Patent ID: 6275398
Filing Date: 2001-08-14
Classification: H02J

Abstract:
A voltage control apparatus for a vehicle-onboard electric generator, comprising:a vehicle-onboard electric generator driven by an internal combustion engine and including an armature coil and a field coil;a voltage control circuit including an output transistor for controlling a voltage appearing across said field coil to thereby control a generated voltage of said vehicle-onboard electric generator;an external control unit having an output for supplying a trigger signal to said voltage control circuit; anda single signal line for electrically interconnecting a first terminal of said voltage control circuit and a first port of said external control unit,wherein said external control unit is so designed as to output the trigger signal to said voltage control circuit by way of said single signal line, andwherein said voltage control circuit is so designed that upon occurrence of abnormality in association with said vehicle-onboard electric generator, said voltage control circuit informs said external control unit of abnormality occurrence status through the medium of said single signal line.