Navistar International Transportation Corporation

W Eric Windle

James W Kruse

Donald E Riley

The heat sink bus assembly is adapted to be connected to a printed circuit board having conductor structure leading to conductive foil and printed circuit board mounting structure for physically mounting the printed circuit board components and conduct heat to an enclosure. The printed circuit board is adapted to be mounted in a partially sealed enclosure which is relatively highly thermally conductive. The bus assembly has physically secured thereto high heat generating devices and other devices adjacent to the printed circuit board, is energizable to selectively supply power to a portion of the devices secured thereto, and functions to dissipate heat generated by the high heat generating devices secured thereto by conducting the heat to an enclosure. The bus assembly includes a bus which has relatively high thermal and electrical conductance, and which has bus mounting structure and device securing structure adapted to secure heat generating devices to the bus and to position secured devices to be electrically connected to the conductor structure of the printed circuit board, and mounting means complementary to the bus mounting structure and the printed circuit board mounting structure to mount the bus spaced from but adjacent to the printed circuit board.

Heat sink bus assembly

In a 'two-wire' multiplexed lighting system, a square wave voltage alternating between positive and negative polarities is delivered by the two wires to both right and left lamps. Each lamp includes a diode, and the diodes are oppositely pulled with respect to each other so that one of the lamps is energized by one polarity of the square wave while the other lamp is energized by the opposite polarity. The magnitude of each polarity relative to ground is twice the continuous D.C. voltage rating of each lamp so that the average voltage applied to each lamp can be equal to the load's maximum continuous rating to thereby provide full intensity illumination. The lamps provide different signaling functions, such as turn signal, emergency warning, brake lamp and running lamp signals by the operation of corresponding command switches acting through a control logic circuit, including multiplexing, configured to assign a priority to the commands such that the highest priority command will override any others and produce the corresponding operation of a lamps. In the 'three-wire' embodiment of a multiplexed vehicle lighting system, the two lamps have a common ground but each is supplied by its own individual wire. The control circuit further includes a novel circuit for performing the marker lamp function that is commonly used in large trucks and highway tractors.

Multiplexed D.C. electrical systems for automotive vehicles

The land vehicle electrical system comprises a cab controller including a microprocessor system and a chassis controller including a microprocessor system. The microprocessor systems have a multiplexed coupling therebetween and each system includes a microprocessor substantially identical to the microprocessor in the other system with the hardware in each system being substantially identical and with each microprocessor having slightly different software. The microprocessor utilized in the chassis controller has analog inputs for direct connection to sensors. A public data link and a private data link are provided between the microprocessors for additional and backup communication between them. Smart switches are coupled to one or both of the microprocessors and each switch includes means for indicating its status, open circuit or closed circuit, to a microprocessor and the microprocessor includes means for reading the status of the switch and for controlling the status of the switch. The microprocessor also have a diagnostic routine for diagnostic capability or fault isolation. Furthermore, the cab controller includes a visual display having touch actuated switch function areas on the screen of the visual display which switch function areas can be actuated to call up different menus and different control panels.

Multiplexed electrical wiring system for a truck including driver

Protection for D.C. electrical circuit branches against incipient overloads comprises the use of semiconductor devices known as intelligent switches. An intelligent switch comprises a main controlled conduction path whose conductivity is controlled by an external control input. The semiconductor architecture is configured to possess internal self-protection for the main controlled conduction path against incipient current and/or temperature rises exceeding the device's rating by rendering the main controlled conduction path non-conductive when such incipient conditions are sensed. The invention, recognizing that this internal self-protection attribute can be used also to provide protection for external circuit components connected to the switch in the branch, further comprises the elimination of external protective devices from the branch such that the intelligent switch itself provides the entire overload protection within the branch. The invention is especially beneficial in automotive electrical application, imparting improvements to particular specific circuits of automotive electrical systems.

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Antwerp, OH, United States of America

W Eric Windle