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:
Sep. 11, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 08, 2006
Takeshi Kishimoto, Nagoya, JP;
Takeshi Kishimoto, Nagoya, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
A vehicle includes a direct current power supply (supply), an electric circuit (circuit) supplied with a current from the supply, a connector with relays that connects and disconnects a path supplying the current to the circuit, and a voltage sensor (sensor) that monitors the path between the connector and the circuit. A controller provides control to connect and disconnect the connector. The controller then brings part of the relays into conduction to provisionally determine conduction fault of a relay that is to be non-conductive in accordance with an output of the sensing portion. When a result indicates fault, the controller stores the sensor output as a first value, brings some relays out of conduction, brings other relays into conduction, and compares the value and the sensor output to determine whether to confirm the provisional determination. Thus, fault diagnosis time is reduced.