The automobile of the present invention is provided with a capacitor for backup use in case of disconnection or breakdown of a battery. When a start switch is turned off, the collected charge in the capacitor is supplied to a device in which a large current is flowing, such as discharging resistor, motor or lamp, or a device in which a small current is flowing, such as dark current consuming device, and therefore, after the start switch is turned off, power consumption of the battery can be suppressed.
1. An automobile comprising:
a drive unit for driving force;
a battery for supplying starting energy to the drive unit;
a start switch for supplying the starting energy to the drive unit from the battery;
a capacitor to be charged when the start switch is turned on;
a brake device for receiving a supply of collected charge from the capacitor;
a discharging resistor for discharging the collected charge in the capacitor when the start switch is turned off, and
a detector for detecting a status of use of a motor or a lamp,
wherein when the start switch is turned off,
the collected charge in the capacitor is supplied to a dark current consuming device, and
the collected charge in the capacitor is discharged to the discharging resistor, and
when the detector detects the status of use of at least one of the motor and the lamp,
the collected charge in the capacitor is suspended from being discharged to the discharging resistor, and is supplied to at least one of the motor and the lamp.
2. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a motor for a cooling fan.
3. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a motor for retracting a door mirror.
4. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a motor for retracting an antenna.
5. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a motor for opening and closing a window.
6. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the lamp is a hazard lamp.
7. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the dark current consuming device is an automatic unlocking device for communicating with an electronic key.
8. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the dark current consuming device is an anti-theft device.
9. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the dark current consuming device is a clock.
10. The automobile of claim 1 , wherein the dark current consuming device is an information storage device of an acoustic appliance.
11. An automobile comprising:
a drive unit for motive power;
a battery for supplying starting energy to the drive unit;
a start switch for supplying the starting energy to the drive unit from the battery;
a capacitor to be charged when the start switch is turned on;
a brake device for receiving a supply of collected charge from the capacitor;
a discharging resistor for discharging the collected charge in the capacitor when the start switch is turned off,
a detector for detecting a status of use of a motor or a lamp, and
a voltage monitor for monitoring a voltage of the capacitor,
wherein when the start switch is turned off,
the collected charge in the capacitor is supplied to a dark current consuming device,
depending on the status of use of the motor or the lamp detected by the detector,
the collected charge in the capacitor is supplied to at least one of the discharging resistor, the motor and the lamp, and
when the voltage monitor judges that the voltage of the capacitor is lower than a specified voltage,
the collected charge in the capacitor is supplied only to the dark current consuming device, and supply to the discharging resistor, the motor, or the lamp is stopped.