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:
Dec. 24, 2013
Filed:
May. 29, 2008
Norimasa Yanase, Chiba, JP;
Noboru Ishisone, Chiba, JP;
Tsuneaki Tamachi, Chiba, JP;
Toru Ozaki, Chiba, JP;
Takafumi Sarata, Chiba, JP;
Kazutaka Yuzurihara, Chiba, JP;
Fumiharu Iwasaki, Chiba, JP;
Norimasa Yanase, Chiba, JP;
Noboru Ishisone, Chiba, JP;
Tsuneaki Tamachi, Chiba, JP;
Toru Ozaki, Chiba, JP;
Takafumi Sarata, Chiba, JP;
Kazutaka Yuzurihara, Chiba, JP;
Fumiharu Iwasaki, Chiba, JP;
Seiko Instruments Inc., , JP;
Abstract
A power supply apparatus has a combined power source with power cells configured electrically independently. A switch arbitrarily changes connection paths of the power cells by selectively connecting terminals of the power cells through switching elements. A detector detects differences in electrical potentials between power cell terminals. An output detector detects a power consumption in a load and/or an output power of the power source. ON-OFF states of the switching elements are controlled by a control signal generated based on voltage signals representing detected differences in electrical potentials, power consumption, and output power. A connection status of each power cell is controlled so as to halt outputting of the power cell having the lowest output voltage if it is detected that a detected power value is equal to or lower than an output power preset based on a power generating capacity of the power source.