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Power distribution apparatus for distributing power to various electrical loads

  • US 7,116,009 B2
  • Filed: 08/06/2002
  • Issued: 10/03/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2001
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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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.

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