Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Junji Takemoto

Kazuki Morita

Yoshimitu Odajima

Shusaku Kawasaki

Tatehiko Inoue

Yohsuke Mitani

Tosihiko Oohasi

A charging apparatus suppresses rise in temperature of an internal chip of a charging element. The output signal obtained from a current detecting portion for detecting charging current to a capacitor and from a voltage detecting portion for detecting a difference between a voltage (VC) of capacitor and a voltage corresponding to DC power supply is integrated by integrator. The charging is carried out by controlling power of a charging element to a predetermined value using an output signal of the integrator and at a time near the completion of the charging, the charging element is controlled by constant-voltage-control-circuit so as to charge the capacitor up to a predetermined voltage. Consequently, the maximum temperature inside the charging element is reduced, thereby providing a charging apparatus with high reliability.

Charging apparatus

Electric storage device is provided which is capable of smoothly charging storage elements and reliably detecting an overvoltage of each of the storage elements. Electric storage device includes charging/discharging limiting circuit. Charging/discharging limiting circuit includes charge element, discharge, control unit, charging current detection unit, voltage detection unit, valuable reference voltage source, and voltage comparison unit. A magnitude of valuable reference voltage source that is connected to an input terminal on a first side of voltage comparison unit is adjusted by charging current detection unit. Detection signal from the voltage detection unit is given to an input terminal on a second side of voltage comparison unit.

Electric storage device

A vehicle power supply device has a capacitor unit including capacitors storing auxiliary power; a temperature sensor; a charge circuit; a capacitor-unit current detector; a capacitor-unit voltage detector; a controller; a storage; and a determination unit. The determination unit determines the degradation level of the capacitor unit based on at least one of an internal resistance standard value and a corrected calculated value of capacitance. This structure determines degradation of the vehicle power supply device more accurately than ever, so that the device can be used until the end of the actual life.

Vehicle power supply device and its degradation judgment method

A capacitor unit is provided, which has a long lifetime and is free from maintenance when it is used as an emergency power supply of electronic control braking system, etc. and in which weight load is not applied to a circuit board, high reliability in use under harsh vibration conditions is achieved, and short-circuit defect does not occur even when an explosion-proof valve operates. The capacitor unit of the present invention includes a plurality of capacitors, a circuit board on which a circuit pattern for connecting the capacitors is formed, and a holder sandwiching and retaining the body parts of the capacitors.

Capacitor unit

In a voltage monitor that measures voltages applied to the terminals of each of a plurality of capacitors constituting a storage section, the each voltage applied to a connecting point between terminals of the capacitors in charging operation, is divided by resistors and the divided voltage is fed into a selector switch. The resistance values used for dividing the each voltage are determined in advance so that a short-circuit between adjacent input terminals of the selector switch allows the divided voltage to have a voltage shift remarkably larger or smaller than the divided voltage obtained under the normal charging operation.

Voltage monitor and electrical storage device using the same

A capacitor unit using a plurality of capacitors and which has a long lifetime and is maintenance-free is provided. The capacitor unit has a high reliability even in harsh using conditions of vibration and shock and a high noise resistant property. This capacitor unit includes a capacitor block in which a plurality of capacitors are incorporated into a holder with body portions of the capacitors sandwiched; a control circuit portion including a charging and discharging circuit for charging or discharging this capacitor block; a relay connector for electrically connecting thereof, and a case housing thereof.

Growing community of inventors

Hyogo, Japan

Junji Takemoto