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:
Oct. 19, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 10, 1997
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Aichi-Ken, JP;
Abstract
In the power supply control system, an electrically heated catalytic converter (EHC) is connected to an alternator output terminal via a switch SW1, and a battery is connected to the alternator via a switch SW2 in parallel with the EHC. A control unit (ECU) for controlling the operation of the switches SW1 and SW2 is provided. When the engine has started, the ECU turns on the SW1 and turns off the SW2 to supply electric power to the EHC directly from the alternator. After the EHC is heated to the activating temperature and starts its catalytic action, the ECU turns on both the switches SW1 and SW2 to supply electric power to the EHC from the battery to maintain the temperature of the EHC. Since the electric power for raising the temperature of the EHC is supplied in the condition where the battery is disconnected from the alternator, the output voltage can be increased to a value higher than a normal output voltage for charging the battery. Therefore, a relatively large electric power can be supplied to the EHC without imposing an excessive load on the battery.