Toyota Granted US Patent for Power Management Device

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Power Supply (H02J)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 25th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted Toyota a patent for a power management device designed to manage power exchange in a virtual power plant. The device includes a processor that detects power system abnormalities and adjusts power exchange accordingly to suppress or prohibit power flow until recovery.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha a patent (US12587013B2) for a power management device. This device is intended for use in power systems, particularly those involving virtual power plants. The core innovation lies in its processor's ability to intelligently manage power exchange based on detected system abnormalities, such as voltage, frequency, disconnection, or short-circuit failures, by adjusting power flow to suppress or prohibit it until the system recovers.

While this is a patent grant and not a regulatory rule, it signifies technological advancement in power system management. Companies operating in the energy sector, particularly those involved with virtual power plants, smart grids, or advanced power control systems, may find this technology relevant. Compliance officers in these sectors should be aware of such patented innovations as they can influence future industry standards and operational practices, though no immediate compliance actions are required based solely on this patent grant.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Power management device

Grant US12587013B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Inventors

Sachio Toyora

Abstract

The power management device includes a processor that functions to manage power exchange in a power system including a virtual power plant, and the processor includes a processor that, when an abnormality occurs in the power system and a cause of the abnormality is a voltage abnormality, causes the virtual power plant to exchange electric power only in one direction for suppressing the power abnormality, and when the cause of the abnormality is a frequency abnormality, causes the virtual power plant to exchange electric power within a range in which the output variation is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and prohibits the exchange of electric power by the virtual power plant until recovery when the cause of the abnormality is a disconnection failure or a short-circuit failure.