Patent ID: 6717385
Filing Date: 2004-04-06
Classification: H02J,H02P,H03K,Y02T

Abstract:
A voltage regulator of a vehicle AC generator including a field coil and a rectifier for rectifying generated AC output, said voltage regulator comprising:a semiconductor element connected to said field coil for controlling current supplied to said coil, said semiconductor element having a variable current switching capacity and a turn-off transition period before it is fully turned off; a flywheel element connected in parallel with said field coil; generation voltage regulating means for controlling said semiconductor element to turn on or off so that an output voltage of said rectifier can be regulated to a regulated voltage according to a signal related to said output voltage; and switching capacity control means for controlling the current-switching capacity during a former stage of the turn-off transition period of said semiconductor element to be larger than the current switching capacity during a latter stage of the turn-off transition period.