Power distribution apparatus for distributing power to various electrical loads
First Claim
1. A power distributing apparatus comprising:
- a power source part for supplying power of a high voltage;
an upstream-side power distributing part connected with the power source part through a power line thereby to accept power supply of the high voltage from the power source part;
a plurality of downstream-side power distributing parts connected with the upstream-side power distributing part through power lines thereby to accept power supply from the upstream-side power distributing part and supply power of a load voltage to a plurality of loads;
a regular-supply converter disposed in the upstream-side power distributing part and also connected to the plurality of downstream-side power distributing parts to convert the high voltage to an intermediate voltage lower than the high voltage and higher than the load voltage, the regular-supply converter capable of converting a voltage with a high conversion efficiency when the power distributing apparatus is operated under high load;
a stand-by current supply converter disposed in the upstream-side power distributing part and also connected only to one or more of the downstream-side power distributing parts for supplying a stand-by current to convert the high voltage to the intermediate voltage, the stand-by current supply converter capable of converting a voltage with a high conversion efficiency when the power distributing apparatus is operated under light load;
a plurality of series regulators respectively disposed in the downstream-side power distributing parts to convert the intermediate voltage to the load voltage; and
further comprising a current sensor for detecting a current flowing from the upstream-side power distributing part to the downstream-side power distributing parts and a controller for controlling the operations of the regular-supply converter and the stand-by current supply converter;
wherein, under condition that the power distributing apparatus is mounted on a vehicle having an ignition switch, the controller operates so as to activate the regular-supply converter thereby to carry out the power supply when the ignition switch is turned off and a current value detected by the current sensor is more than a predetermined value.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A power distributing apparatus is provided to reduce the number of voltage converters. The power distributing apparatus 1 includes a power source part 4 for supplying a power of 42V, an electrical connection box 7 connected with the part 4 through a power line 5, and a plurality of electronic control units 8a, 8b . . . , 8n. The electrical connection box 7 has a regular-supply converter 9 to convert a high voltage of 42V to an intermediate voltage higher than a load voltage of 5V. The regular-supply converter 9 can exhibit a high conversion efficiency when the apparatus is operated under high load. Each of the electronic control units 8a, 8b . . . , 8n has a series regulator 14 to convert the intermediate voltage to the load voltage. Owing to the supply of voltage higher than the load voltage by the regular-supply converter 9, there is no need to consider inconvenience due to voltage drop between the converter and a remote load.
31 Citations
5 Claims
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1. A power distributing apparatus comprising:
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a power source part for supplying power of a high voltage; an upstream-side power distributing part connected with the power source part through a power line thereby to accept power supply of the high voltage from the power source part; a plurality of downstream-side power distributing parts connected with the upstream-side power distributing part through power lines thereby to accept power supply from the upstream-side power distributing part and supply power of a load voltage to a plurality of loads; a regular-supply converter disposed in the upstream-side power distributing part and also connected to the plurality of downstream-side power distributing parts to convert the high voltage to an intermediate voltage lower than the high voltage and higher than the load voltage, the regular-supply converter capable of converting a voltage with a high conversion efficiency when the power distributing apparatus is operated under high load; a stand-by current supply converter disposed in the upstream-side power distributing part and also connected only to one or more of the downstream-side power distributing parts for supplying a stand-by current to convert the high voltage to the intermediate voltage, the stand-by current supply converter capable of converting a voltage with a high conversion efficiency when the power distributing apparatus is operated under light load; a plurality of series regulators respectively disposed in the downstream-side power distributing parts to convert the intermediate voltage to the load voltage; and further comprising a current sensor for detecting a current flowing from the upstream-side power distributing part to the downstream-side power distributing parts and a controller for controlling the operations of the regular-supply converter and the stand-by current supply converter; wherein, under condition that the power distributing apparatus is mounted on a vehicle having an ignition switch, the controller operates so as to activate the regular-supply converter thereby to carry out the power supply when the ignition switch is turned off and a current value detected by the current sensor is more than a predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification