Controller AC generator for vehicle

• US 6,313,613 B1
• Filed: 03/08/2000
• Issued: 11/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Sasaki, Katsuhiro, Iwatani, Shiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Ponomarenko, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US09/508,165
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 322/22, 322/28, 322/25, 322/12, 322/99
• US Class Current: 322/12
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/10 using propulsion power supplied by engine-driven generators, e.g. generators driven by combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/03 for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/46 for ICE-powered road vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0047 with monitoring or indicating devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/16 Regulation of the charging current or voltage by variation of field
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors

Abstract

A vehicle AC-generator controller includes a storage battery to be charged by a rectification output of an AC generator having a field coil, a voltage regulator for controlling an output voltage of the AC generator to a predetermined value by controlling a field current flowing through the field coil, an indicator lamp for indicating a power-generation state and a no-power generation state of the AC generator, an indicator-lamp driving element for turning on and off the indicator lamp, a power-supply driving element for driving power supply of the voltage regulator in accordance with a turn-on-lamp output of the indicator-lamp driving element, and a power-supply cutoff element for cutting off the power-supply driving apparatus by controlling the turn-on-lamp output to the ground potential when the AC generator is brought into the no-power-generation state.

Claims

1. A vehicle AC-generator controller characterized by:

a storage battery to be charged by a rectification output of an AC generator having a field coil;

a voltage regulator for controlling an output voltage of the AC generator to a predetermined value by controlling a field current flowing through the field coil;

detection means for detecting a power-generation state and a no-power-generation state of the AC generator;

an indicator lamp for indicating the power-generation state and the no-power-generation state of the AC generator;

indicator-lamp driving means for turning on and off the indicator lamp in accordance with the detection result of the detection means;

power-supply driving means for driving a power-supply circuit of the voltage regulator in accordance a turn-on-lamp output of the indicator-lamp driving means; and

power-supply cutoff means for cutting off the power-supply driving means by controlling the turn-on-lamp output to a ground potential when the AC generator is brought into the no-power-generation state.

2. The vehicle AC-generator controller according to claim 1, characterized in that upon start of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle, the power-supply cutoff means controls the turn-on-lamp output to the ground potential for a certain time to thereby cut off the power-supply driving means so that the AC generator is thereby brought into the no-power-generation state.

3. A vehicle AC-generator controller characterized by:

a storage battery to be charged by a rectification output of an AC generator having a field coil;

switching means to be turned on and off at a predetermined ratio to intermittently supply a field current to the field coil;

a voltage regulator for controlling an output voltage of the AC generator to a predetermined value by inputting a control signal for controlling an on/off ratio of the switching means; and

field-current cutoff means for cutting off a field current by controlling a signal input section of the switching means to a ground potential when the AC generator is brought into a no-power-generation state.

4. The vehicle AC-generator controller according to claim 3, characterized in that upon start of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle, the field-current cutoff means controls the signal input section of the switching means to the ground potential for a predetermined time to thereby cut off the field current so that the AC generator is thereby brought into the no-power-generation state.