Vehicle Power Supply Circuit With Shared Capacitor Precharge
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing power supply circuits for vehicles face weight increase issues due to the need for a precharge contactor for each power supply bus, which is not efficiently managed.
Innovation Solution
A power supply circuit design where only one of the two circuits (main or backup) includes a precharge circuit to charge capacitors, allowing power to be supplied through the circuit with the precharge during charging and switching to the circuit without the precharge after charging is complete, thereby reducing weight and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a precharge contactor is provided for each power supply bus, then the capacitor can be charged before activation, but the weight of the power supply circuit increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the precharge contactor function into a single shared component that serves both power supply buses (first and second circuits) instead of providing separate precharge contactors for each bus. This consolidation reduces the total number of components and decreases the overall weight of the power supply circuit while maintaining the necessary precharge functionality for capacitors in both circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
The single precharge contactor is designed to perform multiple functions by being shared between the first circuit and the second circuit. It can selectively connect to either circuit to charge the respective capacitor, making one component serve universal precharge purposes for both power supply buses, thereby eliminating the need for duplicate components.
2Reliability
If precharge circuits are provided in both first circuit and second circuit, then power supply reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the precharge contactor resources between the first circuit and the second circuit, using a single shared precharge contactor instead of separate ones for each circuit. This merging approach reduces device complexity by decreasing the total number of components while maintaining reliable power supply capability through selective use of the shared resource.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the operational state of the single precharge contactor, switching its connection between the first circuit and the second circuit as needed. By changing the connection parameter (which circuit the contactor serves), the system maintains reliability without requiring duplicate hardware, thus reducing overall complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A power supply circuit supplies power from a first battery to a first load. The first load includes a capacitor that needs to be charged before activation. The power supply circuit includes: a main circuit that supplies power from the first battery to the first load; and a backup circuit having a precharge circuit for charging the capacitor and that supplies power from the first battery to the first load. When charging the capacitor, power is supplied from the first battery to the first load by using the backup circuit. After charging of the capacitor is completed, power is supplied from the first battery to the first load by using the main circuit.