Patent ID: 11881705
Assignee: AUTONETWORKS TECHNOLOGIES, LTD.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 2:
3. A power distribution method comprising the steps of:
when a plurality of switches respectively provided on a plurality of supply paths that are used to distribute electric power supplied via a wire and a fuse element are on, the fuse element having a melting threshold that is less than the maximum value of a current flowing through the wire,
calculating a wire temperature of the wire based on a current value of a current flowing through the wire;
determining whether or not the calculated wire temperature is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold;
turning off at least one of the plurality of switches if it is determined that the wire temperature is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold;
determining whether or not the calculated wire temperature is greater than or equal to a second temperature threshold, which is less than or equal to the first temperature threshold, after the at least one switch is turned off; and
turning off at least another one of the plurality of switches that are on even after the at least one switch is turned off, if it is determined that the wire temperature is greater than or equal to the second temperature threshold for a predetermined time period or longer after the at least one switch is turned off.