Patent ID: 7135784

Claim:
A belted-alternator-starter system for a vehicle, said vehicle including an ignition, an engine, electrical devices and a battery, said system comprising: an alternator/starter device including a field coil and a plurality of armature coils, said alternator/starter device operating as an alternator for providing electrical energy to the electrical devices and the battery when the ignition is on and the engine is on and operating as a starter for providing engine torque to start the engine when the engine is off and the ignition is on; an inverter/rectifier circuit electrically coupled to the plurality of armature coils and the battery, said inverter/rectifier circuit inverting the battery power to provide AC current to the plurality of armature coils when the alternator/starter device is operating as a starter; and a control device, said control device providing an operating field current to the field coil when the ignition and the engine are on and providing a pre-flux field current to the field coil when the vehicle ignition is on and the vehicle engine is off, wherein the pre-flux field current corresponds to a predetermined current that achieves a desired starting torque response in a motoring mode while limiting the battery current drawn when the engine is off.