Yazaki Corporation

Yazaki Coproation

Yoichi Arai

Tsutomu Saigo

Kenichi Shimoyama

Syuji Satake

Toshifumi Maemoto

Kunimitsu Aoki

Yasuhiro Miyazawa

Makoto Takashima

Ryo Kumagai

A temperature/voltage detecting unit has a temperature detector and a voltage detector. The temperature detector has a light electric system stabilized power supply for stabilizing a light electric system power supply voltage, a temperature resistance element provided close to a corresponding battery element, for changing its resistance value based on a change in temperature, and a voltage-to-frequency converter operating based on a voltage from the light electric system stabilized power supply, for detecting a terminal voltage of the temperature resistance element to which a constant current flows from the light electric system stabilized power supply, converting this value into frequency information and outputting the frequency information. The voltage detector has a heavy electric system stabilized power supply for stabilizing a voltage supplied from the corresponding battery element, a voltage supply control section for inputting a signal to show whether or not the light electric system power supply voltage is being applied to the temperature detector, and, when this voltage is being supplied, for applying a voltage from the corresponding battery element to the heavy electric system stabilized power supply, and a voltage-to-frequency converter operating based on a voltage from the light electric system stabilized power supply, for detecting a terminal voltage of the corresponding battery element, converting this value into frequency information and outputting the frequency information.

Temperature/voltage detecting unit and battery element unit

A hydrogen detector detects a concentration of hydrogen gas in an enclosed space communicating with an accommodation space for accommodating a battery, a hydrogen gas expeller is operative for expelling hydrogen gas from the enclosed space, a controller responds to a concentration of hydrogen gas detected by the detector, as the detected concentration exceeds a lower significant concentration, to provide a control signal for driving the expeller, an alarm system is operative for providing an alarm on an abnormal concentration of hydrogen gas, and another controller responds to the concentration of hydrogen gas detected by the detector, as the detected concentration exceeds a higher significant concentration, to provide a control signal for driving the alarm system.

Battery control system for electric automobiles

A junction box includes a battery controller. The battery controller includes a high voltage battery remaining capacity measuring portion, a low voltage battery remaining capacity measuring portion and a charging instruction portion. The high voltage battery remaining capacity measuring portion collects predetermined plural pairs of voltage value and current value, obtains an approximate straight line on current-voltage coordinates based on the predetermined plural pairs of the data according to least square method, and then obtains a voltage value based on the approximate straight line and a predetermined current value so as top estimate a remaining capacity of the high voltage battery. The low voltage battery remaining capacity measuring portion collects predetermined plural pairs of voltage value and current value, obtains an approximate straight line on current-voltage coordinates based on the predetermined plural pairs of the data according to least square method, and then obtains a voltage value based on the approximate straight line and a predetermined current value so as to estimate a remaining capacity of the low voltage battery. The charging instruction portion dispatches an instruction for charging the high voltage battery and low voltage battery when it is determined that the remaining capacity of each of the high voltage battery and low voltage battery is below a predetermined value.

Battery controller and junction box with the same battery controller

A junction box provided between a high voltage battery and a load supplies a high voltage to the load, generates a predetermined low voltage from that high voltage and supplies the low voltage to a low voltage battery and load. If over-current flows through the high voltage system circuit or low voltage system circuit, the junction box shuts off an input of the high voltage. The junction box is provided with an over-voltage countermeasure circuit which even if an over-voltage exceeding 36 V is supplied from the high voltage battery, suppresses it to a predetermined high voltage and outputs. Further, the junction box includes a controller for estimating a remaining capacity of each of the high voltage battery and low voltage battery by detecting respective voltages and currents of the high voltage system circuit and low voltage system circuit.

Intelligent junction box

A survivor capacity measuring apparatus for a battery is presented. The apparatus is constructed so as to determine whether or not the battery is deteriorated and indicates the result of this determination to a user. In the apparatus, a data read unit reads the current flowing from the battery to a load and the voltage of the battery. A survivor capacity calculation unit periodically collects the thus read current and voltage, detects the survivor capacity of the battery on the basis of the thus collected current and voltage, integrates the collected current, and determines the deterioration of the battery from a first survivor capacity of the battery before a predetermined amount has been reached and a second survivor capacity of the battery after the predetermined amount has been reached, when the integrated current has reached the predetermined amount.

Survivor capacity measuring apparatus for a battery

Each voltage sensor is provided one to one for a plurality of batteries, for detecting a terminal voltage of each battery. A current sensor detects a current flowing from the plurality of batteries to a load. A reading section reads for each battery a voltage value detected by a corresponding voltage sensor and a current value detected by the current sensor at every predetermined period of time, and collects a predetermined number of detected voltage values and corresponding detected current values. A remaining capacity calculator calculates a battery remaining capacity for each battery based on the plurality of detected voltage values and the plurality of corresponding detected current values, selects a battery remaining capacity having a minimum value from out of a plurality of calculated battery remaining capacities, and calculates a remaining capacity of the whole of the plurality of batteries based on the selected battery remaining capacity.

Battery remaining capacity measuring apparatus

In each time slot, along with processing collected sets of amperage data and voltage data and a data on a reference current to provide a first value as an estimated residual capacity for a normal travelling, the amperage data are processed to provide a second value representative of a discharge quantity, and the second value is subtracted from the first value to provide a third value as a residual capacity for a high load condition, permitting the first value to be displayed in the normal travelling and the third value to be displayed under the high load condition, as this condition is detected by checking a significance of correlation in dispersion of the collected sets of data.

Battery residual capacity measuring system and battery residual capacity

An input sensor voltage is stepped up to a predetermined sensor voltage by a step-up single power supply circuit 30. The voltage thus stepped up is supplied to a first differential amplifier circuit 40, a first current buffer 50 and a constant voltage circuit 60. Either first or second transistor in the first current buffer 50 is turned on in accordance with a voltage difference across a Hall element 3 provided in a gap in a magnetic core of a coil 1. A current proportionate to a voltage from the first differential amplifier circuit 40 is output from the output terminal of the first current buffer 50 through a secondary winding 1c, a resistor RL and the constant voltage circuit 60 in the direction opposite to that of the current in a primary winding 1b to balance a magnetic flux in the coil 1. The constant voltage circuit 60 maintains a voltage at its output at a reference voltage.

Non-contact type sensor driven from a single power supply for allowing a

This invention relates to an indicating instrument for a vehicle or the like in which a pointer-indicated driving condition such as vehicle speed and rotation speed of an engine is formed by light, and to an indicating instrument system having the above indicating instruments. The structure of the indicating instrument is that a front surface having graduations is spherical such that the front surface sticks out forwardly as it is far from the rotation shaft and a light source is disposed in front of the dial and out of the graduations. Further, the indicating instrument system of the present invention indicates a cylindrical lens for converting beam from a point light source to a substantially linear beam; first and second reflecting plates for dividing the substantially linear beam into divided beam; and third and fourth reflecting plates for reflecting the divided beams each to a dial as a pointer indicating the graduations on the dial to a plurality of pointer forming portions.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka-ken, Japan

Yoichi Arai