Recreational vehicle power control system
First Claim
1. A power control system for a recreational vehicle comprising means for receiving electrical current from a source of power, a major electrically powered appliance, a plurality of additional electrically powered appliances, and means for connecting the major appliance and the additional appliances to the receiving means such that electrical current characterized by a power voltage is supplied to the major appliance and the additional appliances, said power control system comprising:
- means for automatically disconnecting the major appliance from the receiving means without disconnecting the additional appliances from the receiving means when the power voltage falls below a selected value;
means for automatically reconnecting the major appliance to the receiving means after the power voltage returns to an operating range; and
means, included in the connecting means, for continuously connecting the additional appliances to the receiving means during operation of the disconnecting means and the reconnecting means.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A power management system for a recreational vehicle operates automatically to disconnect a major electrical appliance, such as an air conditioner, heater or water heater, from power when the current drawn by additional appliances exceeds a preset current threshold. When the current drawn by these additional appliances falls below the threshold, the major appliance is automatically reconnected. A preferred embodiment of this invention operates to alternate between two or more air conditioners, heaters, or the like, to ensure that only one is connected to power at any given time, but that both are activated alternately and in sequence to provide efficient use of both air conditioners. In addition, preferred embodiments of this invention operate to interrupt operation of the air conditioners whenever the power voltage falls excessively low, and to ensure at least a preselected time delay between the time an air conditioner is stopped and restarted.
88 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A power control system for a recreational vehicle comprising means for receiving electrical current from a source of power, a major electrically powered appliance, a plurality of additional electrically powered appliances, and means for connecting the major appliance and the additional appliances to the receiving means such that electrical current characterized by a power voltage is supplied to the major appliance and the additional appliances, said power control system comprising:
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means for automatically disconnecting the major appliance from the receiving means without disconnecting the additional appliances from the receiving means when the power voltage falls below a selected value; means for automatically reconnecting the major appliance to the receiving means after the power voltage returns to an operating range; and means, included in the connecting means, for continuously connecting the additional appliances to the receiving means during operation of the disconnecting means and the reconnecting means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In a recreational vehicle comprising means for receiving electrical current from a source of power, a major electrically powered appliance, a plurality of additional electrically powered appliances, and means for electrically interconnecting the major appliance and the additional appliances to the receiving means such that electrical current characterized by a power voltage is supplied to the major appliance and the additional appliances, the improvement comprising:
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a switch, included in the interconnecting means, for disconnecting the major appliance from the receiving means without disconnecting the additional appliances from the receiving means; voltage sensor means for generating a voltage signal indicative of the magnitude of the power voltage applied to the additional appliances; means for automatically controlling the switch to automatically disconnect the major appliance from the receiving means when the voltage signal enters a first range of values, indicative of excessively low power voltage, and to automatically reconnect the major appliance to the receiving means after the voltage signal enters a second range of values, indicative of normal power voltage; and means, included in the interconnecting means, for continuously connecting the additional appliances to the receiving means during operation of the switch controlling means in automatically disconnecting the major appliance from and reconnecting the major appliance to the receiving means. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification