Patent ID: 8120329

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling power generation of a generator mounted on a vehicle, the generator charging a battery mounted on the vehicle, comprising: a detecting device that detects information indicating an internal status of the battery, wherein the internal status of the battery includes temperature of the battery and the detecting device includes a detecting circuit that detects the temperature of the battery using a temperature sensing element, and a power supply circuit that supplies power to the detecting device; a calculator for calculating the internal status of the battery using the information detected by the detecting device; a circuit board having a first surface on which the calculator, the power supply circuit, and the detecting circuit are mounted, and a second surface on which the temperature sensing element is mounted; a controller that controls the power generation of the generator based on the internal status of the battery; and a bus bar electrically connected to a negative terminal of the battery, the bus bar including a first principal surface arranged in a plane along a longitudinal direction of the bus bar, a second principal surface positioned opposite to the first principal surface, and a plurality of side surfaces arranged in a thickness direction of the bus bar connecting the first principal surface with the second principal surface, wherein the second surface of the circuit board is arranged facing the first principal surface of the bus bar to make a thermal coupling between the temperature sensing element and the bus bar, the bus bar serves as a shunt resistor that detects the current flowing at the battery, a plurality of poles are arranged on one of the plurality of side surfaces of the bus bar such that the plurality of poles contact the one of the plurality of side surfaces and extend in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the bus bar, the plurality of poles are electrically connected to the bus bar to detect a voltage difference between two poles among the plurality of poles at the shunt resistor, and the temperature sensing element is arranged closely to one of the plurality of poles.