Automotive voltage regulator and charging system
First Claim
1. A circuit for regulating a charging voltage applied to a battery by a charging voltage generator, comprising an electric path between a terminal for connection to the generator and a ground, which path includes a switch and a resistive element, and further comprising a control circuit coupled to said electric path and operative to sense the charging voltage and close the switch when the value of that sensed charging voltage drops below a threshold value.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A circuit for regulating the charging voltage to a battery and connected to the field inductor (IND) of an alternator (ALT) which supplies that voltage.
It is connected by a control cable to the battery and comprises an electric path, extending between a terminal for connection to the alternator and ground, which is only activated when the battery voltage drops below a predetermined threshold value.
This electric path comprises a switch (TSW) driven from a control circuit (COMP1,T4) which sense the battery voltage, and when activated, the voltage drop across the path is substantially equal to that of the regulated voltage. The control circuit also senses breakage in the battery sensing cable, and ceases driving the alternator when this occurs.
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Citations
19 Claims
- 1. A circuit for regulating a charging voltage applied to a battery by a charging voltage generator, comprising an electric path between a terminal for connection to the generator and a ground, which path includes a switch and a resistive element, and further comprising a control circuit coupled to said electric path and operative to sense the charging voltage and close the switch when the value of that sensed charging voltage drops below a threshold value.
- 5. A circuit for regulating the charging voltage applied to a battery by an alternator coupled with the battery by a rectifier circuit, the alternator including a field inductor, the circuit comprising an input voltage divider with first and second terminals for coupling in parallel with said battery, and further comprising a switch connected between a circuit node interconnecting the field inductor and the battery and being driven from a first control circuit effective to detect a voltage at the voltage divider and close the switch when the value of said voltage drops below a first threshold value.
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13. A circuit for controlling a charging voltage produced by a voltage generator and applied to a battery, the circuit comprising:
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regulating circuitry coupled with the voltage generator, the regulating circuitry further coupled with the battery by a battery sense line and operable to detect the charging voltage applied to the battery, the regulating circuitry adjusting operation of the voltage generator to provide an approximately constant, regulated value of the charging voltage; a control circuit coupled with the battery sense line and operable to detect a break in the battery sense line, the control circuit operable to provide a voltage approximately equal to the regulated value of the charging voltage to the regulating circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification