Electric power conversion systems – Current conversion – With condition responsive means to control the output...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-09
2001-08-14
Berhane, Adolf Deneke (Department: 2838)
Electric power conversion systems
Current conversion
With condition responsive means to control the output...
C307S010100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06275398
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage control apparatus for an electric generator mounted on an automobile or motor vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle-onboard electric generator). More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a voltage control apparatus for a vehicle-onboard electric generator which apparatus can ensure easy availability of a starting or triggering signal regardless of occurrence of abnormality in a charge lamp.
2. Description of Related Art
For having better understanding of the concept underlying the present invention, description will first be made in some detail of a conventional voltage control apparatus for a vehicle-onboard electric generator.
FIG. 7
is a block diagram showing generally and schematically an exemplary arrangement of a hitherto known or conventional voltage control circuit for a vehicle-onboard AC generator or alternator which is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2707616.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, reference numeral
2
denotes a vehicle-onboard electric generator (alternator). For regulating or controlling the output voltage of the vehicle-onboard electric generator, there is provided a voltage control circuit (regulator) denoted generally by reference numeral
1
. The voltage control circuit
1
is provided with an output terminal B which is electrically connected to the output terminals of the vehicle-onboard generator
2
and a battery
6
, respectively, a lamp input terminal L, a monitoring output terminal FR connected to an external control unit
5
and a control input terminal G.
The voltage control circuit
1
is so designed that operation thereof is triggered or started when the voltage applied to the lamp input terminal L exceeds a predetermined value. Applied to the lamp input terminal L is a battery voltage VB supplied from the battery
6
by way of an ignition switch
3
and a charge lamp
4
.
The vehicle-onboard electric generator
2
is comprised of a field coil
21
provided in a rotor (not shown) which is interlocked with an internal combustion engine (not shown), an armature coil
22
provided in a stator (not shown either) and a full-wave rectifier
23
for performing full-wave rectification of a three-phase generator voltage derived from the armature coil
22
.
The full-wave rectifier
23
is implemented in the form of a three-phase parallel-connected diode bridge circuit. The field coil
21
and the full-wave rectifier
23
have respective ends both connected to the output terminal of the battery
6
.
The external control unit
5
constituted by a conventional electronic control unit (hereinafter also referred to as the ECU in short) is designed not only to generate a starting or trigger signal for starting or triggering operation of the voltage control circuit
1
but also to acquire an abnormality message signal issued by the voltage control circuit
1
to thereby stop or interrupt the operation of the voltage control circuit
1
.
To this end, the external control unit
5
is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit)
51
which is in charge of controlling the voltage control circuit
1
as well as operation of the engine, resistors
52
,
54
and
55
connected to the CPU
51
, a Zener diode
53
and an output transistor
56
.
Connected to the external control unit
5
are a variety of sensors known in the art (not shown) for supplying to the external control unit
5
various detection signals such as an engine rotation number signal (engine speed signal) Ne indicating engine operation state inclusive of engine speed in rpm, a signal indicating a depression stroke of an accelerator pedal of the motor vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as the accelerator pedal depression stroke), a signal indicating cooling water temperature Tw and the like signal which are required for carrying out the operation control of the internal combustion engine.
On the other hand, the CPU
51
is provided with a power supply port a which is connected to a junction between the resistor
52
and the cathode of the Zener diode
53
, and the battery voltage VB is applied to the power supply port a by way of the resistor
52
. Further, the CPU
51
is provided with an operation triggering port b which is connected to the output terminal of the ignition switch
3
by way of the resistor
54
. Furthermore, the CPU
51
is equipped with a monitoring input port c which is connected to the output terminal of the ignition switch
3
by way of the resistor
55
and additionally connected to the monitoring output terminal FR of the voltage control circuit
1
.
In addition, the CPU
51
has a control output port d which is connected to the base of an emitter-grounded output transistor
56
, the collector of which is connected to a control input terminal G of the voltage control circuit
1
. In addition, the CPU
51
is equipped with a ground port e which is electrically connected to the ground potential.
The voltage control circuit
1
includes an output transistor
101
for controlling the electrical conduction ratio of the field coil
21
which corresponds to the field current of the electric generator
2
and a diode
102
electrically inserted between the collector of the output transistor
101
and the field coil
21
. The output transistor
101
has a base electrically connected to the collector of a transistor
103
and additionally to a constant source voltage Vcc via a resistor
104
. On the other hand, the base of the transistor
103
is connected to the output terminal of a comparator
105
which can be implemented by using a conventional differential amplifier.
The comparator
105
has a reference input terminal (−) which is connected to a junction of voltage dividing resistors
106
and
107
inserted in series to each other between the constant source voltage Vcc and the ground potential, while the comparison input terminal (+) of the comparator
105
is connected to a junction between voltage dividing resistors
108
and
109
which are inserted in series to each other between the output terminal of the vehicle-onboard generator
2
and the ground potential.
Further, the comparison input terminal (+) of the comparator
105
is connected to the collector of a transistor
112
by way of a resistor
110
. On the other hand, the base of the transistor
112
is connected to the constant source voltage Vcc by way of a resistor
111
.
Further, the voltage control circuit
1
includes a diode
113
connected to a one-phase output terminal of the armature coil
22
, a capacitor
114
connected between the cathode of the diode
113
and the ground potential, a series connection of a diode
115
and a transistor
116
inserted between the lamp input terminal L and the ground potential, and a diode
117
inserted between the monitoring output terminal FR and the field coil
21
.
In the voltage control circuit
1
, the monitoring output terminal FR is connected via the diode
117
to the output transistor
101
which is designed to serve for voltage application control of the field coil
21
.
Furthermore, the voltage control circuit
1
includes a fault diagnosis circuitry
118
, a power generation detecting circuitry
119
, an L-terminal level discriminating circuitry
120
, an operation trigger circuitry
121
and a constant-voltage power supply circuitry
122
.
The power generation detecting circuitry
119
is connected to the one-phase output terminal of the armature coil
22
via a diode
113
for detecting the electric power generation state on the basis of the one-phase output terminal, where the signal indicating the result of the detection is supplied to both the fault diagnosis circuitry
118
and the operation trigger circuitry
121
.
The fault diagnosis circuitry
118
is designed to drive the transistor
116
in dependence on the output signal of the power generation detecting circuitry
119
, which signal indicates the detected electric power generation state. The L-terminal level discriminating circuitry
120
Komurasaki Keiichi
Kouwa Tatsuki
Sumimoto Katsuyuki
Berhane Adolf Deneke
Mitsubishi Denki & Kabushiki Kaisha
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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