BACKUP RELAY CUT CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20090184579A1
• Filed: 01/22/2008
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Okama, Toshihiro, Owens, C. Richard JR.
• Granted Patent: US 7,912,618 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/10.700
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0236 for economical driving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 Data processing systems or methods, management, administration

Abstract

A battery protection system is provided in a vehicle having an ignition system for selectively starting and stopping an engine of the vehicle and an electrical system including an electrical load and a battery that selectively delivers electric current to said load via a first device that protects said load from receiving excessive current. The battery protection system includes: a second device that selectively connects and disconnects the load from the battery; and a controller that controls said second device in response to a detected number of ignition cycles.

Claims

1. In a vehicle having an ignition system for selectively starting and stopping an engine of the vehicle and an electrical system including an electrical load and a battery that selectively delivers electric current to said load via a first device that protects said load from receiving excessive current, a battery protection system comprising:

a second device that selectively connects and disconnects the load from the battery; and

a controller that controls said second device in response to a detected number of ignition cycles.

2. The battery protection system of claim 1 wherein the second device is arranged between the battery and load in series with the first device.

3. The battery protection system of claim 1 wherein the second device is one of a relay or a switch having a closed state in which the load is connected to the battery and an open state in which the load is disconnected from the battery.

4. The battery protection system of claim 1 wherein the first device is a fuse.

5. The battery protection system of claim 1 wherein the second device selectively disconnects the load from the battery without having to physically disconnect the first device.

6. The battery protection system of claim 1, said battery protection system further comprising:

a counter that counts the number of detected ignition cycles.

7. The battery protection system of claim 6 wherein the controller is provisioned with a threshold and obtains the counted number of ignition cycles from the counter.

8. The battery protection system of claim 7 wherein the controller compares the obtained number of ignition cycles from the counter to the threshold and in response thereto determines whether or not to disconnect the load from the battery.

9. The battery protection system of claim 8 wherein the controller controls the second device so as to:

(i) leave the load connected to the battery when the obtained number of ignition cycles from the counter has not reached the threshold; and

(ii) disconnect the load from the battery when the obtained number of ignition cycles from the counter has reached the threshold.

10. The battery protection system of claim 1 wherein the controller responds to receiving a reset signal by controlling the second device so as to reconnect the load to the battery.

11. The battery protection system of claim 10 wherein receiving the reset signal disables further operation of the controller thereby leaving the second device in a state where the load remains connected to the battery regardless of the number further ignition cycles experienced.

12. In a vehicle having an ignition system for selectively starting and stopping an engine of the vehicle and an electrical system including an electrical load and a battery that selectively delivers electric current to said load via a first device that protects said load from receiving excessive current, a method of protecting a battery comprising:

(a) detecting ignition cycles of the engine;

(b) counting the number of detected ignition cycles; and

(c) selectively disconnecting the load from the battery in response to the counted number of ignition cycles.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein step (c) further comprises:

comparing the counted number of ignition cycles to a threshold;

disconnecting the load from the battery when the counted number of ignition cycles reaches the threshold; and

leaving the load connected to the battery when the count number of ignition cycles has not yet reached the threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of disconnecting the load from the battery includes controlling a second device arranged between the load and the battery.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the second device is arranged in series with the first device.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the first device is a fuse and the second device is one of a relay or a switch.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein step (a) further comprises:

monitoring the ignition system to detect at least one of starting and stopping of the engine by the ignition system.

18. The method of claim 16, said method further comprising:

selectively generating a reset signal that results in the load being reconnected to the battery after having been previously disconnected therefrom.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the reset signal is generated in response to an operator manipulated the vehicle'"'"'s operator control in designated combination.

20. In a vehicle having an ignition system for selectively starting and stopping an engine of the vehicle and an electrical system including an electrical load and a battery that selectively delivers electric current to said load, a battery protection system comprising:

means for detecting ignition cycles of the engine;

means for counting the number of detected ignition cycles; and

means for selectively disconnecting the load from the battery in response to the counted number of ignition cycles.