IP Library › Granted Patent US 7,812,570
Granted Patent B2
US 7,812,570 · App. 12/076,077 · Granted Oct 12, 2010

Current detection apparatus for a car power source

Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,812,570
App. No.
12/076,077
Granted
Oct 12, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

A current detection apparatus includes a current detection section that detects charging current and discharging current of the car driving battery, a level-shift circuit connected to the output-side of the current detection section that shifts the output of the current detection section, and an A/D converter connected to the output-side of the level-shift circuit. The level-shift circuit shifts the current detection section output signal to unbalance the maximum discharging current and maximum charging current that can be detected.

Claims (25)

1. A current detection apparatus for a car power source comprising:

a car driving battery;

a current detection section that detects a charging current and a discharging current of the car driving battery;

a level-shift circuit connected to an output-side of the current detection section, the level-shift circuit being configured to shift both charging current and discharging current output signals of the current detection section; and

an A/D converter connected to an output-side of the level-shill circuit,

wherein the level-shift circuit shifts the current detection section charging current and discharging current output signals to unbalance a maximum discharging current and a maximum charging current to be detected so that a range of the charging current is narrower than a range of the discharging current received by the A/D converter, wherein the level-shift circuit is configured to shift both charging current and discharging current output signals of the current detection section so that a shifted-line of charging/discharging current-to-voltage is parallel to an original line and the shifted-line and the original line have the same slope.

2. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a battery ECU configured to control the battery discharging current and the charging current, wherein the battery ECU controls larger discharging currents than charging currents.

3. The current detection apparatus claim 1 wherein the level-shift circuit is a difference amplifier; in the level-shift circuit that is a difference amplifier, current detection section output is input to one input terminal and a DC compensation voltage is input to the other input terminal to shift the current detection section output signal by the compensation voltage and input it to the A/D converter.

4. The current detection apparatus for a car power source as cited in claim 3 wherein the level-shift circuit is a difference amplifier; the current detection section output signal is input to the non-inverting side (+side) input terminal and a compensation voltage is input to the inverting side (−side) input terminal to shift the level of the current detection section output signal.

5. The current detection apparatus for a car power source as cited in claim 4 wherein the level-shift circuit is a difference amplifier with a voltage gain of one.

6. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the level-shift circuit is an adder circuit, and a DC bias voltage is input to an input-side of the adder circuit to shift a current detection section output signal by the DC bias voltage and input it to the A/D converter.

7. The current detection apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the level-shift circuit is an adder circuit, and the current detection section output signal and a linear bias voltage are both input through a resistor to an input-side of an amplifier, wherein a sum of the current detection section output signal and the linear bias voltage is output.

8. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the current detection section has output characteristics showing an output voltage increase with a discharging current increase, and an output voltage decrease with a charging current increase.

9. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the current detection section has output characteristics showing a linear output voltage increase with a battery current increase in a discharging direction.

10. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

an amplitude adjustment circuit provided at the output-side of the level-shift circuit to adjust an amplitude of a level-shift circuit output voltage to an input range of the A/D converter.

11. The current detection apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the amplitude adjustment circuit is an attenuating circuit.

12. The current detection apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the amplitude adjustment circuit, which is an attenuating circuit, is a resistive voltage divider circuit.

13. The current detection apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the amplitude adjustment circuit is an amplifying circuit.

14. The current detection apparatus for a car power source as cited in claim 10 wherein the level-shift circuit is an op-amp that serves the dual purpose as an amplitude adjustment circuit, and the amplitude of the level-shift circuit output voltage is adjusted to the input range of the A/D converter by the gain of the op-amp.

15. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an input voltage range of the A/D converter is 0V to 5V.

16. The current detection apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a computation circuit connected to an output-side of the A/D converter, the computation circuit being configured to compute battery discharging current and charging current from a digital signal input from the A/D converter.

17. The current detection apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the computation circuit has a function stored in a memory to compute current values corresponding to the input digital signal based on the stored function.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 13, 2008
From: MATSUMOTO, AKIRA; YUGOU, MASAKI
To: SANYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 020687/0422 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2007-068593 · Mar 16, 2007 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20080224665A1 · Sep 18, 2008