System and method for supervising battery for vehicle

Abstract

A system for supervising a battery mounted on a vehicle, the system includes a first part that detects a person in a vehicle in a stopped state, and a second part that executes a power saving control for reducing power of a battery on the vehicle consumed in electrical units mounted on the vehicle when the first part detects no person in the vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electrical system of a vehicle to which a system for supervising a vehicle-use battery is applied in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process for making a decision as to whether an IS-ECU shown in FIG. 1 should shift to a power saving control;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of the power saving control;

FIG. 4 shows exemplary data used in the power saving control; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another example of the power saving control.

Claims

1. A system for supervising a battery mounted on a vehicle, the system comprising: a first part that detects a person in a vehicle in a stopped state; anda second part that executes a power saving control for reducing power of a battery on the vehicle consumed in electrical units mounted on the vehicle when the first part detects no person in the vehicle.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second part determines to which electrical units the power saving control should be executed on the basis of at least one of states of the electrical units, environment about the vehicle, and a vehicle condition.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a third part that sets the vehicle in an antitheft state when the first part detects no person.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a fourth part that determines, during execution of the power saving control, whether an abnormality that prevents execution of the power saving control occurs, and executes one of first and second controls when an abnormality is detected, the first control including starting an engine of the vehicle, and the second control including stopping supplying power from the battery to the electrical units.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a fifth part that determines whether the battery has a reduced capacity during execution of the power saving control, and executes one of first and second controls when the battery has the reduced capacity, the first control including starting an engine of the vehicle, and the second control including stopping supplying power from the battery to the electrical units.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stopped state includes an idle stop state in which an engine of the vehicle is stopped.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second part has a table that defines electrical units to which power supply should be stopped in the stopped mode.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the second part stops supplying power to a specific electrical unit taking environment of the vehicle into account even when the specific electrical unit is one of the electrical units defined in the table.

9. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the second part stops supplying power to a specific electrical unit taking a vehicle condition into account even when the specific electrical unit is one of the electrical units defined in the table.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the vehicle condition includes a remaining capacity of the batter.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second part shuts off power supply to the electrical units in the power saving control.

12. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second part reduces power supplied to the electrical units from the battery in the power saving control.

13. A method supervising a battery mounted on a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: detecting a person in a vehicle in a stopped state; andexecuting a power saving control for reducing power of a battery on the vehicle consumed in electrical units mounted on the vehicle when no person in the vehicle is detected.