Circuit arrangement for monitoring a control circuit

• US 5,763,963 A
• Filed: 06/16/1997
• Issued: 06/09/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fey, Wolfgang, Zydek, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Shoop, Jr., William M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PALADINI, ALBERT WILLIAM
• Application Number:
  US08/809,504
• Time in Patent Office: 358 Days
• Field of Search: 307/130, 307/125, 307/108, 307/110, 307/139, 363/41, 323/285, 361/152, 361/93, 361/100, 361/31
• US Class Current: 307/130
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2270/206 Monitoring, e.g. parameter monitoring, plausibility check
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/175 Brake regulation specially adapted to prevent excessive wheel spin during vehicle acceleration, e.g. for traction control safety devices for propulsion unit control responsive to, or preventing, skidding of wheels B60K28/16
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/17616 Microprocessor-based systems

Abstract

A circuit arrangement for monitoring a control circuit, which has a driver transistor with an inductive load and a second transistor in a circuit branch parallel to the inductive load, includes an additional, external current measuring device. A switching element, in particular a transistor and an ohmic measuring resistor, is provided parallel to the driver transistor. At a test instant, the current flowing through the inductive load is diverted to the measuring device and induces a voltage at the measuring resistor which is indicative of the status of the control circuit.

Claims

1. Circuit arrangement for monitoring a control circuit including a driver transistor which is used to adjust in an inductive load a predetermined average current value by a clocked, pulse-width modulated actuation of the driver transistor, and wherein current flow is initiated by the inductive load in the blocking intervals of the driver transistor through a circuit branch which is parallel to the inductive load and has a switch,

wherein a current measuring device is connected parallel to the driver transistor by way of a switching element, and in that in a test period the current through the inductive load is conducted to the current measuring device during blocking intervals.

2. Circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1,

wherein both the switch in the circuit branch parallel to the inductive load and the switching element for activating the current measuring device are configured as switching transistors.

3. Circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 2,

wherein the course of the current which is induced by the inductive load in the blocking intervals is diverted by closing the switching transistor that is inserted into the parallel circuit branch and by actuating the transistor that leads to the current measuring device.

4. Circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the current measuring device includes an ohmic measuring resistor, across which there is a drop of a voltage, exceeding the supply voltage of the control circuit, in the test period during fail-free operations.

5. Circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 4,

wherein the voltage drop (K_M) across the measuring resistor (R_M) is monitored with respect to maintaining a bottom and a top limit value.

6. Circuit arrangement as claimed in claim 1,

wherein a number of control circuits are connected to a joint current measuring device by way of decoupling diodes.