuit board, the temperature sensing element is arranged closely to the other pole.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the circuit board has large area of the ground plane as a reference potential plane and the temperature sensing element is arranged at a point that is apart from the ground plane.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the circuit board has a large sensing area that has the same electrical potential as the pole and the temperature sensing element is arranged on the sensing area.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the detecting device equipped with a communication circuit to send out a battery status parameter based on the status of the battery and a control parameter of the a vehicle generator that is calculated based on the status of the battery, the communication circuit being arranged on the ground plane.

8. A detecting device for detecting an internal status of a battery that is mounted on vehicle comprising:

a resistor generating a voltage that represents amount of current-flowing at the battery;

a bus bar forming the resistor connected to a negative terminal of the battery;

a temperature sensing element arranged onto the bus bar in order to satisfy thermal coupling between the temperature sensing element and the battery; and

a processing device for processing signals from the resistor, the sensing element to detect the battery status;

wherein the processing device and the temperature sensing element are arranged on the same circuit board.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein

the bus bar and the circuit board are arranged separately at different layers of at least two planes, the temperature sensing element mounted on the circuit board is arranged in a layer such that the element faces to the bus bar.

10. The device according to the claim 8, wherein

the temperature sensing element is arranged around two poles being placed between the circuit board and the bus bar to detect a voltage difference at the resistor.

11. The device according to the claim 10, wherein

one of the two poles is electrically connected to the ground terminal of the circuit board, the temperature sensing element is arranged closely to the other pole.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein

the circuit board has large area of the ground plane as a reference potential plane and the temperature sensing element is arranged at a point that is apart from the ground plane.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein

the circuit board has a large sensing area that has the same electrical potential as the pole and the temperature sensing element is arranged on the sensing area.

14. The device according to claim 12, wherein

the device equipped with a communication circuit to send out a battery status parameter based on the status of the battery and a control parameter of the a vehicle generator that is calculated based on the status of the battery, the communication circuit being arranged on the ground plane.