The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 25, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 06, 1996
Kenji Terauchi, Isehara, JP;
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Yokohama, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus for diagnosing a low voltage battery includes a high voltage battery for powering an electric automobile, a voltage converter that reduces the output of the high voltage battery to a low voltage, a low voltage battery for powering the auxiliaries of the automobile, a current/voltage sensor, a controller, and a warning indicator. The low voltage battery is connected to the high voltage battery through the voltage convertor and a resistor is connected to the low voltage battery. The current/voltage sensor detects electric currents and voltages of the low voltage battery and the resistor. The controller diagnoses the degradation of the low voltage battery at the start of operation of the automobile by referring the output of the current/voltage sensor to a set of selected predetermined reference values. A battery relay interrupts the connection between the high voltage battery and the low voltage battery to diagnose the low voltage battery and the warning indicator alerts to a degradation of the low voltage battery.