SCHUMACHER ELECTRIC CORPORATION Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140265592 | INTERCONNECT DEVICE FOR DETECTING WHETHER A VEHICLE ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTICS (OBD) DATA PORT INCLUDES CIRCUITRY WHICH PREVENTS BACK FEEDING OF POWER THROUGH THE OBD DATA PORT - An interconnect device is disclosed for detecting whether an vehicle on-board diagnostics (OBD) data port includes a blocking diode or equivalent. that prevents back feeding of power through the OBD data port. If a diode is detected, the interconnect device alerts the user that the power cannot be back fed through the OBD II port connector. In such a condition, an alternate means is used to preserve the data mentioned above. Specifically, an alternative power supply can be connected directly to the battery cables that will be disconnected from the battery, for example, by way of battery clamps. In this way the alternative power supply is used to preserve the data until a new battery is reconnected to the vehicle battery cables. If a diode is not detected by the interconnect device, the interconnect device displays this fact to the user. The interconnect device includes circuitry for detecting and displaying whether a diode is connected in series with a power pin of the OBD II port connector. In addition, the interconnect device includes an OBD II port connector on one end connected by way of a cable to a connector, such as a cigarette lighter connector or hardwired directly to an alternate power supply. | 09-18-2014 |
20140021906 | BATTERY CHARGER WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE DETECTION - A battery charger is disclosed that is configured to be connected to an external battery by way of external battery cables. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the battery charger is configured with automatic voltage detection which automatically determines the nominal voltage of the battery connected to its battery charger terminals and charges the battery as a function of the detected nominal voltage irrespective of the nominal voltage selected by a user. Various safeguards are built into the battery charger to avoid overcharging a battery. For battery chargers with user selectable nominal battery voltage charging modes, battery charger is configured to over-ride a user selected battery voltage mode if it detects that the battery connected to the battery charger terminals is different than the user selected charging mode. | 01-23-2014 |
20120306437 | BATTERY CHARGER AND METHOD UTILIZING ALTERNATING DC CHARGING CURRENT - A battery charger is disclosed for use with various batteries, such as automotive and marine-type batteries. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the charging current is alternated between non-zero DC charging current levels. By alternating the charging current between non-zero DC charging levels, the battery can be charged to a higher capacity (i.e., ampere hours) faster, thus reducing the charging time and at the same time allow the rating of the battery charger to be increased. In accordance with another important aspect of the invention, the technique for alternating the charging current can be implemented in both linear and switched-mode battery chargers. | 12-06-2012 |
20100194353 | RV CONVERTER WITH CURRENT MODE AND VOLTAGE MODE SWITCHING - A switched mode converter is disclosed that includes both voltage mode and current mode control. The switched mode converter also includes mode logic for switching between a voltage mode and a current mode. The converter includes current sensing circuitry for sensing the switcher current on the primary side of the transformer and the load current on the secondary side as well as voltage sensing circuitry for sensing the converter output voltage. When the load current is less than a predetermined value, the converter operates in a voltage mode. During the voltage mode, the output voltage of the voltage mode controller is used to control the duty cycle of a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller. When the load current is greater than a predetermined value, the converter operates in a current mode. In a current mode, the primary switcher current is used to control the PWM controller. As such, during a light load in which the converter is voltage controlled, there is no need for a minimum load to stabilize the control loop. In a current-mode, the control loop will have a relatively faster transient response and avoid flux imbalance in push-pull topology. As such, the converter provides the advantages of both known voltage controlled and current controlled switched mode converters. In addition, by the careful arrangement of the locations of a EMC filter, a primary heat sink, a secondary heat sink, a power transformer T | 08-05-2010 |