Voltage supply apparatus, in particular for a radio telephone in a motor vehicle

• US 6,330,463 B1
• Filed: 12/17/1998
• Issued: 12/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Mobile Phones UK Limited (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Hedrich, Jens
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): RAMOS FELICIANO, ELISEO
• Application Number:
  US09/215,595
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• Field of Search: 455/572, 455/573, 455/574, 455/127, 455/90, 455/343
• US Class Current: 455/573
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 9/061 for DC powered loads

Abstract

The invention relates to a voltage supply apparatus, in particular for a radio telephone, in a motor vehicle having a main voltage source (10) which is connected to one input (12) of a voltage matching circuit (13) which derives at least one supply voltage (U₁₂, U₅) for the radio telephone (22) from the voltage (U_B, U_N) present at its input, and an auxiliary voltage source (26) which can be connected via a controllable switch (27) to the input (12) of the voltage matching circuit (13). In order to ensure uninterrupted operation of the radio telephone (22) in the event of failure of the main voltage source (10), a voltage monitoring circuit (15) is provided, to which a voltage signal which corresponds to the voltage (U_B) of the main voltage source is supplied and which supplies a switch control signal in order to connect the auxiliary voltage source (26) to the input of the voltage matching circuit (13) in an emergency in the event of failure of the main voltage source (10).

Claims

1. Voltage supply apparatus, in particular for a radio telephone, in a motor vehicle having:

a main voltage source which is connected to one input of a voltage matching circuit which derives at least one supply voltage from the voltage present at its input,

an auxiliary voltage source which can be connected via a controllable switch to the voltage matching circuit,

a voltage monitoring circuit to which a voltage signal corresponding to the voltage of the main voltage source is supplied and which supplies a switch control signal in order to connect the auxiliary voltage source to the voltage matching circuit in an emergency in the event of failure of the main voltage source,

wherein the voltage matching circuit comprises a first voltage converter which outputs a first supply voltage at its output, and a second voltage converter which supplies a second supply voltage which is less than the first supply voltage,

wherein the first voltage converter has a filter circuit and a voltage-raising circuit, and

wherein the voltage-raising circuit has a control input which is connected to the output of the first voltage converter, in order to keep the supply voltage at a stabilized value independently of the voltage which is present at the input.

2. Voltage supply apparatus, in particular for a radio telephone, in a motor vehicle having:

a main voltage source which is connected to one input of a voltage matching circuit which derives at least one supply voltage from the voltage present at its input,

an auxiliary voltage source which can be connected via a controllable switch to the voltage matching circuit,

a voltage monitoring circuit to which a voltage signal corresponding to the voltage of the main voltage source is supplied and which supplies a switch control signal in order to connect the auxiliary voltage source to the voltage matching circuit in an emergency in the event of failure of the main voltage source,

wherein the voltage matching circuit comprises a first voltage converter which outputs a first supply voltage at its output, and a second voltage converter which supplies a second supply voltage which is less than the first supply voltage, and

wherein the second voltage converter comprises a first, continuously operating voltage-reducing circuit and, in parallel with this, a second voltage-reducing circuit, which can be switched on and off.

3. Voltage supply apparatus, in particular for a radio telephone, in a motor vehicle having:

a main voltage source which is connected to one input of a voltage matching circuit which derives at least one supply voltage from the voltage present at its input,

an auxiliary voltage source which can be connected via a controllable switch to the voltage matching circuit, and

a voltage monitoring circuit to which a voltage signal corresponding to the voltage of the main voltage source is supplied and which supplies a switch control signal in order to connect the auxiliary voltage source to the voltage matching circuit in an emergency in the event of failure of the main voltage source,

wherein the voltage monitoring circuit has a first comparator circuit and a second comparator circuit, which comparator circuits compare a voltage signal which corresponds to the voltage of the main voltage source with a reference voltage signal, the first comparator circuit supplying a switch-on signal for a voltage-raising circuit in a first voltage converter in the voltage matching circuit if the voltage of the main voltage source falls below a first value, and the second comparator circuit supplying the switch control signal if the voltage of the main voltage source falls below a second value.