USPTO Patent Granted for Power Supply Control

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Power Supply (H02J)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 25th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted a patent (US12587020B2) to SCANIA CV AB for a power supply circuit and a method for controlling it, particularly for vehicle applications. The patent details a system for regulating voltage and charging current to protect against overloads.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12587020B2 to SCANIA CV AB. This patent covers a novel power supply circuit designed for vehicles, featuring a two-sided system with battery packs and power consumers, an overload current breaker with a predetermined threshold, and a controller. The controller manages voltage from the power source and monitors charging current to ensure it remains below the maximum permissible level, adjusting voltage to prevent overloads.

This patent grant is primarily of interest to manufacturers and engineers in the automotive and power supply sectors. While it does not impose new regulatory obligations on companies, it represents a new technological development in power supply control systems. Companies involved in vehicle electrical systems or power management may wish to review the patent details for competitive intelligence or potential licensing opportunities. The filing date for this application was February 16, 2023.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Power supply circuit and a method for controlling a power supply circuit

Grant US12587020B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

SCANIA CV AB

Inventors

Gunnar Ledfelt, Lukas Rydén, Mathias Eggeling

Abstract

The present application relates to a power supply circuit of a vehicle, which power supply circuit comprises a first side (A) comprising a power source (14), a first battery pack (12) and first power consumers (16), a second side (B) connected in series with the first side (A), the second side (B) comprising a second battery pack (18) and second power consumers (20), an overload current breaker (22) provided between the first and the second side, said overload current breaker (22) having a pre-determined threshold breaking current (IThreshold) value, at which value the circuit is broken; a controller (24) connected to said power source for regulating voltage from said power source (14), the controller (24) being provided with said threshold breaking current (IThreshold) value, the controller further being operatively connected to devices (26, 28) providing information related to a current (Ich) through said overload current breaker (22). The controller (24) is arranged to determine a maximum permissible charging current (IPermissible) value in relation to the threshold breaking current (IThreshold) value; to set a low voltage (V) from said power source (14) for charging said second battery pack (18) at activation of said power source (14); to monitor, with the information from the devices (26, 28), the charging current (Ich) through said overload current breaker (22) to the second battery pack (18) and to compare the charging current (Ich) with the maximum permissible charging current (IPermissible); to increase the voltage (V) of the power source (14) if the charging current (Ich) is below the maximum permissible charging current (Ich<IPermissible); and to decrease the voltage (V) of the power source (14) if the charging current (Ich) is the same as or above the maximum permissible current (Ich≥IPermissible).

CPC Classifications

H02J 7/1423 H02J 7/00304 H02J 7/163 H02J 7/0013 H02J 7/00302 H02J 2310/46 H02J 2310/48 H02J 7/14 B60R 16/033 H02H 7/20 H02H 9/001 G07C 5/08 B60L 58/18 B60L 58/15