Patent · US Expired

Vehicle power supply apparatus for protecting a battery from excessive discharge

US5159257A · kind A · utility

23Cited by
3References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 27, 1991
Grant dateOct 27, 1992
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 27, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH02J7/0031
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A vehicle having an engine starter requires a huge amount of electric power so that when the remaining capacity of the battery is low, the engine starter cannot start the engine quickly. In order to maintain a minimum capacity of the battery necessary to start the engine quickly, an electric power supply apparatus is provided which includes a switching device for stopping a vehicle engine, a timer device for measuring elapsed time after engine stoppage, a capacity detector for detecting remaining capacity of a battery, vehicle equipment driven by the electric power from the battery, a switching member for turning off the power supplied from the battery to the vehicle equipment and a control device for controlling the switching member when the capacity of the battery is below a certain level and the timer device measures the elapsed time.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.