Patent ID: 8400117

Claim:
A method for controlling the progressive charge of a motor vehicle alternator, the alternator comprising a stator, a rotor which is provided with an excitation coil, voltage regulation means which act on an excitation current which is supplied to the excitation coil in order to regulate an output voltage of the alternator, and means for controlling the progressive charge which, by means of limitation of the excitation current to a maximum value, determine a maximum mechanical torque which the alternator can collect on a thermal engine of the motor vehicle, the maximum mechanical torque being determined according to a speed of rotation (N ALT ) of the alternator, the progressive charge control means comprising a so-called progressive charge return (PCR) signal which indicates the maximum value which the excitation current (lexc) can assume, characterized in that, when the excitation current assumes a stabilised value (G), the progressive charge return (PCR) signal is updated (H) so as to indicate a maximum current value of the excitation current which is equal to the stabilized value.