Patent ID: 9318902
Filing Date: 2016-04-19
CPC Classification: H02J

Claim Text:
1. A power supply apparatus utilizing a secondary battery, which comprises: a control unit that monitors a performance of said power supply apparatus to control it and monitors a malfunction of said power supply apparatus; a secondary battery that is connected to said control unit and discharges an electric current as charged; a main contact provided in a battery circuit network formed between said secondary battery and a load; and an auxiliary contact that is provided in said battery circuit network so as to be connected in series with said main contact, said auxiliary contact being kept in an open state under a non-operating condition of said power supply apparatus, and wherein: when a halting operation of said power supply apparatus is made, said main contact is first opened and then said auxiliary contact is opened, and when a starting operation of said power supply apparatus is made, said auxiliary contact is first closed and then said main contact is closed; further comprising: a malfunction detection circuit that measures a voltage value, a current value and/or a conduction state of said main contact and causes said auxiliary contact to be kept in an open state based on information from the measurement and an operation information on said main contact from said control unit; further comprising: a self-return type stop switch that halts an operation of said power supply apparatus; and a relay circuit that makes a switching operation to make an electric connection between said secondary battery and said control unit opened under a control of said control unit when the halting operation of said power supply apparatus is made, or make the electric connection closed when the starting operation of said power supply apparatus is made, and wherein: when said stop switch is switched ON, a signal from said stop switch is inputted to said control unit, said control unit causes said main contact to be opened based on the signal as inputted, said malfunction detection circuit measures the voltage value across the terminals of said battery circuit network, and when said voltage value is permissible, said control unit causes all of processings in said power supply apparatus to quit and then causes said relay circuit to be opened and causes subsequently said auxiliary contact to be opened.