CN112262512B

CN112262512B - Systems, methods, and apparatus for power distribution in electric mobile applications using a combination circuit breaker and relay

Info

Publication number: CN112262512B
Application number: CN201980038321.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马丁·韦恩·门施; 布兰登·威廉·费希尔; 罗伯特·斯蒂芬·道格拉斯; 奥斯汀·罗伯特·祖尔法斯; 杰夫·霍华德·乌里安; 詹姆斯·大卫; ***·苏达; 阿赛士·索尼; 卡斯滕·格尔文; 吉多·福尔马尔; 格尔德·施米茨; 克里斯托夫·鲍施; 尤特·莫利托; 卢茨·弗里德里希森; 卡伊·施罗德; 朱莉娅·奥特; 马德琳·菲利普森; 诺伯特·罗斯纳; 福尔克尔·朗; 约翰尼斯·迈斯纳
Original assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Current assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd
Priority date: 2018-04-10
Filing date: 2019-04-10
Publication date: 2023-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 2039-04-10
Also published as: WO2019197459A2; CN112262512A; EP3776779A2; CN117239674A; WO2019197459A3

Abstract

A mobile application includes a power supply circuit having an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupled by a power bus. The application includes a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device. The circuit breaker/relay includes a stationary contact and a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the stationary contact, wherein the movable contact allows power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the stationary contact and prevents power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the stationary contact. The circuit breaker/relay includes an armature coupled to a movable contact and capable of opening or closing a power supply circuit.

Description

Systems, methods, and apparatus for power distribution in electric mobile applications using a combination circuit breaker and relay

Priority statement

The present application claims priority from the following U.S. provisional patent applications: serial number 62/809384 (EATN-2303-P01) filed on 22 nd 2019 under the name "INVERTER HOUSING WITH MULTIPLE COST-OPTIMIZED COMPONENTS"; serial number 62/809375 (EATN-2302-P01) filed on 22 nd 2019 under the name "NON-LOCKING, BLIND MATE COMPATIBLE, INTEGRATED QUICK CONNECT COUPLING"; serial number 62/809367 (EATN-2301-P01) filed on 22 nd 2019 under the name "DC LINK CAPACITOR WITH INTEGRATED COMPONENTS"; serial No. 62/744496 (EATN-2018-P01) entitled "break/RELAY SYSTEM interval" filed on 10/11/2018; serial number 62/730494 (EATN-2016-P01) entitled "break/RELAY WITH INTEGRATED PRECHARGE circircuit" filed on 9/12/2018; serial number 62/697192 (EATN-2014-P01) filed on 7.12.2018 under the name "ADAPTIVE SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS USING MULTI-PORT POWER CONVERTER IN HYBRID VEHICLES"; serial number 62/687197 (EATN-2013-P01) filed on 6/19 2018 under the name "COMBINED DUAL-power break AND RELAY IN AN ELECTRIFIED MOBILE APPLICATION"; serial number 62/675022 (EATN-2012-P01) filed 5/23/2018 under the name "SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS USING A COMBINED BREAKER AND RELAY IN A MOBILE APPLICATION"; serial number 62/655956 (EATN-2011-P01) filed on 11/4/2018 under the name "SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS USING A COMBINED BREAKER AND RELAY IN A MOBILE APPLICATION"; serial number 62/655635 (EATN-2010-P01) filed on 4/10/2018 under the name "SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS USING A COMBINED BREAKER AND RELAY"; serial number 62/655631 (EATN-2009-P01) filed on 4/10/2018 under the name "SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS USING A COMBINED BREAKER AND RELAY IN A MOBILE APPLICATION";

The present application is part of the continuation-in-process application Ser. No. 16/184185 (EATN-2300-U01) filed on 8, 11, 8, 2018, entitled "POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT AND FUSE MANAGEMENT FOR AN ELECTRIC MOBILE APPLICATION" and claims priority from that U.S. patent application.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/184,185 claims priority from the following U.S. provisional patent applications: serial number 62/583355 (EATN-2001-P01) filed 11/8 in 2017, entitled "ACTIVE/PASSIVE THERMAL PROTECTION OF TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE COMPONENTS"; serial number 62/583367 (EATN-2002-P01) filed 11/8/2017, entitled "FUSE AND CONTACTOR FOR CIRCUIT PROTECTION"; and serial number 62/583428 (EATN-2006-P01) filed on 8.11.2017 under the name "FUSE LIFE EXTENDER METHOD".

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/184,185 also claims priority from the following Indian provisional patent applications: serial No. 201711039846 (EATN-2003-P01-IN) entitled "FUSE CURRENT MEASUREMENT WITH ACTIVE INJECTION SYSTEM" filed 11/8/2017; serial No. 201711039847 (EATN-2004-P01-IN) filed 11/8/2017 under the name "NULL OFFSET DETECTION AND DIAGNOSTICS"; serial No. 201711039848 (EATN-2005-P01-IN) titled "DIGITAL FILTERS TO minisize PHASE SHIFT AND INDUCED HARMONICS" submitted at 11/8/2017; serial No. 201711039849 (EATN-2007-P01-IN) filed 11/8/2017 under the name "CALIBRATION OF FUSE CURRENT MEASUREMENTS"; and serial number 201711039850 (EATN-2008-P01-IN) filed on 11/8 2017, under the name "UNIQUE CURRENT INJECTION WAVEFORM TO IMPROVE INJECTION MEASUREMENT ACCURACY".

The present application is part of the continued application of International application Ser. No. PCT/EP/1880611 (EATN-2300-WO) filed on 8, 11, 2018, entitled "POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT AND FUSE MANAGEMENT FOR AN ELECTRIC MOBILE APPLICATION" and claims priority from this U.S. patent application.

PCT/EP/1880611 claims priority from the following U.S. provisional patent applications: serial number 62/583355 (EATN-2001-P01) filed 11/8 in 2017, entitled "ACTIVE/PASSIVE THERMAL PROTECTION OF TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE COMPONENTS"; serial number 62/583367 (EATN-2002-P01) filed 11/8/2017, entitled "FUSE AND CONTACTOR FOR CIRCUIT PROTECTION"; and serial number 62/583428 (EATN-2006-P01) filed on 8.11.2017 under the name "FUSE LIFE EXTENDER METHOD".

PCT/EP/1880611 also claims priority from the following indian provisional patent applications: serial No. 201711039846 (EATN-2003-P01-IN) entitled "FUSE CURRENT MEASUREMENT WITH ACTIVE INJECTION SYSTEM" filed 11/8/2017; serial No. 201711039847 (EATN-2004-P01-IN) filed 11/8/2017 under the name "NULL OFFSET DETECTION AND DIAGNOSTICS"; serial No. 201711039848 (EATN-2005-P01-IN) titled "DIGITAL FILTERS TO minisize PHASE SHIFT AND INDUCED HARMONICS" submitted at 11/8/2017; serial No. 201711039849 (EATN-2007-P01-IN) filed 11/8/2017 under the name "CALIBRATION OF FUSE CURRENT MEASUREMENTS"; and serial number 201711039850 (EATN-2008-P01-IN) filed on 11/8 2017, under the name "UNIQUE CURRENT INJECTION WAVEFORM TO IMPROVE INJECTION MEASUREMENT ACCURACY".

All of the above patent documents are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

Without being limited to a particular technical field, the present disclosure relates to power distribution and circuit protection, and more particularly to power distribution and circuit protection for highly variable load applications.

Background

Power distribution presents a number of challenges in many applications. Applications with highly variable loads, such as mobile applications or vehicles, subject fuses in a power supply channel to rapid fluctuations in power supply throughput and cause thermal and mechanical stresses on the fuses. Some applications can be costly for downtime of the application. Some applications, including mobile applications, suffer from additional drawbacks caused by power loss, such as the inadvertent loss of mobility of the application, including in inconvenient locations, while in traffic, etc. Electrical systems are complex in many applications, where there are multiple components and where the wiring and environment of the electrical system is variable, resulting in changes in the electrical system response, noise introduction, system resonant frequency changes, and/or system capacitance and/or inductance changes, even for nominally identical installations. These complexities present additional challenges to high resolution and/or high accuracy determination of electrical characteristics of aspects of the system. In addition, highly variable and/or mobile systems present additional challenges to diagnosis and determination of aspects of the electrical system, as highly invasive active determination may not be acceptable for application performance, and/or the system may not provide many or only a short opportunity to make a determination of the electrical system.

Electric mobile applications such as electric vehicles and high performance hybrid vehicles present a number of challenges to previously known inverter and power electronics systems. Mobile applications include on-highway vehicles, off-highway vehicles, commercial and passenger vehicles, and/or off-highway applications including any type of vehicle or mobile device.

For example, many mobile applications such as commercial and passenger vehicles have a high cost sensitivity to the initial and sustained operating costs of the system. In addition, downtime for service, maintenance, or system failures has very high costs due to the large volume and market competition. Thus, even modest improvements in initial cost, operating cost, and reliability can have a significant impact on the outcome of the system, or make a non-marketable system competitive.

Mobile applications have limited space and weight available for components of the drive system. For example, vehicle size and fuel efficiency issues drive many applications to reduce the size and weight of a vehicle and to accommodate vehicle shapes for aerodynamics, depending on the particular application and/or depending on user or customer preferences. In addition, mobile applications have a large number of features, and application requirements and customer preferences are such that if the system can accommodate additional features while meeting other constraints, the additional features are almost always added. Thus, reducing the size and weight of a given component provides value to the application, either by net reducing the size and weight of the application, or by the ability to accommodate additional features within the same size and weight.

Mobile applications typically have a large number of components, and typically many components are provided by third parties and integrated by the primary manufacturer or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Thus, reducing the size or weight of the components makes it easier to integrate the components and/or requires reducing the size or weight of the components to accommodate limited space requirements during design stages, upgrades, retrofitting, etc. In addition, the integration of a large number of components and many components from separate component providers introduces complexity into the integration of mobile applications. Furthermore, each component and sub-component and each interface between components may form a failure point that may result in maintenance events, undesirable operation, application downtime, and/or task disabling failures. Faults that occur in mobile applications typically occur in locations that are inconvenient for service access, and may require that a degraded or disabled vehicle be moved to a service location before the fault can be corrected. Thus, a reduced number of sub-components, availability of standardized interfaces, and/or reduced number of components are desirable for mobile applications. Some mobile applications are produced in very large volumes, and even moderate reductions in the number of interfaces or subassemblies can add higher value to the system.

Some mobile applications are produced in smaller volumes and engineering time is shorter, so reducing the number of interfaces can greatly reduce design cycle time, providing significant benefits in situations where engineering costs cannot be distributed in large volumes of product. Some mobile applications are produced as retrofit or upgrade and/or include a number of options in which components may appear on certain models or versions of the mobile application, but may not appear on other models or versions, and/or may be installed on a vehicle in a different location than on other models or versions. For example, a mobile application may have components added after manufacture as part of customer options to accommodate new regulations, support environmental policies (e.g., corporate environmental policies or environmental policies of a fleet of vehicles), upgrade vehicles, and/or reuse or remanufacture vehicles. Thus, the reduced size, weight, and/or reduced number of interfaces of the component make post-manufacturing changes easier, have more options in post-manufacturing changes, and/or provide higher reliability for components installed using non-standardized or low volume processes that may not be as elaborate as standardized processes for high volume applications. In addition, saving size and weight in the components of the application may allow for additional features to be included within the same cost and weight distribution.

Mobile applications typically have a large difference in duty cycle, even for systems with similar power ratings. Furthermore, mobile applications often involve systems that sell or otherwise transfer, wherein the same system may experience significant changes in duty cycle and operating conditions after the system is handed over to a user. Thus, lack of flexibility in design parameters at first sales can limit the available market for the system, while lack of flexibility in design parameters in use can lead to increased failure later in the system lifecycle.

Power distribution presents a number of challenges in many applications. There are a number of disadvantages to the systems currently available for providing conversion between power and other power sources and loads. The variability in load type, performance characteristics, and overall system layout results in difficult integration issues that reduce the desire for hybrid utilization for many applications and reduce the available system efficiency because many aspects of the application are not integrated into the hybrid layout. In addition, many applications (such as off-highway applications and certain specific highway applications with special equipment or duty cycles) are small and economically impractical to design and integrate hybrid systems. Systems with multiple varying loads and power devices and subsystems additionally present integration challenges, forming multiple power conversion devices distributed around the system and tailored to a particular system. Thus, it is economically unreasonable to create a hybrid system for such systems using currently known techniques.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU may include a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises a stationary contact electrically coupled to the power bus; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, and wherein the movable contact allows power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contact and prevents power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contact; and an armature operatively coupled to the movable contact such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact; and a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position. In an embodiment, the mobile application may include a standard on/off circuit having at least two states, wherein the standard on/off circuit provides an actuation signal in a first state and blocks the actuation signal in a second state; a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to block an actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value; and wherein the armature is responsive to the actuation signal to electrically couple the movable contact to the fixed contact. The circuit breaker/relay may include an auxiliary closing circuit structured to interpret the auxiliary command and further structured to block an actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the auxiliary command indicating that the movable contact should not be electrically coupled to the fixed contact. The auxiliary command may include at least one command selected from commands consisting of: emergency shutdown commands, maintenance event indication identifications, accident indication identifications, vehicle controller requests, and equipment protection requests. The standard on/off circuit may include one of a key switch voltage and a key switch indication flag. The circuit breaker/relay may include a contact force spring operatively interposed between the armature and the movable contact such that the contact force spring may be at least partially compressed in response to the armature being in the second position, and wherein the contact force spring may be configured such that a lorentz force acting between the fixed contact and the movable contact further compresses the contact force spring in response to a selected current value. The high current value may be lower than the selected current value. The movable contact may include a body extending away from the fixed contact, wherein the body of the movable contact may be disposed within a plurality of separator plates, and wherein the plurality of separator plates may be disposed at least partially within the permanent magnet. The mobile application may include a charging circuit and wherein the circuit breaker/relay may be further positioned on the charging circuit. The charging circuit may include a fast charging circuit having a higher current throughput value than a rated current for operation of the electrical load. The mobile application may include a standard on/off circuit having at least two states, wherein the standard on/off circuit provides an actuation signal in a first state and blocks the actuation signal in a second state; a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to block an actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value; wherein the current response circuit may be further structured to utilize a first threshold current value for the high current value in response to the power supply circuit powering the electrical load, and to utilize a second threshold current value for the high current value in response to the charging circuit being coupled to the fast charging device; and wherein the armature is responsive to the actuation signal to electrically couple the movable contact to the fixed contact. The electrical load may include at least one load selected from the group consisting of: a power source load, a regenerative load, a power output load, an auxiliary device load, and an accessory device load. The mobile application may include a second circuit breaker/relay disposed on the other of the high side or the low side of the power storage device. The power storage device may comprise a rechargeable device. The power storage device may include at least one device selected from the group consisting of: batteries, capacitors, and fuel cells.

In one aspect, a circuit breaker-relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power bus for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact; an armature operatively coupled to the movable contact such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; a standard on/off circuit having at least two states, wherein the standard on/off circuit provides an actuation signal in a first state and blocks the actuation signal in a second state; a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to block an actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value; and wherein the armature is responsive to the actuation signal to electrically couple the movable contact to the fixed contact. In an embodiment, a mobile application may include at least two current operating regions. The current response circuit may be further structured to adjust the high current value in response to an active current operation region of the at least two current operation regions.

In one aspect, a method may include: detecting a current value comprising a current through a power bus electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay; determining whether the current value exceeds a threshold current value; and in response to the current value exceeding the threshold current value, actuating the armature to open a contact in the circuit breaker/relay, thereby preventing current from passing through the power bus. In embodiments, the method may include applying a contact force to a movable one of the contacts of the circuit breaker/relay; and opening the contacts in response to a repulsive force generated between the contacts in response to current through the power bus. The method may further include selecting the contact force such that opening the contact occurs at a selected current value of the current. The method may further include actuating the armature to open contacts in the circuit breaker/relay such that, after opening the contacts in response to the repulsive force, movable ones of the contacts do not return to the closed position. The actuation armature may begin before opening the contact in response to the repulsive force.

In one aspect, a circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to the power bus; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact; an armature operatively coupled to the movable contact such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to command the armature to the first position in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value. In an embodiment, the circuit breaker/relay may further comprise a contact force spring operatively interposed between the armature and the movable contact such that the contact force spring may be at least partially compressed in response to the armature being in the second position, and wherein the contact force spring may be configured such that the lorentz force acting between the fixed contact and the movable contact further compresses the contact force spring in response to the selected current value. The high current value may be lower than the selected current value. The movable contact may include a body extending away from the fixed contact, wherein the body of the movable contact may be disposed within a plurality of separator plates, and wherein the plurality of separator plates may be disposed at least partially within the permanent magnet. The power bus may be a power bus for mobile applications. The mobile application may include at least two current operating regions.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU may include a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay may comprise: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and the corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; and an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact. In embodiments, the plurality of movable contacts may be coupled as a double pole single throw contact arrangement. The armature is operatively coupled to two of the movable contacts. The plurality of movable contacts may be individually controllable. The mobile application may also include a precharge circuit coupled in parallel with at least one of the fixed contacts. The precharge circuit may comprise a solid state precharge circuit. The movable contact and the fixed contact may be disposed within a single housing. The mobile application may further include a magnetic actuator coupled to one of the movable contacts, and wherein all of the plurality of movable contacts may be responsive to the magnetic actuator. The arc suppression assembly may include a plurality of separator plates and at least one permanent magnet. At least one of the plurality of separator plates may be positioned within arc dispersion proximity of more than one of the movable contacts. The permanent magnet may be positioned within the arc guiding vicinity of more than one of the movable contacts. The mobile application may further include a current sensor structured to determine a current value in response to a current flowing through at least one of the movable contacts, and a controller structured to interpret the current value and command the at least one of the movable contacts to the first position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold. At least one of the movable contacts is physically movable to the first position in response to the lorentz force in response to the current value exceeding a second threshold. The second threshold may be greater than the threshold. The controller may be further structured to adjust the threshold value in response to the desired current value. The controller may be further structured to increase the threshold in response to determining that the charging operation of the battery may be active. The mobile application may also include a bus bar electrically coupling two of the plurality of movable contacts. The bus bar may include a hardware configuration in an area of each of the movable contacts, wherein the hardware configuration provides a physical response force of the movable contacts in response to a value of current through the power bus. The hardware configuration may include at least one configuration selected from the group consisting of: the area of the bus bar is near the current supply portion of the power bus; and a portion of the bus bar is positioned adjacent to the current providing portion of the power bus. The mobile application may also include a plurality of current sensors, each of the plurality of current sensors operatively coupled to one of the plurality of movable contacts. A first movable contact of the plurality of movable contacts may be coupled to a first circuit of the power bus, and wherein a second movable contact of the plurality of movable contacts is coupled to a second circuit of the power bus, and wherein the first circuit and the second circuit may be power circuits for separate electrical loads. The PDU may also include a coolant coupling configured to interface with a coolant source of the mobile application, and an active cooling path configured to thermally couple the coolant source with the stationary contact.

In one aspect, a circuit breaker/relay may include: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to an electrical load circuit for mobile applications; a plurality of movable contacts, each movable contact selectively electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of fixed contacts; a plurality of armatures, each armature operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the movable contacts such that each armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the corresponding movable contact and the corresponding fixed contact and each armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the corresponding movable contact and the corresponding fixed contact; and a current response circuit structured to determine a current of each of the electrical load circuits and further structured to provide an armature command to open a corresponding one of the movable contacts in response to the current in the corresponding electrical load circuit indicating a high current value. In an embodiment, the circuit breaker/relay may further include a plurality of biasing members, each operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of movable contacts and configured to bias a corresponding one of the plurality of armatures into one of the first or second positions. The first high current value of a first one of the electrical load circuits may comprise a different value than the second high current value of a second one of the electrical load circuits. The circuit breaker/relay may further include: a first biasing member operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the movable contacts of the first electrical load circuit; a second biasing member operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the movable contacts of the second electrical load circuit, and wherein the first biasing member may include a different biasing force than the second biasing member. The first movable contact of the first electrical load may comprise a different mass value than the second movable contact of the second electrical load.

In one aspect, a method may include: determining a first current value in a first electrical load circuit for the mobile application; determining a second current value in a second electrical load circuit for the mobile application; and providing an armature command to open a contactor of a corresponding one of the first or second electrical load circuits in response to one of the first or second current values exceeding the first or second high current values. In an embodiment, the method may further include diffusing the arc of the broken contactor to a plurality of separator plates positioned near the broken contactor. The method may further include determining a first physical current disconnect value for the first electrical load circuit and a second physical current disconnect value for the second electrical load circuit, providing a first high current value as a value lower than the first physical current disconnect value, and providing a second high current value as a value lower than the second physical current disconnect value.

In one aspect, a system may include: a housing; a circuit breaker/relay device positioned in the housing, wherein the circuit breaker/relay device is configurable to interrupt a power supply circuit of the electric vehicle system, wherein the housing is disposable on the electric vehicle system; wherein the circuit breaker/relay device may include a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a first current value in the power supply circuit, and a controlled disconnection response portion responsive to a second current value in the power supply circuit; and a precharge circuit electrically coupled in parallel to the circuit breaker/relay device. In an embodiment, the precharge circuit may be positioned within the housing. The first current value may be greater than the second current value. The physical opening response portion may include a first biasing member biasing the armature of the circuit breaker/relay device into an open position of the contactor of the power supply circuit, and a selected difference between a first force of the armature closing the contactor and a second force of the first biasing member opening the contactor. The controlled opening response portion may include a current sensor providing a current value through the power supply circuit, and a current response circuit structured to command the armature to open the contactor in response to the current value exceeding the second current value. The circuit breaker/relay device may comprise a double-pole circuit breaker/relay device. The circuit breaker/relay device may comprise a single-pole circuit breaker/relay device. The circuit breaker/relay device may be positioned on one of a high side circuit or a low side circuit of the power supply circuit. The system may also include a high temperature switching device positioned on the other of the high side circuit or the low side circuit. The system may further include a physical open response adjustment circuit structured to determine a first current value adjustment and adjust the physical open response portion in response to the first current value adjustment. The physical disconnection response adjustment circuit may be further structured to adjust the physical disconnection response portion by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: adjusting compression of the first biasing member; adjusting the first force; and adjusting the second force. The physical disconnection response adjustment circuit may be further structured to adjust the physical disconnection response portion in response to an operating condition of the electric vehicle system. The controlled opening response portion may be further structured to command the armature to open the contactor in response to at least one value selected from the group consisting of: time-current distribution of the power supply circuit; time-current trace of the power supply circuit; time-current area value of the power supply circuit; the rate of change of the current value through the power supply circuit; and a difference between a current value passing through the power supply circuit and the second current value.

In one aspect, a method may include: determining a current value through a power supply circuit of the electric vehicle system; opening the power supply circuit with a physical response of the circuit breaker/relay device in response to the current value exceeding the first current value; and opening the power supply circuit with a controlled response of an armature of a contactor operatively coupled to the circuit breaker/relay device in response to the current value exceeding the second current value. In an embodiment, the first current value may be greater than the second current value. The method may also include determining a first current value adjustment in response to an operating condition of the electric vehicle system, and adjusting the first current value in response to the first current value adjustment. The method may further include adjusting the physical disconnection response portion by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: adjusting compression of a first biasing member operatively coupled to a contactor of a circuit breaker/relay device; adjusting a first force of a first biasing member operatively coupled to a contactor of a circuit breaker/relay device; and adjusting a second force of an armature of a contactor operatively coupled to the circuit breaker/relay device. The method may further provide controlling a response of the armature to open the contactor in response to at least one value selected from the group consisting of: time-current distribution of the power supply circuit; time-current trace of the power supply circuit; time-current area value of the power supply circuit; the rate of change of the current value through the power supply circuit; and a difference between a current value passing through the power supply circuit and the second current value.

In one aspect, a circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the fixed contact may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay may further include a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact may include a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay may further include a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact. The bus bar may include a hardware configuration in an area of each of the movable contacts, wherein the hardware configuration provides a physical response force of the movable contacts in response to a value of current through the power supply circuit. The hardware configuration may include at least one configuration selected from the group consisting of: the area of the bus bar is near the current supply part of the power supply circuit; and a portion of the bus bar is positioned adjacent to the current providing portion of the power supply circuit. The physical disconnection response portion may include a contact area between the fixed contact and the movable contact, and a biasing member providing a contact force to the movable contact, wherein the contact area and the contact force may be configured to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding the threshold current value. The physical disconnection response portion may further include a mass value of the movable contact, wherein the contact area, the contact force, and the mass value may be configured to move the movable contact away from the first position at a selected speed value in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. The circuit breaker/relay may further include: an armature operatively coupled to the movable contact and capable of moving the movable contact between a first position and a second position; a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the mobile power circuit and further structured to provide an armature command to command the movable contact to the first position in response to the current in the mobile power circuit exceeding a second current threshold. The second current threshold may be lower than the threshold current value. The selected speed value may be configured to be high enough that the movable contact does not return to the first position after moving away from the first position. The movable contact is pivotably coupled to the pivot arm.

In one aspect, a method may include: operating the movable contact between a first position in contact with the stationary contact and allowing power to flow through the power supply circuit for the mobile application and a second position out of contact with the stationary contact and preventing power from flowing through the power supply circuit for the mobile application; and configuring a physical disconnection response portion of the circuit breaker/relay including the movable contact and the fixed contact such that the physical disconnection response portion moves the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding the threshold current value. Configuring the physical opening response portion may include selecting a biasing force of a biasing member that provides a contact force to the movable contact. Configuring the physical disconnection response portion may include selecting a contact area between the movable contact and the fixed contact. Configuring the physical opening response portion may include selecting a mass of the movable contact. Configuring the physical disconnection response portion may include selecting a bus bar configuration, wherein the bus bar couples the two movable contacts, and wherein the bus bar configuration may include at least one of: the bus bar region is near the current providing portion of the mobile power supply circuit or a portion of the bus bar is positioned near the current providing portion of the mobile power supply circuit. The method may also include determining a current in the mobile power circuit and providing an armature command to command the movable contact to the first position in response to the current in the mobile power circuit exceeding a second current threshold. The method may further include configuring the physical disconnection response portion such that the movable contact does not return to the first position after moving away from the first position.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU may include a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay may comprise: a stationary contact electrically coupled to the power bus; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, and wherein the movable contact allows power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contact and prevents power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contact; an armature operatively coupled to the movable contact such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; a circuit breaker/relay electronics including a standard on/off circuit having at least two states, wherein the standard on/off circuit provides an actuation signal in a first state and blocks the actuation signal in a second state; a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to block an actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value; and wherein the armature is responsive to the actuation signal to electrically couple the movable contact to the fixed contact. In an embodiment, the circuit breaker/relay may further comprise an auxiliary closing circuit structured to interpret the auxiliary command and further structured to block actuation signals of the standard on/off circuit in response to the auxiliary command indicating that the movable contact should not be electrically coupled to the fixed contact. The auxiliary command may include at least one command selected from commands consisting of: emergency shutdown commands, maintenance event indication identifications, accident indication identifications, vehicle controller requests, and equipment protection requests. The standard on/off circuit may include one of a key switch voltage and a key switch indication flag. The circuit breaker/relay may further include a contact force spring operatively interposed between the armature and the movable contact such that the contact force spring may be at least partially compressed in response to the armature being in the second position, and wherein the contact force spring may be configured such that the lorentz force acting between the fixed contact and the movable contact further compresses the contact force spring in response to the selected current value. The high current value may be lower than the selected current value. The movable contact may include a body extending away from the fixed contact, wherein the body of the movable contact may be disposed within a plurality of separator plates, and wherein the plurality of separator plates may be disposed at least partially within the permanent magnet. The mobile application may also include a charging circuit, and wherein the circuit breaker/relay may be further positioned on the charging circuit. The charging circuit may include a fast charging circuit having a higher current throughput value than a rated current for operation of the electrical load. The electrical load may include at least one load selected from the group consisting of: a power source load, a regenerative load, a power output load, an auxiliary device load, and an accessory device load. The mobile application may further comprise a second circuit breaker/relay provided on the other of the high side or the low side of the power storage device. The power storage device may comprise a rechargeable device. The power storage device may include at least one device selected from the group consisting of: batteries, capacitors, and fuel cells.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply circuit; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first leg of a current protection circuit, the first leg comprising a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value; and a second branch of the current protection circuit electrically coupled in parallel with the first branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch including a contactor. In an embodiment, the circuit breaker/relay may comprise a first circuit breaker/relay, and wherein the contactor may comprise a second circuit breaker/relay. The second branch may also include a thermal fuse in series with the contactor.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply circuit; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value; and a contactor connected in series with the circuit breaker/relay.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to inject current across the stationary contact; and a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to determine at least one of an amount of the injection voltage and a contactor impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit may include a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current. In an embodiment, the voltage determination circuit may further comprise a band pass filter having a bandwidth selected to define the frequency of the injection current. The high pass filter may comprise an analog hardware filter. The high pass filter may comprise a digital filter. The voltage determination circuit may be further structured to determine a contactor impedance value in response to the injection voltage drop; the system may further include a contactor characterization circuit structured to store one of a contactor resistance value and a contactor impedance value, and wherein the contactor characterization circuit may be further structured to update the one of the stored contactor resistance value and the contactor impedance value in response to the contactor impedance value. The contactor characterization circuit may be further structured to update one of the stored contactor resistance value and the contactor impedance value by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: updating the value to the contactor impedance value; filtering the value using the contactor impedance value as a filter input; rejecting the contactor impedance value for a period of time or for a certain determined number of contactor impedance values; and updating the value by performing a rolling average over time of the plurality of contactor impedance values. The power distribution unit may further include a plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices disposed therein, and wherein the current source circuit may be further electrically coupled to the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices and sequentially inject current across each of the fixed contacts of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices; and wherein the voltage determination circuit may be further electrically coupled to each of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices and further structured to determine at least one of an injection voltage amount and a contactor impedance value for each of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices. The current source circuit may be further structured to sequentially inject current across each of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices in a selected order of the circuit breaker/relay devices. The current source circuit may be further structured to adjust the selected order in response to at least one of: the rate of change of temperature of each of the fixed contacts of the circuit breaker/relay device; importance value of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices; the criticality of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices; power throughput of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices; and one of a fault condition or a contactor health condition for each of the circuit breaker/relay devices. The current source circuit may be further structured to adjust the selected order in response to one of a planned duty cycle and an observed duty cycle of the vehicle. The current source circuit may be further structured to scan the injection current through a series of injection frequencies. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection frequencies. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the circuit breaker/relay device. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a duty cycle of the vehicle.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to inject current across the stationary contact; and a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to determine an amount of injection voltage and a contactor impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit is structured to perform a frequency analysis operation to determine the amount of injection voltage. In embodiments, the voltage determination circuit may be further structured to determine the amount of injection voltage by determining the magnitude of the voltage across the fixed contact at the frequency of interest. The frequency of interest may be determined in response to the frequency of the injection voltage. The current source circuit may be further structured to scan the injection current through a series of injection frequencies. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection frequencies. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the circuit breaker/relay. The current source circuit may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a duty cycle of the vehicle.

In one aspect, a multi-port power converter may include: a housing, the housing may include a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In embodiments, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The plurality of ports may include at least two AC interface ports and at least three DC interface ports. The multiport power converter may further include a controller, the controller including: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description including a description of at least a portion of the different electrical characteristics; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. The controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic may include at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The multiport power converter may further comprise at least one of: wherein the solid state switch is further responsive to a source/load drive characteristic; wherein the gate driver controller is responsive to the source/load drive characteristics; and wherein the requester component for the gate driver controller is responsive to the source/load drive characteristics. The plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics may be a superset of the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics sufficient to cover a selected class of applications, each application including at least one of: vehicles, off-highway vehicles, and a set of load types for the vehicle. The multi-port power converter includes a sufficient number of solid state components, solid state switches, and ports so that the multi-port power converter can provide multiple loads with different electrical characteristics for any member of a selected class of applications. The plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics may be a superset of the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics sufficient to cover a selected class of applications, each application including at least one of: vehicles, off-highway vehicles, and a set of load types for the vehicle. The multi-port power converter may further include a first application having a first set of different electrical characteristics in a selected class of applications, wherein a second application in the selected class of applications has a second set of different electrical characteristics, wherein the first multi-port power converter supports the first application, wherein the second multi-port power converter supports the second application, and wherein the first multi-port power converter and the second multi-port power converter have the same port, solid-state component, and solid-state switch. The first multi-port power converter and the second multi-port power converter have different solid state switch states. The plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics may be a superset of the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics sufficient to cover a selected class of applications, each application including at least one of: vehicles, off-highway vehicles, and a set of load types for the vehicle. The multi-port power converter may further include a first application in a selected class of applications having a first set of different electrical characteristics, wherein a second application in the selected class of applications has a second set of different electrical characteristics, wherein the first multi-port power converter supports the first application, wherein the second multi-port power converter supports the second application, and wherein the first multi-port power converter and the second multi-port power converter have the same port, solid state component, and solid state switch. The first multi-port power converter and the second multi-port power converter have different solid state switch states and different component driver configurations.

In one aspect, a power converter having a plurality of ports includes: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller comprising: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic may include at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The component library implementing circuit also provides a solid state switch state in response to the source/load drive characteristics; and wherein the gate driver controller for at least one of the solid state components is responsive to the source/load drive characteristics. Each of the solid state components may include at least one of an inverter or a DC/DC converter. The component library configuration circuit may be further structured to interpret the port configuration service request value, and wherein the component library implementation circuit is further to provide a solid state switch state in response to the port configuration service request value. The component library configuration circuit may be further structured to interpret the port configuration definition values, and wherein the component library implementation circuit is further to provide solid state switch states in response to the port configuration definition values.

In one aspect, a method may include: interpreting a port electrical interface description including a description of electrical characteristics of at least one of a plurality of ports of a power converter for an electric mobile application; and providing a solid state switch state in response to the port electrical interface description, thereby configuring at least one of the AC inverter or the DC/DC converter to provide power to at least one of the plurality of ports according to the port electrical interface description. In an embodiment, the method may further comprise interpreting the port electrical interface description during a run-time operation of the electric mobile application. The method may further include interpreting the port electrical interface description from a service tool in communication with the controller of the power converter. The method may further include interpreting the port electrical interface description from a manufacturing tool in communication with the controller of the power converter. Providing a solid state switch state may be performed as a remanufacturing operation of a power converter. Providing the solid state switch state may be performed as an operation selected from the operations consisting of: upgrade operations for electric mobile applications, application change operations for electric mobile applications, and retrofit operations for electric mobile applications. The method may further comprise: interpreting source/load driving characteristics of at least one of a plurality of ports of the power converter, wherein the source/load driving characteristics may include at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and providing a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The method may further include interpreting the source/load drive characteristics during run-time operation of the electric mobile application. The method may further include interrogating at least one load electrically coupled to at least one port of the power converter, and interpreting the source/load drive characteristics in response to the interrogation. The method may further include interpreting the source/load drive characteristics from a service tool in communication with the controller of the power converter. The method may also include interpreting the source/load drive characteristics from a manufacturing tool in communication with the controller of the power converter. The providing of the component driver configuration may be performed as a remanufacturing operation of the power converter. Providing a component driver configuration may be performed as an operation selected from operations consisting of: upgrade operations for electric mobile applications, application change operations for electric mobile applications, and retrofit operations for electric mobile applications.

In one aspect, a method may include providing a power converter having a plurality of ports; determining an electrical interface description of at least one power source of the electric mobile application and at least one electrical load of the electric mobile application; providing a solid state switch state in response to the electrical interface description, thereby configuring at least one of the AC inverter or the DC/DC converter to provide power to or receive power from at least one of the plurality of ports in accordance with the port electrical interface description; and installing the power converter into an electric mobile application. In an embodiment, the method may further comprise determining which ports of the power converter are to be coupled to the at least one power source and the at least one electrical load, and wherein providing the solid state switch state may comprise configuring the determined electrical characteristics of the ports according to the port electrical interface description. The method may further comprise a plurality of electrical loads, wherein a first one of the electrical loads may comprise an AC load, and wherein a second one of the electrical loads may comprise a DC load. The method may further include a plurality of power sources, wherein a first one of the power sources may include a DC source at a first voltage, and wherein a second one of the power sources may include a DC source at a second voltage. The method may further include determining a source/load driving characteristic of at least one of the electrical loads of the electric mobile application, and providing a component driver configuration in response to the source/load driving characteristic. The component driver configuration may include a gate driver controller of an inverter component coupled to one of the plurality of ports corresponding to at least one of the electrical loads of the electric mobile application. The method may further include coupling the coolant inlet port and the coolant outlet port to a cooling system of the electric mobile application.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly are thermally coupleable to the coolant channel; and wherein at least one of the coolant inlet or the coolant outlet of the coolant channel may comprise a quick connector without a locking element. In embodiments, the quick connector may further comprise a fir tree hose coupling disposed on a housing wall of the quick connector. The coolant channel separation body may further include an integrated hose fitting configured to couple with a quick connector. The inverter assembly may further include a hose configured to be coupled to the integrated hose nipple at a first end and to the quick connector at a second end. The hose may comprise a baffled hose.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a plurality of IGBTs, each IGBT of the plurality of IGBTs configured to provide at least one phase of AC power to the motor; and a closed DC link capacitor operatively disposed between the IGBT and the DC power source, and wherein the closed DC link capacitor may include a bus bar, a common mode choke, and a capacitor disposed in a housing of the closed DC link capacitor. In an embodiment, the inverter assembly may further include a first welded connection between the enclosed DC link capacitor and each of the IGBTs, and a second welded connection between each of the IGBTs and the AC motor connector of the inverter assembly. The AC motor connector may include a plurality of AC blades. Each AC blade of the plurality of AC blades may extend through the foam seal to form an AC motor connector. The enclosed DC link capacitor may be thermally coupled to the integral coolant channel of the inverter assembly. The enclosed DC link capacitor may protrude from one of the main cover and the opposite rear cover.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; and wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly may be thermally coupled to the coolant channel. In an embodiment, the coolant channel separation body may be friction stir welded to each of the main cover and the coolant channel separation body. The assembly may further comprise a second coolant channel, wherein the coolant channel may be provided on a first side of the coolant channel separation body, and wherein the second coolant channel may be provided on a second side of the coolant channel separation body. The assembly may further include the following: the main cover may be cast, the coolant channel separation body may be forged, and the coolant channel cover may be stamped. The assembly may further comprise: wherein the main cover defines a plurality of coupling threaded holes, and wherein the rear cover defines a corresponding plurality of coupling threaded holes. The corresponding plurality of coupling threaded bores also each include a non-threaded guide portion of the bore, and wherein the non-threaded guide portion of the bore may include a first height, wherein the plurality of coupling screws each include a threaded portion having a second height, and wherein the first height may be greater than the second height. The main cap further defines a narrowed portion of each of the plurality of coupling threaded holes, and wherein each of the plurality of coupling screws further comprises a thin neck portion, and wherein the threaded portion of each of the plurality of coupling screws has a diameter greater than the thin neck portion. The assembly may further include an in-situ cured gasket positioned between the main cover and the rear cover. The assembly may further comprise wherein a cured in place gasket may be dispensed on the main cap. At least one of the main cap and the rear cap may include a flange having a selected height such that the cured-in-place gasket has a selected compression when the main cap may be coupled to the rear cap.

In one aspect, a method may include operating a motor for an electric mobile application; determining a motor temperature value in response to at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: power throughput of the motor; a voltage input value of the motor; a current input value of the motor; interpreting a sensed motor temperature value of the motor; and adjusting an operating parameter of the motor in response to the motor temperature value and the sensed motor temperature value. In an embodiment, the method may further include determining a motor effective temperature value using a combination of the motor temperature value and the sensed motor temperature value, and wherein adjusting the operating parameter may be further responsive to the motor effective temperature value. The method may further include determining a first reliability value of the motor temperature value in response to a first operating condition of the motor, determining a second reliability value of the sensed motor temperature value in response to a second operating condition of the motor, and wherein determining the motor effective temperature value may be further responsive to the first reliability value and the second reliability value. The method may further include using the sensed motor temperature value as the motor effective temperature value in response to the second reliability value exceeding the threshold. The sensed motor temperature value of the motor may include a sensed temperature from a first component within the motor, the method may further include applying a correction to the sensed motor temperature value to determine a second sensed temperature value including an estimated temperature of a second component within the motor, and further determining the motor effective temperature value using the second sensed temperature value. The method may further include applying a hotspot adjustment correction to the sensed motor temperature value, and also using the adjusted sensed motor temperature value to determine a motor effective temperature value. The method may further include determining a first reliability value in response to at least one operating condition selected from the group of operating conditions consisting of: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; a defined range value of the model for determining a motor temperature value; and a rate of change of one of the motor temperature value or the effective motor temperature value. The method may further comprise determining a second reliability value in response to at least one operating condition selected from the group of operating conditions consisting of: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; providing a defined range value of a temperature sensor that senses a temperature value of the motor; providing a response time of a temperature sensor sensing a temperature value of the motor; and providing a fault condition of the temperature sensor sensing the temperature value of the motor. The method may further include using one or the other of the motor temperature value and the sensed motor temperature value as the motor effective temperature value. The method may further include blending the motor temperature value, the sensed motor temperature value, and a previous value of the motor effective temperature value to determine the motor effective temperature value. The method may further include applying a low pass filter to the motor effective temperature value. Adjusting the operating parameter may include at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: adjusting a rated value of the motor; adjusting a nominal value of a load of the electric mobile application; adjusting the active cooling capacity of the motor; and adjusting an operating space of the motor based on the efficiency map of the motor.

In one aspect, an apparatus may include: a motor control circuit structured to operate the motor for an electric mobile application; an operating condition circuit structured to interpret a sensed motor temperature value of the motor and further structured to interpret at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: power throughput of the motor; a voltage input value of the motor; a current input value of the motor; an ambient temperature value; active cooling capacity of the motor; a motor temperature determination circuit structured to determine a motor temperature value in response to at least one of: power throughput of the motor; a voltage input value of the motor; a current input value of the motor; an ambient temperature value; active cooling capacity of the motor; and determining a motor effective temperature value in response to the motor temperature value and the sensed motor temperature value; and wherein the motor control circuit is further structured to adjust at least one operating parameter of the motor in response to the motor effective temperature value. In an embodiment, the motor temperature determination circuit may be further structured to determine a first reliability value of the motor temperature value in response to a first operating condition of the motor; determining a second reliability value of the sensed motor temperature value in response to a second operating condition of the motor; and further determining a motor effective temperature value in response to the first reliability value and the second reliability value. The motor temperature determination circuit may be further structured to use the sensed motor temperature value as the motor effective temperature value in response to the second reliability value exceeding the threshold. The motor temperature determination circuit may be further structured to apply one of an offset component adjustment or a hot spot adjustment to the sensed motor temperature value; and further determining a motor effective temperature value in response to the adjusted sensed motor temperature value. The motor temperature determination circuit may be further structured to determine the first reliability value in response to at least one operating condition selected from the group consisting of: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; a defined range value of the model for determining a motor temperature value; and a rate of change of one of the motor temperature value or the effective motor temperature value. The motor temperature determination circuit may be further structured to determine the second reliability value in response to at least one operating condition selected from the group consisting of: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; providing a defined range value of a temperature sensor that senses a temperature value of the motor; providing a response time of a temperature sensor sensing a temperature value of the motor; and providing a fault condition of the temperature sensor sensing the temperature value of the motor. The motor control circuit may be further structured to adjust at least one operating parameter selected from the group consisting of: rated value of the motor; rating of a load for an electric mobile application; active cooling capacity of the motor; and an operating space of the motor based on an efficiency map of the motor.

In one aspect, a system may include an electric mobile application having a motor and an inverter, wherein the inverter may include: a plurality of drive elements for the motor; a controller, the controller comprising: a motor control circuit structured to provide a driver command, and wherein the plurality of drive elements are responsive to the driver command; an operating condition circuit structured to interpret a motor performance request value including at least one of a power, a speed, or a torque request of the motor; a driver efficiency circuit structured to interpret a driver activation value of each of a plurality of drive elements of the inverter in response to the motor performance request value; and wherein the motor control circuit may be further structured to provide a driver command to deactivate at least one of the plurality of drive elements for the motor in response to a driver activation value of each of the plurality of drive elements of the inverter. In an embodiment, the motor may comprise a three-phase AC motor, wherein the plurality of drive elements comprises six drive elements, and wherein the driver efficiency circuit provides a driver activation value to deactivate three of the six drive elements in response to the motor performance request value being below a threshold value.

In one aspect, a method may include providing a driver command to a plurality of drive elements electrically coupled to an inverter of a motor for an electric mobile application; interpreting a motor performance request value comprising at least one of a power, a speed, or a torque request of the motor; interpreting a driver activation value of each of a plurality of driving elements of the inverter in response to the motor performance request value; and providing a driver command to deactivate at least one of the plurality of drive elements of the motor in response to a driver activation value of each of the plurality of drive elements of the inverter. In an embodiment, the method may further include providing a driver command to deactivate three of the total six drive elements in response to the motor performance request value being below a threshold. The method may further include disabling a first three of the total of six drive elements during a first disabling operation and disabling a second three of the total of six drive elements during a second disabling operation.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electric loads; a controller, the controller comprising: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; and wherein the plurality of electric motors is responsive to the plurality of motor commands. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The performance service circuit may be further structured to provide the plurality of electric motor commands to meet the application performance request value by at least partially reassigning the load request from one of the plurality of electric motors having a fault condition or a failure condition to at least one of the plurality of electric motors having an available performance capability. The performance service circuit may be further structured to de-rate one of the plurality of electric motors in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition. The system may further include a first data store associated with a first electric motor of the plurality of electric motors, a second data store associated with a second electric motor of the plurality of electric motors, and wherein the controller may further include data management circuitry structured to command at least partial data redundancy between the first data store and the second data store. At least a portion of the data redundancy may include at least one data value selected from the data values consisting of: fault values, system states, and learning component values. The data management circuit may be further structured to command at least partial data redundancy in response to one of a failure condition or a failure condition associated with at least one of: one of the plurality of electric motors, or a local controller operatively coupled to one of the plurality of electric motors. The performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition and further in response to data from at least a portion of the data redundancy. The performance service circuit may be further structured to suppress operator notification of one of the fault condition or the failure condition responsive to the performance capabilities of the plurality of electric motors being capable of delivering the application performance request value. The performance service circuit may be further structured to communicate the suppressed operator notification to at least one of a service tool or an external controller, wherein the external controller may be communicatively coupled to the controller at least intermittently. The performance service circuit may be further structured to adjust the application performance request value in response to the performance capabilities of the plurality of electric motors being unable to deliver the application performance request value.

In one aspect, a method may include interpreting an application performance request value; determining a plurality of motor commands in response to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and providing the plurality of motor commands to a corresponding motor of a plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding electric load of a plurality of electric loads of the electric mobile application. In an embodiment, the method may further include determining the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The method may further include providing a plurality of electric motor commands to meet the application performance request value by at least partially reassigning the load request from one of the plurality of electric motors having a fault condition or a failure condition to at least one of the plurality of electric motors having an available performance capability. The method may further include derating one of the plurality of electric motors in response to one of the fault condition or the failure condition. The method may further include commanding at least partial data redundancy between a first data store associated with a first electric motor of the plurality of electric motors and a second data store associated with a second electric motor of the plurality of electric motors. At least a portion of the data redundancy may include at least one data value selected from the data values consisting of: fault values, system states, and learning component values. The method may further include commanding at least partial data redundancy in response to one of a failure condition or a failure condition associated with at least one of: one of the plurality of electric motors, or a local controller operatively coupled to one of the plurality of electric motors. The method may also include determining a plurality of motor commands in response to one of the fault condition or the failure condition and further in response to data from at least a portion of the data redundancy. One of the fault condition or the failure condition may be associated with a first local controller operatively coupled to one of the plurality of electric motors, and the method may further include controlling the one of the plurality of electric motors with a second local controller communicatively coupled to the one of the plurality of electric motors. The method may further include suppressing an operator notification of one of the fault condition or the failure condition in response to the performance capabilities of the plurality of electric motors being capable of delivering the application performance request value. The method may also include transmitting the suppressed operator notification to at least one of a service tool or an external controller, wherein the external controller may be communicatively coupled to the controller of the electric mobile application at least intermittently. The method may further include adjusting the application performance request value in response to the performance capabilities of the plurality of electric motors being unable to deliver the application performance request value.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a high temperature fuse (pyro-fuse); a second branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch including a thermal fuse; and wherein the first leg and the second leg may be coupled in a parallel arrangement; a controller, the controller may include: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current through the power supply path; and a high temperature fuse activation circuit structured to provide a high temperature fuse activation command in response to the current exceeding a threshold current value; wherein the high temperature fuse is responsive to a high temperature fuse activation command; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a switch activation command in response to the current, wherein the solid state switch is responsive to the switch activation command. In embodiments, the first resistance across the first leg and the second resistance across the second leg may be configured such that the resulting current across the second leg after activation of the high temperature fuse may be sufficient to activate the thermal fuse. The system may also include a contactor coupled to the current protection circuit, wherein the contactor in an open position disconnects one of the current protection circuit or a second leg of the current protection circuit.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a thermal fuse; a second leg of the current protection circuit, the second leg comprising a solid state switch, wherein the first leg and the second leg are coupled in a parallel arrangement; and a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a controller, the controller may include: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current through the power supply path; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a switch activation command in response to the current; wherein the solid state switch is responsive to a switch activation command; a high voltage power input coupling comprising a first electrical interface of a high voltage power supply; and a high voltage power supply output coupling including a second electrical interface of the power supply load; wherein the current protection circuit electrically couples the high voltage power supply input to the high voltage power supply output, and wherein the current protection circuit may be at least partially disposed in a laminate layer of the power distribution unit, the laminate layer comprising an electrically conductive flow path providing two electrically insulating layers. In an embodiment, the system may further comprise a contactor coupled to the current protection circuit, wherein the contactor in the open position disconnects one of the current protection circuit or the second leg of the current protection circuit. The current protection circuit may include a power supply bus bar disposed in a laminate layer of the power distribution unit.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly having a power converter with a plurality of ports may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly are thermally coupleable to the coolant channel; wherein at least one of the coolant inlet or the coolant outlet of the coolant channel comprises a quick connector without a locking element; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the quick connector may further comprise a fir tree hose coupling provided on a housing wall of the quick connector. The controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly are thermally coupleable to the coolant channel; wherein at least one of the coolant inlet or the coolant outlet of the coolant channel comprises a quick connector without a locking element; a plurality of IGBTs, each IGBT of the plurality of IGBTs configured to provide at least one phase of AC power to the motor; and a closed DC link capacitor operatively disposed between the IGBT and the DC power source, and wherein the closed DC link capacitor includes a bus bar, a common mode choke, and a capacitor disposed in a housing of the closed DC link capacitor. In an embodiment, the quick connector may further comprise a fir tree hose coupling provided on a housing wall of the quick connector. The inverter assembly may further include a first welded connection between the enclosed DC link capacitor and each of the IGBTs, and a second welded connection between each of the IGBTs and the AC motor connector of the inverter assembly.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a motor and an inverter, wherein the inverter comprises a plurality of drive elements for the motor; a controller, the controller may include: a motor control circuit structured to provide a driver command, and wherein the plurality of drive elements are responsive to the driver command; an operating condition circuit structured to interpret a motor performance request value including at least one of a power, a speed, or a torque request of the motor; a driver efficiency circuit structured to interpret a driver activation value of each of a plurality of drive elements of the inverter in response to the motor performance request value; wherein the motor control circuit may be further structured to provide a driver command to deactivate at least one of the plurality of drive elements for the motor in response to a driver activation value of each of the plurality of drive elements of the inverter; and a circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to the power supply circuit; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the motor may comprise a three-phase AC motor, wherein the plurality of drive elements comprises six drive elements, and wherein the driver efficiency circuit provides a driver activation value to deactivate three of the six drive elements in response to the motor performance request value being below a threshold value. The fixed contact may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact includes a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electric loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; and wherein the plurality of electric motors is responsive to the plurality of motor commands; a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electrical loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; wherein the plurality of electric motors are responsive to a plurality of motor commands; a housing; a circuit breaker/relay device positioned in the housing, wherein the circuit breaker/relay device is configurable to interrupt a power supply circuit of the electric vehicle system, wherein the housing is disposable on the electric vehicle system; wherein the circuit breaker/relay device includes a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a first current value in the power supply circuit, and a controlled disconnection response portion responsive to a second current value in the power supply circuit; and a precharge circuit electrically coupled in parallel to the circuit breaker/relay device. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The first current value may be greater than the second current value.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electrical loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; wherein the plurality of electric motors are responsive to a plurality of motor commands; and a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electric loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; wherein the plurality of electric motors are responsive to a plurality of motor commands; a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to an electrical load circuit for mobile applications; a plurality of movable contacts, each movable contact selectively electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of fixed contacts; a plurality of armatures, each armature operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the movable contacts such that each armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the corresponding movable contact and the corresponding fixed contact and each armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the corresponding movable contact and the corresponding fixed contact; and a current response circuit structured to determine a current of each of the electrical load circuits and further structured to provide an armature command to open a corresponding one of the movable contacts in response to the current in the corresponding electrical load circuit indicating a high current value. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The system may further include a plurality of biasing members, each operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of movable contacts and configured to bias a corresponding one of the plurality of armatures into one of the first position or the second position.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electrical loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; wherein the plurality of electric motors are responsive to a plurality of motor commands; a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electrical loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; wherein the plurality of electric motors are responsive to a plurality of motor commands; a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The fixed contact may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact includes a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electric loads; a controller, the controller may include: an application load circuit structured to interpret an application performance request value; a performance service circuit structured to determine a plurality of motor commands responsive to the motor capability description and the application performance request value; and a motor control circuit structured to provide a plurality of motor commands to corresponding ones of the plurality of electric motors; wherein the plurality of electric motors are responsive to a plurality of motor commands; a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the performance service circuit may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition of at least one of the plurality of electric motors. The plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly are thermally coupleable to the coolant channel; wherein at least one of the coolant inlet or the coolant outlet of the coolant channel comprises a quick connector without a locking element; and a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The quick connector may further comprise a fir tree hose coupling provided on a housing wall of the quick connector.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a plurality of IGBTs, each IGBT of the plurality of IGBTs configured to provide at least one phase of AC power to the motor; a closed DC link capacitor operatively disposed between the IGBT and the DC power source, and wherein the closed DC link capacitor includes a bus bar, a common mode choke, and a capacitor disposed in a housing of the closed DC link capacitor; and a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The inverter assembly may further include a first welded connection between the enclosed DC link capacitor and each of the IGBTs, and a second welded connection between each of the IGBTs and the AC motor connector of the inverter assembly.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; and an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact; and a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The plurality of movable contacts may be coupled in a double pole single throw contact arrangement.

In one aspect, a multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics.

In one aspect, a multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports; and a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The fixed contacts may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further including a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact includes a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further including a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; and an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, wherein the power converter determines an electrical interface description for at least one power source of the electric mobile application and at least one electrical load of the electric mobile application, and provides a solid state switch state in response to the electrical interface description, thereby configuring at least one of the AC inverter or the DC/DC converter to provide power to or receive power from at least one of the plurality of ports according to the port electrical interface description, and installing the power converter into the electric mobile application. In an embodiment, the mobile application may further comprise determining which ports of the power converter may be coupled to the at least one power source and the at least one electrical load, and wherein providing the solid state switch state comprises configuring the determined electrical characteristics of the ports according to the port electrical interface description. The plurality of movable contacts may be coupled in a double pole single throw contact arrangement.

In one aspect, a system may include: a housing; a circuit breaker/relay device positioned in the housing, wherein the circuit breaker/relay device is configurable to interrupt a power supply circuit of the electric vehicle system, wherein the housing is disposable on the electric vehicle system; wherein the circuit breaker/relay device includes a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a first current value in the power supply circuit, and a controlled disconnection response portion responsive to a second current value in the power supply circuit; a precharge circuit electrically coupled in parallel to the circuit breaker/relay device; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, wherein the power converter determines an electrical interface description for at least one power source of the electric mobile application and at least one electrical load of the electric mobile application, and provides a solid state switch state in response to the electrical interface description, thereby configuring at least one of the AC inverter or the DC/DC converter to provide power to or receive power from at least one of the plurality of ports according to the port electrical interface description, and installing the power converter into the electric mobile application. In an embodiment, the system may further comprise determining which ports of the power converter may be coupled to the at least one power source and the at least one electrical load, and wherein providing the solid state switch state comprises configuring the determined electrical characteristics of the ports according to the port electrical interface description. The first current value may be greater than the second current value.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly are thermally coupleable to the coolant channel; wherein at least one of the coolant inlet or the coolant outlet of the coolant channel comprises a quick connector without a locking element; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, the power converter may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The quick connector may further comprise a fir tree hose coupling provided on a housing wall of the quick connector.

In one aspect, a power converter having a plurality of ports may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states; and a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The fixed contact may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact includes a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; and an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, the power converter may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The plurality of movable contacts may be coupled in a double pole single throw contact arrangement.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a coolant passage provided between the coolant passage cover and the coolant passage separation body; wherein the power electronics of the inverter assembly are thermally coupleable to the coolant channel; and wherein at least one of the coolant inlet or the coolant outlet of the coolant channel comprises a quick connector without a locking element; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, the power converter may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The quick connector may further comprise a fir tree hose coupling provided on a housing wall of the quick connector.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a fuse thermal model circuit structured to determine a fuse temperature value for a thermal fuse and to determine a fuse condition value in response to the fuse temperature value; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, the power converter may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The system may further comprise: a current source circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit includes a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current; and wherein the fuse thermal model circuit is structured to determine the fuse temperature value of the thermal fuse further in response to at least one of the injection voltage amount and the thermal fuse impedance value.

In one aspect, a power converter having a plurality of ports may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states; and a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to an electrical load circuit for mobile applications; a plurality of movable contacts, each movable contact selectively electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of fixed contacts; a plurality of armatures, each armature operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the movable contacts such that each armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the corresponding movable contact and the corresponding fixed contact and each armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the corresponding movable contact and the corresponding fixed contact; and a current response circuit structured to determine a current of each of the electrical load circuits and further structured to provide an armature command to open a corresponding one of the movable contacts in response to the current in the corresponding electrical load circuit indicating a high current value. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The power converter may further include a plurality of biasing members, each operatively coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of movable contacts and configured to bias a corresponding one of the plurality of armatures into one of the first or second positions.

In one aspect, an integrated inverter assembly may include: a main cover and an opposite rear cover; a plurality of IGBTs, each IGBT of the plurality of IGBTs configured to provide at least one phase of AC power to the motor; a closed DC link capacitor operatively disposed between the IGBT and the DC power source, and wherein the closed DC link capacitor includes a bus bar, a common mode choke, and a capacitor disposed in a housing of the closed DC link capacitor; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, the power converter may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include:

a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The inverter assembly may further include a first welded connection between the enclosed DC link capacitor and each of the IGBTs, and a second welded connection between each of the IGBTs and the AC motor connector of the inverter assembly.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact; and wherein the power supply path of the vehicle may be provided by a current protection circuit comprising a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse, wherein the mobile application: determining a current through the power supply path; opening the contactor in response to the current exceeding a threshold; confirming that the vehicle operating condition allows reconnection of the contactor; and commanding the contactor to close in response to the vehicle operating condition. In an embodiment, confirming the vehicle operating condition may include at least one vehicle operating condition selected from the group consisting of: emergency vehicle operating conditions; the user overrides the vehicle operating conditions; maintenance event vehicle operating conditions; and a reconnect command transmitted over the vehicle network. The plurality of movable contacts may be coupled in a double pole single throw contact arrangement.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to inject current across the stationary contact; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a contactor impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit includes a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current; and a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the fixed contact may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact includes a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact. The voltage determination circuit may also include a bandpass filter having a bandwidth selected to define the frequency of the injection current.

In one aspect, a system may include: an electric mobile application having a motor and an inverter, wherein the inverter comprises a plurality of drive elements for the motor; a controller, the controller may include: a motor control circuit structured to provide a driver command, and wherein the plurality of drive elements are responsive to the driver command; an operating condition circuit structured to interpret a motor performance request value including at least one of a power, a speed, or a torque request of the motor; a driver efficiency circuit structured to interpret a driver activation value of each of a plurality of drive elements of the inverter in response to the motor performance request value; wherein the motor control circuit may be further structured to provide a driver command to deactivate at least one of the plurality of drive elements for the motor in response to a driver activation value of each of the plurality of drive elements of the inverter; and a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. In an embodiment, the fixed contact may include a first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second fixed contact, wherein the movable contact includes a first movable contact corresponding to the first fixed contact, the circuit breaker/relay further includes a second movable contact corresponding to the second fixed contact, and a bus bar electrically coupling the first movable contact to the second movable contact. The motor may comprise a three-phase AC motor, wherein the plurality of drive elements comprises six drive elements, and wherein the driver efficiency circuit provides a driver activation value to deactivate three of the six drive elements in response to the motor performance request value being below a threshold value.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact; and a power converter having a plurality of ports, the power converter may include: a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; a plurality of solid state switches electrically interposed between the plurality of ports and the plurality of solid state components, wherein the plurality of solid state switches are configurable to selectively couple groups of the plurality of solid state components to the plurality of ports; and a controller, the controller may include: a component library configuration circuit structured to interpret a port electrical interface description, the port electrical interface description comprising a description of electrical characteristics of one of the plurality of ports; and a component library implementation circuit structured to provide solid state switch states in response to the port electrical interface descriptions, and wherein the plurality of solid state switches are responsive to the solid state switch states. In an embodiment, the controller may further include: a load/source drive description circuit structured to interpret a source/load drive characteristic, wherein the source/load drive characteristic comprises at least one electrical characteristic requirement of the load; and a load/source drive implementation circuit structured to provide a component driver configuration in response to the source/load drive characteristics. The plurality of movable contacts may be coupled in a double pole single throw contact arrangement.

In one aspect, a mobile application may include: a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupleable via a power bus; a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the PDU includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device; wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises: a plurality of stationary contacts electrically coupled to the power bus; a plurality of movable contacts corresponding to the plurality of fixed contacts, wherein the plurality of movable contacts are selectively electrically coupleable to the plurality of fixed contacts, and wherein the movable contacts allow power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contacts and prevent power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contacts; an armature operatively coupled to at least one of the movable contacts such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the at least one of the movable contacts and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts; a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; an arc suppression assembly structured to direct and disperse an open arc between each of the plurality of movable contacts and a corresponding fixed contact; and a multi-port power converter, the multi-port power converter may include: a housing including a plurality of ports structured to electrically interface with a plurality of loads, the plurality of loads having different electrical characteristics; a plurality of solid state components configured to provide a selected electrical power output and accept a selected electrical power input; and a plurality of solid state switches configured to provide selected connectivity between the plurality of solid state components and the plurality of ports. In an embodiment, the plurality of different electrical characteristics may be selected from the electrical characteristics consisting of: DC voltage, AC voltage or voltage equivalent, load power rating, regenerative power rating, current directionality, response time characteristics, frequency characteristics, and phase characteristics. The plurality of movable contacts may be coupled in a double pole single throw contact arrangement.

Power distribution presents a number of challenges in many applications. Systems currently available for controlling power distribution, such as on/off control of power and circuit paths, circuit and equipment protection (e.g., to prevent over-current conditions), utilize combined contactors and fuses.

The presently known contactors suffer from a number of drawbacks including arc-induced wear and degradation during opening and closing events at high power, and degradation during high current operation.

There are also a number of disadvantages to the fuse parts known to date. Fuses present difficulties in providing consistent and reliable disconnect profiles because the fuses eventually activate from temperature rather than current, and temperature history, aging profile, wear and tear of the fuses, and the dynamics of current throughput through the fuses can all affect the actual current at which fuse activation (e.g., opening of a circuit) occurs. In addition, fuses experience degradation and premature aging under high current loads, so designing a durable and consistent fuse presents difficulties for systems with high turndown ratios in the operating current range and for systems with highly variable current loads during operation. In addition, fuse activation is an unrecoverable event that results in a period of downtime and/or system maintenance or repair before the system is again operational after fuse activation.

In addition, the presently known combined fuse-contactor systems suffer from a number of drawbacks. Because the contactors are required to remain engaged throughout the rated operation of the system, and because even an ideal fuse should not be activated during the rated operation of the system, there must be an operating gap between the rated operation of the system and the current protection level of the fuse. Thus, fuse contactor designs require that the fuse size be slightly smaller, so that there is a risk that the fuse will activate within the upper limits of otherwise normal rated operation, or that the fuse must be slightly larger, so that there is a risk that components in the system will be exposed to current levels above the rated current level. In addition, the size of the fuses may be slightly smaller to protect contactor failure modes in which arcing build-up in the contactor dynamically delays current in the circuit, resulting in delayed activation or even failure of the fuses, thus resulting in an increased risk of damage to the contactors or components in the system. The previously described difficulties in adjusting fuse activation profiles result in increased design, operating, and/or capital costs, or reduced system capacity. For example, the presently known designs may be too conservative, such as with components capable of withstanding currents significantly higher than the rated current values, or with real system performance capable of withstanding significantly lower than the rated current values during at least some operating conditions. Additionally or alternatively, the risk of component failure may be acceptable, driving higher operating costs and/or lower system reliability, or fuse and/or contactor maintenance planning may be more frequent, increasing operating costs and reducing overall system uptime. Additionally or alternatively, additional power sources, power storage devices, etc. may be provided to enhance the operational capabilities of the system to meet desired performance characteristics.

Applications with highly variable loads, highly dynamic load profiles, and/or high turndown ratios over a range of operating currents exacerbate all the challenges of the combined fuse-contactor system. For example, mobile applications such as vehicles or mobile devices typically have a high variability and low predictability of load distribution during operation. Some types of systems have different classes of loads that drive different duty cycles and load distributions, such as mobile applications that also operate additional devices (e.g., pumps, PTO devices, communication devices, etc.) during mobile operations or when stationary. In addition, the load distribution may vary significantly depending on the load direction or operation, for example, it may be desirable to charge much faster than discharge, such as where charging is associated with useful operation of the system and discharging is associated with downtime of the system. In other examples, the power load on the system may be significantly different from the regeneration recovery of power from the load, and/or certain energy recovery operations may have very little current associated with it (e.g., solar energy, waste heat recovery, etc.). Currently known highly variable (including in terms of load value and load type) and/or highly dynamic systems further increase the design and/or operating costs of the system by conservatively designing, redundantly and/or repeating the system to manage variability, reduce system capacity and/or accept operational risk.

Mobile applications present further challenges to previously known combined fuse-contactor systems. For example, many mobile applications such as commercial and passenger vehicles have cost sensitivity to the initial and sustained operating costs of the system. In addition, downtime for service, maintenance, or system failures has very high costs due to the large volume and market competition. Thus, even modest improvements in initial cost, operating cost, and reliability can have a significant impact on the outcome of the system, or make a non-marketable system competitive. Mobile applications typically have a large difference in duty cycle, even for systems with similar power ratings. Furthermore, mobile applications often involve systems that sell or otherwise transfer, wherein the same system may experience significant changes in duty cycle and operating conditions after the system is handed over to a user. Thus, lack of flexibility in design parameters at first sales can limit the available market for the system, while lack of flexibility in design parameters in use can lead to increased failure later in the system lifecycle. An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a high temperature fuse; a second branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch including a thermal fuse; and wherein the first leg and the second leg are coupled in a parallel arrangement; a controller, the controller comprising: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path; and a high temperature fuse activation circuit structured to provide a high temperature fuse activation command in response to the current exceeding a threshold current value; and wherein the high temperature fuse is responsive to a high temperature fuse activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the first resistance of the entire first leg and the second resistance of the entire second leg are configured such that a resulting current flowing through the second leg after activation of the thermal fuse is sufficient to activate the thermal fuse. One example includes a resistor coupled with the thermal fuse in a series arrangement such that a resulting current flowing through the second branch after activation of the thermal fuse is below a second threshold current value. An example system includes a contactor coupled with a thermal fuse in a series arrangement, the controller further including a contactor activation circuit structured to provide a contactor open command in response to at least one of a high temperature fuse activation command or a current exceeding a threshold current value; and/or a resistor coupled with the thermal fuse in a series arrangement such that a resulting current flowing through the second branch after activation of the thermal fuse is below a second threshold current value. One example includes a resistor coupled with the high temperature fuse in a series arrangement such that a resulting current flowing through the first branch after activation of the thermal fuse is below a second threshold current value; and/or a second thermal fuse coupled with the high temperature fuse in a series arrangement such that a resulting current flowing through the first branch after activation of the thermal fuse is sufficient to activate the second thermal fuse.

An exemplary program includes an operation to determine a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation of a current protection circuit having a parallel arrangement, wherein a high temperature fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and a thermal fuse is located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and an operation of providing a high temperature fuse activation command in response to the current exceeding a threshold current value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes configuring the first resistance of the entire first leg and the second resistance of the entire second leg such that a resulting current flowing through the second leg after activation of the thermal fuse is sufficient to activate operation of the thermal fuse. The example program includes an operation of configuring the second resistance of the entire second leg such that a resulting current flowing through the second leg after activation of the high temperature fuse is below a second threshold current value. An example program includes an operation of a contactor coupled with a thermal fuse in a series arrangement, the program further including providing a contactor open command in response to at least one of providing a high temperature fuse activation command or a current exceeding a threshold current value; and/or configuring the second resistance of the entire second leg such that the resulting current flowing through the second leg after activation of the high temperature fuse is below a second threshold current value. The example program further includes a resistor coupled with the high temperature fuse in a series arrangement such that a resulting current flowing through the first branch after activation of the thermal fuse is below a second threshold current value; and/or further comprising a second thermal fuse coupled to the high temperature fuse in a series arrangement such that a resulting current flowing through the first branch after activation of the thermal fuse is sufficient to activate the second thermal fuse.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a thermal fuse; a second branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch including a contactor; and wherein the first leg and the second leg are coupled in a parallel arrangement; a controller, the controller comprising: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the current; and wherein the contactor is responsive to a contactor activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An example system includes wherein the contactor is open during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is above a thermal wear current of the thermal fuse; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is below a current protection value for the power supply path. An exemplary system includes wherein the contactor is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor opening command in response to determining that the current is above a current protection value of the power supply path. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in response to the current by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects.

An exemplary program includes an operation to determine a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation of a current protection circuit having a parallel arrangement, wherein a thermal fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and a contactor is located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and providing a contactor activation command in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes an operation to close the contactor in response to the current. An exemplary procedure includes an operation of determining that a current is below a current protection value of a power supply path prior to closing a contactor. An exemplary program includes at least one operation selected from the operations consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. An exemplary procedure includes an operation to open a contactor in response to a current; an operation of determining that the current is higher than a current protection value of the power supply path before opening the contactor; an operation of opening the contactor, comprising performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a thermal fuse; a second branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch comprising a solid state switch; and wherein the first leg and the second leg are coupled in a parallel arrangement; a controller, the controller comprising: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a switch activation command in response to the current; and wherein the solid state switch is responsive to a switch activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An example system includes a contactor coupled to a current protection circuit, wherein the contactor in an open position disconnects one of the current protection circuit or a second leg of the current protection circuit.

An exemplary program includes an operation to determine a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation of a current protection circuit having a parallel arrangement, wherein a thermal fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and a solid state switch is located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and providing operation of the switch activation command in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program further includes closing the solid state switch in response to the current; and/or determining that the current is below a current protection value of the power supply path prior to closing the solid state switch. An exemplary program includes an operation to close a solid state switch, including performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. An exemplary procedure includes opening a solid state switch in response to a current; and/or determining that the current is above a current protection value for the power supply path prior to opening the solid state switch. An exemplary program includes an operation to open a solid state switch, including performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. An exemplary procedure includes an operation to open a contactor after opening the solid state switch, wherein opening the contactor disconnects one of the current protection circuit or the second leg of the current protection circuit.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a first thermal fuse; a second branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch including a second thermal fuse and a contactor; and wherein the first leg and the second leg are coupled in a parallel arrangement; a controller, the controller comprising: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the current; and wherein the contactor is responsive to a contactor activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An example system includes wherein the contactor is open during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is above a thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is below a current protection value for the power supply path. An example system includes a vehicle operating condition circuit structured to determine an operating mode of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the operating mode; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to an operational mode comprising at least one operational mode selected from the operational modes consisting of: a charging mode; a high performance mode; a high power demand mode; an emergency mode of operation; and a limp home mode. An exemplary system includes wherein the contactor is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor opening command in response to determining that the current is above a current protection value for the power supply path; wherein the contactor is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor opening command in response to the mode of operation; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor open command in response to an operational mode including at least one of a power saving mode or a maintenance mode.

An exemplary program includes an operation to determine a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation of a current protection circuit having a parallel arrangement, wherein a first thermal fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and a second thermal fuse and contactor are located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and providing a contactor activation command in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example process further includes closing the contactor in response to the current being higher than a thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse; and/or closing the operation of the contactor further in response to the current being below a current protection value for the power supply path. An example program includes an operation to determine an operating mode of the vehicle and to provide a contactor activation command further in response to the operating mode. An exemplary program includes an operation to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to an operation mode including at least one operation mode selected from the operation modes consisting of: a charging mode; a high performance mode; a high power demand mode; an emergency mode of operation; and a limp home mode. An example program includes providing a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor open command in response to determining that the current is above a current protection value for the power supply path; and/or providing operation of the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor off command in response to an operating mode including at least one of a power saving mode or a maintenance mode.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a first branch of the current protection circuit, the first branch including a first thermal fuse and a first contactor; a second branch of the current protection circuit, the second branch including a second thermal fuse and a second contactor; and wherein the first leg and the second leg are coupled in a parallel arrangement; a controller, the controller comprising: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands in response to the current; and wherein the first contactor and the second contactor are responsive to the plurality of contactor activation commands to thereby provide a selected configuration of the current protection circuit.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the current protection circuit further comprises: at least one additional leg, wherein each additional leg comprises an additional thermal fuse and an additional contactor; and wherein each additional contactor is further responsive to the plurality of contactor activation commands to thereby provide a selected configuration of the current protection circuit. An example system includes a vehicle operating condition circuit structured to determine an operating mode of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands in response to the operating mode; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to determine an active current rating of the power supply path in response to the mode of operation and to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands in response to the active current rating. The example system includes wherein the first leg of the current protection circuit further includes an additional first contactor arranged in parallel with the first thermal fuse, wherein the current detection circuit is further structured to determine a first leg current, wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands further in response to the first leg current, and wherein the additional first contactor is responsive to the plurality of contactor activation commands; wherein the additional first contactor is open during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands including an additional first contactor close command in response to determining that the first branch current is higher than the thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse: wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide an additional first contactor close command in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is lower than the first branch current protection value, or the current is lower than the power supply path current protection value; and/or wherein the additional first contactor is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands including the additional first contactor opening command in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is higher than the first branch current protection value, or the current is higher than the power supply path current protection value.

An exemplary program includes an operation to determine a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current flow through operation of a current protection circuit having a parallel arrangement, wherein a first thermal fuse and a first contactor are located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and a second thermal fuse and a second contactor are located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and providing operation of the selected configuration of the current protection circuit in response to current flowing through the power supply path of the vehicle, wherein providing the selected configuration includes providing a contactor activation command to each of the first contactor and the second contactor.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program includes operations further comprising at least one additional leg of the current protection circuit, each additional leg of the current protection circuit having an additional thermal fuse and an additional contactor, and wherein providing the selected configuration of the current protection circuit comprises providing a contactor activation command to each additional contactor. An example program includes an operation to determine an operating mode of the vehicle and to provide a selected configuration further in response to the operating mode; and/or determining operation of an active current rating of the power supply path in response to the mode of operation, and wherein the selected configuration of the current protection circuit is provided further in response to the active current rating. An example program includes an operation to determine an active current rating of a power supply path, and wherein the selected configuration of the current protection circuit is provided further in response to the active current rating. An exemplary program includes operations wherein the first branch of the current protection circuit further includes an additional first contactor arranged in parallel with the first thermal fuse, the method further comprising: determining a first branch current, and wherein providing the selected configuration further comprises providing a contactor activation command to the additional first contactor; closing the additional first contactor in response to determining that the first branch current is higher than the thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse; closing the additional first contactor further in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is lower than the first branch current protection value, or the current is lower than the power supply path current protection value; and/or opening the additional first contactor in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is higher than the first branch current protection value, or the current is higher than the power supply path current protection value.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a fuse; a controller, the controller comprising: a fuse state circuit structured to determine a fuse event value; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a fuse event response based on the fuse event value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An example system includes a fuse life description circuit structured to determine a fuse life remaining value, wherein the fuse event value includes an indication that the fuse life remaining value is below a threshold, and wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a fuse event response based further on the fuse life remaining value; wherein providing a fuse event response includes providing at least one of a fault code or notification of a fuse event value; wherein providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a maximum power rating of the power supply path; wherein providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a maximum power slew rate of the power supply path; and/or wherein providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a configuration of the current protection circuit. An exemplary system includes wherein the current protection circuit further includes a contactor coupled to the fuse in a parallel arrangement; wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the fuse event value; and wherein the contactor is responsive to a contactor activation command. An example system includes wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to the fuse event value including one of a thermal wear event or an impending thermal wear event of the fuse. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to adjust a current threshold of the contactor activation command in response to the fuse life remaining value; and/or wherein providing the fuse event response includes adjusting the cooling system interface in response to the fuse life remaining value such that the cooling system is at least selectively thermally coupled to the fuse.

An exemplary program includes an operation to determine a fuse event value for a fuse disposed in a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path of a vehicle; and an operation of providing a fuse event response based on the fuse event value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes an operation to determine a fuse life remaining value, wherein the fuse event value includes an indication that the fuse life remaining value is below a threshold value, and further providing a fuse event response based on the fuse life remaining value; the operation of providing a fuse event response includes providing at least one of a fault code or notification of a fuse event value; the operation of providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a maximum power rating of the power supply path; the operation of providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a maximum power slew rate of the power supply path; the operation of providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a configuration of the current protection circuit. An exemplary procedure includes an operation in which the current protection circuit further includes a contactor coupled to the fuse in a parallel arrangement; wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the fuse event value; and wherein the contactor is responsive to a contactor activation command; wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to the fuse event value comprising one of a thermal wear event or an impending thermal wear event of the fuse; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to adjust the current threshold of the contactor activation command in response to the fuse life remaining value. An example program includes operations to provide a fuse event response including adjusting a cooling system interface in response to a fuse life remaining value such that the cooling system is at least selectively thermally coupled to the fuse. An example program includes operations to provide a fuse event response, the operations including at least one of a fault code or notification to provide a fuse event value. An example program includes operations to determine an accumulated fuse event description in response to a fuse event response and store the accumulated fuse event description. An example program includes operations to provide an accumulated fuse event description, wherein providing the accumulated fuse event description includes at least one of: providing at least one of a fault code or notification of an accumulated fuse event description; and providing an operation of the accumulated fuse event description in response to at least one of a repair event or a request for the accumulated fuse event description.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path and at least one auxiliary power supply path; a power distribution unit having a power current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a fuse; and auxiliary current protection circuits disposed in each of the at least one auxiliary power supply paths, each auxiliary current protection circuit including an auxiliary fuse; a controller, the controller comprising: a current determination circuit structured to interpret a power current value corresponding to the power supply path and an auxiliary current value corresponding to each of the at least one auxiliary power supply path.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An example system includes a power current sensor electrically coupled to a power supply path, wherein the power current sensor is configured to provide a power current value. An example system includes at least one auxiliary current sensor, each auxiliary current sensor electrically coupled to one of the at least one auxiliary power supply paths, each auxiliary current sensor configured to provide a corresponding auxiliary current value. An exemplary system includes wherein the controller further includes a vehicle interface circuit structured to provide a value of power current to the vehicle network; wherein the vehicle interface circuit is further structured to provide an auxiliary current value corresponding to each of the at least one auxiliary power supply paths to the vehicle network; and/or further comprising a battery management controller configured to receive the power current value from the vehicle network.

An exemplary program includes providing operation of a power distribution unit having a power current protection circuit and at least one auxiliary current protection circuit; an operation of supplying power to a vehicle power supply path through a power current protection circuit; an operation of powering the at least one auxiliary load through a corresponding one of the at least one auxiliary current protection circuit; an operation of determining a power current value corresponding to the power supply path; and an operation of determining an auxiliary current value corresponding to each of the at least one auxiliary current protection circuit.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program further includes an operation to provide a value of the motive current to a vehicle network; and/or receiving a power current value with a battery management controller.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a thermal fuse; a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; and a controller, the controller comprising: a current detection circuit structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path; and a fuse management circuit structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the current; and wherein the contactor is responsive to a contactor activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the thermal fuse includes a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary system includes wherein the thermal fuse includes a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a fast charge power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary system includes wherein the contactor includes a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary system includes wherein the contactor includes a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a fast charge power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor open command in response to the current indicative power supply path protection event; and/or wherein the current detection circuit is further structured to determine the power supply path protection event by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects.

An exemplary program includes an operation to power a power supply path of a vehicle through a current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; an operation of determining a current flowing through the power supply path; and selectively opening operation of the contactor in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes providing operation of the thermal fuse with a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary procedure includes providing operation of a thermal fuse having a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a fast charge power supply throughput of a power supply path. An exemplary procedure includes providing operation of a contactor having a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary procedure includes providing operation of a contactor having a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a fast charge power supply throughput of the power supply path. The example program includes the operation of opening the contactor being further responsive to at least one of: the rate of change of the current; comparing the current with a threshold; one of an integrated value or an accumulated value of the current; and expected or predicted values of any of the foregoing aspects.

An exemplary program includes an operation to power a power supply path of a vehicle through a current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; an operation of determining a current flowing through the power supply path; an operation of opening the contactor in response to the current exceeding a threshold; confirming operation of the vehicle operating condition allowing reconnection of the contactor; and an operation of commanding the contactor to close in response to the vehicle operating condition.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program further includes an operation of confirming that the vehicle operating condition includes at least one vehicle operating condition selected from the group consisting of: emergency vehicle operating conditions; the user overrides the vehicle operating conditions; maintenance event vehicle operating conditions; and a reconnect command transmitted over the vehicle network. An exemplary procedure includes monitoring a power supply path during a commanded contactor closing and re-opening operation of the contactor in response to the monitoring. An example program includes an operation to determine an accumulated contactor open event description in response to opening a contactor; preventing operation of commanding the contactor to close in response to accumulating the contactor open event description exceeding the threshold; and/or adjusting the operation described by the accumulated contactor open event in response to the current during the opening of the contactor. An example program includes diagnosing operation of the welding contactor in response to one of a current during opening of the contactor and monitoring of a power supply path during command of the contactor to close. An example program includes diagnosing operation of the welding contactor in response to monitoring of at least one of a contactor actuator position, a contactor actuator response, or a power supply path during opening of the contactor; and/or preventing operation of commanding the contactor to close in response to the diagnosed welding contactor.

An example apparatus includes a power supply current protection circuit structured to: determining a current flowing through a power supply path of the vehicle; and opening a contactor disposed in a current protection circuit in response to the current exceeding a threshold, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a vehicle re-power circuit structured to: confirming that the vehicle operating condition allows reconnection of the contactor; and closing the contactor in response to a vehicle operating condition.

Certain other aspects of the exemplary apparatus are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example apparatus includes wherein the vehicle re-power circuit is further structured to confirm the vehicle operating condition by confirming at least one vehicle operating condition selected from the group consisting of: emergency vehicle operating conditions; the user overrides the vehicle operating conditions; maintenance event vehicle operating conditions; and a reconnect command transmitted over the vehicle network. An example apparatus includes wherein the power supply current protection circuit is further structured to monitor the power supply path during closing of the contactor, and wherein the vehicle re-supply circuit is further structured to re-open the contactor in response to the monitoring. An example apparatus includes a contactor status circuit structured to determine an accumulated contactor open event description in response to opening a contactor; wherein the vehicle re-power circuit is further structured to prevent closing the contactor in response to the accumulated contactor open event description exceeding a threshold; and/or wherein the contactor status circuit is further structured to adjust the accumulated contactor open event description in response to current during opening of the contactor. An example apparatus includes a contactor status circuit structured to diagnose a welding contactor in response to one of the following during a commanded contactor closing: current during opening of the contactor; and monitoring the power supply path by the power supply current protection circuit. An example apparatus includes a contactor status circuit structured to diagnose a welding contactor in response to monitoring at least one of: monitoring the contactor actuator position by the vehicle re-power circuit; monitoring of the contactor actuator response by the vehicle re-power circuit; and the power supply current protection circuit monitors a power supply path; and/or wherein the contactor status circuit is further structured to prevent closing of the contactor in response to the diagnosed welding contactor.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit, the power distribution unit comprising: a current protection circuit disposed in the power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a high voltage power input coupler comprising a first electrical interface for a high voltage power supply; a high voltage power supply output coupler comprising a second electrical interface of the power supply load; and wherein the current protection circuit electrically couples the high voltage power supply input to the high voltage power supply output, and wherein the current protection circuit is disposed at least partially in a laminate layer of the power distribution unit, the laminate layer comprising an electrically conductive flow path providing two electrically insulating layers.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the current protection circuit includes a power supply bus disposed in a laminate layer of the power distribution unit. An exemplary system includes wherein the vehicle further includes an auxiliary power path; wherein the power distribution unit further comprises: an auxiliary current protection circuit disposed in the auxiliary power path, the auxiliary current protection circuit including a second thermal fuse; an auxiliary voltage power input coupler comprising a first auxiliary electrical interface for a low voltage power supply; an auxiliary voltage supply output coupler comprising a second auxiliary electrical interface of an auxiliary load; and wherein the auxiliary current protection circuit electrically couples the auxiliary voltage supply input to the auxiliary voltage supply output, and wherein the auxiliary current protection circuit is disposed at least partially in the laminate layer of the power distribution unit. An exemplary system includes wherein the laminate layer of the power distribution unit further includes at least one thermally conductive flow path disposed between the two thermally insulating layers; wherein the at least one thermally conductive flow path is configured to provide a thermal coupler between the heat sink and a heat source, wherein the heat source comprises at least one of a contactor, a thermal fuse, and a second thermal fuse; wherein the heat sink comprises at least one of a thermal coupler to the active cooling source and a housing of the power distribution unit; and/or further comprising a heat pipe disposed between the at least one thermally conductive flow path and the heat source.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse; and a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine at least one of an injection voltage amount and a thermal fuse impedance value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. Exemplary systems include the following: wherein the power supply path comprises a direct current power supply path; wherein the current source circuit comprises at least one of an alternating current source and a time-varying current source, and further comprising a hardware filter electrically coupled to the thermal fuse, the hardware filter being configured in response to an injection frequency of the current source circuit; wherein the hardware filter comprises a high pass filter having a cut-off frequency determined in response to an injection frequency of the current source circuit; wherein the hardware filter comprises a low pass filter having a cut-off frequency determined in response to at least one of an injection frequency of the current source circuit or a load variation value of the power supply path; wherein the hardware filter comprises a low pass filter having a cut-off frequency determined in response to at least one of an injection frequency of the current source circuit or a load variation value of the power supply path; wherein the voltage determination circuit is further structured to determine an injection voltage drop of the thermal fuse responsive to an output of the high pass filter; wherein the voltage determination circuit is further structured to determine a thermal fuse impedance value in response to the injection voltage drop; and/or wherein the voltage determination circuit is further structured to determine a load voltage drop of the thermal fuse responsive to the output of the low pass filter, the system further comprising a load current circuit structured to determine a load current through the fuse responsive to the thermal fuse impedance value and further responsive to the load voltage drop.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit includes a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the voltage determination circuit further includes a bandpass filter having a bandwidth selected to define a frequency of the injection current. An exemplary system includes wherein the high pass filter comprises an analog hardware filter and wherein the band pass filter comprises a digital filter. Exemplary systems include where the high pass filter and the band pass filter comprise digital filters; wherein the voltage determination circuit is further structured to determine a thermal fuse impedance value in response to the injection voltage drop; and/or further comprising a fuse characterization circuit structured to store one of a fuse resistance value and a fuse impedance value, and wherein the fuse characterization circuit is further structured to update the stored one of the fuse resistance value and the fuse impedance value in response to the thermal fuse impedance value. An example system includes wherein the fuse characterization circuit is further structured to update the stored one of the fuse resistance value and the fuse impedance value by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: updating the value to the thermal fuse impedance value; filtering the value using the thermal fuse impedance value as a filter input; rejecting the thermal fuse impedance value for a period of time or for a certain determined number of thermal fuse impedance values; and updating the value by performing a rolling average over time of the plurality of thermal impedance values. An exemplary system includes wherein the power distribution unit further includes a plurality of thermal fuses disposed therein, and wherein the current source circuit is further electrically coupled to the plurality of thermal fuses and sequentially injects current across each of the plurality of thermal fuses; and wherein the voltage determination circuit is further electrically coupled to each of the plurality of thermal fuses and is further structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage, a thermal fuse impedance value, for each of the plurality of thermal fuses; wherein the current source circuit is further structured to sequentially inject current across each of the plurality of thermal fuses in a selected order of the fuses; wherein the current source circuit is further structured to adjust the selected order in response to at least one of: the rate of change of temperature of each of the fuses; an importance value for each of the fuses; the criticality of each of the fuses; power supply throughput of each of the fuses; and one of a fault condition or a fuse health condition for each of the fuses; and/or wherein the current source circuit is further structured to adjust the selected order in response to one of a planned duty cycle and an observed duty cycle of the vehicle. An exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit is further structured to scan the injection current through a series of injection frequencies; wherein the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at a plurality of injection frequencies. An exemplary system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. An example system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the thermal fuse. An example system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a duty cycle of the vehicle.

An example program includes an operation to determine a zero offset voltage of a fuse current measurement system, including an operation to determine that a fuse load of a fuse electrically disposed between a power source and an electrical load does not require current; an operation of determining a zero offset voltage in response to the fuse load not requiring current; and an operation of storing the zero offset voltage.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program further includes an operation to update the stored zero offset voltage in response to the determined zero offset voltage. An exemplary procedure includes diagnosing operation of the component in response to the zero offset voltage; and/or determining which of the plurality of components contributes to the zero bit offset voltage. An example program includes operations to determine that a fuse load does not require current include at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: an operation of determining that a vehicle including a fuse, a power source, and an electrical load has experienced a key-off event; an operation of determining that a key-on event has occurred to the vehicle; determining a power down operation of the vehicle; and determining that the vehicle is in an accessory condition, wherein the vehicle in the accessory condition is not powered through the fuse.

An example apparatus to determine an offset voltage to adjust a fuse current determination includes a fuse load circuit structured to determine that a fuse load does not require current and further determine that a contactor associated with a fuse is open; an offset voltage determination circuit structured to determine an offset voltage corresponding to at least one component in a fuse circuit associated with the fuse in response to determining that the fuse load does not require current; and an offset data management circuit structured to store the offset voltage and to transmit a current calculation offset voltage for use by the controller in determining the current through the fuse.

An exemplary procedure includes an operation of providing a digital filter for a fuse circuit in a power distribution unit, including an operation of injecting an alternating current across a fuse, the fuse being electrically disposed between a power source and an electrical load; an operation of determining a basic power flowing through the fuse by performing a low pass filter operation on one of a measured current value and a measured voltage value of the fuse; and an operation of determining an injection current value by performing a high pass filter operation on one of the measured current value and the measured voltage value of the fuse.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes an operation to adjust a parameter of at least one of the low pass filter and the high pass filter in response to a duty cycle of one of the power and the current flowing through the fuse. An exemplary procedure includes the operation of injecting an alternating current through a series of injection frequency sweeps. An exemplary procedure includes an operation of injecting alternating current across a fuse at a plurality of injection frequencies. An exemplary procedure includes operations in which the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the fuse at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. An exemplary procedure includes operations wherein the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the fuse.

An exemplary procedure includes operations to calibrate a fuse resistance determination algorithm, including: an operation of storing a plurality of calibration sets corresponding to a plurality of duty cycle values, the duty cycle comprising an electrical throughput value corresponding to a fuse electrically disposed between a power source and an electrical load; wherein the calibration set includes current source injection settings of a current injection device operatively coupled to the fuse; an operation of determining a duty cycle of a system including a fuse, a power source, and an electrical load; an operation of determining an injection setting of the current injection device in response to the plurality of calibration sets and the determined duty cycle; and operating the operation of the current injection device in response to the determined injection setting.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary program further includes operations wherein the calibration set further includes a filter setting of at least one digital filter, wherein the method further includes determining a fuse resistance with the at least one digital filter.

An exemplary procedure includes an operation on 1. A method of providing a unique current waveform to improve fuse resistance measurement of a power distribution unit, comprising: confirming opening of a contactor electrically positioned in a fuse circuit, wherein the fuse circuit includes a fuse electrically disposed between a power source and an electrical load; determining a zero voltage offset value of the fuse circuit; performing a plurality of current injection sequences across the fuse, each of the current injection sequences including a selected current amplitude, current frequency, and current waveform value; the fuse resistance value is determined in response to the current injection sequence and the zero voltage offset value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes adjusting a filter characteristic of the digital filter in response to each of the plurality of current injection sequences and measuring operation of one of the fuse circuit voltage and the fuse circuit current with the adjusted filter characteristic using the digital filter during a corresponding one of the plurality of current injection sequences.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine an injection voltage amount and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit is structured to perform a frequency analysis operation to determine the injection voltage amount.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the voltage determination circuit is further structured to determine the amount of injection voltage by determining a magnitude of the voltage across the fuse at a frequency of interest; and/or wherein the frequency of interest is determined in response to the frequency of the injection voltage. An exemplary system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current through a series of injection frequency sweeps. An exemplary system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at a plurality of injection frequencies. An exemplary system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. An example system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the thermal fuse. An example system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a duty cycle of the vehicle.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine that a load power supply throughput of the power supply path is low and to inject current across the thermal fuse in response to the load power supply throughput of the power supply path being low; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit includes a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An example system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to determine that a load power supply throughput of the power supply path is low in response to the vehicle being in a shutdown state. An example system includes where the current source circuit is further structured to determine that a load power supply throughput of the power supply path is low in response to the vehicle being in a shut-off state. An exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit is further structured to determine that the load power supply throughput of the power supply path is low in response to the power torque request of the vehicle being zero. An exemplary system includes wherein the power distribution unit further includes a plurality of fuses, and wherein the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across each of the plurality of fuses in a selected sequence; and/or wherein the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across a first one of the plurality of fuses at a first shutdown event of the vehicle and to inject current across a second one of the plurality of fuses at a second shutdown event of the vehicle.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a current source circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit includes a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current; and a fuse state circuit structured to determine a fuse condition value in response to at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to provide the fuse condition value by providing at least one of a fault code or notification of the fuse condition value; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to adjust a maximum power rating of the power supply path in response to the fuse condition value; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to adjust a maximum power conversion rate of the power supply path in response to the fuse condition value; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to adjust the configuration of the current protection circuit in response to the fuse condition value; wherein the power distribution unit further comprises an active cooling interface, and wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to adjust the active cooling interface in response to the fuse condition value; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to clear at least one of a fault code or notification of the fuse condition value in response to the fuse condition value indicating that the fuse condition has improved; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to clear at least one of a fault code or notification of a fuse condition value in response to a repair event of the fuse; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to determine a fuse life remaining value in response to the fuse condition value; wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to determine the fuse life remaining value further responsive to a duty cycle of the vehicle; and/or wherein the fuse state circuit is further structured to determine the fuse life remaining value further responsive to one of the regulated maximum power rating of the power supply path or the regulated maximum power slew rate of the power supply path.

An exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a fuse thermal model circuit structured to determine a fuse temperature value for a thermal fuse and to determine a fuse condition value in response to the fuse temperature value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes a current source circuit electrically coupled to a thermal fuse and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse; a voltage determination circuit electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit includes a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current; and wherein the fuse thermal model circuit is structured to determine the fuse temperature value of the thermal fuse further in response to at least one of the injection voltage amount and the thermal fuse impedance value. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse thermal model circuit is further structured to determine a fuse condition value by counting a number of thermal fuse temperature surge events; and/or wherein the thermal fuse temperature spike events each include a temperature rise threshold within a time threshold. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse thermal model circuit is further structured to determine a fuse condition value by integrating the fuse temperature value; and/or wherein the fuse thermal model circuit is further structured to determine the fuse condition value by integrating the fuse temperature value above the temperature threshold.

Drawings

The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

fig. 1 shows an embodiment system schematically depicting a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) operatively positioned between a power source and a load.

Fig. 2 depicts a more detailed embodiment system, schematically depicting a PDU.

Fig. 3 depicts a non-limiting exemplary response curve of a fuse.

FIG. 4 depicts a non-limiting exemplary system of a mobile application, such as a vehicle.

Fig. 5 depicts a non-limiting exemplary system that includes PDUs.

Fig. 6 depicts an embodiment apparatus comprising all or part of a PDU.

Fig. 7 shows a non-limiting example of interaction between a main fuse and a laminate layer.

Fig. 8 shows a more detailed view of a non-limiting example of the interaction between the main fuse and the laminate layer.

Fig. 9 depicts a detailed view of an embodiment of a side cross section of a laminate layer.

Fig. 10 shows a top view of a non-limiting exemplary device.

FIG. 11 shows an alternative side view of a non-limiting exemplary device.

Fig. 12 depicts an embodiment configuration showing a main fuse coupled to a laminate layer on the bottom side of the main fuse.

Fig. 13 depicts an embodiment configuration showing a main fuse coupled to a laminate layer with heat fins on the bottom side of the main fuse.

Fig. 14 depicts an embodiment configuration showing a main fuse coupled to a laminate layer on the bottom side of the main fuse having features for enhancing heat flow.

Fig. 15 depicts an alternative embodiment configuration showing a main fuse coupled to a laminate layer on the bottom side of the main fuse having features for heat flow.

Fig. 16 depicts an alternative embodiment configuration showing a main fuse coupled to a laminate layer on the bottom side of the main fuse having features for heat flow.

Fig. 17 depicts an alternative embodiment configuration showing a main fuse coupled to a laminate layer on the bottom side of the main fuse having features for heat flow.

Fig. 18 shows a non-limiting exemplary system that includes a PDU positioned within a battery pack housing or case.

FIG. 19 illustrates a non-limiting exemplary system including PDUs in a coolant loop of a heat transfer system.

Fig. 20 illustrates a non-limiting exemplary apparatus for providing additional protection against fuse nuisance faults (nuisance fault) and system failures.

FIG. 21 depicts exemplary data for an embodiment for implementing system response values.

FIG. 22 depicts a non-limiting example apparatus for measuring current flowing through a fuse using active current injection.

FIG. 23 depicts a non-limiting example apparatus for determining a zero offset voltage and/or diagnosing a system component.

FIG. 24 depicts a non-limiting exemplary device for providing digital filtering of a current measurement flowing through a fuse circuit.

Fig. 25 depicts a non-limiting exemplary fuse circuit that may be present on a PDU.

Fig. 26 depicts an embodiment of a fuse circuit with contactors.

Fig. 27 depicts an embodiment fuse circuit including a plurality of fuses.

Fig. 28 depicts a fuse circuit having fuses in parallel with contacts.

Fig. 29 depicts exemplary data showing fuse responses to a driving cycle of a vehicle.

FIG. 30 depicts a non-limiting exemplary system that includes a power source and a load, and a fuse is electrically disposed between the load and the power source.

FIG. 31 depicts a non-limiting example apparatus to determine an offset voltage to adjust a fuse current determination.

FIG. 32 depicts a non-limiting example apparatus that is depicted as providing a unique current waveform to improve fuse resistance measurement of a PDU.

FIG. 33 depicts a non-limiting exemplary procedure for providing unique current waveforms to improve fuse resistance measurement of a PDU.

FIG. 34 depicts a non-limiting exemplary procedure for performing multiple implantation sequences.

Fig. 35 depicts exemplary injection characteristics of an exemplary test.

Fig. 36 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 37 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure utilizing a parallel thermal fuse and a high temperature fuse.

Fig. 38 depicts a schematic of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 39 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for operating a thermal fuse bypass.

Fig. 40 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 41 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for operating a thermal fuse bypass.

Fig. 42 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 43 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for operating a parallel thermal fuse.

Fig. 44 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 45 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for selectively configuring a current protection circuit.

Fig. 46 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

FIG. 47 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for determining and responding to fuse event values.

Fig. 48 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 49 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for determining the current flowing through a plurality of fuses.

Fig. 50 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 51 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for operating a thermal fuse in series with a contactor.

Fig. 52 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for reconnecting a contactor.

Fig. 53 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 54 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 55 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 56 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for determining the zero offset voltage.

Fig. 57 depicts a schematic diagram of an apparatus for determining an offset voltage.

Fig. 58 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for determining an injection current value.

Fig. 59 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for calibrating a fuse resistance algorithm.

FIG. 60 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for determining fuse resistance using unique current waveforms.

Fig. 61 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having a current protection circuit.

Fig. 62 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having a current protection circuit.

Fig. 63 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having a current protection circuit.

Fig. 64 depicts a schematic diagram of a vehicle having PDUs.

Fig. 65 depicts a schematic diagram of a circuit breaker-relay and a precharge relay.

Fig. 66 depicts a schematic diagram of a circuit breaker-relay and suppression.

Fig. 67 depicts a schematic diagram of a power bus protection configuration.

Fig. 68 depicts details of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay assembly.

Fig. 69 depicts details of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay assembly.

Fig. 69A depicts an embodiment detail of a circuit breaker-relay assembly.

Fig. 70 depicts a current graph of a contactor-fuse and a circuit breaker-relay.

Fig. 71 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of current protection.

Fig. 72 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of current protection.

Fig. 73 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of current protection.

Fig. 74 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of current protection.

Fig. 75 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and an inverter.

Fig. 76 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and an inverter.

Fig. 77 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load.

Fig. 78 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration.

Fig. 79 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load.

Fig. 80 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load.

Fig. 81 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load, wherein a current path is depicted.

Fig. 82 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load, wherein a current path is depicted.

Fig. 83 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load, wherein a current path is depicted.

Fig. 84 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration between a battery and a load, wherein a current path is depicted.

Fig. 85 depicts details of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay assembly.

Fig. 86 depicts a schematic diagram of a power bus protection configuration.

Fig. 87 depicts details of an embodiment of contacts in a circuit breaker-relay assembly.

Fig. 88 depicts details of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay assembly.

Fig. 89 depicts a schematic diagram of a power protection configuration with a controller.

Fig. 90 depicts a schematic diagram of an adaptive system using a multi-port power converter.

Fig. 91 depicts a schematic diagram of a controller.

Fig. 92 depicts a schematic of a controller with a multi-port power converter.

Fig. 93 depicts a functional diagram of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay.

Fig. 94 depicts a schematic of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay.

Fig. 95 depicts an embodiment schematic diagram of a circuit breaker-relay configuration showing specific voltage, amperage, and time-based values.

Fig. 96 depicts a schematic of an embodiment of a circuit breaker-relay operation.

Fig. 97 depicts an embodiment breaker-relay device with a precharge circuit.

Fig. 98 depicts an embodiment breaker-relay device having a precharge circuit.

Fig. 99 depicts an embodiment breaker-relay device having a precharge circuit.

Fig. 100 depicts an embodiment breaker-relay device having a precharge circuit.

Fig. 101 depicts a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a single pole circuit breaker/relay device.

Fig. 102 depicts details of an embodiment double-pole circuit breaker/relay device.

Fig. 103 depicts details of an embodiment double-pole circuit breaker/relay apparatus.

Fig. 104 depicts details of an embodiment double-pole circuit breaker/relay device.

Fig. 105 depicts details of an embodiment double-pole circuit breaker/relay device, depicting the current connection components.

Fig. 106 depicts a schematic diagram of a circuit breaker/relay apparatus.

Fig. 107 depicts a schematic diagram of a multi-port converter with solid state switches.

Fig. 108 depicts a schematic diagram with a multi-port converter.

Fig. 109A and 109B depict an integrated inverter assembly.

Fig. 110 depicts an integrated inverter assembly having a battery connector and a vehicle connector.

Fig. 111 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly.

Fig. 112 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly.

Fig. 113 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with coolant channels.

Fig. 114 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with coolant channels.

Fig. 115 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with coolant channels.

Fig. 116 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with coolant channels.

Fig. 117 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs).

Fig. 118 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly.

Fig. 119 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly, wherein the perspective view depicts a gate driver PCB and a DC link capacitor.

Fig. 120 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with AC bus bars and motor temperature/position sensors.

Fig. 121 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with an in-situ cured gasket.

Fig. 122 depicts a view of the integrated inverter assembly, with one corner of the main cover closed.

Fig. 123 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly, with IGBTs being exemplary illustrated.

Fig. 124-127 depict views of an exemplary embodiment of a main cover portion of an integrated inverter assembly.

FIG. 128 depicts an exemplary embodiment of an upper cooling channel and a lower cooling channel.

Fig. 129 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a coupling mechanism.

Fig. 130 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a coupling mechanism.

Fig. 131 depicts a view of the integrated inverter assembly showing the coolant channel cover.

Fig. 132 depicts a DC link capacitor in the prior art.

Fig. 133 depicts an embodiment DC link capacitor.

Fig. 134 depicts an embodiment closed DC link capacitor.

Fig. 135 depicts a view of an integrated inverter assembly with AC bus bars and motor temperature/position sensors.

Fig. 136 depicts a prior art quick connector.

Fig. 137 depicts a prior art quick connector.

Fig. 138 depicts an embodiment fluid connector.

Fig. 139 depicts an embodiment fluid connector.

Fig. 140 depicts a schematic diagram of a controller.

Figure 141 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for turning off the power supply circuit.

Figure 142 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for turning off the power supply circuit.

Fig. 143 depicts a schematic diagram of a controller.

Figure 144 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for turning off the power supply circuit.

Figure 145 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for turning off the power supply circuit.

Fig. 146 depicts an embodiment of a system with a circuit breaker/relay.

Fig. 147 depicts an embodiment of a system with a circuit breaker/relay.

Fig. 148 depicts an embodiment of a system with a circuit breaker/relay.

Fig. 149 depicts an embodiment of a system with a circuit breaker/relay.

Fig. 150 depicts a schematic diagram of a controller.

Fig. 151 depicts a schematic diagram of a controller.

Fig. 152 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for configuring a power converter.

Fig. 153 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure of integrating a power converter.

Fig. 154 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for adjusting the operation of a motor.

Fig. 155 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for regulating the operation of a motor.

Fig. 156 depicts a schematic diagram of a controller.

Fig. 157 depicts a schematic of a controller.

Fig. 158 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure for regulating operation of an inverter.

Fig. 159 depicts an embodiment of a system having multiple motors.

Fig. 160 depicts a schematic of a controller.

Fig. 161 depicts a schematic flow chart of a procedure of operating a plurality of motors.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1, an exemplary system 100 is schematically depicted that includes a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) 102 operatively positioned between a power source 104 and a load 106. The power source 104 may be of any type including at least a battery, a generator, and/or a capacitor. The power source 104 may include a plurality of power sources or lines that may be distributed according to power source type (e.g., battery input separate from generator input) and/or may be distributed according to devices being powered (e.g., auxiliary and/or auxiliary power sources separate from a main load power source such as a power source, and/or branches within an accessory, branches within a power source, etc.). Load 106 may be of any type including one or more power loads (e.g., to a separate drive wheel motor, to a global power drive motor, etc.), one or more accessories (e.g., on-board accessories such as a diverter, fan, lights, cab power supply, etc.). In certain embodiments, the PDU 102 facilitates integration of the electrical system of the application (including the system 100), such as by grouping all power distribution into a single box, a single region, and/or a single set of logically integrated components by utilizing unified input and output channels. In certain embodiments, the PDU 102 provides protection of the electrical system, including fusing and/or connecting or disconnecting (manually and/or automatically) of the electrical system or individual aspects of the electrical system. In certain embodiments, the one or more power sources 104 may be high voltage (e.g., a power source, which may be 96V, 230V-360V, 240V, 480V, or any other value) or low voltage (e.g., 12V, 24V, 42V, or any other value). In certain embodiments, the one or more power sources 104 may be Direct Current (DC) power sources or Alternating Current (AC) power sources, including multi-phase (e.g., three-phase) AC power sources. In some embodiments, the PDU 102 is a pass-through device that powers the load 106 substantially as configured by the power supply 104 (e.g., as affected only by sensing and other operations of the PDU 102 not provided for the power supply configuration). In some embodiments, PDU 102 may include power electronics that, for example, rectify, regulate voltage, clean up noisy power, etc., to provide selected power characteristics to load 106.

Referring to fig. 2, a more detailed view of an exemplary PDU 102 is schematically depicted. The example PDU 102 includes a primary power source 202 (e.g., high voltage, primary load power, power source, etc.) that may be provided by the one or more power sources 104 and an auxiliary power source 204 (e.g., auxiliary, accessory, low voltage, etc.) that may be provided by the one or more power sources 104. The example PDU 102 depicts a single primary power source 202 and a single secondary power source 204, but a given application may include one or more primary power sources 202, and may include separate secondary power sources 204 and/or omit the secondary power sources 204.

The example PDU 102 also includes a coolant inlet 206 and a coolant outlet 204. Providing coolant to the PDU 102 is optional and may not be included in certain embodiments. The coolant may be of any type depending on availability in the application, including, for example, available on-board coolant (e.g., engine coolant, transmission coolant, coolant flow associated with auxiliary equipment or other power supply components (such as power supply 104), etc.), and/or may be coolant specific to PDU 102. Where present, the amount of cooling provided by the coolant may be variable, such as by varying the amount of coolant flowing through the coolant loop through the PDU 102, such as by operating hardware (e.g., a valve or a flow restriction) within the PDU 102, thereby providing a request for coolant flow rate to another device in the system, and so forth.

The example PDU 102 also includes a primary power outlet 210 and a secondary power outlet 212. As previously described, PDU 102 may include a plurality of primary power outlets 210, and/or a plurality of, multiplexed, and/or omitted secondary power outlets 212. The example PDU 102 is a pass-through power device in which the power outlets 210,212 have substantially the same electrical characteristics as the corresponding power inlets 202,204, except for the impact on the power due to sensing and/or active diagnostics. However, PDU 102 may include power electronics (solid state or otherwise) that configure the power supply in any desired manner.

The example PDU 102 also includes a controller 214 configured to functionally execute certain operations of the PDU 102. The controller 214 includes and/or is communicatively coupled to one or more sensors and/or actuators in the PDU 102, for example, to determine the current value, voltage value, and/or temperature of any power source or input, fuse, connector, or other device in the PDU 102. Additionally or alternatively, the controller 214 is communicatively coupled to the system 100 including the PDU 102, including, for example, a vehicle controller, an engine controller, a transmission controller, an application controller, and/or a network device or server (e.g., fleet computer, cloud server, etc.). The controller 214 may be coupled to an application network (e.g., CAN, data link, private or public network, etc.), an external network, and/or another device (e.g., an operator's portable device, a computer within the cab of the vehicle, etc.). For ease of illustration, the controller 214 is schematically depicted as a single stand-alone device. It should be appreciated that the controller 214 and/or aspects of the controller 214 may be distributed across multiple hardware devices, included within another hardware device (e.g., a controller of a power source, load, vehicle, application, etc.), and/or configured as a hardware device, logic circuit, etc. to perform one or more operations of the controller 214. The PDU 102 is schematically depicted as a device within a single housing, but may be located within a single housing and/or distributed in two or more places within an application. In certain embodiments, the inclusion of the PDU 102 within a single housing provides certain advantages of integration, reduced footprint, and/or simplified interfaces. Additionally or alternatively, it is contemplated herein that PDU 102 is included in more than one location in an application, and/or that more than one PDU 102 is included within an application.

The example PDU 102 includes a master contactor 216 that selectively controls the main power throughput of the PDU 102. In this example, the main contactor 216 is communicatively coupled to and controlled by the controller 214. The main contactor 216 may additionally be manually controllable and/or other main contactors 216 may be on the same line of the main power source and manually controllable. The example main contactors 216 include solenoid (or other coil-based) contactors such that energizing the solenoid provides a connected main power supply (e.g., normally open, or disconnecting the power supply when not energized) and/or energizing the solenoid provides a disconnected main power supply (e.g., normally closed, or connecting the power supply when not energized). Characteristics of the system 100, including design choices regarding whether the power supply should be active at the time of a power failure of the controller 214, maintenance planning, regulations and/or policies implemented, consequences of power loss to the system 100, voltage typically delivered on the main power supply, availability of a positive manual disconnect option, etc., may inform or decide whether the main contactor 216 is normally open or normally closed. In certain embodiments, the main contactor 216 may be a solid state device, such as a solid state relay. Where there is more than one main contactor 216, the various contactors may include the same or different hardware (e.g., one is a solenoid and one is a solid state relay), and/or may include the same or different logic for implementing normally open or normally closed. The main contactor 216 may additionally be controllable by a device external to the PDU 102 (e.g., a key switch lock, another controller in the system 100 having authority to control the main contactor 216, etc.), and/or the controller 214 may be responsive to external commands to open or close the main contactor 216, and/or additional contactors embedded in the main power supply may be responsive to devices external to the PDU 102.

The example PDU 102 includes an auxiliary contactor 218 that selectively controls the auxiliary power throughput of the PDU 102. In this example, the auxiliary contactor 218 is communicatively coupled to and controlled by the controller 214. The auxiliary contactor 218 may additionally be manually controllable, and/or other auxiliary contactors 218 may be on the same line of the auxiliary power source and manually controllable. Exemplary auxiliary contactors 218 include solenoid (or other coil-based) contactors such that energizing the solenoid provides a connected auxiliary power source (e.g., normally open, or disconnecting the power source when not energized) and/or energizing the solenoid provides a disconnected auxiliary power source (e.g., normally closed, or connecting the power source when not energized). Characteristics of the system 100, including design choices regarding whether the power supply should be active at the time of a power failure of the controller 214, maintenance planning, regulations and/or policies implemented, consequences of power loss to the system 100, voltage typically delivered on one or more auxiliary power supplies, availability of an option to be manually disconnected, etc., may inform or decide whether the auxiliary contactor 218 is normally open or normally closed. In certain embodiments, the auxiliary contactor 218 may be a solid state device, such as a solid state relay. The auxiliary contactor 218 may additionally be controllable by a device external to the PDU 102 (e.g., a push-button switch lock, another controller in the system 100 having authority to control the auxiliary contactor 218, etc.), and/or the controller 214 may be responsive to external commands to open or close the auxiliary contactor 218, and/or an additional contactor embedded in the auxiliary power supply may be responsive to a device external to the PDU 102. In certain implementations, auxiliary contacts 218 may be provided for each auxiliary line, auxiliary line subset (e.g., four auxiliary power inputs, and 2, 3, or 4 auxiliary contacts 218), etc.

The example PDU 102 includes a current source 220, which may be an alternating current source and/or may be provided as solid state electronics on the controller 214. The current source 220 is capable of providing a selected current injection, for example in the form of an AC current, a DC current, and/or a controllable current over time, to the main power supply across the main fuse 222. For example, PDU 102 may include a sensor, such as a voltage and/or current sensor on the primary power source, and current source 220 provides an electrical connection to the power source (which may be an external power source and/or pulled by the controller) in a manner configured to inject a desired current into the primary power source. The current source 220 may include feedback to ensure that the desired current is injected, for example, to respond to system noise, variability, and aging, and/or a nominal electrical connection may be applied to inject the current, and the controller 214 determines the sensor input to determine what current is actually injected on the primary power source. The example PDU 102 depicts a current source 220 associated with a master fuse 222, but the PDU 102 may also include one or more current sources 220 associated with any one or more of the fuses 222,224 in the PDU 102, including individual, molecular groups across fuses, or once across all fuses (subject to power compatibility across fuses, such as simultaneous injection of current across electrically coupled fuses should generally be avoided). It can be seen that the inclusion of additional current sources 220 may provide greater resolution in injecting current across individual fuses and managing the change in fuses over time, while the inclusion of fewer current sources 220 may reduce system cost and complexity. In certain embodiments, the current source 220 is configured to selectively inject current across each fuse in the PDU 102 and/or across each fuse of interest in a sequence or schedule and/or at the request of the controller 214.

The example PDU 102 includes a primary fuse 222 and a secondary fuse 224. One or more primary fuses 222 are associated with a primary power source and an auxiliary fuse 224 is associated with an auxiliary power source. In certain embodiments, the fuses are thermal fuses, such as resistive devices that exhibit heat generation and are intended to fail beyond a given current profile in an associated power line. Referring to fig. 3, a typical and non-limiting exemplary response curve of a fuse is depicted. Curve 302 represents an application damage curve that depicts the current-time space in which certain aspects of the application would be damaged if the curve were exceeded. For example, in the exemplary application damage profile 302, if more than 10 times the rated current lasts about 50 milliseconds, damage to some aspect of the application may occur. It should be appreciated that an application may contain many components, and that these components may differ in the application damage profile 302. In addition, each fuse 222,224 may be associated with a different component having a different damage profile than the other components. Curve 304 represents a control space where, in some embodiments, the controller 114 provides control protection to prevent the system from reaching the application damage curve 302 in the event of a fuse failure or non-nominal operation. The applied damage profile 302 may be a specified value, such as a system requirement that must be met, wherein the override of the applied damage profile 302 does not meet the system requirement, but the actual damage to the component may occur at some other value in the current-time space. Curve 306 represents the fuse melt line of the exemplary fuse. At the location of the fuse melt line 306, the fuse temperature exceeds the fuse design temperature and the fuse melts. However, the fuse continues to conduct for a period of time after melting begins, as depicted by fuse conduction line 308 (e.g., due to conduction through the melted material, arcing, etc., prior to the connection breaking). When the time-current space reaches the fuse conducting line 308, the fuse is no longer conducting on the power line and the line is disconnected. It should be appreciated that specific system dynamics, inter-fuse variability, fuse aging (e.g., mechanical or thermal degradation caused, composition changes or oxidation, etc.), the exact nature of the current experienced (e.g., rise time of the current), and other real world variables will affect the exact timing of fuse melting and fuse disconnection. However, even with a nominal fuse as depicted in fig. 3, it can be seen that for very high currents, the nominal fuse on-line 308 and even the fuse melt line 306 can span the application damage curve 302, for example because certain dynamics of the fuse disconnect operation are less responsive (in the time domain) or unresponsive to currents applied at very high current values.

The example PDU 102 also includes a conductive layer 226 associated with the auxiliary power supply and a conductive layer 228 associated with the primary power supply. The conductive layers 226,228 include power couplers for power lines and fuses. In some embodiments, the conductive layers 226,228 are merely wires or other conductive couplers between the fuses and the power connection to the PDU 102. Additionally or alternatively, the conductive layers 226,228 may include flat or laminated portions (e.g., with stamped or shaped conductive layers) to provide power connections within the PDU 102, and/or portions of the conductive layers 226,228 may include flat or laminated portions. Without being limited to any other disclosure provided herein, the utilization of flat or laminated portions provides for manufacturing flexibility of the conductive layers 226,228, mounting flexibility of the conductive layers 226,228, and/or reduced mounting footprint, and/or provides for a greater contact area between the conductive layers 226,228 and portions of the PDU 102 (e.g., fuses, controllers, contactors, or other devices within the PDU 102) where thermal and/or electrical contact between the conductive layers 226,228 and other devices is desired. The example conductive layers 226,228 are depicted as being associated with fuses, but the conductive layers 226,228 may additionally or alternatively be associated with the controller 214 (e.g., a power coupler, communication within or outside the PDU 102, a coupler to an actuator, a coupler to a sensor, and/or a thermal coupler) the contacts 216,218, and/or any other device within the PDU 102.

Referring to fig. 4, an exemplary system 400 is a mobile application, such as a vehicle. The exemplary system 400 includes a high voltage battery 104 electrically coupled to a high voltage load 106 through a PDU 102. In the exemplary system 400, an auxiliary prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine 402 (with associated conversion electronics, such as a generator, motor generator, and/or inverter) is additionally coupled to PDU 102. It should be appreciated that the high voltage battery 104 and/or the auxiliary prime mover 402 may act as a power source or load during certain operating conditions of the system 400, and that additionally the high voltage load 106 (e.g., an electric motor or motor generator coupled to the wheels) may act as a load or power source during certain operating conditions. The descriptions herein of load 106 and power source 104 are non-limiting, and reference is made only to nominal operation, normal operation, and/or operating conditions selected for conceptual description, even if load 106 and/or power source 104 are operated frequently, generally, or throughout in modes other than the names. For example, the high voltage battery 104 may operate as a power source during power operations that draw net energy from the battery, and/or as a load during charging operations, power operations that charge the battery with wheels or auxiliary prime movers, and the like.

The exemplary system 400 also includes a powertrain controller 404 that controls operation of the powertrain system, which may be associated with and/or be part of another component in the system 400 (e.g., a vehicle controller, a battery controller, a motor or motor generator controller, and/or an engine controller). The exemplary system 400 also includes a charger 406 coupled to the high voltage battery 404 through the PDU 102 and a low voltage load ("12V auto load" in the example of fig. 4) representing auxiliary and accessory loads in the system 400. Those skilled in the art recognize system 400 as a series hybrid system including a vehicle, for example, wherein an auxiliary power source (e.g., an internal combustion engine) interacts only with the electrical system to recharge the battery and/or to provide additional real-time power during operation, but not mechanically with the drive wheels. Additionally or alternatively, the system may include a parallel hybrid system, wherein the auxiliary power source may mechanically interact with the drive wheel, and/or interact with the electrical system (with either or both). Additionally or alternatively, the system may be a purely electric system, wherein no auxiliary power source is present, and/or wherein an auxiliary power source is present, but the auxiliary power source does not interact with the high voltage/power supply system (e.g., an alternative power supply unit driving accessories, refrigeration systems, etc., whose power may be delivered through PDU 102, but separate from the power supply electrical system). In certain embodiments, power systems such as vehicles experience high transient load cycles, for example, during acceleration, deceleration, time-to-time stop traffic, emergency operation, etc., and thus power management in such systems is complex, and certain devices such as fuses may be susceptible to high transient load cycles. Additionally or alternatively, loss of operation of the vehicle may result in costs of system downtime, lost or untimely delivery of cargo, and/or significant operational risks from failure (e.g., operator and/or vehicle hold-up, loss of operation in traffic, loss of operation on the express way, etc.). In certain embodiments, other systems, which may be hybrid and/or purely electric, additionally or alternatively are subject to a highly variable duty cycle and/or specific vulnerability to operational disruption, such as, but not limited to, pumping operations, process operations of larger processes (e.g., chemical, refining, drilling, etc.), power generation operations, mining operations, and the like. System failures of these operations and others may involve external effects, such as losses associated with process failures that exceed the downtime of a particular system, and/or the downtime of such systems may incur significant costs.

Referring to fig. 5, an exemplary system is depicted as including a PDU 102. The example PDU 102 has multiple auxiliary power connections (e.g., charging, power steering, vehicle accessories, and load loops for current detection in this example) and a main power/traction power connection. The exemplary system 500 includes two high voltage contactors, one at each of the high and low ends of the battery, wherein in this example, the two high voltage contactors may be controlled by a system control board, but may additionally or alternatively be manual (e.g., a switch accessible by an operator). The system control board may additionally control a main breaker that may disconnect all power sources passing through the PDU 102. The system 500 also depicts a power fuse bypass 502 that is controllable by the system control board and supports certain operations of the present disclosure as described throughout. The system 500 depicts a power fuse bypass 502, but may additionally or alternatively include one or more of the auxiliary fuses, any subset of the auxiliary fuses, and/or an auxiliary bypass of all the auxiliary fuses together. The exemplary system 500 includes optional coolant supply and return couplers. The battery coupling in system 500 depicts a 230V to 400V battery coupling, but the high voltage coupling may be any value. The system control board is depicted as communicatively coupled to a 12V CAN network, but the communicative coupling of the system control board with surrounding applications or systems may be any network, multiple networks (e.g., vehicle, engine, power system, private, public, OBD, etc.) as understood in the art, and/or may be or include a wireless network connection.

Referring to fig. 6, an exemplary apparatus 1300 is depicted that may comprise all or a portion of a PDU 102. Any description herein that refers to interaction between the master fuse 222 and the lamination layer 226/228 additionally or alternatively contemplates interaction between any fuse and/or connector in the apparatus 1300 and/or any other component of the PDU 102 as throughout this disclosure. The example apparatus 1300 includes contactors 216/218, which may be high voltage contactors, and/or may be associated with various ones of the fuses 222,224 in the apparatus 1300. The device 1300 includes laminate layers 226/228 that may include conductive layers of certain aspects of the conductive circuitry in the device 1300. The laminate layers 226/228 may additionally or alternatively provide rigidity and/or structural support to the various components in the device 1300. The lamination layer 226/228 may be configured to interact with any component in a manner desired to support the functionality (including structural, heat transfer, and/or conductive functions) of the lamination layer 226/228. The exemplary laminate layer 226/228 interacts with all of the contacts and fuses in the device 1300, but the laminate layer 226/228 may be readily configured to interact with selected ones of the contacts and/or fuses and/or with other components in the device, for example, in a manner similar to a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design. The example apparatus 1300 is positioned on an L-shaped stand, which may be a final configuration and/or may be a test configuration. In certain embodiments, the apparatus 1300 is enclosed in a dedicated housing, and/or enclosed in a housing (such as a battery housing) of another device in the system 100. In certain embodiments, the device 1300 includes removable housing portions (e.g., top, cover, etc.) for repair and/or maintenance access to components of the device. The example apparatus 1300 includes a connector 1302, for example, to provide power, data link access, connection to the power source 104, connection to the load 106, connection to a sensor (not shown), and/or any other type of connection to the system 100 or other component.

Referring to fig. 7, an alternative view of an apparatus 1300 is depicted. The apparatus 1300 depicted in fig. 7 illustrates, for an exemplary embodiment, the physical interaction between the master fuse 222 and the laminate layers 226/228. Referring to FIG. 8, a more detailed view of the interaction between the main fuse 222 and the lamination layers 226/228 is depicted for an exemplary embodiment. In the example of fig. 8, it can be seen that the main fuse 222 includes a relatively large thermal contact area with the lamination layer 226/228 on the underside of the fuse, and a relatively small thermal contact area (e.g., by the mounting component) with the lamination layer 226/228 on the mounting side. The thermal contact area between the main fuse 222 and the lamination layer 226/228 is optional, and in some embodiments, the mounting or open side of the main fuse 222 includes a larger thermal contact area and/or the bottom side includes a large thermal contact area or is not in substantial thermal contact with the lamination layer 226/228.

Referring to FIG. 9, a detail view of a side cross section of the laminate layer 226/228 is depicted. The laminate layers 226/228 in this example include an outer structural layer 1402 and an opposing outer structural layer (not numbered) with a gap space 1404 between the outer structural layers. In certain embodiments, conductive flow paths and/or thermal flow paths are provided in interstitial spaces 1404 between the structural layers. It should be appreciated that the use of two outer structural layers 1402 provides certain mechanical advantages, including increased durability to impacts and light bumps, sagging of the layers, and bending or flexing of the PDU 102. Additionally or alternatively, the use of two outer structural layers 1402 provides improved mechanical moment for certain types of stresses. Thus, in certain embodiments, the interstitial space 1404 is empty (e.g., it forms a gap) and/or negligible (e.g., the outer layers are clamped together directly, at least in some portions of the PDU 102), although an improved design is still achieved. In certain embodiments, the interstitial spaces 1404 include thermally conductive members (e.g., high thermal conductivity paths at selected locations), electrically conductive members (e.g., high electrical conductivity paths at selected locations), active and/or convective thermal paths (e.g., coolant or other convective thermal material flowing through selected paths in the interstitial spaces 1404), insulating materials (e.g., to conduct current or heat flow, and/or to electrically and/or thermally separate components or layers), and/or dielectric materials (e.g., to improve electrical isolation of components and/or layers).

Referring to fig. 10, a top view of an exemplary apparatus 1300 is depicted. The laminate layers 226/228 are distributed throughout the device 1300 to provide selectable support, thermal conductive paths, and/or electrical conductive paths to any desired components in the device. Referring to FIG. 11, a side detail view of interaction space 1408 between the lamination layers 226/228 and the main fuse 222 is depicted. The interaction space includes a thermally conductive path between the mounting point on the main fuse 222 and the laminate layer 226/228. In addition, there is a interstitial space 1404 between the layers (in this example, along the bottom and sides of the main fuse 222). Accordingly, desired heat transfer and/or electrical communication between the main fuse 222 and the gap layer 226/228 (and thus with any other selected components in the device 1300) may be provided when desired. In certain embodiments, greater thermal and/or electrical coupling between the main fuse 222 and the laminate layers 226/228 is provided, for example, by extending the laminate layers 226/228 along the housing of the main fuse 222 instead of offset from the housing, and/or by providing a thermally conductive connection (e.g., a thermal grease, silicone, and/or contact using any other thermally coupled material such as metal or other conductor) between the main fuse 222 and the laminate layers 226/228.

Referring to fig. 12, a main fuse 222 is depicted that is coupled to a laminate layer 226/228 on the underside of the main fuse 222. The example of fig. 12 depicts a thermally conductive layer 1406, such as a thermal grease, silicone pad, mounting metal material, and/or any other thermally conductive layer understood in the art, disposed between the main fuse 222 and the lamination layer 226/228. In the example of fig. 12, the increased effective thermal contact area provides greater heat transfer away from the main fuse 222 as the main fuse 222 becomes hotter than the lamination layers 226, 228. Additionally, heat may be directed away by including a thermally conductive material in the interstitial space 1404 (e.g., with reference to fig. 14), including, for example, directing heat to selected portions of the PDU housing with a conductive path, active cooling exchange systems, heating fins, and the like. In the example of fig. 12, the support layer 226/228 coupled with the fuse 222 in fig. 12 may additionally or alternatively include only a single layer (e.g., not a laminate layer, and/or the layers 226,228 have no interstitial spaces 1404), a housing of the PDU 102, and/or another component in the system 100 (such as a battery housing). In certain embodiments, thermal conductivity is enhanced in fig. 12 by lamination layers 226/228, for example by including highly conductive channels in interstitial spaces 1404, which may be improved by structural support, routing availability, and/or environmental isolation provided by lamination layers 226/228. Referring to fig. 13, fins 1502 for improved heat transfer and/or structural rigidity are depicted on the lamination layer 226/228 (which may be a lamination layer, a single layer, a housing wall, etc.), in addition to the features depicted in fig. 12. In certain embodiments, the fins are oriented such that fluid passes through the fins in a direction to enhance heat transfer (e.g., oriented to improve effective flow area and/or turbulence generation in the liquid stream, maximize effective area in the gas stream, and/or allow natural convection of fluid (such as gas rise) to cause a high effective flow area of the fins 1502). In certain embodiments, such as where the support layers 226,228 (and/or layer 226) are part of a housing, battery housing, or other device, the fins 1502 may instead be present in the ambient air, forced air flow area, or area to be contacted by any selected fluid to facilitate heat transfer to the fluid.

Convective heat transfer, as utilized herein, includes any heat transfer path, wherein convective heat transfer constitutes at least a portion of an overall heat transfer mechanism. For example, where a portion of the heat transfer is conductive (e.g., through a wall, heat sink, etc.) into the flowing fluid (where generally convective heat transfer predominates), then the heat transfer mechanism is convective and/or includes a convective portion. In certain embodiments, heat transfer using an active or passive flowing fluid includes convective heat transfer as utilized herein. Heat transfer may be predominately conductive under certain operating conditions, predominately convective under certain operating conditions, and/or comprise a mixture of contributions of conductive and convective heat transfer under certain operating conditions.

Referring to fig. 14, in addition to the features depicted in fig. 12, a fluid flow 1602 through the interstitial space 1404 is provided that, in certain embodiments, enhances the heat flow from the main fuse 222 to the laminate layers 226/228. Fluid flow 1602 may be a coolant (e.g., vehicle, engine, battery and/or transmission coolant, or other coolant sources available in the system), and/or may be a dedicated coolant, such as a closed system of PDU 102 and/or power supply 104. In certain embodiments, fluid stream 1602 includes a gas (e.g., air, compressed air, etc.). In certain embodiments, coolant flow may be active (e.g., from a pressurized source through a valve, and/or pumped) or passive (e.g., configured to occur during normal operation without further control or input).

Referring to fig. 15, the main fuse 222 is depicted as having enhanced thermal communication with the lamination layers 226,228 (which may be laminated, single layer, housing, etc.). In this example, enhanced thermal conductivity is provided by the thermally coupled layer 1406, but may alternatively or additionally include positioning the layers 226,228 proximate to the main fuse 222 and/or providing another highly conductive path (e.g., metal, etc.) to selected locations of the layers 226,228 and/or the thermally coupled layer 1406. The embodiment of fig. 15 provides additional heat transfer capability of a main fuse 222 similar to that depicted in fig. 12, and the embodiments of fig. 12, 13, 14 and 15 may be fully or partially combined.

Referring to FIG. 16, a high conductivity thermal path 1702 is depicted that moves heat out of the laminate layer 226/228. The high conductivity thermal path 1702 may be combined with any other embodiment described throughout this disclosure to control heat flow in a desired manner. In certain embodiments, the high conductivity thermal path 1702 is thermally coupled to another portion of the laminate layers 226,228, to the housing, to the monolayer, or to any other desired component in the PDU 102 or within thermal communication of the PDU 102 at 1706. The portion of fig. 16 that receives transferred heat may additionally or alternatively be coupled to active or passive heat transfer components, including fins or other heat transfer enhancing aspects, and/or may be thermally coupled to convective heat transfer components or fluids.

Referring to FIG. 17, fluid flow 1602 moves away from the portion of laminate layer 226/228 that is in direct thermal contact with main fuse 222. This example includes fluid flow 1602 under the main fuse 222 and the main fuse 222 thermally coupled to the laminate layer 226/228 on the side of the fuse, but the fluid flow 1602 may be located on either or both sides of the main fuse 222 and the main fuse 222 thermally coupled to the other side and/or bottom of the main fuse 222, as well as combinations of any of the foregoing. The descriptions of fig. 12-17 are described in the context of master fuse 222, but embodiments herein are applicable to any one or more selected components of PDU 102, including, but not limited to, any fuses, connectors, and/or controllers positioned within PDU 102.

Referring to fig. 18, an exemplary system includes a PDU 102 positioned within a battery pack enclosure or housing, wherein a battery cell (e.g., power supply 104) is thermally coupled to a heating/cooling system 1802 present in the system. Additionally or alternatively, the PDU 102 may be thermally coupled to the battery cell 104, e.g., with a conductive path, at a housing interface, etc., and/or the PDU 102 may be thermally isolated from the battery cell 104 and/or in nominal thermal communication with only the battery cell 104 (e.g., an arrangement in which some heat transfer therebetween is expected, but no intentional design elements for increasing heat transfer between the PDU 102 and the battery cell 104). Referring to fig. 19, an example system includes a PDU 102 in a coolant loop of a heat transfer system 1802, for example, wherein thermal coupling aspects are provided to transfer heat from the PDU 102 to the coolant loop, and/or the coolant loop includes a flow branch in thermal contact with the PDU 102. The example in fig. 19 depicts a tandem coolant arrangement between the battery cells 104 and the PDU 102, but any arrangement is contemplated herein, including at least a parallel arrangement, a tandem arrangement that first contacts the PDU 102, and/or a hybrid arrangement (e.g., first contacts a portion of one of the battery cells 104 and the PDU 102, then contacts all or a portion of the other, etc.).

An exemplary procedure includes an operation to provide active and/or passive cooling to temperature sensitive components on the PDU 102. The example process also includes cooling the temperature sensitive component sufficiently to extend the life of the component to a designed service life, a predetermined maintenance interval, the life of the PDU 102 and/or battery pack, and/or a predetermined maintenance interval, and/or lowering the temperature of the fuse to avoid thermal/mechanical damage to the fuse, a "nuisance failure" of the fuse (e.g., a fuse failure that does not occur due to the design protection mechanism of the fuse, such as over-current operation).

In certain embodiments, fuse design introduces complexity to the system, for example, it may be desirable for the fuse to have a fuse threshold that is engaged between about 135% and 300% of the system over-current threshold. However, fuses on the smaller end of the scale may fail over the life of the system due to thermal and/or mechanical fatigue, resulting in "nuisance failures" or fuse failures that are not caused by the protective function of the fuse. Such failures result in high costs, downtime, perceived degradation of products embodying the system, potentially dangerous situations or retention due to power loss, and the like. Designing larger fuses to avoid nuisance failures can introduce increased risk of over-current events to external systems and/or significant costs required to upgrade the rest of the power system. In addition, designing a system that is suitable for multiple maximum power availability (e.g., one power supply system that is suitable for two different power ratings) requires changing or designing the fuse plan to accommodate the multiple systems. In certain implementations, the same hardware may be used for different power ratings, and/or changed after the system is in operation, providing non-nominal fuse specifications for at least one of the multiple power ratings.

With reference to fig. 20, an exemplary apparatus 1900 for providing additional protection against fuse nuisance faults and system failures is described. The example apparatus 1900 implemented on the controller 214, for example, includes a current event determination circuit 1902 that determines that a current event 1904 is valid or predicted to occur, wherein the current event includes a component experiencing (or about to experience) a wear event, such as a current value that would cause thermal and/or mechanical stress on the component but may not cause immediate failure or observable damage. Exemplary components include fuses, but may be any other component in the system, including battery cells, switches or connectors, motors, and the like. Another exemplary current event includes a system failure value, such as a current value that would likely or would be expected to cause a system failure (e.g., cable failure, connector failure, etc.).

The apparatus 1900 also includes a response determination circuit 1906 that determines a system response value 1910 to the current event 1904. Exemplary and non-limiting responses include notifying an operator to reduce power, reducing power, notifying the system controller that a current event 1904 is present or imminent, opening a contactor on a circuit associated with the event, delaying circuit protection, monitoring the event and the cause of response delay and response at a later time, and/or scheduling the response according to operating conditions in the system. The apparatus 1900 also includes a response implementation circuit 1908, wherein the response implementation circuit 1908 determines a communication and/or actuator response from the system response value 1910 and provides a network communication 1912 and/or actuator command 1914 to implement the system response value 1910. Exemplary and non-limiting actuator responses include operating contactors, operating active coolant actuators to modulate heat conduction away from fuses, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 21, exemplary data 2000 for implementing a system response value 1910 is depicted. The exemplary data 2000 includes a threshold 2002, such as a current, temperature, index parameter, or other value at which component wear and/or system failure is expected to occur, and the current event determination circuit 1902 uses this value as a threshold, at least under certain operating conditions at some point in time of the system. It should be appreciated that the current event determination circuit 1902 may utilize multiple thresholds and/or dynamic thresholds, as described throughout this disclosure. Curve 2004 represents nominal system performance, such as current, temperature, index parameters, etc., that the system would experience in the absence of operation of device 1900. In this example, the response determination circuit 1906 determines that the threshold 2002 is to be crossed and considers the contactor disconnect time 2008 (and/or active coolant loop response time) to command the contactor in time and/or increase thermal conduction away from the fuse to avoid crossing the threshold 2002. The exemplary data 2000 depicts a resulting system response curve 2006 in which the resulting system performance is maintained below a threshold 2002. The system may experience an alternate response trajectory (e.g., depending on the dynamics of the system, the time the contactor remains open, etc., the resulting system response curve 2006 may be well below the threshold 2002). Additionally or alternatively, however, the response determination circuit 1906 may determine that the permission threshold 2002 is crossed, e.g., according to any of the operations described throughout this disclosure. In certain implementations, the response determination circuit 1906 allows the threshold 2002 to be crossed, but produces a lower peak in response and/or a lower area under the response curve above the threshold 2002 than would occur without operation of the response determination circuit 1906.

Exemplary routines, which may be executed by an apparatus such as apparatus 1900, include operations to determine that a current event (or other responsive event) exceeds or is predicted to exceed a wear threshold and/or to determine that a current event exceeds or is predicted to exceed a system failure value. In response to determining that the current event exceeds or is predicted to exceed any value, the program includes an operation to perform a mitigation action. The components for the wear threshold may be fuses (e.g., fuses experience or are expected to experience high-usage current events that would cause mechanical stress, thermal stress, or fuse life), components in the system (e.g., contactors, cables, switches, battery cells, etc.), and/or nominally determined defined thresholds (e.g., calibration of values expected to be associated with possible component damage and not necessarily bound to a particular component). In certain embodiments, the wear threshold and/or system failure value should compensate for the aging or wear state of the system or components in the system (e.g., decrease the threshold and/or increase the response as the system ages).

Non-limiting mitigation actions (which may be system response values 1910) include, but are not limited to: 1) Disconnecting a circuit having a worn component (e.g., a fuse, a system component, and/or a particular power line that experienced the event); 2) Notifying an operator to reduce the power demand; 3) Notifying a vehicle or powertrain controller of the current event; 4) Adjusting or limiting the power available to the operator; 5) Delaying circuit protection (disconnection and/or power reduction) in response to a condition (e.g., in traffic, vehicle movement, application type, notification by an operator that operation needs to continue, etc.), including allowing components in the system to experience potential wear events and/or failure events; 6) If the event persists and if the subsequent conditions allow, continuing to monitor the circuit and disconnect the circuit (or reduce power, etc.); 7) Scheduling the response according to an operational mode of the system (e.g., sports, energy saving, emergency, fleet operator (and/or policy), owner/operator (and/or policy), geographic policy, and/or regulatory policy); and/or 8) bypass the wear component (e.g., cause current to bypass the fuse in response).

In certain embodiments, the operation of determining that the current event exceeds the wear threshold and/or the system failure value is based on calculations such as: 1) Determining that the current flowing through the circuit exceeds a threshold (e.g., amperage); 2) Determining that a rate of change of current flowing through the circuit exceeds a threshold (e.g., an amp/second value); and/or 3) determining that the indicator parameter exceeds a threshold (e.g., the indicator includes accumulated amp-seconds; ampere/second-second; a count index of periods above a threshold or more than one threshold; a count index weighted with the instantaneous current value; integrating current, heat transfer, and/or power values; and/or count down or reset these values based on current operating conditions).

In certain embodiments, the operation of determining that the current event exceeds the wear threshold and/or the system failure value comprises or is adjusted based on one or more of: 1) A jump curve (e.g., a power-time or current-time trace, and/or an operational curve on a dataset or table, such as represented in fig. 3); 2) A fuse temperature model comprising a first or second derivative of temperature, and one or more temperature thresholds of a programmed and/or progressive response; 3) Measured battery voltage (e.g., current values may be higher as battery voltage decreases, and/or dynamic response of current may change, thereby causing changes in wear threshold, system failure values, and/or current event determinations); 4) First derivatives of current, temperature, power demand and/or index parameters; 5) Second derivatives of current, temperature, power demand and/or index parameters; 6) Information from the battery management system (e.g., voltage, current, state of charge, state of health, rate of change of any of these values, which may affect the current value, the expected current value, and/or the dynamic response of the current value, thereby causing a change in the wear threshold, the system failure value, and/or the current event determination); 7) Determining and monitoring a contactor disconnection time, taking the contactor disconnection time into account when determining a response to a current event; 8) Using auxiliary system information and adjusting the response (e.g., power demand from expected impending changes in operation, auxiliary restraint system activates/deploys-disconnects contactors (cuts off power); the collision avoidance system activation-keeps the contactors closed to achieve maximum system control; and/or antilock braking systems and/or traction control system activation-maintaining contactors closed to achieve maximum system control). In some embodiments, the degree of activation may also be considered, and/or the system status may be communicated to the PDU, e.g., the system may report a critical operation requiring power to be maintained for as long as possible, or a shutdown operation requiring power to be turned off as soon as possible, etc.

Referring to fig. 22, an exemplary apparatus 600 for measuring current flowing through a fuse using active current injection is schematically depicted. The apparatus 600 includes a controller 214 having a plurality of circuits configured to functionally execute the operations of the controller 214. The controller 214 includes an injection control circuit 602 that provides an injection command 604, wherein the current source 220 is responsive to the injection command 604. The controller 214 also includes injection configuration circuitry 606 that selects frequency, amplitude, and/or waveform characteristics (injection characteristics 608) for the injection command 604. The controller 214 also includes a duty cycle description circuit 610 that determines a duty cycle 612 of the system including the controller 214, where the duty cycle includes a description of the current and voltage experienced by the fuse. In certain embodiments, the duty cycle description circuit 612 further updates the duty cycle 612, for example, by observing the duty cycle over time, over a number of hops, over a number of operating hours, and/or over a number of driving miles. In some embodiments, the duty cycle description circuit 612 provides the duty cycles in the form of an aggregate duty cycle (such as a filtered duty cycle, an average duty cycle, a weighted average duty cycle, a sorted-bucket duty cycle with an operating region number quantitative description, etc.), and selects or mixes one calibration from the plurality of calibrations 614, each calibration corresponding to a defined duty cycle.

An exemplary procedure for determining the fuse current throughput is described below. In certain embodiments, one or more aspects of the procedure may be performed by the apparatus 600. The program includes the operations of injecting a current having selected frequency, amplitude and/or waveform characteristics through the fuse into the circuit, and estimating a fuse resistance (including dynamic resistance and/or impedance) in response to the measured injected AC voltage and injected current. In certain embodiments, the selected frequency, amplitude, and/or waveform characteristics are selected to provide acceptable, improved, or optimized measurements of fuse resistance. For example, the basic supply current flowing through the fuse to support operation of the application has a particular amplitude and frequency characteristics (where the frequency includes the supply frequency (if AC) and the long-term variability of the amplitude (if AC or DC)). The injection current may have a frequency and/or amplitude selected to allow acceptable detection of fuse resistance based on the base supply current characteristics and also selected to avoid interfering with the operation of the application. For example, if the base supply current is high, a higher magnitude of the injection current may be indicated, both to support measurement of the injection AC voltage, and because the base supply current will allow for a higher injection current without interfering with the operation of the system. In another example, the frequency may be selected to be faster than the current variability due to operation, without affecting the resonant frequency or frequencies, etc., of components in the system.

An exemplary procedure includes storing a plurality of calibration values corresponding to various duty cycles of the system (e.g., current-voltage trajectories experienced by the system, time windows of a binning ordering of current-voltage values, etc.), determining the duty cycle of the system, and selecting a calibration value from among the calibration values in response to the determined duty cycle. The calibration value corresponds to a current injection setting of the current injection source and/or a filtered value of the digital filter to measure the fuse voltage and/or the fuse current value. In some embodiments, the duty cycle may be tracked during operation and updated in real time or upon shutdown. In some embodiments, an aggregate duty cycle description is stored, which is updated by the observed data. Exemplary aggregate duty cycles include a moving average of observed duty cycles (e.g., duty cycles defined as transitions, power-on to power-off cycles, operating time periods, and/or distance travelled), a filtered average of duty cycles (e.g., with a filter constant selected to provide a desired response to a change, such as within one transition, five transitions, 30 transitions, one day, one week, one month, etc.). In some implementations, the duty cycle update is performed as a weighted average (e.g., longer hops, higher confidence determinations, and/or operator selections or inputs may be weighted more heavily in determining the duty cycle).

The response indicates a period until the system is substantially active based on the varying duty cycle information, e.g., where calibration a is used for the first duty cycle and calibration B is used for the varying duty cycle, the system may be considered to have responded to the variation when 60% of calibration B is utilized, 90% of calibration B is utilized, 96% of calibration B is utilized, and/or when the system has switched to calibration B. The utilization of multiple calibrations may be continuous or discrete, and certain aspects of these calibrations individually may be continuous or discrete. For example, in the case of selection of calibration a, a particular amplitude (or trace of amplitude), frequency (or trace of frequency), and/or waveform (or number of waveforms) may be utilized, and in the case of selection of calibration B, a different set of amplitude, frequency, and/or waveform may be utilized. In the case where the duty cycle is positioned between a and B, and/or in the case where the duty cycle response is moved between a and B, the system may utilize a mix of a and B duty cycles and/or switch between a and B duty cycles. In another example, switching between the a and B duty cycles may occur in a hybrid manner, e.g., with the current response at 80% of B, then calibration B may be utilized 80% of the time and calibration a may be utilized 20% of the time. In certain embodiments, the calibration may be switched abruptly at a certain threshold (e.g., at a 70% response towards a new calibration), which may include hysteresis (e.g., switching to calibration B at 80% of the distance between calibration a and B, but switching back only when at 40% of the distance between calibration a and B). In certain embodiments, certain aspects (e.g., amplitude) may be continuously moved between calibrations, with other aspects (e.g., waveforms) utilizing only one calibration or the other. In some embodiments, an indicator of quality feedback may be utilized to adjust the calibration response (e.g., where the indicated fuse resistance appears to be determined with greater certainty during movement toward calibration B, the system moves the response toward calibration B faster than other calibrations, which may include utilizing more calibrations B than indicated by the current aggregate duty cycle and/or adjusting the aggregate duty cycle to reflect a greater confidence that the duty cycle will be maintained).

Exemplary amplitude selections include peak amplitude of the injected current, adjustments from the baseline (e.g., rate of increase above rate of decrease, or vice versa), and/or shape of the amplitude generation (e.g., which may be supplemented or incorporated within the waveform selection). Additionally or alternatively, the magnitude of a given calibration may be adjusted throughout a particular current injection event, for example to provide observations at multiple magnitudes within the current injection event. Exemplary frequency selection includes adjusting the frequency of the period of the current injection event, and may also include testing at a plurality of discrete frequencies, sweeping the frequency through one or more selected ranges, and combinations of these. Exemplary waveform selections include those that elicit a desired response, achieve greater robustness to system noise (e.g., base current, variability of inductance and/or capacitance of components in the system, etc.), enhance the ability of current injection detection to isolate injection current from load current, and/or may include utilizing multiple waveforms in a given calibration to provide multiple different tests. In some embodiments, where multiple amplitudes, frequencies, and/or waveforms are utilized, the injected AC voltage (and corresponding fuse resistance) may be determined by averaging the measured parameters, by using higher confidence measurements, and/or by eliminating outlier measurements from the injected AC voltage determination.

In accordance with the present description, operations are described that provide for high confidence determination of fuse resistance values in PDU 102. In certain embodiments, a high confidence determination of fuse resistance may be utilized to determine fuse conditions, provide high accuracy or high precision determination of current flow through the fuses and power consumption of system 100, and/or perform system diagnostics, fault management, circuit management, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 23, an exemplary apparatus 700 for determining zero offset voltage and/or diagnosing system components is schematically depicted. The example apparatus 700 includes a controller 214 having a fuse load circuit 702 that determines that the fuse load 704 does not require current. The example apparatus 700 also includes a zero offset voltage determination circuit 706 that determines a zero offset voltage 708 in response to the fuse load 704 indicating that no current is required. The example apparatus 700 also includes a component diagnostic circuit 710 that determines whether the component is degraded, failed, and/or in a fault or non-nominal condition in response to the zero offset voltage 708, and that determines fault information 716 (e.g., a fault counter, a fault value, and/or component-specific information) in response to determining whether the component is degraded, failed, and/or in a fault or non-nominal condition. The operation of the component diagnostic circuitry 710 includes comparing the zero offset nominal voltage 708 to a zero offset voltage threshold 712 and/or performing operations to determine which component caused the non-nominal zero offset voltage 708. The example apparatus 700 also includes a zero offset data management circuit 714 that stores the zero offset voltage 708, and/or any diagnostic or fault information 706, such as a fault counter, fault value, and/or an indication of which component caused the non-nominal zero offset voltage 708. In certain implementations, where the contributions of certain components to the zero offset voltage 708 are separately determined, the example zero offset data management circuit 714 separately stores the independent contributions of the zero offset voltage 708. In some embodiments, the use of the zero offset voltage 708 improves the accuracy of determining the fuse resistance from the injection current.

An exemplary procedure for determining the zero offset voltage of a fuse current measurement system is described below. The exemplary program may be executed by a system component, such as apparatus 700. Zero offset voltage occurs in the controller 214 due to independent offset of the operational amplifier and other solid state components in the controller 214, as well as due to inter-part variations, temperature drift, and degradation of one or more components in the system over time. The presence of the zero offset voltage limits the accuracy with which the measurement of the current flowing through the fuse can be obtained, and thus limits the types of control and diagnostics that can be performed in the system.

An exemplary procedure includes an operation to determine that a fuse load does not require current. Exemplary operations to determine that the fuse load does not require current include a recent turn-on or turn-off event of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle start, power down, in an accessory position, and/or not yet engaging power to a fuse of interest), an observation of the fuse circuit, and/or a status observation provided by another controller in the system (e.g., a power system controller explicitly indicates unpowered, indicates a status inconsistent with powered, etc.). The example operations determine that the fuse does not require current during a shutdown event and/or for a period of time after a turn-on event.

The example program also includes an operation to determine a zero offset voltage in response to determining that the fuse load does not require current, and an operation to store the zero offset voltage. In certain embodiments, the stored zero offset voltage is stored in a non-volatile memory, for example, for subsequent operation of the system. In certain implementations, the zero offset voltage is stored in volatile memory and used for current operation cycles. The stored zero offset voltage may be replaced when a new value is determined for the zero offset voltage and/or updated in a scheduled manner (e.g., by averaging or filtering among the updated values, by maintaining the new value for subsequent confirmation prior to application, etc.).

The example program also includes diagnosing a component of the system in response to the zero offset voltage. For example, as the zero offset voltage increases over time, degradation of the controller 214 may be indicated, and a fault (visible or available service) may be provided to indicate that the controller 214 is not operating nominally or failing. Additionally or alternatively, a contactor (e.g., the main contactor 216) may be diagnosed in response to the zero offset voltage. In certain embodiments, further operations (such as engaging another contactor on the same line as the diagnosed contactor) may be utilized to confirm which component of the system is degraded or failed. In certain embodiments, the controller 214 may power down one or more components within the controller 214 to confirm that these controller 214 components cause an offset voltage. In certain embodiments, the procedure includes determining the independent contribution of the component to the offset voltage, for example by separating the controller 214 contribution from the contactor contribution. In response to the offset voltage being above the threshold and/or to confirm which component of the system caused the off-nominal offset voltage, the controller 214 may increment the fault value, set the fault value, and/or set the maintenance or diagnostic value. In some embodiments, the zero offset voltage and/or any fault value may be provided to the system, to the network, and/or to another controller on the network.

In accordance with the present description, operations are described for providing a nominal offset voltage for high confidence determination of fuse current and fuse resistance values in PDU 102. In certain embodiments, a high confidence determination of fuse resistance may be utilized to determine fuse conditions, provide high accuracy or high precision determination of current flow through the fuses and power consumption of system 100, and/or perform system diagnostics, fault management, circuit management, and the like.

Referring to fig. 24, an exemplary apparatus 800 for providing digital filtering of a current measurement flowing through a fuse circuit is schematically depicted. In some embodiments, where current is injected through the fuse, the measurement of the primary power current and the injected AC current through the fuse is decoupled using a low pass filter (pulling the primary power signal) and a high pass filter (pulling the injected current signal). Previously known systems utilize an analog filter system that is constructed, for example, from capacitors, resistors, and/or inductive devices and provides for selected filtering of the signal, thereby providing separate primary power supply signals and injection current signals. However, analog filter systems suffer from a number of drawbacks. First, the simulation system is not configurable, is configurable for only a discrete number of pre-consideration options, and/or is expensive to implement. Thus, a broad range of base power supply signals and injection AC current signals are generally not available for high accuracy determination of fuse current using analog filter systems. In addition, the analog filter system has a phase variance between the low-pass filter and the high-pass filter and/or between the filtered output and the injected current signal. Thus, less accurate post-processing and/or acceptance of the signal is required and the accuracy of the measured current is reduced even if post-processing is taken. Furthermore, if some component of the system has a fundamental frequency or harmonic of the interference filter, the analog filter is unable to respond and does not provide a reliable measurement. Since the frequency dynamics of the system may change over time, for example, due to component degradation, being serviced or replaced, and/or due to environmental or duty cycle drive variations, even careful system design may not fully address the inability of the analog filter to cope with interference from frequency dynamics in the system. The example apparatus 800 includes a high pass digital filter circuit 802 that determines an injection current value 804 of the fuse circuit by providing a high pass filter operation on a measured fuse current 814 and a low pass digital filter circuit 806 that determines a base supply current value 808 of the fuse circuit by providing a low pass filter operation on the measured fuse current. The example apparatus 800 also includes a filter adjustment circuit 812 that interprets the duty cycle 612 and/or injection characteristics 608 and adjusts the filtering and/or injection characteristics 608 of the high-pass digital filter circuit 802, for example, by providing filter adjustments 816, such as providing different cut-off frequencies to ensure that the signals are separated, raising or lowering the cut-off frequencies to ensure that descriptive energy portions of the signals are captured, and/or manipulating the filter to avoid frequencies or harmonics in the system. While the exemplary embodiment of fig. 24 utilizes digital filters, in certain embodiments, the available controller processing resources and/or the time response of digital filtering may enable certain systems to utilize analog filters and/or a combination of analog and digital filters.

An exemplary procedure includes the operation of providing a digital filter in the PDU 102 to determine a base power and injection current value from a measured current value through the fuse. The example program further includes an operation of determining a base power by performing a low pass filter operation on the measured current value and determining an injection current value by performing a high pass filter operation on the measured current value. The example program also includes operations to adjust parameters of the low-pass filter and/or the high-pass filter in response to a duty cycle of a system including the PDU 102 (including, for example, power, voltage, and/or current values through the fuse) and/or in response to an injection characteristic of an injection current flowing through the fuse. Exemplary procedures include adjusting these parameters to improve separation of base power and/or injection current values, to improve accuracy in determining the amount of injected current, to adapt to frequencies and/or harmonics of components in the system that are in electrical communication with the fuses, and/or to respond to system or ambient noise affecting one or both of the high pass filter and the low pass filter.

According to the present specification, operations are provided to implement a digital filter to deconvolute voltage characteristics and current measurements through a fuse. Digital filtering allows the system to provide a high confidence determination of the fuse current and fuse resistance values in the PDU 102. In certain embodiments, a high confidence determination of fuse resistance may be utilized to determine fuse conditions, provide high accuracy or high precision determination of current flow through the fuses and power consumption of system 100, and/or perform system diagnostics, fault management, circuit management, and the like.

Fuses for high transient load applications and/or high duty cycle variability applications (such as, but not limited to, electrical systems for mobile applications and vehicles) face a number of challenges. The load change may vary substantially throughout all operations, including high positive current operation and high negative current operation that are typically experienced simultaneously for a short period of time (e.g., acceleration and regenerative braking cycles in stop-and-go traffic; high load operation with significant regeneration on the other side down an uphill slope, etc.). In addition, current transients and commutations can produce significant inrush currents experienced by the fuse. The fuse is designed to fail at a protection current value that is intended to correspond to the fuse temperature value. Since they are designed to fail at a value relatively close to the maximum current demand, they are one of the most delicate physical components in the system, both electrically and physically. Subcritical current values and current transients may subject the fuse to thermal and mechanical stresses caused by both the temperature and temperature transients experienced. Fuses subject to significant subcritical cycling may fail in any of the following ways: even if the designed failure current has not been exceeded, it melts or breaks due to mechanical stress. Mobile applications as discussed throughout this disclosure experience particularly high costs and risks when mission critical components such as fuses fail (e.g., vehicles typically do not have a power source available when a primary power fuse fails). In addition, mobile applications are subjected to high transient loads through the power supply system.

Referring to fig. 25, an exemplary fuse circuit 2100 is depicted that may be present on PDU 102. The example fuse circuit 2100 may be associated with a primary fuse, a secondary fuse, and/or a group of fuses or a subset of groups of fuses. The fuse circuit 2100 includes a contactor (C1) connected in parallel with a fuse (F1). During normal operation, the contactor is opened and current in the fuse circuit 2100 flows through the fuse. In certain embodiments, the contactor may include a physical component (e.g., a solenoid and/or coil based switch or relay), and/or the contactor may be a solid state relay. In certain embodiments, the contactor may be normally open (e.g., an applied power source closes the contactor) or normally closed (e.g., an applied power source opens the contactor). The example fuse circuit 2100 allows a contactor to selectively bypass the fuse circuit, for example, according to the operation of the apparatus 1900 (see fig. 20 and corresponding disclosure).

Referring to fig. 26, another embodiment of a fuse circuit 2200 is disclosed in which a contactor (C1) is connected in series with a second fuse (F2) and the C1-F2 branch is connected in parallel with the first fuse F1. The fuse circuit 2200 provides additional flexibility and a number of additional features for operation of the device 1900. For example, normal operation may be performed when the contactor is closed, thereby shunting current between F1 and F2 (at the resistance ratio of the two fuses). One example includes a fuse F2 having a low current threshold that is set such that the diverted current will disable the fuse F2 when the system design current is exceeded by a designed amount (e.g., between 135% and 300% of the system design current, although any value is contemplated herein). Fuse F1 may be set to an extremely high value, allowing the contactor to open to briefly increase the blowing capacity of the circuit but still blow. Additionally or alternatively, the fuse F2 may be a relatively inexpensive and/or readily available fuse, and since at a lower current threshold, the F2 is likely to suffer greater mechanical and thermal fatigue and act as a point of failure for the fuse circuit 2200, which may greatly extend the life of the fuse F1, which may be more expensive and/or less readily available. Additionally or alternatively, normal operation may be performed when the contactor is open, wherein the fuse F1 defines a normal blow of the circuit. When a high transient or other current event occurs, the contactor closes and branches C1-F2 share the current load, thereby maintaining fuse F1 in a normal or lower wear operating condition. In certain embodiments, fuses F1 and F2 may be similarly sized, for example, to allow fuse F2 to operate as a spare fuse and to preserve similar failure conditions for both F1 and F2. Alternatively, fuse F2 may be smaller than fuse F1, allowing the alternate operation described, intermittently using the C1-F2 circuit to consume some current to protect fuse F1, and/or providing a backup blow for F1, which may be at a reduced power limit of the system if fuse F2 is smaller (e.g., as a derated mode of operation and/or a limp home mode of operation). Alternatively, fuse F2 may be larger than fuse F1, for example, to allow fuse F2 to manage extremely high transient current conditions under which operation is expected to continue. The utilization of the fuse circuit 2200 allows for a high degree of control of the fusing system to protect the power supply system during nominal operation and still provide a high degree of capability during failure modes, for non-nominal operation, and/or during transient operation. In certain embodiments, a resistor may be provided on the C1-F2 branch, for example, to control the current sharing load between F1 and F2 when contactor C1 is closed.

Referring to fig. 27, a fuse circuit 2300 includes a plurality of fuses F1, F2, F3, F4 depicted in parallel, each in series with a corresponding contactor. The exemplary fuse circuit 2300 is used to assist a fuse, but the fuse circuit 2300 may be any fuse, including a primary fuse. The example fuse circuit 2300 allows for removing fuses from operation (e.g., in the event that one of the fuses experiences a transient event), or for adding fuses (such as when a high transient event occurs to share a current load). In certain embodiments, one or more of the fuses in fuse circuit 2300 have no associated contacts and are the primary load fuses of fuse circuit 2300. The relative specifications of the fuses in the fuse circuit 2300 may depend on any selected value and will depend on the use of the fuse circuit 2300 (e.g., providing a limp home feature, providing additional capacity, acting as a backup, and/or allowing the individual fuses in the system to be cut). Additionally or alternatively, any one or more of these fuses in fuse circuit 2300 may be positioned in series with a resistor, for example, to control current load balancing. In certain embodiments, fuses F1, F2, F3, F4 are not connected in parallel and/or one or more of these fuses are not connected in parallel. Thus, opening of the contacts for such fuses does not shunt current to the other of the fuses. Exemplary embodiments include contactors for fuses that individually allow certain system capabilities to be shut down (e.g., due to failure, high transients, etc.) without shutting down all system capabilities (e.g., fuse support braking systems may remain active even in high transient events, while auxiliary fuses for non-critical systems may be cut to protect the fuses and/or systems).

Referring to fig. 28, a fuse circuit 2400 is depicted that is similar to fuse circuit 2300 except that each fuse has contacts in parallel, allowing shorting of a particular fuse while maintaining current flow in the path of the fuse. In certain embodiments, the parallel path for each fuse may include additional fuses and/or resistors such that when the fuses are connected in parallel, the load across each fuse circuit remains at least partially balanced. The embodiments of fig. 25-28 may be referred to as current protection circuits, and embodiments such as those depicted and/or described in fig. 25-28 allow for alternative configurations of current protection circuits. Selectable configurations of the current protection circuit may include run-time operations (e.g., reconfiguring the current protection circuit in response to an event or operating condition) and/or design-time operations (e.g., allowing the same hardware device to support multiple power ratings, electrical connection configurations, and/or repair events or upgrade changes).

Referring to fig. 29, exemplary data 2500 is depicted that illustrates fuse responses to a driving cycle of a vehicle. In this example, fuse current (e.g., the curve under the dashed lines for 12 and 25 units of time) and fuse temperature (e.g., the curve on the solid lines for 12 and 25 units of time) are depicted. It should be appreciated that another parameter describing fuse performance and/or limits may be utilized, including at least any of the values described in the section with reference to fig. 21. Operation of the drive cycle exhibits high transients, where in this example the fuse temperature is expected to exceed the "fuse temperature evasion limit", e.g., the temperature or temperature transient at which the fuse experiences mechanical stress. The device 1900 may consider multiple thresholds for the fuse, e.g., a light wear threshold, a heavy wear threshold, and a potential failure threshold, which may be set to different values for the fuse performance indicator (e.g., temperature) to be utilized. In certain embodiments, more than one type of threshold may be utilized, such as a threshold or set of thresholds for temperature, a second threshold or set of thresholds for temperature change over time (e.g., dT/dT), and so forth. In this example, the device 1900 may take mitigating actions at transient points, such as briefly bypassing the corresponding fuse to avoid transients and/or to control the rate of transients experienced by the fuse.

Referring to fig. 30, an exemplary system 2600 includes a power source 104 and a load 106, and a fuse (F1) is electrically disposed between the load 106 and the power source 104. The operator provides a power demand (accelerator pedal input) and the device 1900 determines that the load demand will exceed a threshold of the fuse (e.g., based on current demand above a temperature limit or some other determination), but may further determine that the transient event will not otherwise exceed a system operating condition limit. In this example, the device 1900 commands the contactor (C3) to close for a period of time before or during the transient to protect the fuse. The system 2600 depicts high-side (C1) and low-side (C3) high-voltage contactors (e.g., 216, 218 from the system 100) that are different from the fuse bypass contactor C3.

Referring to FIG. 21, exemplary data 2000 for implementing a system response value 1910 is depicted. The exemplary data 2000 includes a threshold 2002, such as a current, temperature, index parameter, or other value at which fuse wear and/or failure is expected to occur, and the current event determination circuit 1902 uses this value as a threshold, at least under certain operating conditions at some point in time of the system. It should be appreciated that the current event determination circuit 1902 may utilize multiple thresholds and/or dynamic thresholds, as described throughout this disclosure. Curve 2004 represents nominal system performance, such as current, temperature, index parameters, etc., that the fuse would experience in the absence of operation of device 1900. In this example, the response determination circuit 1906 determines that the threshold 2002 is to be crossed and considers the contactor connect/disconnect time 2008 (e.g., to bypass the fuse, engage a second fuse branch, and/or block a more fragile fuse branch), thereby timely commanding the contactor to connect or disconnect to avoid crossing the threshold 2002. Additionally or alternatively, the response determination circuit 1906 may still allow the threshold 2002 to be crossed, e.g., according to any of the operations or determinations described throughout this disclosure, such as when more critical system parameters require that the fuse remain connected and allow the fuse to experience wear and/or failure events.

In certain embodiments, the operation of determining that the current event exceeds the wear threshold and/or fuse failure value is based on calculations such as: 1) Determining that the current flowing through the fuse exceeds a threshold (e.g., amperage); 2) Determining that a rate of change of current flowing through the fuse exceeds a threshold (e.g., an amp/second value); 3) Determining that the indicator parameter exceeds a threshold (e.g., the indicator includes accumulated amp-seconds; ampere/second-second; a count index of periods above a threshold or more than one threshold; a count index weighted with the instantaneous current value; integrating current, heat transfer, and/or power values; and/or count down or reset these values based on current operating conditions).

In certain embodiments, the operation of determining that the current event exceeds the wear threshold and/or fuse failure value includes or is adjusted based on one or more of: 1) A jump curve (e.g., a power-time or current-time trace, and/or an operational curve on a dataset or table, such as represented in fig. 3); 2) A fuse temperature model comprising a first or second derivative of temperature, and one or more temperature thresholds of a programmed and/or progressive response; 3) Measured battery voltage (e.g., current values may be higher as battery voltage decreases, and/or dynamic response of current may change, thereby causing changes in wear threshold, system failure values, and/or current event determinations); 4) First derivatives of current, temperature, power demand and/or index parameters; 5) Second derivatives of current, temperature, power demand and/or index parameters; 6) Information from the battery management system (e.g., voltage, current, state of charge, state of health, rate of change of any of these values, which may affect the current value, the expected current value, and/or the dynamic response of the current value, thereby causing a change in the wear threshold, fuse failure value, and/or current event determination); 7) Determining and monitoring a contactor connection or disconnection time, and considering the contactor connection or disconnection time in determining a response to a current event; 8) Using auxiliary system information and adjusting the response (e.g., bump system activation-allowing fuse failure, and/or bypassing fuses to allow potential damage to the system, maintaining power flow; the antilock braking system and/or traction control system activates-maintains power flow to achieve maximum system control (the degree of activation may also be considered, and/or system status communicated to the PDU, for example, the system may report a critical operation requiring power to be maintained for as long as possible or a shutdown operation requiring power to be shut down as soon as possible, etc.).

Referring to fig. 20, an example apparatus 1900 is depicted that reduces or prevents fuse damage and/or fuse failure. The example apparatus 1900 includes a current event determination circuit 1902 that may determine that a current event 1904 indicates that a fuse threshold (wear, failure, fatigue, or other threshold) is exceeded or is expected to be exceeded. The current event 1904 may be, for example, a current, a temperature, or any other parameter described with respect to fig. 21, 29, and 30. The example apparatus 1900 also includes a response determination circuit 1906 that determines a system response value 1910, such as opening or closing one or more contactors in a fuse circuit (e.g., 2100,2200,2300,2400 or any other fuse circuit or current protection circuit). The apparatus 1900 also includes a response implementation circuit 1908 that provides network communications 1912 and/or actuator commands 1914 in response to the system response value 1910. For example, the system response value 1910 may decide to close one or more contactors, and the actuator command 1914 provides a command to the selected contactor in response to the actuator command 1914.

In certain embodiments, the operation of bypassing and/or engaging one or more fuses is performed in coordination with a vehicle battery management system and/or accelerator pedal input (or other load demand indication identifier), such as timing the inrush current to be experienced on the fuses, providing an indication to the battery management system or other vehicle power system that a transient no-fuse operation is imminent and/or that a higher fuse limit will be momentarily applicable. In certain embodiments, during no-fuse operation and/or higher-fuse limit operation, the device 1900 may operate a virtual fuse, for example, if the current experienced is above a predicted value (e.g., predicted to exceed a fuse wear limit but less than a system failure limit, but in fact appears to be exceeded as well as the system failure limit), the device 1900 may operate to open the main high voltage contactor, reengage the fuse, or make another system adjustment to protect the system in the absence of a commonly available fuse operation.

Referring to fig. 31, an exemplary apparatus 900 for determining an offset voltage to adjust fuse current determination is schematically depicted. The example apparatus 900 includes a controller 214 having a fuse load circuit 702 that determines that the fuse load 704 does not require current and further determines that a contactor associated with the fuse is open. The example apparatus 900 also includes an offset voltage determination circuit 906 that determines an offset voltage of a component in the fuse circuit observed during a portion of the operating cycle where current is not required. In certain embodiments, the contactor remains open while the precharge capacitor is still charging after the on cycle, and the fuse load circuit 702 then determines that the fuse load 704 does not require current. In some embodiments, the contactor is opened during operation of the system, and the example fuse load circuit 702 determines that the fuse load 704 does not require current, including possibly waiting for the observed voltage to stabilize before determining that the fuse load 704 does not require current.

The example apparatus 900 also includes an offset data management circuit 914 that stores an offset voltage 906 and communicates a current calculation offset voltage 904 for use in the system to determine current flow through one or more fuses in the system. The current calculation offset voltage 904 may be an offset voltage 906 of the applicable component and/or may be a process or condition value determined by the offset voltage 906.

An exemplary procedure for determining the offset voltage of the fuse current measurement system is described below. The exemplary program may be executed by a system component, such as apparatus 900. Offset voltages occur in the controller 214 due to independent offset of the operational amplifiers and other solid state components in the controller 214, as well as due to inter-part variations, temperature drift, and degradation of one or more components in the system over time. The presence of an offset voltage limits the accuracy with which current measurements through the fuse can be obtained, thereby limiting the types of control and diagnostics that can be performed in the system.

The example program also includes an operation to determine an offset voltage in response to determining that the fuse load does not require current, and an operation to store the offset voltage. In certain embodiments, the stored offset voltage is stored in a non-volatile memory, for example, for subsequent operation of the system. In certain implementations, the offset voltage is stored in volatile memory and used for current operation cycles. The stored offset voltage may be replaced when a new value is determined for the offset voltage and/or updated in a scheduled manner (e.g., by averaging or filtering among the updated values, by maintaining the new value for subsequent confirmation prior to application, etc.).

In accordance with the present description, operations are described for providing offset voltages for components in a fuse circuit, for high confidence determination of fuse current and fuse resistance values in PDU 102. In certain embodiments, a high confidence determination of fuse resistance may be utilized to determine fuse conditions, provide high accuracy or high precision determination of current flow through the fuses and power consumption of system 100, and/or perform system diagnostics, fault management, circuit management, and the like.

Referring to fig. 32, an exemplary apparatus 1000 for providing unique current waveforms to improve fuse resistance measurements of a PDU 102 is schematically depicted. The example apparatus 1000 includes a fuse load circuit 702 that determines that the fuse load 704 does not require current and further determines that a contactor associated with the fuse is open. The example apparatus 1000 also includes injection configuration circuitry 606 that determines injection characteristics 608, including frequency, amplitude, and waveform characteristics of a test injection current flowing through one or more fuses to be tested. The example apparatus 1000 also includes an injection control circuit 602 that injects current through the fuse according to the injection characteristics 608 and a fuse characterization circuit 1002 that determines one or more fuse resistances 1004 in response to values 1006 measured during testing. The example injection control circuit 602 waits for a determination of a voltage offset value while the fuse load 704 is still zero and the fuse characterization circuit 1002 further utilizes the voltage offset value to determine one or more fuse resistances 1004 of the fuse. In some embodiments, injection configuration circuit 606 determines injection characteristics 608 in response to characteristics of the system (e.g., inherent capacitance and/or inductance of the system, specifications of the fuses, current range of the system during operation, and/or resistance range and/or desired accuracy in support of operation determination using fuse resistance values). In certain embodiments, the high accuracy of the fuse resistance supports high accuracy in diagnostics, fuse protection control, and/or battery state of charge determination.

In certain implementations, the fuse characterization circuit 1002 determines one or more fuse resistances 1004 for a given response based on a plurality of current injection events, each of which may have a different one or more of amplitude, frequency, and/or waveform. Additionally or alternatively, frequency sweep, amplitude sweep, and/or waveform shape management may be manipulated between injection events and/or within a given injection event. Fuse characterization circuit 1002 determines fuse resistance 1004 by determining an average resistance value, for example, determined during testing. In certain embodiments, the fuse characterization circuit 1002 utilizes only a portion of each test window, e.g., to set aside circuit settling time after switching of the injection characteristics 608, to allow injection providing circuits (e.g., solid state operational amplifiers, PWM, relays, etc., configured to provide a selected current through the fuse circuit) to settle after switching of the injection characteristics 608, to utilize a selected amount of data from each test (e.g., for weighting purposes), and so forth. In some implementations, the fuse characterization circuit 1002 may exclude anomalous data (e.g., two of these tests match, but the third test provides a largely different value) and/or data that appears to indicate rapid changes (which may not appear to be valid data). In some implementations, filtering, moving averages, rolling buffers, counters that delay in switching values (e.g., to confirm that new values appear to be truly changing), etc. are applied by fuse characterization circuit 1002 to fuse resistance 1004 to smooth the changing values of fuse resistance 1004 over time and/or confirm that new information is repeatable. In some embodiments, each cycle or set of cycles of a given injection waveform may be considered as a separate data point for resistance determination. In some embodiments, the resistance contribution for a given period may also be weighted, for example, in the case of sweeping amplitude for a given waveform, and/or in the case of sweeping frequency for a given waveform (e.g., higher amplitude and/or lower frequency provides a lower design area under the current-time curve (see, e.g., fig. 35), which may provide a higher amount of resistance-related information relative to lower amplitude and/or higher frequency periods of the same waveform). Additionally or alternatively, the measurement confidence may depend on the frequency and/or amplitude of the current injection, and thus the resistance determinations of these injection events may be weighted accordingly (e.g., the lower the confidence, the lower the weight and the higher the confidence, the higher the weight). Additionally or alternatively, the compliance of the current injection source may depend on the frequency, amplitude, and/or waveform of the current injection, and thus the resistance determination of these injection events may be weighted accordingly, and/or adjusted by feedback on the injector outlet as to what frequency, amplitude, and/or waveform is actually provided relative to what is commanded.

In certain embodiments, the resistance determination made by fuse characterization circuit 1002 (including how to determine resistance and indicate an average value from a given test) depends on the waveform and other parameters. For example, if a sine wave waveform is utilized, the resistance may be determined by the area under the voltage and current curves, by the root mean square determination (of the current and/or voltage), and/or by the high resolution time slices within the voltage determination using the injected current characterization. Other waveforms will use similar techniques to determine resistance. If the circuit exhibits significant impedance (e.g., from potential capacitance and/or inductance, and/or from components in communication with the circuit that exhibit impedance), the impedance may be calculated by varying the frequency and determining the common impedance effect between the tests. The availability of multiple tests with varying amplitude, waveform and/or frequency values ensures that high accuracy can be determined even for circuits that have complex effects or exhibit variations due to aging, degradation, or component repair or replacement. Furthermore, adjusting the frequency of all tests and/or sweeping the frequency for a given amplitude or waveform may help decouple phase shift aspects of the impedance (e.g., capacitive versus inductive effects) to more confidently determine the resistance of the fuse. Typically for a fuse circuit with a tightly coupled current source, the impedance will be very small. The desired accuracy of the resistance measurement (which may depend on the diagnostics, battery state of charge algorithm, and/or fuse protection algorithm used on the system) may also affect whether the impedance must be considered and thus the choice of injection characteristics 608 utilized.

It can be seen that using multiple injection characteristics 608 during testing, which utilize comparisons between these tests to decouple the system characteristics from the resistance determination, provides a series of system excitation parameters to ensure that the system characteristics do not dominate in a single test, and generally increases the amount of information available for testing to establish statistical confidence in the determined resistance values. In addition, manipulation of the injection characteristics 608 allows for better averaging, for example to formulate waveforms with high confidence that the resistance calculation is correct (such as with frequency values that avoid resonances or resonant frequencies in the system), provide large areas under the current-time (or voltage-time) curves, and/or provide a system that is stable during the test to ensure that the measurement is correct.

Additionally or alternatively, the fuse characterization circuit 1002 dynamically adjusts digital filter values prior to, between changes in the injection characteristics 608 of the test, and/or during the test (e.g., where frequency sweep, amplitude sweep, and/or waveform changes are utilized during a given injection event). In certain embodiments, the measurement of voltage by the filter circuit utilizes a high pass filter to determine the injection voltage (and/or current), and the filter characteristics can be manipulated in real time to provide an appropriate filter, such as a cut-off frequency. The use of digital filters to measure may also eliminate phase lags between different filter types (such as low-pass filters and high-pass filters) (e.g., where the low-pass filters determine the base supply current during operation and/or confirm that the base supply current remains zero or negligible during testing).

Referring to fig. 35, an exemplary implantation characteristic 608 for an exemplary test is depicted. The injection characteristic 608 includes a first injection portion having an amplitude of 10 current units (e.g., amperes, although any current unit is contemplated herein), a sinusoidal waveform, and a period of about 150 time units (e.g., execution cycles, milliseconds, seconds, or any other parameter of the controller 214). The units and values depicted in fig. 35 are non-limiting examples and are used to illustrate sequential variations in the applicable implantation characteristics 608. The injection characteristic 608 includes a second injection portion having an amplitude of 15 current units, a sawtooth waveform, and a period of about 250 time units. The injection characteristic 608 also includes a third injection portion having an amplitude of 5 current units, a nearly square waveform (a slightly trapezoidal waveform is depicted), and a period of about 80 time units. The embodiment depicted in fig. 35 is non-limiting and other features may be added to the test, including more or less than three different waveforms, gaps between waveforms, and adjustments within the waveforms (including scanning, stepping or otherwise adjusting the frequency or amplitude, and/or adjusting the waveforms themselves). The example of fig. 35 shows a trajectory reversal (e.g., decreasing sine wave to increasing saw tooth wave) between the first injection characteristic and the second injection characteristic and a trajectory continuation (e.g., decreasing saw tooth wave to increasing square wave) between the second injection characteristic and the third injection characteristic, but any possibility is contemplated herein, including step changes in current, etc.

Referring to fig. 33, an exemplary procedure 1100 for providing a unique current waveform to improve fuse resistance measurement of PDU 102 is schematically depicted. The process 1100 includes an operation 1102 of confirming that the contactor is open (and/or confirming that the fuse load is zero or expected to be zero) and an operation 1104 of performing a zero voltage offset determination (e.g., to determine an offset voltage in the operational amplifier and other components of the controller 214 and/or the system 100 electrically coupled to the fuse circuit). The exemplary operation 1102 begins when the contactor is open during a turn-on or system start-up event, but any operating condition that meets the criteria of operation 1102 may be utilized. The process 1100 also includes an operation 1106 of performing a plurality of injection sequences (e.g., three sequences each having a different frequency, amplitude, and waveform). Operation 1106 may include more than three sequences, and one or more of these sequences may share a frequency, amplitude, and/or waveform. Operation 1106 may be configured to perform as many sequences as needed and may be implemented in multiple tests (e.g., where a test is interrupted by operation of the system or exceeds a desired time, the test may continue on a subsequent sequence initiated by operation 1102). The process 1100 also includes an operation 1108 of determining fuse resistance values for one or more of the fuses in the system. The program 1100 may operate on individual fuses (including across a subset of fuses, etc.) configured to support the program in hardware in the system.

Referring to fig. 34, an exemplary procedure 1106 for performing multiple injection sequences is depicted. The example program 1106 includes an operation 1202 of adjusting injection characteristics of a current injection source associated with one or more fuses to be tested, and an operation 1204 of adjusting filter characteristics of one or more digital filters associated with measuring voltage and/or current values on a filter circuit. Program 1106 also includes an operation 1206 of performing an injection sequence in response to the injection characteristic, and an operation 1208 of performing filtering (e.g., to measure current and/or voltage on the fuse circuit in response to the injection event). Routine 1106 also includes an operation 1210 of determining whether the current injection sequence is complete, returning to continue the injection event at operation 1206 until the sequence is complete (yes at operation 1210). For example, referring to FIG. 35, at time step 200, operation 1210 will determine "NO" because the sine wave portion of the test is still being performed. If operation 1210 determines "yes" (e.g., in fig. 35, where the sine wave portion transitions to a saw tooth portion), then program 1106 includes an operation 1212 of determining whether another injection sequence is required, and returns to operation 1202 to adjust the injection sequence in response to operation 1212 determining "yes" (e.g., in fig. 9, where the sine wave portion is complete and the saw tooth portion begins). In response to operation 1212 determining "no" (e.g., where the square wave is partially complete and no additional sequences are scheduled in the test), routine 1106 is completed, e.g., returns to operation 1108 to determine the fuse resistance value from the test.

In accordance with the present description, operations are described that provide a varying waveform for current injection, thereby enhancing the determination of fuse resistance values in PDU 102. In certain embodiments, a high confidence determination of fuse resistance may be utilized to determine fuse conditions, provide high accuracy or high precision determination of current flow through the fuses and power consumption of system 100, and/or perform system diagnostics, fault management, circuit management, and the like.

Referring to fig. 36, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 3602 having a power supply path 3604; and a power distribution unit 3606 having a current protection circuit 3608 disposed in the power supply path 3604. The example current protection circuit 3608 includes a first leg 3610 of the current protection circuit 3608 that includes a high temperature fuse 3620 (e.g., a controllably activated fuse that may be commanded to activate and open a first leg of the current protection circuit; a second leg 3612 of the current protection circuit 3608 that includes a thermal fuse 3622; and wherein the first leg 3610 and the second leg 3612 are coupled in a parallel arrangement (e.g., in a manner similar to that described in any of fig. 26-28). The example system includes a controller 3614 having a current detection circuit 3616 and a high temperature fuse activation circuit 3618 structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path 3614 and structured to provide a high temperature fuse activation command in response to the current exceeding a threshold current value. The high temperature fuse 3620 is responsive to the high temperature fuse activation command, e.g., to activate and open the second leg 3612 upon receipt of the command, upon activation of the high temperature fuse 3620, the second leg 3612 is thereby operating in series connection with the first leg 3610 or the thermal fuse 3622 has been opened in direct contact with the power supply path 364 (e.g., the thermal fuse 3622 has been opened).

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the first resistance of the entire first leg 3620 and the second resistance of the entire second leg 3612 are configured such that the resulting current flowing through the second leg 3612 after activation of the high temperature fuse 3620 is sufficient to activate the thermal fuse 3622. For example, a high current event may be experienced such that thermal fuse 3622 may be activated if second leg 3622 does not consume a portion of the high current event. In this example, the opening of the second leg 3612 will increase the current in the first leg 3620 and activate the thermal fuse 3622. One example includes a resistor 3624 coupled with the thermal fuse 3622 in a series arrangement such that the resulting current flowing through the second branch 3612 after activation of the thermal fuse 3620 is below a second threshold current value. For example, a smaller gauge thermal fuse 3622 may be utilized in the system and the operating current through the second leg 3612 is reduced by a resistor 3624. When the high temperature fuse 3620 is opened, the current flowing through the second branch 3612 increases but still decreases by the resistor 3624 to prevent high current transients in the power supply path 3604 and also allows sufficient current to flow through the second branch 3612 to activate the thermal fuse 3622.

The exemplary system includes a contactor 3626 coupled in a series arrangement with the thermal fuse 3622, the controller further including a contactor activation circuit 3628 structured to provide a contactor open command in response to at least one of a high temperature fuse activation command or a current exceeding a threshold current value. In certain embodiments, a contactor 3626 coupled with thermal fuse 3622 in a series arrangement allows for control of the current flowing through second branch 3612, including opening second branch 3612 to disconnect power supply path 3604, plus activation of high temperature fuse 3620. Resistor 3624 may additionally be used with contactor 3626 to reduce current through second leg 3612, for example, when high temperature fuse 3620 is activated (e.g., where contactor 3626 may be slower in dynamic than high temperature fuse 3620). One example includes a resistor 3624 coupled with the high temperature fuse 3620 in a series arrangement such that a resulting current through the first branch 3610 after activation of the thermal fuse 3622 is below a second threshold current value, for example to reduce current through the power supply path 3604 if the thermal fuse 3622 is activated when the high temperature fuse 3620 has not been activated (e.g., unmeasured current spikes and/or current spikes that occur after the controller has failed and is unable to command the high temperature fuse 3620 to open). The exemplary system includes a second thermal fuse (not shown) coupled to the high temperature fuse 3620 in a series arrangement such that the resulting current flowing through the first branch 3610 after activation of the thermal fuse 3622 is sufficient to activate the second thermal fuse. For example, the use of a second thermal fuse allows all branches of the power supply path 3604 to have fuses that have a physical response, thereby avoiding failure due to a loss of ability to detect current in the system or command activation of the high temperature fuses 3620. In this example, the thermal fuses 3622 and the second thermal fuse may be sized to avoid thermal wear during normal operation, but large enough that either thermal fuse 3622 would tend to protect the system when the other leg (first leg 3610 or second leg 3612) is disconnected during a high current event. It can be seen that the embodiment of the system depicted in fig. 36 not only provides high controllability of the high temperature fuse 3620 that disconnects the power supply, but also provides robust protection of the thermal fuse that will physically respond to high current values regardless of current sensing or failure in controller operation (which may occur during system failure, vehicle accident, etc.). In addition, the utilization of two legs 3610,3612 (including potential management of current flowing therethrough using one or more resistors 3624 and/or one or more contactors 3626) allows the utilization of fuses that can be sized to avoid thermal wear and/or nuisance failures over the life of the vehicle while still providing reliable power disconnection for high current events.

Referring to fig. 37, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 3702 of determining a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation 3704 with a current protection circuit arranged in parallel, wherein the high temperature fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and the thermal fuse is located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and an operation 3706 of providing a high temperature fuse activation command in response to the current exceeding the threshold current value.

Referring to fig. 38, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 3802 having a power supply path 3804; a power distribution unit 3806 having a current protection circuit 3808 disposed in a power supply path 3804, wherein the current protection circuit includes a first leg 3810 having a thermal fuse 3820 and a second leg 3812 having a contactor 3822. The first leg 3810 and the second leg 3812 are coupled in a parallel arrangement. The system includes a controller 3614 having a current detection circuit 3816 structured to determine a current flowing through a power supply path 3804; and a fuse management circuit 3818 structured to provide contactor activation commands in response to the current. The contactor 3822 is responsive to a contactor activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the contactor 3822 is open during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is above a thermal wear current of the thermal fuse 3820; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is below the current protection value of the power supply path 3804. The exemplary system includes wherein the contactor 3822 is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit is structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor opening command in response to determining that the current is above the current protection value of the power supply path 3804. An exemplary system includes wherein the fuse management circuit is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in response to the current by performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. It can be seen that the embodiment of the system depicted in fig. 38 allows for the use of oversized fuses 3820 that will experience reduced wear and extended life while still allowing circuit protection against moderate over-currents (e.g., with contactors) and fuse protection against high over-current values. It can be seen that the embodiment of the system depicted in fig. 38 allows for the use of a nominal or small gauge fuse 3820 that can easily open a circuit at moderate over-current values, but experience reduced wear and extended life (e.g., current sharing through contactor branches).

Referring to fig. 39, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 3902 of determining a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation 3904 having current protection circuits arranged in parallel, wherein the thermal fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and the contactor is located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and an operation 3906 of providing a contactor activation command in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes an operation to close the contactor in response to the current. An exemplary procedure includes an operation of determining that a current is below a current protection value of a power supply path prior to closing a contactor. An exemplary program includes at least one operation selected from the operations consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. An exemplary procedure includes an operation to open a contactor in response to a current; an operation of determining that the current is higher than a current protection value of the power supply path before opening the contactor; and/or opening the contactor, including performing any one or more of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects.

Referring to fig. 40, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 4002 having a power supply path 4004; a power supply distribution unit 4006 having a current protection circuit 4008 disposed in a power supply path 4004, wherein the current protection circuit includes a first leg 4010 of the current protection circuit 4008 and a second leg 4012 of the current protection circuit 4008, the first leg including a thermal fuse 4020, and the second leg including a solid state switch 4022. The first branch 4010 and the second branch 4012 are coupled in a parallel arrangement. The exemplary system includes a controller 4014 that includes a current detection circuit 4016 that is structured to determine a current flowing through the power supply path 4004 and a fuse management circuit 4018 that is structured to provide a switch activation command in response to the current. The solid state switch 4022 is responsive to a switch activation command. In certain embodiments, the system includes a contactor 4024 coupled to the current protection circuit 4008, wherein the contactor 4024 in an open position disconnects the current protection circuit 4008 (e.g., the contactor 4024 is in series with the two branches 4010,4012 and/or the contactor 4024 is in series with the solid state switch 4022 on the second branch 4012). Any of the contactors described throughout this disclosure may be solid state switches in place of or in series with conventional contactor devices in certain embodiments. Solid state switches are known to have a fast response and to be robust to opening during high current events. However, solid state switches may also experience small leakage currents, which may be acceptable in some embodiments, or unacceptable in other embodiments. In certain embodiments, the combined use of conventional contactors with solid state switches allows for both fast response time and survivability of the solid state switches and zero current forcing of conventional contactors. In certain embodiments, solid state switches are used to first open the circuit and then the conventional contactor opens the circuit again, thereby avoiding the situation where the conventional contactor opens under high current conditions.

Referring to fig. 41, an exemplary process includes an operation 4102 of determining a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation 4104 having current protection circuits arranged in parallel, wherein the thermal fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and the solid state switch is located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and an operation 4106 of providing a switch activation command in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program further includes closing the solid state switch in response to the current; and/or determining that the current is below a current protection value of the power supply path prior to closing the solid state switch. For example, the current value or transient may be high enough to cause degradation of the thermal fuse, but below a threshold that requires a system protection response from the thermal fuse. In certain embodiments, closing the solid state switch reduces current and/or transients flowing through the thermal fuse, thereby reducing wear and/or nuisance failures of the thermal fuse. An exemplary procedure includes an operation to close a solid state switch, which includes performing at least one operation such as: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. An exemplary procedure includes opening a solid state switch in response to a current; and/or determining that the current is above a current protection value for the power supply path prior to opening the solid state switch. An exemplary program includes an operation to open a solid state switch, including performing at least one operation selected from the group consisting of: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects. An exemplary procedure includes an operation to open a contactor after opening the solid state switch, wherein opening the contactor disconnects one of the current protection circuit or the second leg of the current protection circuit.

Referring to fig. 42, an exemplary system includes a vehicle having a power supply path 4204; a power distribution unit 4206 having a current protection circuit 4208 disposed in a power supply path 4204, wherein the current protection circuit comprises a first leg 4220 of the current protection circuit 4208 comprising a first thermal fuse 4220, a second leg 4212 of the current protection circuit 4208 comprising a second thermal fuse 4222 and a contactor 4224, and wherein the first leg 4220 and the second leg 4212 are coupled in a parallel arrangement. An exemplary system includes a controller comprising: a current detection circuit 4216 structured to determine a current flowing through power supply path 4204; and a fuse management circuit 4218 structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to a current. The contactor 4224 is responsive to a contactor activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the contactor 4224 is open during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4218 is structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is above the thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse 4220. The exemplary system includes a fuse management circuit 4218 further structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to determining that the current is below the current protection value of the power supply path 4204. The exemplary system includes a vehicle operating condition circuit 4226 structured to determine an operating mode of the vehicle (e.g., move, stop, high performance, high energy-saving, charge, fast charge, etc.), and wherein the fuse management circuit 4218 is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the operating mode. The exemplary system includes a fuse management circuit 4218 further structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to an operational mode including at least one operational mode selected from the group of operational modes consisting of: a charging mode; a fast charge mode; a high performance mode; a high power demand mode; an emergency mode of operation; and/or limp home mode. The exemplary system includes wherein the contactor 4224 is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4218 is structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor opening command in response to determining that the current is above the current protection value of the power supply path 4204. An exemplary system includes wherein the contactor is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4218 is structured to provide contactor activation commands in the form of contactor opening commands in response to an operating mode; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit 4218 is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in the form of a contactor open command in response to an operational mode comprising at least one of a power saving mode or a maintenance mode. For example, during certain operating conditions, such as a power saving mode or during a maintenance event, a reduced maximum power supply throughput through power supply path 4204 may be enforced, wherein opening of contactor 4224 is used to provide configured fuse protection for the reduced maximum power supply throughput.

Referring to fig. 43, an exemplary process includes an operation 4302 of determining a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through an operation 4304 having current protection circuits arranged in parallel, wherein a first thermal fuse is located on a first leg of the current protection circuit and a second thermal fuse and contactor are located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and an operation 4306 of providing a contactor activation command in response to the current.

Referring to fig. 44, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 4402 having a power supply path 4404; a power distribution unit 4406 having a current protection circuit 4408 disposed in the power supply path 4404, wherein the current protection circuit comprises: a first branch 4410 of the current protection circuit 4408, the first branch including a first thermal fuse 4420 and a first contactor 4424; a second branch 4412 of the current protection circuit 4408, the second branch including a second thermal fuse 4422 and a second contactor 4426; and wherein the first leg 4410 and the second leg 4412 are coupled in a parallel arrangement. The exemplary system includes a controller 4414 including a current detection circuit 4416 structured to determine the current flowing through the power supply path 4404; and fuse management circuitry 4418 structured to provide a plurality of contactor activation commands in response to the current. The first and second contactors 4424,4426 are responsive to a contactor activation command to provide a selected configuration of the current protection circuit 4408.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the current protection circuit further comprises: one or more additional branches 4413, wherein each additional branch 4413 comprises an additional thermal fuse 4423 and an additional contactor 4428; and wherein each additional contactor 4428 is further responsive to a contactor activation command to provide a selected configuration of the current protection circuit 4408. The exemplary system includes a vehicle operating condition circuit 4430 structured to determine an operating mode of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4418 is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to the operating mode. The example fuse management circuit 4418 is further structured to determine an active current rating of the power supply path 4404 in response to the mode of operation and to provide a contactor activation command in response to the active current rating. The exemplary system includes wherein the first leg 4410 of the current protection circuit 4408 further comprises an additional first contactor 4427 disposed in parallel with the first thermal fuse 4420, wherein the current detection circuit 4416 is further structured to determine a first leg current, wherein the fuse management circuit 4418 is further structured to provide a contactor activation command further in response to the first leg current, and wherein the additional first contactor 4427 is responsive to the contactor activation command. The exemplary system includes an additional first contactor 4427 that opens during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4418 is structured to provide a contactor activation command including an additional first contactor close command in response to determining that the first branch current is higher than the thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse 4420. The exemplary system includes a fuse management circuit 4418 structured to provide an additional first contactor close command in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is below a first branch current protection value, or the current is below a power supply path current protection value. The exemplary system includes wherein the additional first contactor 4427 is closed during nominal operation of the vehicle, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4418 is structured to provide a contactor activation command including an additional first contactor opening command in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is higher than the first branch current protection value, or the current is higher than the power supply path current protection value. The exemplary system may also include additional contactors 4428 positioned on any one or more of the branches 4410,4412,4413. Any one or more of the contactors 4424,4426,4428 can be configured in series and/or parallel with an associated thermal fuse 4420,4422,4423 on an associated leg.

Referring to fig. 45, an exemplary process includes an operation 4502 of determining a current flowing through a power supply path of a vehicle; directing current through operation 4504 having a current protection circuit arranged in parallel, wherein a first thermal fuse and a first contactor are located on a first leg of the current protection circuit, and a second thermal fuse and a second contactor are located on a second leg of the current protection circuit; and an operation 4506 of providing a selected configuration of the current protection circuit in response to current flowing through a power supply path of the vehicle, wherein providing the selected configuration comprises providing a contactor activation command to each of the first contactor and the second contactor.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program includes operations further comprising at least one additional leg of the current protection circuit, each additional leg of the current protection circuit having an additional thermal fuse and an additional contactor, and wherein providing the selected configuration of the current protection circuit comprises providing a contactor activation command to each additional contactor. An example program includes an operation to determine an operating mode of the vehicle and to provide a selected configuration further in response to the operating mode; and/or determining operation of an active current rating of the power supply path in response to the mode of operation, and wherein the selected configuration of the current protection circuit is provided further in response to the active current rating. An example program includes an operation to determine an active current rating of a power supply path, and wherein the selected configuration of the current protection circuit is provided further in response to the active current rating. An exemplary procedure includes an operation in which the first branch of the current protection circuit further includes an additional first contactor arranged in parallel with the first thermal fuse, the procedure further comprising: determining a first branch current, and wherein providing the selected configuration further comprises providing a contactor activation command to the additional first contactor; closing the additional first contactor in response to determining that the first branch current is higher than the thermal wear current of the first thermal fuse; closing the additional first contactor further in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is lower than the first branch current protection value, or the current is lower than the power supply path current protection value; and/or opening the additional first contactor in response to determining at least one of: the first branch current is higher than the first branch current protection value, or the current is higher than the power supply path current protection value.

Referring to fig. 46, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 4602 having a power supply path 4604; a power supply distribution unit 4606 having a current protection circuit 4608 disposed in the power supply path 4604, wherein the current protection circuit 4608 includes a fuse 4610. The exemplary system also includes a controller 4614 that includes a fuse state circuit 4616 structured to determine a fuse event value; and fuse management circuitry 4618 structured to provide a fuse event response based on the fuse event value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes a fuse life description circuit 4619 structured to determine a fuse life remaining value, wherein the fuse event value includes an indication that the fuse life remaining value is below a threshold, and wherein the fuse management circuit 4618 is further structured to provide a fuse event response based further on the fuse life remaining value. Exemplary and non-limiting operations of providing a fuse event include providing a fault code and/or notification of the fuse event value, for example, to a data link, to another controller in the system, to a fleet owner (e.g., maintenance manager) as a repair notification, to a fault code for repair inspection, and/or to a notification issued to an operator, a mobile device, a repair report, etc. Exemplary and non-limiting operations for providing fuse event response include: adjusting a maximum power rating of the power supply path; adjusting a maximum power conversion rate of the power supply path; and/or adjust the configuration of the current protection circuit. The exemplary system includes wherein the current protection circuit 4606 further includes a contactor 4612 coupled to the fuse 4610 in a parallel arrangement; and/or wherein the fuse management circuit 4618 is further structured to provide a contactor activation command in response to a fuse event value. In this example, the contactor 4612 is responsive to a contactor activation command. The exemplary system includes wherein the fuse management circuit 4618 is further structured to provide the contactor activation command in the form of a contactor close command in response to the fuse event value being one of a thermal wear event or an impending thermal wear event of the fuse 4610. The exemplary system includes wherein the fuse management circuit 4618 is further structured to adjust the current threshold of the contactor activation command in response to the fuse life remaining value (e.g., open the contactor at a lower or higher threshold as the fuse ages). The exemplary system includes a cooling system 4620 that is at least selectively thermally coupled to the fuses, and a cooling system interface 4622 (e.g., a hardware interface such as a flow coupler, a valve, etc., and/or a communication interface such as a network command, an electrical coupler, etc.); and/or wherein providing a fuse event response includes adjusting a cooling system interface 4622 of the cooling system 4620 in response to the fuse life remaining value (e.g., increasing active cooling capacity of the fuse as the fuse ages).

Referring to fig. 47, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 4702 of determining a fuse event value for a fuse disposed in a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path of a vehicle; and an operation 4704 of providing a fuse event response based on the fuse event value.

Referring to fig. 48, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 4802 having a power supply path 4804 and at least one auxiliary power supply path 4805; a power distribution unit 4806 having a power current protection circuit 4808 disposed in a power supply path 4804, the power current protection circuit including a fuse; and auxiliary current protection circuits 4810 disposed in each of the at least one auxiliary power supply paths 48105, each auxiliary current protection circuit 4810 including an auxiliary fuse (not shown). The system includes a controller 4814, the controller including: a current determination circuit 4816 structured to interpret a power current value corresponding to the power supply path and an auxiliary current value corresponding to each of the at least one auxiliary power supply path.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes a power current sensor 4824 electrically coupled to the power supply path 4804, wherein the power current sensor 4824 is configured to provide a power current value. The exemplary system includes at least one auxiliary current sensor 4826, each auxiliary current sensor electrically coupled to one of the at least one auxiliary power supply paths, each auxiliary current sensor 4826 configured to provide a corresponding auxiliary current value. The exemplary system includes wherein the controller 4814 further includes a vehicle interface circuit 4828 structured to provide a value of motive current to a vehicle network (not shown); wherein the vehicle interface circuit 4828 is further structured to provide an auxiliary current value corresponding to each of the at least one auxiliary power supply paths 4805 to the vehicle network; and/or further includes a battery management controller (not shown) configured to receive the power current value from the vehicle network. In certain embodiments, one or more of the power current value and/or one or more auxiliary current values are provided by a fuse current model, e.g., determined from a load voltage drop across the fuse and/or a fuse resistance (and/or fuse dynamic resistance or fuse impedance) value determined by injection current operation across the fuse. The utilization of a fuse current model may provide higher accuracy of current determination (e.g., relative to a moderately-capable or inexpensive current sensor) and/or faster response time than a sensor. In certain embodiments, the current sensor may be combined with the utilization of a fuse current model, such as favoring one or the other of the sensor or model as a function of operating conditions and the expected accuracy of the sensor or model derived for the operating conditions.

Referring to fig. 49, an exemplary process includes an operation 4902 of providing a power distribution unit having a power current protection circuit and at least one auxiliary current protection circuit; an operation 4904 of powering the vehicle power supply path through the power current protection circuit; an operation 4906 of powering the at least one auxiliary load through a corresponding one of the at least one auxiliary current protection circuit; an operation 4908 of determining a power current value corresponding to the power supply path; and an operation 4910 of determining an auxiliary current value corresponding to each of the at least one auxiliary current protection circuit.

Referring to fig. 50, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 5002 having a power supply path 5004; a power distribution unit 5006 having a current protection circuit 5008 disposed in a power supply path 5004, wherein the current protection circuit includes: a thermal fuse 5020; and a contactor 5022 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 5020. The system also includes a controller 5014 that includes a current sense circuit 5016 structured to determine the current flowing through the power supply path 5004; and fuse management circuitry 5018 structured to provide contactor activation commands in response to the currents; and wherein the contactor 5022 is responsive to a contactor activation command.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. Exemplary systems include those wherein the thermal fuse 5020 comprises a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path 5004 (e.g., wherein the fuse is sized to avoid wear or degradation until the maximum power supply throughput is reached, wherein the fuse is sized to accommodate higher power ratings and/or fast charge power supply throughput, etc.). An exemplary system includes where the thermal fuse 5020 comprises a current rating that is higher than the current corresponding to the fast charge power supply throughput of the power supply path 5004. The exemplary system includes wherein the contactor 5020 comprises a current rating that is higher than the current corresponding to the maximum power throughput of the power supply path 5004. In certain embodiments, the current corresponding to the maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path 5004 may correspond to a current at a nominal voltage, and/or a current at a degradation and/or failure mode voltage (e.g., upon battery aging, and/or upon deactivation of one or more battery cells). The exemplary system includes wherein the contactor 5022 comprises a current rating that is higher than the current corresponding to the fast charge power throughput of the power supply path 5004. An exemplary system includes where the fuse management circuit 5018 is further structured to provide contactor activation commands in the form of contactor disconnect commands in response to the current indicative power supply path protection events. The example current detection circuit 5016 determines the power supply path protection event by performing at least one operation such as: responsive to the rate of change of the current; responsive to a comparison of the current with a threshold; responsive to one of the integrated value or the accumulated value of the current; and/or responsive to one of the expected or predicted values of any of the preceding aspects.

Referring to fig. 51, an exemplary process includes an operation 5102 of powering a power supply path of a vehicle through a current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; and an operation 5104 of determining a current flowing through the power supply path; and selectively opening operation of the contactor in response to the current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes providing operation of the thermal fuse with a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary procedure includes providing operation of a thermal fuse having a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a fast charge power supply throughput of a power supply path. An exemplary procedure includes providing operation of a contactor having a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a maximum power supply throughput of the power supply path. An exemplary procedure includes providing operation of a contactor having a current rating that is higher than a current corresponding to a fast charge power supply throughput of the power supply path. The example program includes the operation of opening the contactor being further responsive to at least one of: the rate of change of the current; comparing the current with a threshold; one of an integrated value or an accumulated value of the current; and/or an expected or predicted value of any of the preceding aspects.

Referring to fig. 52, an exemplary process includes an operation 5202 of powering a power supply path of a vehicle by a current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; an operation 5204 of determining a current flowing through the power supply path; an operation 5206 of opening the contactor in response to the current exceeding a threshold; an operation 5208 of confirming that the vehicle operation condition allows reconnection of the contactor; and an operation 5210 of commanding the contactor to close in response to the vehicle operating condition. Previously known fusing systems, including systems with controllable high temperature fuses, are unable to restore system power after an over-current event because the fuses have opened the circuit and cannot be restored. Certain exemplary embodiments throughout this disclosure provide a system that can open a circuit without activating a fuse in certain situations. Thus, in certain embodiments, power may be restored after a high current event, thereby providing additional capability. However, in some embodiments, it may not be desirable to restore power to the system, such as in the event that emergency personnel and/or maintenance personnel are accessing the system after an over-current event. In certain embodiments, the controller is configured to perform certain checks, including checking current operating conditions and rights, prior to attempting to restore power. Additionally or alternatively, the controller is configured to determine whether a condition is still present that causes an over-current event during and/or shortly after an attempt to restore power. Additionally or alternatively, the controller is configured to determine whether the contactor or another electrical device has been damaged during an over-current event or during a disconnection process performed to prevent the over-current event.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary program further includes an operation to confirm the vehicle operating condition, and in certain embodiments, further includes determining at least one vehicle operating condition such as: emergency vehicle operating conditions; the user overrides the vehicle operating conditions; maintenance event vehicle operating conditions; and a reconnect command transmitted over the vehicle network. In certain embodiments, the emergency vehicle operating condition may indicate that a reconnection is desired, such as in situations where continued operation of the vehicle is more important than damage to the vehicle's electrical system. In certain embodiments, the emergency vehicle operating condition may indicate that a reconnection is not desired, such as in the event that the vehicle has experienced an accident, and that protection of the vehicle occupants and/or emergency response personnel by disconnection of the power source is desired. In certain embodiments, the maintenance event vehicle operating condition indicates that a reconnection is desired, such as in the event that a maintenance operator requests to re-power the vehicle. In certain embodiments, the service event vehicle operating condition indicates that reconnection is not desired, such as when a service person is servicing, maintaining, or repairing the vehicle.

An example procedure includes monitoring a power supply path during a command contactor closing and re-opening the contactor in response to the monitoring (e.g., where a post-closing current and/or current transient indicates that a condition causing an over-current may still be active). The example program includes an operation to determine an accumulated contactor open event description in response to opening the contactor, and/or an operation to prevent command of closing the contactor in response to the accumulated contactor open event description exceeding a threshold. For example, the accumulated contactor open events may be determined by a plurality of contactor open events under load and/or based on the severity of these events. In the event of experiencing multiple disconnection events under load and/or in the event of experiencing one or more severe disconnection events, reconnection of the contactor may not be desirable to avoid the risk of further damage, overheating, and/or adhesion or welding of the damaged contactor (which may prevent subsequent re-disconnection of the contactor). An example program includes operations to adjust a cumulative contactor open event description in response to a current during opening of a contactor. An example procedure includes diagnosing operation of the welding contactor in response to one of current during opening of the contactor and/or monitoring of a power supply path during command of the contactor to close. An example program includes diagnosing operation of the welding contactor in response to monitoring of at least one of a contactor actuator position (e.g., failure of the actuator to respond as expected upon receipt of a command), a contactor actuator response, and/or a power supply path during opening of the contactor. The example program also includes an operation to prevent command contactor closure in response to the diagnosed welding contactor.

Referring to fig. 53, an exemplary apparatus includes a power supply current protection circuit 5308 structured to: determining a current flowing through a power supply path 5304 of the vehicle; and opening a contactor 5322 provided in a current protection circuit 5308 in response to the current exceeding a threshold, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse 5320 and the contactor 5322 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 5320. The apparatus also includes a vehicle re-power circuit 5316 structured to: confirming that the vehicle operating condition allows reconnection of the contactor; and closing the contactor 5322 in response to a vehicle operating condition.

Certain other aspects of the exemplary apparatus are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example apparatus includes wherein the vehicle re-power circuit 5316 is further structured to confirm the vehicle operating condition by confirming at least one vehicle operating condition such as: emergency vehicle operating conditions; the user overrides the vehicle operating conditions; maintenance event vehicle operating conditions; and a reconnect command transmitted over a vehicle network (not shown). For example, the system may include an operator override interface (e.g., a button, a control input sequence, etc.) that provides operator input to request continued power operation if the power supply current protection circuit 5308 has opened the contactor 5322 to protect the power supply system. In certain embodiments, operator access to the override is used by the vehicle re-power circuit 5316 to command the reconnection of the contactor. In certain embodiments, reconnection with operator input includes allowing reconnection for only certain applications (e.g., emergency or military vehicles), and/or allowing reconnection for only a period of time (e.g., 10 seconds or 30 seconds), and/or allowing reconnection only when an electrical condition after reconnection does not indicate another overcurrent event has occurred. In some embodiments, the vehicle re-power circuit 5316 may additionally or alternatively de-rate the maximum power, de-rate the maximum power conversion, provide a notification or warning to the operator during the re-connect operation, and/or provide a notification or warning to the operator when the re-connect time period is about to expire (e.g., a first light or light sequence during the re-connect operation, and a different light or light sequence when the re-connect time period is about to expire).

The example apparatus includes wherein the power supply current protection circuit 5308 is further structured to monitor the power supply path during closing of the contactor, and wherein the vehicle re-power circuit 5316 is further structured to re-open the contactor in response to the monitoring. The exemplary apparatus includes a contactor status circuit 5318 structured to determine an accumulated contactor open event description in response to opening the contactor 5322; wherein the vehicle re-power circuit 5316 is further structured to prevent closing of the contactor 5322 in response to the accumulated contactor open event description exceeding the threshold; and/or wherein the contactor status circuit 5318 is further structured to adjust the accumulated contactor open event description in response to current during opening of the contactor. The exemplary device includes a contactor status circuit 5318 structured to diagnose a welding contactor in response to one of the following during commanded contactor closing: current during the opening of contactor 5322, and/or monitoring of the power supply path by power supply current protection circuit 5308. The example apparatus includes a contactor status circuit 5318 structured to diagnose a welding contactor in response to monitoring at least one of the following during contactor opening: monitoring of the contactor actuator position by the vehicle re-power circuit 5316; monitoring of the contactor actuator response by the vehicle re-power circuit 5316; and monitoring the power supply path by the power supply current protection circuit 5308; and/or wherein the contactor status circuit 5318 is further structured to prevent closing of the contactor in response to the diagnosed welding contactor.

An exemplary system (e.g., with reference to fig. 1 and 2) includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit, the power distribution unit comprising: a current protection circuit disposed in the power supply path, the current protection circuit including a thermal fuse and a contactor arranged in series with the thermal fuse; a high voltage power input coupler comprising a first electrical interface for a high voltage power supply; a high voltage power supply output coupler comprising a second electrical interface of the power supply load; and wherein the current protection circuit electrically couples the high voltage power supply input to the high voltage power supply output, and wherein the current protection circuit is disposed at least partially in a laminate layer of the power distribution unit (e.g., see fig. 12-17), wherein the laminate layer includes an electrically conductive flow path disposed between two electrically insulating layers.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. An exemplary system includes wherein the current protection circuit includes a power supply bus disposed in a laminate layer of the power distribution unit. An exemplary system includes wherein the vehicle further includes an auxiliary power path; wherein the power distribution unit further comprises: an auxiliary current protection circuit disposed in the auxiliary power path, the auxiliary current protection circuit including a second thermal fuse; an auxiliary voltage power input coupler comprising a first auxiliary electrical interface for a low voltage power supply; an auxiliary voltage supply output coupler comprising a second auxiliary electrical interface of an auxiliary load; and wherein the auxiliary current protection circuit electrically couples the auxiliary voltage supply input to the auxiliary voltage supply output, and wherein the auxiliary current protection circuit is disposed at least partially in the laminate layer of the power distribution unit. An exemplary system includes wherein the laminate layer of the power distribution unit further includes at least one thermally conductive flow path disposed between the two thermally insulating layers; wherein the at least one thermally conductive flow path is configured to provide a thermal coupler between a heat sink (e.g., a cooling system, a housing or other system aspect having high thermal mass, and/or ambient air) and a heat source, wherein the heat source comprises at least one of a contactor, a thermal fuse, and a second thermal fuse; wherein the heat sink comprises at least one of a thermal coupler to the active cooling source and a housing of the power distribution unit; and/or further comprising a heat pipe disposed between the at least one thermally conductive flow path and the heat source.

Referring to fig. 55, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 5502 having a power supply path 5504; a power distribution unit 5506 including a current protection circuit 5508 disposed in the power supply path 5504, the current protection circuit 5508 including a thermal fuse 5520 and a contactor 5522 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 5520; a current source circuit 5516 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 5520 and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 5520 (e.g., drive a current source using an operational amplifier); and a voltage determination circuit 5518 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 5520 and structured to determine at least one of an injection voltage amount and a thermal fuse impedance value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. Exemplary systems include where the power supply path 5504 includes a direct current power supply path (e.g., a power supply path); wherein the current source circuit 5516 includes at least one of an alternating current source and a time-varying current source, and further includes a hardware filter 5524 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 5520. In this example, the hardware filter 5524 is configured in response to the injection frequency of the current source circuit 5516; wherein the hardware filter 5524 includes a high pass filter 5526 having a cutoff frequency determined in response to the injection frequency of the current source circuit 5516 (e.g., to remove voltage fluctuations significantly below the injection AC frequency). An exemplary system includes a hardware filter 5524 having a low pass filter 5528 with a cut-off frequency determined in response to at least one of an injection frequency of the current source circuit (e.g., to remove voltage fluctuations caused by current injection) or a load change value of the power supply path 5504 (e.g., to remove transient fluctuations caused by load changes). In certain embodiments, the high-pass filtered voltage is analyzed separately from the low-pass filtered voltage, for example, wherein the base voltage signal is analyzed with a low-pass filter applied and a high-pass filter applied, respectively, allowing the response voltage of the injected current and the base voltage due to the current load to be determined separately. In certain embodiments, the voltage determination circuit 5518 is further structured to determine an injection voltage drop of the thermal fuse responsive to the output of the high pass filter; and/or wherein the voltage determination circuit 5518 is further structured to determine a thermal fuse impedance value in response to an injected voltage drop. In certain embodiments, the voltage determination circuit 5518 is further structured to determine a load voltage drop of the thermal fuse 5520 in response to an output of the low pass filter, and/or wherein the system further comprises a load current circuit 5519 structured to determine a load current through the fuse in response to a thermal fuse impedance value (e.g., determined by a response voltage of the injection current) and further in response to a load voltage drop from the low pass filter.

Referring to fig. 54, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 5402 having a power supply path 5404; a power supply distribution unit 5406 including a current protection circuit 5408 provided in the power supply path 5404, the current protection circuit 5408 including a thermal fuse 5420 and a contactor 5422 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 5420; the exemplary system also includes a current source circuit 5416 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 5420 and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 5420; and a voltage determination circuit 5518 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 5420 and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, wherein the voltage determination circuit 5518 includes a high pass filter (e.g., analog filter 5428, which is depicted as being in band pass filter 5426, but may additionally or alternatively include a high pass filter) having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the voltage determination circuit 5518 further includes a bandpass filter 5426 having a bandwidth selected to define the frequency of the injection current. For example, in the case where the frequency of the injection current is 200Hz, the band-pass filter 5426 may be configured to have a cutoff frequency of 190Hz to 210Hz, 195Hz to 205Hz, 199Hz to 201Hz, a deviation from the injection frequency of within 5%, and/or a deviation from the injection frequency of within 1%. The appropriate injection frequency and/or range of injection frequencies to be utilized, as well as the values of the high pass filter and/or band pass filter that provide appropriate conditional voltage response determination of injection current, may be determined by those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the disclosure herein. Some considerations for selecting injection frequency and band pass filtering ranges include, but are not limited to, frequency components (including fundamental frequencies and harmonics) in electrical communication with the power supply system, the noise environment of the system, the desired accuracy of thermal fuse impedance value determination, the dynamic response and capability of the current injectors, the dynamic response and attenuation capability of the filters, the time available for determining injection events, the number of fuses to be inspected coupled with one or more current injectors, the desired time response for determining fuse impedance value changes, and/or the amount of statistical and/or frequency component post-analysis processing available on the controller 5414.

Exemplary systems include those in which the high pass filter comprises an analog hardware filter 5428 and those in which the band pass filter 5426 comprises a digital filter 5430. For example, the analog hardware filter 5428 may perform a high pass filtering function and the downstream digital filter 5430 may perform a digital or analysis bandpass filtering function on the high pass filtered input. An exemplary system includes a digital filter 5430 in which both the high pass filter and the band pass filter. The exemplary voltage determination circuit 5518 is further structured to determine a thermal fuse impedance value in response to injection voltage drops from the high pass and band pass filtered inputs. The example system includes a fuse characterization circuit 5418 that stores fuse resistance values and/or fuse impedance values, and/or the fuse characterization circuit 5418 further updates a stored one of the fuse resistance values and the fuse impedance values in response to the thermal fuse impedance values. The exemplary system includes wherein the fuse characterization circuit 5418 further updates a stored one of the fuse resistance value and the fuse impedance value by performing at least one operation such as: updating the value to the thermal fuse impedance value (e.g., replacing the stored value with the determined value on-the-fly or periodically); filtering the value using the thermal fuse impedance value as a filter input (e.g., continuously moving toward the determined value, such as with a selected time constant); rejecting the thermal fuse impedance value for a certain period of time or for a certain determined number of thermal fuse impedance values (e.g., in the case of determining a low confidence value and/or an outlier, skimming or ignoring the value for a certain period of time or for a selected determined number, and/or subsequently confirming the value if it appears stable over time); and/or updating the value by performing a rolling average over time of the plurality of thermal impedance values (e.g., utilizing a rolling buffer or other memory construct to replace the older determination with the updated determination). The exemplary system includes a plurality of thermal fuses 5420 wherein the power distribution unit 5406 further includes disposed therein, and wherein the current source circuit 5416 is further electrically coupled to the plurality of thermal fuses (which may be a single current source selectively coupled to the various fuses, and/or separate current sources controllable by the current source circuit 5416). The example current source circuit 5416 is further configured to sequentially inject current across each of the plurality of thermal fuses (e.g., to check thermal fuse resistance values and/or resistances of each of the fuses in a selected sequence). The example voltage determination circuit 5518 is further electrically coupled to each of the plurality of thermal fuses and is further structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage, a thermal fuse impedance value, for each of the plurality of thermal fuses. The example current source circuit 5416 is further configured to sequentially inject current across each of the plurality of thermal fuses in a selected order of fuses (e.g., the fuses do not have to be inspected in any particular order and do not have to be inspected at the same frequency or the same number of times). The example current source circuit 5416 is further structured to adjust the selected order in response to at least one of: the rate of change of temperature for each of the fuses (e.g., fuses that change temperature more quickly may be checked more frequently); the importance value of each of the fuses (e.g., the power supply fuses may be checked more frequently than non-critical auxiliary fuses); the criticality of each of the fuses (e.g., a mission-disabling fuse may be checked more frequently than another fuse); power supply throughput (e.g., similar to rate of change of temperature, and/or indicative of the likelihood of increased wear or aging of the fuses) for each of the fuses; and/or one of a fault condition or a fuse health condition for each of the fuses (e.g., fuses with suspected or active faults and/or worn or aged fuses may be inspected more frequently to track the progress of the fuses, confirm or clear diagnostics, and/or detect or cope with failures more quickly). The example current source circuit 5416 is further structured to adjust the selected order in response to one of a planned duty cycle and an observed duty cycle of the vehicle (e.g., adjust the fuse check order and/or frequency based on the planned duty cycle of the vehicle or the power supply circuit and/or based on the observed duty cycle of the vehicle or the power supply circuit, allowing adaptation to various applications and/or observed run-time variations). Exemplary systems include those in which the current source circuit 5416 is further structured to scan the injection current through a series of injection frequencies (e.g., to ensure robustness to system noise, to inform a multi-frequency impedance model of the fuse, and/or to passively or actively avoid injection noise on power supply circuits including fuses). The example current source circuit 5416 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at multiple injection frequencies (e.g., similar to a sweep, but using a selected number of discrete frequencies that achieves some of the benefits of a sweep with more convenient filtering and processing, and includes updating the selected injection frequency based on system changes such as loading, observed noise, and/or observations of the selected frequency in characterizing the fuse). An exemplary system includes where current source circuit 5416 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. The injection voltage magnitude may be coupled with the injection current magnitude. Wherever the injection amplitude is described in this disclosure, it should be understood that the injection amplitude may be a current injection amplitude and/or a voltage injection amplitude, and in certain operating conditions these amplitudes may be combined (e.g., selecting a voltage amplitude until a current limit in the current source is reached, selecting a current amplitude until a voltage limit in the current source is reached, and/or following an amplitude trajectory that may include a combination of voltages and/or currents). Exemplary systems include those in which current source circuit 5416 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to the power supply throughput of the thermal fuse (e.g., injecting a greater magnitude at high loads to facilitate signal-to-noise ratio, and/or injecting a lower magnitude at high loads to reduce loads on the fuse). An exemplary system includes where the current source circuit 5416 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a duty cycle of the vehicle.

Referring to fig. 56, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 5602 of determining a zero offset voltage of a fuse current measurement system, including an operation 5604 of determining that a fuse load of a fuse electrically disposed between a power source and the electrical load does not require current; and an operation 5604 that includes determining a zero offset voltage in response to the fuse load not requiring current; and an operation 5606 of storing the zero offset voltage.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program further includes an operation to update the stored zero offset voltage in response to the determined zero offset voltage. An exemplary procedure includes diagnosing operation of a component in response to a zero offset voltage, for example, where a high zero offset voltage indicates that a component in the system may be operating improperly. An example program includes an operation to determine which of a plurality of components contributes to a zero offset voltage (e.g., by performing a zero offset voltage determination with a selected component coupled or decoupled from a circuit having a fuse to be inspected). An exemplary procedure includes an operation of determining that a fuse load does not require current by performing at least one operation such as: determining that a vehicle including a fuse, a power source, and an electrical load has experienced a shutdown event; determining that a vehicle has a turn-on event; determining that the vehicle is powered down; and determining that the vehicle is in an accessory condition, wherein the vehicle in the accessory condition is not powered by the fuse (e.g., a key switch accessory position of the application, wherein the power fuse is not energized in the accessory position).

Referring to fig. 57, an exemplary apparatus for determining an offset voltage to adjust a fuse current determination includes a controller 5702 having a fuse load circuit 5708 structured to determine that the fuse load does not require current and further to determine that a contactor associated with a fuse is open; an offset voltage determination circuit 5722 structured to determine an offset voltage corresponding to at least one component in a fuse circuit associated with the fuse in response to determining that the fuse load does not require current; and an offset data management circuit 5724 structured to store the offset voltage and to transmit a current calculation offset voltage for use by the controller in determining the current through the fuse.

Referring to fig. 58, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 5802 of providing a digital filter for a fuse circuit in a power distribution unit, including an operation 5804 of injecting an alternating current across the fuse, wherein the fuse is electrically disposed between a power source and an electrical load; an operation 5806 of determining a basic power flowing through the fuse by performing a low pass filter operation on one of a measured current value and a measured voltage value of the fuse; and an operation 5808 of determining an injection current value by performing a high pass filter operation on one of the measured current value and the measured voltage value of the fuse.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes an operation to adjust a parameter of at least one of the low pass filter and the high pass filter in response to a duty cycle of one of the power and the current flowing through the fuse. An exemplary procedure includes the operation of injecting an alternating current through a series of injection frequency sweeps. An exemplary procedure includes an operation of injecting alternating current across a fuse at a plurality of injection frequencies. An exemplary procedure includes operations in which the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the fuse at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. An exemplary procedure includes operations wherein the current source circuit is further structured to inject current across the fuse at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the fuse. In certain embodiments, the low pass filter and/or the high pass filter are digital filters, and wherein adjusting a parameter of the digital filters comprises adjusting a value of one or more digital filters. An exemplary procedure includes further processing the measured voltage values with a digital band pass filter after performing the high pass filtering, and determining fuse resistance, fuse dynamic resistance, and/or fuse impedance values based on the measured voltage values that are high pass filtered and band pass filtered.

Referring to fig. 59, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 5902 of calibrating a fuse resistance determination algorithm, including: an operation 5904 of storing a plurality of calibration sets corresponding to a plurality of duty cycle values, the duty cycle comprising an electrical throughput value corresponding to a fuse electrically disposed between the power source and the electrical load. Exemplary calibration sets include current source injection settings of a current injection device operatively coupled with the fuses, including injection frequency, injection duty cycle (e.g., on-time per cycle), injection waveform shape, fuse sequence operation (e.g., checking order and frequency of each fuse), injection amplitude, and/or injection run time (e.g., seconds or milliseconds per injection sequence of each fuse, such as 130 milliseconds, 20 milliseconds, 1 second, etc.). An exemplary procedure includes an operation 5908 of determining a duty cycle of a system including a fuse, a power source, and an electrical load; an operation 5910 of determining an injection setting of the current injection device in response to the plurality of calibration sets and the determined duty cycle (e.g., using the indicated calibration set according to the determined duty cycle, and/or interpolating between the calibration sets); and an operation 5912 of operating the current injection device in response to the determined injection setting.

The exemplary program further includes operations wherein the calibration set further includes a filter setting of at least one digital filter, wherein the method further includes determining a fuse resistance with the at least one digital filter.

Referring to fig. 60, an exemplary procedure includes an operation 6002 of providing a unique current waveform to improve fuse resistance measurements of the power distribution unit. In certain embodiments, the procedure includes an operation 6004 of confirming opening of a contactor electrically positioned in a fuse circuit, wherein the fuse circuit includes a fuse electrically disposed between a power source and an electrical load, and/or an operation 6006 of determining a zero voltage offset value of the fuse circuit. An exemplary procedure includes an operation 6006 that performs a plurality of current injection sequences across the fuse, wherein each of the current injection sequences includes a selected current amplitude, current frequency, and current waveform value. The example program also includes an operation 6010 of determining a fuse resistance value in response to the current injection sequence and/or the zero voltage offset value.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary processes are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The example program also includes adjusting a filter characteristic of the digital filter in response to each of the plurality of current injection sequences and measuring operation of one of the fuse circuit voltage or the fuse circuit current with the adjusted filter characteristic using the digital filter during the corresponding current injection sequence.

Referring to fig. 61, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 6102 having a power supply path 6104; a power distribution unit comprising a current protection circuit 6108 disposed in the power supply path 6104, wherein the current protection circuit 6108 comprises a thermal fuse 6120 and a contactor 6122 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 6120. The exemplary system includes a controller 6114 having a current source circuit 6116 electrically coupled to a thermal fuse 6120 and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6120; and a voltage determination circuit 6118 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 6120 and structured to determine an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value. The exemplary voltage determination circuit 6118 is structured to perform a frequency analysis operation to determine the amount of injection voltage. Exemplary and non-limiting frequency analysis operations include applying analog and/or digital filters to remove frequency components of the fuse voltage that are not of interest and/or are not related to the injection frequency. Exemplary and non-limiting frequency analysis operations include utilizing at least one frequency analysis technique selected from the group consisting of: fourier transform, fast fourier transform, laplace transform, Z transform, and/or wavelet analysis. In certain embodiments, the frequency analysis operation is performed on filtered and/or unfiltered measurements of the thermal fuse voltage.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the voltage determination circuit 6118 is further structured to determine the amount of injection voltage by determining the magnitude of the voltage across the fuse at a frequency of interest; and/or wherein the frequency of interest is determined in response to the frequency of the injection voltage. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6116 is further structured to sweep the injection current through a series of injection frequencies. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6116 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6120 at a plurality of injection frequencies. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6116 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6120 at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6116 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6120 at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to a power supply throughput of the thermal fuse 6120. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6116 is further structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6120 at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to the duty cycle of the vehicle 6102.

Referring to fig. 62, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 6202 having a power source path 6204; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit 6208 disposed in the power supply path 6204, the current protection circuit 6208 including a thermal fuse 6220 and a contactor 6222 arranged in series with the thermal fuse. The exemplary system also includes a controller 6214 having a current source circuit 6216 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse and structured to determine that the load power supply throughput of the power supply path 6204 is low and to inject current across the thermal fuse 6220 in response to the load power supply throughput of the power supply path 6204 being low. The controller 6214 further comprises a voltage determination circuit 6218 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 6220 and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, and wherein the voltage determination circuit 6218 comprises a high pass filter having a cut-off frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6216 is further structured to determine that the load power throughput of the power supply path 6204 is low in response to the vehicle being in a shutdown state. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6216 is further structured to determine that the load power throughput of the power supply path 6204 is low in response to the vehicle being in a shut-off state. The exemplary system includes wherein the current source circuit 6216 is further structured to determine that the load power throughput of the power supply path 6204 is low in response to the power torque request of the vehicle being zero. The exemplary system includes wherein the power distribution unit further includes a plurality of fuses, and wherein the current source circuit 6216 is further structured to inject current across each of the fuses in a selected sequence; and/or wherein the current source circuit 6216 is further structured to inject current across a first one of the plurality of fuses at a first shutdown event of the vehicle and to inject current across a second one of the plurality of fuses at a second shutdown event of the vehicle (e.g., to limit operation of the controller 6214 during a shutdown event (which may have a finite duration), the example current source circuit 6216 only checks one or a subset of the fuses during a given shutdown event, only checks all fuses within the plurality of shutdown events).

Referring to fig. 62, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 6202 having a power source path 6204; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit 6308 disposed in the power supply path 6204, wherein the current protection circuit 6208 includes a thermal fuse 6220 and a contactor 6222 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 6220. The exemplary system also includes a controller 6214 having a current source circuit 6218 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 6220 and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6220; and a voltage determination circuit 6218 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 6220 and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value. The exemplary voltage determination circuit 6218 comprises a high pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to the frequency of the injected current. The example controller 6214 further includes a fuse state circuit 6219 structured to determine a fuse condition value responsive to at least one of the injection voltage amount and the thermal fuse impedance value. For example, a correlation between fuse resistances (and/or dynamic resistances or impedances) may be established for a particular fuse or fuse type, and the example fuse state circuit 6219 determines a fuse condition value in response to an observed fuse resistance or other relevant parameter. In certain embodiments, the fuse state circuit 6219 may additionally include other information such as power throughput accumulated through the fuse, power transient events and/or accumulated power surge events accumulated through the fuse, temperature events and/or temperature transients accumulated through the fuse, and/or operational life parameters such as number of operating hours, operating mileage, number of live operating hours, and the like.

Certain additional aspects of the exemplary systems are described below, any one or more of which may be present in certain embodiments. The exemplary system includes wherein the fuse state circuit 6219 is further structured to provide the fuse condition value by providing at least one of a fault code or notification of the fuse condition value (e.g., storing a parameter, communicating the fault parameter to a data link, and/or providing the fault parameter to a maintenance tool). The example fuse state circuit 6219 further adjusts the maximum power rating of the power supply path 6204, the maximum power slew rate of the power supply path; and/or adjust the configuration of the current protection circuit in response to the fuse condition value (e.g., sharing load among parallel fuses, bypassing fuses at lower thresholds of power or power transients, etc.). The exemplary power distribution unit also includes an active cooling interface 6224, and wherein the fuse state circuit 6219 further adjusts the active cooling interface 6224 in response to the fuse condition value (e.g., providing additional cooling for a progressively aged fuse, and/or lowering a threshold of an active cooling increase request for a progressively aged fuse). The example fuse state circuit 6219 is further structured to clear at least one of a fault code or notification of a fuse condition value in response to the fuse condition value indicating that the fuse condition has improved (e.g., wherein a previous indication from the fuse condition value indicated degradation but a continued observation indicated no degradation of the fuse, an indication that the fuse has been inspected or altered, etc., after an operator or service technician has reset). The example fuse state circuit 6219 is further structured to clear at least one of a fault code or notification of a fuse condition value in response to a repair event of the fuse (e.g., through a repair tool, a planned input sequence, etc.); wherein the fuse state circuit 6219 is further structured to determine a fuse life remaining value in response to the fuse condition value (e.g., by correlation of the fuse condition value with the fuse life remaining value, and/or using a cutoff value or threshold value of the fuse condition value to trigger an end-of-life condition or warning; e.g., a particular value of the fuse condition value may be determined to indicate that the fuse is 90% of the planned life, the remaining 500 operating hours, etc.); wherein the fuse state circuit 6219 is further structured to determine a fuse life remaining value further responsive to the duty cycle of the vehicle (e.g., in certain embodiments, a heavier vehicle duty cycle will deplete the remaining fuse life faster, which may be considered in determining the fuse life remaining value, and may depend on the units of fuse life remaining (such as the number of hours of operation or calendar days), and/or on the type of notification issued to a service technician, operator, etc., e.g., a service light, a quantified remaining time, etc.); and/or wherein the fuse state circuit 6219 is further structured to determine the fuse life remaining value further in response to one of: the adjusted maximum power rating of the power supply path, the adjusted maximum power slew rate of the power supply path, and/or the adjusted configuration of the current protection circuit (e.g., where the fuse state circuit 6219 has adjusted system parameters such as power throughput, fuse load and/or bypass configuration or thresholds, and/or cooling strategies), the fuse state circuit 6219 may account for an estimated life extension of the fuse due to implementation of these or any other mitigation strategies).

Referring to fig. 63, an exemplary system includes a vehicle 6302 having a motive power supply path 6304; a power distribution unit comprising a current protection circuit 6308 disposed in the power supply path 6304, wherein the current protection circuit further comprises a thermal fuse 6320 and a contactor 6322 arranged in series with the thermal fuse 6320. The exemplary system also includes a controller 6314 having a fuse thermal model circuit 6316 structured to determine a fuse temperature value of the thermal fuse 6320 and to determine a fuse condition value in response to the fuse temperature value. The exemplary system includes a current source circuit 6318 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 6320 and structured to inject current across the thermal fuse 6320; a voltage determination circuit 6319 electrically coupled to the thermal fuse 6320 and structured to determine at least one of an amount of injection voltage and a thermal fuse impedance value, and wherein the voltage determination circuit 6319 comprises a high-pass filter having a cutoff frequency selected in response to a frequency of the injection current. The example fuse thermal model circuit 6316 also determines a fuse temperature value of the thermal fuse further in response to at least one of the injection voltage amount and the thermal fuse impedance value. An exemplary system includes where the fuse thermal model circuit 6316 is further structured to determine a fuse condition value by counting the number of thermal fuse temperature surge events. Exemplary thermal fuse temperature spike events include: a temperature rise threshold within a time threshold, a thermal fuse temperature exceeding a threshold, and/or one or more thresholds for these events (e.g., treating a more severe event as one or more temperature spike events). The example system includes a fuse thermal model circuit to further determine a fuse condition value by integrating a fuse temperature value, integrating a temperature-based indicator (e.g., based on temperature and/or a rate of change of temperature), and/or integrating a fuse temperature value above a temperature threshold.

Referring to fig. 64, an exemplary previously known system having a contactor and fuse combination is depicted. For illustration purposes, the exemplary system is provided as part of a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) 6402 of an electric vehicle or a portion of an electric vehicle. The system includes an electrical storage device (e.g., a battery) and an electric machine that powers the vehicle. The electrical storage (or power storage) device may be of any type, including a battery, a fuel cell, and/or a capacitor (e.g., a supercapacitor or ultracapacitor), as well as combinations of these types (e.g., a capacitor included in a circuit to assist in peak power generation or transient operation management). In certain embodiments, the electrical storage device is rechargeable (e.g., any rechargeable battery technology such as lithium ion, nickel metal hydride, or nickel cadmium) or recoverable (e.g., a chemical-based fuel cell having a reversible chemistry to recover charge generation capability). In this exemplary system, the battery operates as a DC device and the motor operates as an AC device with an inverter positioned therebetween to regulate the power of the motor. The exemplary system includes a filter capacitor 6404 that provides regulation for the main power supply circuit. The exemplary system includes a low side contactor and a high side contactor. The high side contacts are in series with a fuse 6410 that provides over-current protection for the circuit. The exemplary system also includes a precharge circuit, depicted as precharge relay 6408 and precharge resistor 6406. In certain embodiments, the precharge relay 6408 is engaged before the high side contacts are engaged, allowing the capacitive elements of the entire circuit to be energized through the precharge resistor 6406, thereby limiting the rush current or other charging artifacts at system start-up. It can be seen that over-current protection is provided by the system through the fuse 6410, and that the characteristics of the fuse 6410 set over-current protection for the power supply circuit through the PDU. In addition, the contactors are exposed to connection and disconnection events, including arcing, heating, and other wear.

Referring to fig. 65, an exemplary PDU6402 of the present disclosure is schematically depicted. The example PDU6402 may be used in a system such as the system depicted in fig. 64. The example PDU of fig. 65 includes a circuit breaker/relay 6502 component on the high side. The exemplary arrangement of fig. 65 is non-limiting and any arrangement of circuit breakers/relays 6502 that provide designed over-current protection for the system using any of the principles described throughout this disclosure is contemplated herein. The example PDU6402 of fig. 65 omits a fuse in series with the contactor for over-current protection with the circuit breaker/relay 6502. Any of the circuit breakers/relays 6502 as described throughout this disclosure may be used in a system such as depicted in fig. 65. PDU6402 of fig. 65 additionally utilizes a precharge relay 6408 and precharge resistor 6406 similar to that depicted in fig. 64. In the example of fig. 65, the circuit breaker/relay 6502 is in parallel with the precharge circuit, and the relay portion of the circuit breaker/relay 6502 may be engaged after the system has been charged by the precharge circuit. As described throughout this document, the circuit breaker/relay 6502 provides continuous and selectable over-current protection while providing full rated operation throughout the design operating current range of the system. In previously known systems, the contactor/fuse arrangement necessarily provides clearance within the operating range, either pushing the fuse activation at least partially down into the operating current range, or moving the fuse activation out of the rated range, and providing an overcurrent protection clearance above the rated current of the system. In addition, as described throughout this disclosure, the circuit breaker/relay 6502 can provide a variety of current protection mechanisms, selectable current protection based on operating conditions, and reduced wear of the contact elements of the circuit breaker/relay relative to previously known contactors. Thus, a system such as that depicted in fig. 65 may provide reliable, responsive, and recoverable over-current protection relative to previously known systems.

Referring to fig. 66, an exemplary PDU6402 is schematically depicted. The example PDU6402 may be used in a system such as that depicted in fig. 1, and has features that may be additional or alternative to the features described with respect to fig. 65. The example of fig. 66 depicts external inputs to the circuit breaker/relay 6502 (in this example, for suppression, wherein the key switch inputs 6504 are schematically depicted). The circuit breaker/relay 6502 is responsive to external signals in a configurable manner. For example, a key-on operation may be used to energize the circuit breaker/relay 6502 directly (e.g., hard-wired to the key-switch circuit through the coil of the circuit breaker/relay) or indirectly (e.g., receive a network value indicative of the key-switch position, receive a voltage signal indicative of the key-switch position, etc.), thereby charging the power supply circuit. In another example, a key switch off operation may be used to de-energize the circuit breaker/relay 6502, thereby removing power from the power supply circuit. The external signal may be of any type or types, including an external command generated from any portion of the system, a calculated value indicating whether power should be supplied or shut down (e.g., a maintenance event, an accident indication flag, an emergency shutdown command, a vehicle controller request, a device protection request for a certain device on the vehicle, a calculation that a temperature, voltage or current value has exceeded a threshold value, etc.). The external signal may be supplied as a hardwired signal (e.g., an electrical connection having a voltage representing a signal value) and/or as a communication (e.g., a data link or network communication), which may be a wired communication or a wireless communication, and may be generated by a controller (e.g., a vehicle controller, a power management controller, etc.) on PDU6402 or external to PDU 6402. For ease of illustration, the example of fig. 66 does not depict a precharge circuit, but implementations such as those shown in fig. 65 or fig. 66 may have a precharge circuit or omit a precharge circuit, depending on the characteristics of the system, design goals and requirements of the system, and so forth.

Referring to fig. 67, an exemplary schematic block diagram of a circuit breaker/relay is depicted. The example circuit breaker/relay of fig. 67 includes a power bus 6702 (e.g., high voltage, power, load power, etc.) that operates at high voltage throughput and is connected or disconnected by schematically depicted contacts. The voltage, which is a "high voltage" on the power bus, may be any value and depends on the load being driven and other selected parameters of the system. In certain embodiments, the high voltage is any voltage above 42V, above 72V, above 110V, above 220V, above 300V, and/or above 360V. The voltage ranges of the power source load and auxiliary loads (e.g., PTO devices, pumps, etc.) may be different and may be above or below these ranges. In this example, the standard on/off 6504 or control voltage is depicted on the left (depicted as 12V, but any value such as 6V, 12V, 24V, 42V may be utilized). The standard voltage 6504 is depicted for purposes of illustration, but may additionally or alternatively be a data link or network input in communication with a controller of the circuit breaker/relay (e.g., where the circuit breaker/relay has independent authority to control the power supply). In certain embodiments, the standard voltage 6504 will be the same voltage experienced at the key switch by the vehicle controller, by auxiliary (e.g., unpowered or non-loaded) components in the system, and the like. In some embodiments, the standard voltage 6504 will be a push switch 6504 signal. The standard voltage 6504 may be configured to be received through the input control spacer 6710.

Further, in the example of fig. 67, an auxiliary switch spacer 6708 is depicted that provides an input for auxiliary control of the circuit breaker/relay. In some embodiments, the auxiliary switch spacer 6708 is coupled to an electrical input 6704 (such as an optional input at standard voltage), an output from a controller (e.g., the controller provides power to the auxiliary switch spacer as an output at a selected voltage). In certain embodiments, the auxiliary switch spacer 6708 may utilize a data link or network input. In certain embodiments, for example, where the circuit breaker/relay has an internal controller, the standard on/off 6504 and auxiliary off isolator inputs 6704 may be the same physical inputs, for example, where the data link inputs, network inputs, and/or controllable electrical signals (e.g., controlled voltage values) provide information to the circuit breaker/relay to determine the current requested state of the circuit breaker/relay. In some embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay is a hardware-only device that accepts a first voltage value at a standard on/off position, a second voltage value at an auxiliary off position, and responds by hardware configuration of the circuit breaker/relay to perform a selected operation.

In the example of fig. 67, the standard on/off input 6504 and auxiliary off input 6704 include circuit protection components (e.g., the spacer 6708,6710), such as surge protection and polarity protection. The exemplary circuit breaker/relay includes logic that energizes the relay (closes contacts on the power bus) when the standard on/off input 6504 is high and de-energizes the relay (opens contacts on the power bus) when the standard on/off input 6504 is low or the auxiliary off input 6704 is low. In the example of fig. 67, the logic circuit is schematically depicted and may be implemented as a hardware element in a circuit breaker/relay. Additionally or alternatively, a controller in the circuit breaker/relay may interpret the input voltage, data link signals, and/or network communications to implement logic and determine whether to open or close the relay. Logic in the present system is depicted as a "normally open" relay that utilizes power to close (contact), but the circuit breaker/relay may be configured as a "normally closed", latch, or any other logic configuration. Additionally or alternatively, the standard on/off input 6504 and/or the auxiliary off input 6704 may utilize a logic high or logic low to effect operation of the circuit breaker/relay.

The example circuit breaker/relay of fig. 67 additionally depicts a current sensing device 6706 ("current sensing") (which may be a current sensor on the bus), a current value calculated based on other system parameters, a current value communicated to the circuit breaker/relay and/or a controller operatively coupled to the circuit breaker/relay, or any other device, mechanism, or method of determining a current value on the bus. In the example of fig. 67, a current sensing device 6706 is coupled to the "trigger level 'off' portion of the logic circuit and operates to de-energize the relay when a high current value is sensed. The sensed high current value may be a single threshold (e.g., determined by hardware in a logic circuit) and/or an optional threshold (e.g., determined by a controller based on operating conditions or other values in the system). It can be seen that a function of sensed current values (such as rate of change, cumulative current value exceeding a threshold, etc.) may additionally or alternatively be used for a single sensed current value, either by hardware or with a controller. It can be seen that a circuit breaker/relay such as depicted in fig. 67 can controllably open the function of the power bus circuit at selected threshold current values and/or functions thereof, thereby allowing continuous operation throughout the rated current range of the system. In addition, a circuit breaker/relay such as depicted in fig. 67 provides a controllable disconnection of the power bus for any selected parameter that may be independent of current flow, such as an emergency shutdown operation, a request from elsewhere in the system (e.g., a vehicle controller), a service or maintenance operation, or any other selected reason. Certain embodiments throughout this disclosure provide additional features of a circuit breaker/relay, any one or more of which may be included in an embodiment such as depicted in fig. 67.

Referring to fig. 68, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay is schematically depicted in cross-section. The exemplary circuit breaker/relay generally includes a switching portion 6820 (upper half or "circuit breaker") and an actuating portion 6822 (lower half or "relay"). For purposes of illustration, some exemplary components of a circuit breaker/relay are depicted and described. An exemplary circuit breaker/relay includes a coil 6816 and a magnetic core 6818 in the relay portion. In this example, energizing the coil 6816 actuates the relay, drawing the armature 6814 down to the magnetic core 6818. The armature 6814 is coupled to the movable contact 6810 in the upper portion and thereby moves into contact with the fixed contact 6812, completing the circuit and allowing current to pass through the power bus. In the example of fig. 68, the movable contact 6810 is pressed into the fixed contact 6812 by a contact force, which is an optional biasing force biasing spring 6804 in the example of fig. 68. Even if the armature 6814 is in the engaged (lower) position, the movable contact 6810 can be lifted from the fixed contact 6812 with sufficient force to compress the contact force spring 6804. The example of fig. 68 depicts the armature 6814 in a disengaged (upper) position, wherein the movable contact 6810 is open or not in contact with the fixed contact 6812.

The breaker portion 6820 of the breaker/relay includes a plurality of separator plates 6806 adjacent the body of the main contact and a permanent magnet system 6802 surrounding the separator plates 6806 and/or the arc path between the contact gap and the separator plates 6806. During engagement or disengagement of the movable contact 6810 upon energization of the power bus, the body of the main contact cooperates with the separator plate 6806 in the presence of the magnetic field provided by the permanent magnet system 6802 to dissipate and distribute the resulting arc, thereby greatly reducing wear, degradation, and damage to the contact. The combined aspects of the circuit breaker sections have been shown to greatly extend the life of the contacts and switching chamber (e.g., due to lower arc thermal loads over the life of the circuit breaker/relay).

The current through the power bus generates a repulsive force, or lorentz force, between the contacts. The lorentz force is a complex function of the contact area of the contacts and the value of the current through the power bus. When the current is very high, the lorentz force between the contacts compresses the contact force spring 6804 sufficiently to force the movable contact 6810 to lift off the fixed contact 6812 and temporarily open the relay. It has been found that the contact force spring 6804 can be easily adjusted to provide a physical disconnection of the contacts at selectable values. Additionally or alternatively, the contact area between the contact and other geometric aspects of the contact may be manipulated to select or adjust the physical disconnection current. However, in some embodiments, the select contact force spring 6804 may directly adjust the physical disconnect current. In certain embodiments, selecting contact force spring 6804 includes changing the spring to change the physical disconnection current. Additionally or alternatively, the contact force spring 6804 (e.g., an axially compressed or released spring) may be adjusted in-situ to adjust the physical disconnect current.

In certain embodiments, after a physical disconnection event (e.g., when the armature 6814 is in a lower or contact position, the movable contact 6810 is forced away from the fixed contact 6812, compressing the contact force spring 6812), the current through the power bus drops rapidly and the lorentz force decreases, causing the movable contact 6810 to be pushed back to the engaged position by the contact force spring 6804. In certain embodiments, the current sensor 6706 will detect a high current event, thereby de-energizing the trigger coil 6816 and moving the armature 6814 back up to the disengaged position. Thus, when movable contact 6810 returns to the engaged position, armature 6814 has moved it away so that movable contact 6810 does not contact fixed contact 6812 after a physical disconnection event. In certain embodiments, the threshold value of disengagement of the armature 6814 detected by the current sensor 6706 is lower than the physical disconnect current, thereby giving the armature 6814 "head start" and reducing the likelihood of the movable contact 6810 coming into contact with the fixed contact 6812 again. In many systems, during very high current events, the re-contact between movable contact 6810 and fixed contact 6812 can cause severe damage to the circuit breaker/relay and/or the welding of the contacts.

Referring to fig. 69, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay is depicted showing the relative movement of an armature and a movable contact. In this example, the armature at the top forces the movable contact away from the fixed contact, thereby disconnecting the power bus. The armature at the bottom pulls the moving contact downward to engage the fixed contact, thereby connecting the power bus. The motion arrow 6904 in fig. 69 indexes movement of the armature that will occur as the armature moves from the open state to the closed state after the coil is energized. Any reference to "up" or "down" throughout this disclosure is for clarity of description and does not refer to the actual vertical relationship of any components of the circuit breaker/relay. The circuit breaker/relay may be positioned such that movement of the armature is along any axis, including top-down, bottom-up, horizontal orientation, and/or any other orientation. In certain embodiments, the armature is returned to the up or disengaged position using passive elements such as a biasing spring or a counter spring (e.g., positioned between the armature and the permanent magnet, and/or in the housing of one or more of these), resulting in a "normal open" logic operation of the circuit breaker/relay. The biasing spring or the counter spring is not present in the schematic cross-section of fig. 69. As described throughout this disclosure, the circuit breaker/relay may be normally open, normally closed, latched, or in any other logical configuration, with appropriate adjustments to hardware and/or control elements to provide such a configuration.

Referring to fig. 69A, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay is depicted in a closed position. The armature in the example of fig. 69A has moved downward and movable contact 6810 has additionally moved downward with armature 6814 into an engaged position with the fixed contact, thereby closing the circuit and allowing power to pass through the power bus. The contact force spring 6804 in the position depicted in fig. 69A is compressed to provide a contact force against the fixed contact to the movable contact 6810. It can be seen that the movable contact is provided with a movement space in which the force of the spring sufficient to overcome the contact force 6804 can lift the movable contact 6810 off the fixed contact, thereby breaking the circuit and preventing power from passing through the power bus.

Referring to fig. 70, an operational diagram of a previously known contactor-fuse system and circuit breaker/relay system consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure is schematically depicted. In the example of fig. 70, an operating current bar is depicted on the left side, having two general operating schemes, namely operation within the rated current value (e.g., within the design current limits of the system, such as regions 7004, 7006) and operation above the rated current value (e.g., region 7008). In addition, in the example of fig. 70, the operation within the rated current is subdivided into a lower region 7004 and an upper region 7006. In the example of fig. 70, the lower region 7004 and the upper region 7006 are illustrative examples for depicting modes of operation within the rated current region, e.g., the lower region 7004 may be associated with lower power operations such as operation of an accessory, and the upper region 7006 may be associated with higher power operations such as providing motive power or pumping power. The regions 7004, 7006 provide conceptual differences between the operating conditions, and the actual operations occurring within the lower region 7004 and the upper region 7006 are not critical to the description of fig. 70. For example, the upper region 7006 of one exemplary system may be for a mobile vehicle (e.g., where the lower region 7004 is another function, such as power to a communication or accessory), where the lower region 7004 of another exemplary system may be power for a mobile vehicle (e.g., where the upper region 7006 is another function, such as charging or high performance power).

In the example of fig. 70, the operational area of the contactor-fuse system is depicted in the middle. The contactor provides full operation up to rated power. Design choices may allow the contactor to provide operation slightly above rated power (e.g., where system risk is accepted to provide higher capacity) or slightly below rated power (e.g., where system performance is compromised to protect system components). The contactor-fuse system also includes an operating region for the fuse in which the fuse is activated at a selected current value. It can be seen that an operating gap 7002 occurs in which the fuse is not activated due to the low current value, but the contactor does not support operation in the region of the gap 7002. Gap 7002 can only be closed by overlapping operation of the contactors and/or fuses, which necessarily compromises system risk conditions or performance. If the fuse area extends lower, rated operation at certain duty cycles may trigger fuse events and task loss. In addition, when the contactors and fuses experience wear or degradation, the operating area for the contactor-fuse system will move, creating inconsistent system performance, protection loss, and/or unnecessary fuse events. In addition, failure modes of the fuses result in prolonged exposure of the system to high currents due to fuse melting time and prolonged arcing time by activating the fuses. Finally, operation of the contactor at the upper limit of the contactor operating area results in undesirable contactor heating and degradation.

In the example of fig. 70, the operating area of a circuit breaker/relay consistent with certain embodiments of the present disclosure is depicted. The circuit breaker/relay provides a smooth and selectable function throughout the operating current bar. The circuit breaker/relay provides a high performance contact that does not operate near the upper region of its current capacity, thereby reducing heat generation and degradation due to high operation (within rated ranges) such as in the upper region 7006. In addition, the current sensor and associated disconnect operation allow for selectable disconnects when operating above the rated current of the system. Furthermore, a physical disconnect current is available (e.g., with reference to fig. 68 and associated disclosure), which causes the power bus to immediately disconnect at very high current values. In certain embodiments, the arc dissipation features of the circuit breaker/relay additionally provide a faster and less damaging disconnection event than previously experienced with known contactor-fuse arrangements. In addition, the circuit breaker/relay provides a recoverable disconnect operation in which only commands to the circuit breaker/relay will again provide a connection without a repair event. Thus, if the system failure causing the high current event is resolved or consistent with a restart, the system can resume operation of the circuit breaker/relay as soon as necessary without diagnosing the fuse event or replacing the fuse.

Referring to fig. 71, an exemplary process 7100 of disconnecting a power bus is depicted. The exemplary process 7100 includes an operation 7102 of detecting a current value, for example, using a current sensor (see fig. 68). The process 7100 also includes an operation 7104 of determining if an over-current event is detected. For example, the detected current value, a function thereof, or a calculated parameter determined in response to the current value may be compared to a threshold value to determine whether an over-current event is detected. The example process 7100 also includes an operation 7106 of commanding the contacts to open, for example, by de-energizing the coil to move the armature to a position to open the contacts. The overcurrent threshold may be any value and may be modified in real time and/or according to operating conditions. The value of the over-current threshold depends on the application and components in the system. Exemplary and non-limiting overcurrent values include 100A, 200A, 400A, 1kA (1,000 amperes), 1.5kA, 3kA, and 6kA.

Referring to fig. 72, an exemplary process 7200 of performing a physical disconnection is depicted. The exemplary process 7200 includes an operation 7202 of accepting the current throughput, e.g., as current through a coupling contact in a power bus. The example process 7200 also includes an operation 7204 of determining whether a resultant current force (e.g., lorentz force between the movable contact and the fixed contact) exceeds a contact force (e.g., as provided by a contact force spring). The example process 7200 also includes an operation 7206 of opening the contact by a physical response (e.g., lorentz force as a spring against the contact force and moving the movable contact away from the fixed contact). The physical disconnect current may be any value and depends on the application and components in the system. Exemplary and non-limiting physical disconnect currents include 400A, 1kA, 2kA, 4.5kA, 9kA, and 20kA.

Referring to fig. 73, an exemplary process 7300 of opening a contact in response to an over-current event and/or in response to any other selected parameter is depicted. The exemplary process 7300 includes an operation 7302 of turning on the system, for example, via a key switch or other circuit and/or via identification of a key switch on condition. Process 7300 also includes an operation 7304 of determining whether the contact enabling condition is met, for example, immediately after the key switch is turned on, after a selected period of time, after a determination that the system precharge event is complete, and/or according to any other selected condition. In certain embodiments, where operation 7304 determines that the contact enabling condition is not met, process 7300 maintains operation 7304 until the contact enabling condition is met. Any other response to operation 7304 determining that the contact enabling condition is not met, including requesting permission to enable the contact condition, setting a fault code, etc., is contemplated herein. In response to operation 7304 determining that the contact condition is met, process 7300 further includes an operation 7306 of closing the contact (e.g., energizing a coil to move an armature), and an operation 7202 of accepting current throughput. The example process 7300 also includes performing a physical disconnect operation 7200 if the accepted current is high enough and proceeding to an operation 7102 that detects the value of current through the power bus. The process 7300 further includes an operation 7104 of determining whether an over-current event was detected (in some embodiments, operation 7104 may be set to a lower current value than the physical disconnect current tested at operation 7200). In response to operation 7104 determining that an over-current event is detected, process 7300 includes an operation 7312 of commanding the contact to open. In response to operation 7104 determining that an overcurrent event is not detected, process 7300 includes an operation 7308 of detecting an auxiliary command (e.g., auxiliary off input) and an operation 7310 of determining whether an auxiliary command (e.g., logic high, logic low, a specified value, a lack of a specified value, etc.) to open the contact is present. In response to operation 7310 determining that there is an auxiliary command to open the contact, process 7300 includes an operation 7312 of commanding the contact to open. In response to operation 7310 determining that there is no auxiliary command to open the contact (e.g., branch "continue operation" in the example of fig. 73), the process returns to operation 7306.

Referring to fig. 74, an exemplary process 7400 for resuming operation of a circuit breaker/relay after a contact opening event is depicted. The example process 7400 includes an operation 7300 to open a contact of a circuit breaker/relay, such as due to a physical disconnection, an over-current detection, and/or an auxiliary off command. The process 7400 also includes an operation 7402 of determining if a contact reset condition exists. Exemplary and non-limiting operations 7402 include determining that a contact enable condition is met, determining that a fault code value has been reset, determining that a system controller is requesting a contact reset, and/or any other contact reset condition. The process 7400 also includes an operation 7404 of closing the contact, for example, by providing power to the coil to move the armature.

Referring to fig. 75, a previously known exemplary mobile power supply circuit is depicted. The exemplary mobile power supply circuit is similar to the mobile power supply circuit depicted in fig. 64. The example of fig. 75 includes a junction box housing a precharge circuit, a high side relay, and a low side relay. In certain embodiments, the precharge circuit and the high side relay are disposed in a housing within the junction box. In the example of fig. 75, a fuse 6410 provides over-current protection on the high side and is housed within PDU housing 7500 along with main relay and precharge resistor 6406.

Referring to fig. 76, an exemplary mobile power circuit includes a circuit breaker/relay 6502 disposed in a high-side circuit and a second circuit breaker/relay 6502 positioned in a low-side circuit. In certain embodiments, each circuit breaker/relay 6502 provides continuous over-current control throughout the operating area of the mobile application, as described throughout this disclosure. In addition, it can be seen that the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provides over-current protection under all operating conditions, including during a precharge operation that bypasses the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 so that the mobile power supply circuit may be precharged through the precharge resistor 6406. In certain embodiments, both the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provide additional benefits such as rapid arc spreading, low wear during connection and disconnection events, and improved heating characteristics during high current (but within rated range) operation of the mobile circuit.

Referring to fig. 77, an exemplary power distribution arrangement for a mobile application is depicted. The embodiment of fig. 77 is similar to the embodiment of fig. 76, with a high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and a low side circuit breaker/relay 6502. Four operational schemes of the embodiment of fig. 77 are described herein, including a precharge operation (e.g., upon power up of the system for a mobile application), a power supply operation for the load (e.g., providing motive or auxiliary power for the mobile application), a regeneration operation (e.g., restoring power from the motive or auxiliary load), and a charging operation (e.g., connection of a dedicated charger to the system). In the example of fig. 77, the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 has an associated current sensor 6706. In the example of fig. 77, the low side breaker/relay 6502 is in the loop during all operating periods and may provide current protection for any operating condition. To save costs, the current sensor of the high-side breaker/relay 6502 may be omitted. In certain embodiments, to protect the circuit breaker/relay contacts 6502, a local current sensor for each circuit breaker/relay 6502 may be included to provide operation of the protection contacts in the event of a physical current disconnection (e.g., see fig. 70). It can be seen that additional contactors and/or circuit breakers/relays may be provided in addition to those shown, for example to isolate the charging circuit, route power through selected ones of the power loads and/or auxiliary loads, and/or prevent power from flowing through the inverter (not shown) during a charging operation. Additionally or alternatively, certain components depicted in fig. 77 may not be present in certain embodiments. For example, a low side contactor on the charging circuit may not be present and any one or more of the power load (traction motor drive) or auxiliary load may not be present. During a precharge operation, when the high side breaker/relay 6502 is open, the precharge contactor 7702 may be closed, with the low side breaker/relay 6502 providing current protection (in addition to or as an alternative to the precharge fuse) during the precharge operation. During charging operations, the low side breaker/relay 6502 provides current protection, while the high side breaker/relay 6502 is bypassed by the charging circuit.

Referring to fig. 78, an exemplary power distribution management for a mobile application is depicted. The embodiment of fig. 78 is similar to the embodiment of fig. 77 except that the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 is in the loop during all operations and the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 is not in the loop during charging operations. In the example of fig. 78, the high-side circuit breaker/relay 6502 may include current sensing associated therewith to provide protection for the contacts during a physical current disconnection. In certain embodiments, the current sensor 6706 depicted on the low side may be sufficient to provide protection for the contacts of the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502, depending on the circuit dynamics of the mobile application, without requiring a dedicated current sensor for the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502. During the precharge operation of the embodiment of fig. 78, current protection is either absent or provided by a precharge fuse. During the charging operation of the embodiment of fig. 78, current protection is provided by the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502.

Referring to fig. 79, an exemplary power distribution management for a mobile application is depicted. The embodiment of fig. 79 is similar to the embodiment of fig. 77 except that the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 is replaced with a standard contactor. In the example of fig. 79, the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provides current protection during all operating conditions, and the system otherwise uses conventional components. In certain embodiments, improved current protection capability is desired, but contactor wear may not be as important, and the tradeoff of having inexpensive contactors in other locations in the mobile power circuit remote from the low-side breaker/relay 6502 may be an acceptable solution. In addition, the presence of the low-side circuit breaker/relay 6502 in the circuit may reduce wear on conventional contactors in the mobile power circuit by the timing of the connections for all operating conditions, such that the low-side circuit breaker/relay 6502 reduces the number of connection and disconnection events on other contactors when the system is charged.

Referring to fig. 80, an exemplary power distribution management for a mobile application is depicted. The embodiment of fig. 80 is similar to the embodiment of fig. 78 except that the low side circuit breaker/relay is replaced with a contactor and the low side charging circuit is routed through the low side contactor. In certain embodiments, the low side charging circuit may bypass the low side contactor, similar to the embodiment of fig. 78. As can be seen from fig. 80, when the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 is bypassed, there is a circuit path through the precharge circuit that lacks short circuit protection during precharge operations unless protection is provided by the precharge fuse. In certain embodiments, fuses (not shown) in the precharge circuit may be provided to provide short circuit protection during precharge operating conditions, and/or unprotected precharge operation may be an acceptable risk. In any of the embodiments depicted throughout this disclosure, fuses may be included that may be in series with the circuit breaker/relay 6502, depending on the benefits that the circuit breaker/relay 6502 seeks for a particular embodiment. In certain embodiments, the included fuses with the circuit breaker/relay 6502 may be configured to activate at very high current values expected to be higher than the physical disconnection current of the circuit breaker/relay 6502, e.g., as redundant protection of the circuit, and/or to provide long-life fuses expected to last for a selected period of time, such as the service life of an electric mobile application.

Referring to fig. 81, an exemplary power allocation management for mobile applications consistent with the embodiment depicted in fig. 77 is depicted. The power flow during the precharge operation is schematically depicted in fig. 81, with arrows showing the power flow paths. The operations described with respect to fig. 81 may be understood in the context of any of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. During a precharge operation, precharge contactor 7702 is closed and low side breaker/relay 6502 is closed, providing power through the mobile circuit and through precharge resistor 6406. The precharge operation allows the capacitive element of the mobile circuit to be charged before the high side breaker/relay 6502 is closed. During the precharge operation in the embodiment of fig. 81, the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provides over-current protection of the circuit. After the precharge operation is complete (which may be determined in an open loop (e.g., using a timer) manner or in a closed loop (e.g., detecting a voltage drop across a battery terminal, or detecting a current through a circuit)), the high side breaker/relay 6502 is closed and the precharge contactor 7702 may be opened.

Referring to fig. 82, an exemplary power allocation management for mobile applications consistent with the embodiment depicted in fig. 77 is depicted. The power flow during load powering is depicted in fig. 82, where the arrows illustrate the flow paths. The operations described with respect to fig. 82 may be understood in the context of any of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. During load powering operation, in this example, the precharge contactor 7702 is open and power flows through the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502. The embodiment of fig. 82 depicts a traction motor load being powered, but one or more auxiliary loads may additionally or alternatively be powered in a similar manner. During load powering operation, both the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provide over-current protection. In certain embodiments, the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 may have the same or different current ratings. For example, in the event that one of the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 or the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 is easier to repair or cheaper, that one of the circuit breakers/relays 6502 may have a lower total current rating to provide a system in which a predictable one of the circuit breakers/relays 6502 fails first. Additionally or alternatively, certain operations on the system may have a higher current rating (e.g., a charging operation in which the charging circuit is routed through only one of the circuit breakers/relays 6502 (e.g., the low side circuit breakers/relays in the embodiment of fig. 82), so one of the circuit breakers/relays 6502 may have a higher current rating than the other. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay 6502 current rating may be reflected in the contact material of the movable and fixed contacts, as a contact surface area of the movable and fixed contacts, as a threshold setting for controlled operation in response to a detected current, as a number or arrangement of separator plates, as a separator plate material and geometry, as a magnet strength and geometry of a permanent magnet system around the separator plates, as a contact force of a contact force spring, and/or as a circuit breaker/relay design element (e.g., contact surface area and contact spring force) that determines a physical disconnect current due to a lorentz force on the contacts.

Referring to fig. 83, an exemplary power allocation management for mobile applications consistent with the embodiment depicted in fig. 77 is depicted. The power flow during a regeneration operation is depicted in fig. 83, where the arrows illustrate the flow path. Regeneration operations from a power load (e.g., as may be experienced during regenerative braking) are depicted, but any regeneration operation from any load in the system is contemplated herein. During a regeneration operation, the high side breaker/relay 6502 and the low side breaker/relay 6502 are closed and the precharge contactor 7702 may be opened. Thus, both the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provide over-current protection during regenerative operation of the system.

Referring to fig. 84, an exemplary power allocation management for mobile applications consistent with the embodiment depicted in fig. 77 is depicted. The power flow during a charging operation is depicted in fig. 84, where the arrows illustrate the flow paths. The charging may be performed with an external charging device and may include a high current fast charging operation that may provide a higher current operation than that associated with the rated power of the load. In the operation depicted in fig. 84, the low side breaker/relay 6502 is closed and the contactor in the charging circuit is closed, providing a power flow path as depicted in the figure. In certain embodiments, the high-side circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the precharge relay 7702 may be opened, for example, to isolate an inverter (not shown) from the circuit during a charging operation. In certain embodiments, the high-side breaker/relay 6502 may be closed, for example, in situations where isolation of the inverter is not required during a charging operation, and/or where fast operation without a precharge cycle may be required after charging. During charging operations, in the example of fig. 84, the low side circuit breaker/relay 6502 provides over-current protection.

Referring to fig. 85, another cross-sectional schematic of the circuit breaker/relay is depicted. In the example of fig. 85, circuit breaking and connecting components are depicted on the breaker side 6820 and contactor operating components are depicted on the relay side 6822. The depicted circuit breaker/relay is an example, and a single pole single throw circuit breaker/relay is depicted. Additionally or alternatively, the circuit breaker/relay may be dual-bladed (e.g., operate two different circuits, i.e., parallel paths for one of the circuits to provide additional current capability, and/or one blade provides high-side coupling and the other blade provides low-side coupling). In some embodiments, a circuit breaker/relay having more than one pole may control the poles independently, or they may operate together with the same armature. In certain embodiments, both knives have arc spread protection provided by the same separator plate or by separate sets of separator plates. In certain embodiments, both knives have arc spread protection provided by the same permanent magnet system or by separate permanent magnet systems.

Referring to fig. 86, another example of a schematic logic diagram of a circuit breaker/relay is depicted. The example of fig. 86 includes emergency or auxiliary input 8602 handled by input isolator 8604. Emergency or auxiliary input 8602 may replace or supplement any other auxiliary input and provide the ability to control the operation of the circuit breaker/relay for a particular application to respond selectively to any desired aspect of the system (including, but not limited to, allowing disconnection assurance during service, during emergency situations, and/or according to any desired control logic).

Referring to fig. 87, a detailed cross-sectional view of a contact portion of an exemplary circuit breaker/relay is depicted. The contact portion of fig. 87 includes an exemplary configuration of contact surfaces of movable contact 6810 and fixed contact 6812. The configuration of the contacts is part of the system that facilitates the physical opening force of the contacts and can be configured with any shape or area to provide the desired response to the high currents occurring in the associated circuitry.

Referring to fig. 88, for purposes of illustration, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay is depicted with portions of the housing removed. An exemplary circuit breaker/relay includes two movable contacts that engage two fixed contacts. In the example of fig. 88, the movable contacts are coupled and operated by the same armature 6814, with the contact force provided by contact spring 6804. In the example of fig. 88, the contacts are electrically coupled by bus bar 8802. In this example, bus bar 8802 transitions directly between contacts and is not significantly exposed to the current carrying portion of the bus bar, including the stationary contacts. In certain embodiments, the bus bar 8802 can include traces that expose a portion of the bus bar 8802 to the vicinity of the current carrying members of the stationary contacts, thereby helping the lorentz force provide for physical disconnection of the circuit breaker/relay. In certain embodiments, the area of the bus bar 8802 exposed to the stationary contact current carrying portion and the area of the bus bar 8802 near the stationary contact current carrying portion are both design elements that allow for the configuration of the lorentz force response.

Referring to fig. 89, an exemplary power management arrangement for a mobile application is depicted. The example of fig. 89 includes a circuit breaker/relay 6502 disposed on the high side of the power circuit, and a pre-charge contactor, resistor, and fuse coupled in parallel to the high side circuit breaker/relay 6502. In the example of fig. 89, the circuit breaker/relay 6502 is a double-pole circuit breaker/relay 6502, for example, to provide additional current capability through contacts of a power circuit. In the example of fig. 89, a controller 8902 is depicted that performs the control functions of the circuit breaker/relay 6502 and the power management arrangement. For example, the controller 8902 receives a key switch input, performs a precharge operation, operates the closing of the circuit breaker/relay, and responds to a high current event by opening the contacts of the circuit breaker/relay. In another example, the controller 8902 performs a shutdown operation of the power management arrangement, such as opening a circuit breaker/relay after a key switch is turned off or in response to an auxiliary, emergency, or other input requesting that power be disconnected.

With further reference to fig. 89, an exemplary power distribution management for mobile applications is schematically depicted, which may be used in whole or in part with any other system or aspect of the present disclosure. An exemplary power distribution management system includes a dual-blade circuit breaker/relay, the example of fig. 89 including a dual-blade circuit breaker/relay having a single magnetic drive (e.g., a magnetic actuator) (e.g., each blade using a set of contacts). In certain embodiments, the two contacts are mechanically connected such that they open or close together (e.g., operate as a double pole single throw contactor). In certain embodiments, the contactors may share one or more arc suppression aspects (e.g., separator plates and/or permanent magnets), and/or may have separate arc suppression aspects. In certain embodiments, the arc suppression aspects may be partially common (e.g., some separation plates near two contacts) and/or partially separate (e.g., some separation plates near only one or the other of the contacts). In certain embodiments, various features of the contactor may be shared, and other features of the contactor may be provided separately, such as control commands or actuation (e.g., a double pole double throw arrangement), arc suppression aspects, and/or an enclosure. The example of fig. 89 additionally depicts a single contactor (e.g., the lower left portion of three (3) depicted contactors) that is individually controllable to provide contact management for the precharge circuits of the power distribution management system. In certain embodiments, the precharge contactor may be integrated with the double-blade contact, e.g., within the same housing as the double-blade contact and/or with a precharge coupling provided as one of the double-blade contacts. The example of fig. 89 depicts a fuse on the precharge circuit and an additional overall fuse on the low side of the battery. The presence of the depicted fuses is optional and non-limiting, and the fuses may be present in other locations, omitted, and/or replaced (e.g., with a circuit breaker/relay as described throughout the present disclosure, and/or with a knife on a double-or multi-knife circuit breaker/relay). In certain embodiments, the precharge circuit may be contained within a power distribution unit separate from and/or containing the circuit breaker/relay, as a solid state precharge circuit, and/or as a mechanical circuit/power circuit located elsewhere in the system and/or within the circuit breaker/relay housing.

The power arrangement of the knife in fig. 89 is an illustrative example and is not limited to the arrangement of the system of the particular embodiment. In certain embodiments, each blade of the dual-blade breaker/relay (and/or each blade or subset of blades in the multi-blade breaker/relay) may provide selectable electrical coupling for the same circuit, separate circuits, and/or selected circuits (e.g., using controllable switches or connectors elsewhere in the system (not depicted)). In certain embodiments, the power distribution management system further comprises a high resolution current sensor and/or current sensing on more than one blade of a dual-or multi-blade circuit breaker/relay. In certain embodiments, the controller is communicatively coupled to one or more high resolution current sensors, and performs any of the operations described throughout the disclosure with the one or more high resolution current sensors (e.g., to command one or more of the contacts to an open position to avoid re-contact after opening, and/or to communicate information determined from the current sensors (e.g., current or other information derived therefrom) to another controller in the system, such as a vehicle controller). In certain embodiments, each contactor of a double or multi-pole circuit breaker/relay includes an arrangement configured to utilize lorentz force response to open contacts due to high current through the electrical circuit of the contactor, as described throughout this disclosure. In certain embodiments, one contact has an arrangement that opens with a lorentz force response, while the other contact opens due to a mechanical connection with the responding contact. In certain embodiments, each contact has an arrangement that utilizes a lorentz force response to open, for example, to provide circuit protection redundancy. In certain embodiments, each contact has an arrangement that opens with a lorentz force response, wherein each contact has a separately configured threshold for the opening response, and/or wherein each contact is separately controllable (e.g., with a separate magnetic actuator or other controlled actuator).

Referring to fig. 90, a schematic diagram of an adaptive system for a hybrid vehicle using a multi-port power converter is depicted. The use of the terms "multiport", "X-port" and/or "X-in-1 port" indicates that the power converter includes one or more ports that can service different power loads and/or power sources having one or more varying electrical characteristics. The configurable power converter may have one or more fixed ports, one or more configurable ports, or a combination of these ports. The example system 9000 includes a multi-port power converter 9008 having a plurality of ports structured to connect to a power source and/or an electrical load. The multi-port power converter 9008 in the example of fig. 90 is coupled to four electrical loads/sources 9006 (9006 a-9006 d), but may be connected to any number of loads and/or sources as described throughout this disclosure. In this example, each load/source 9006a-9006d has different electrical characteristics, such as current type (e.g., AC, DC), frequency component (phase and/or frequency), and/or voltage. In certain embodiments, the load/source 9006 may have additional electrical characteristics or requirements, for example, the load as a motor may have rise time and/or response time requirements. The example multi-port power converter 9008 is capable of configuring electrical characteristics to multi-port connectors without changing the hardware of the multi-port power converter 108 and is also capable of supporting configuration changes of the multi-port power converter 108 at various selectable manufacturing, application selection, and/or usage operational phases as described throughout this disclosure.

The exemplary system 9000 includes a converter/inverter library 9004. The converter/inverter library 9004 includes a plurality of solid state components that can be converted to various configurations of DC/DC conversion interfaces and/or DC/AC conversion interfaces to selected ones of the ports on the multi-port power converter 9008. An exemplary configuration includes a plurality of half-bridge components having connectivity selected by a plurality of solid state switches in the converter/inverter bank 9004. Thus, each of the ports on the multi-port power converter 9008 can be configured for a selected DC/DC and/or DC/AC interface according to the electrical load/power supply 9006 in the application. In certain embodiments, the half-bridge component comprises a silicon carbide (SiC) half-bridge. In certain embodiments, siC half-bridges can operate at very high switching frequencies and high efficiency and low electrical losses in the converter/inverter components.

The selection of components in the converter/inverter library 9004 may be made according to the number of different load types to be supported. Thus, those skilled in the art may design a particular converter/inverter library 9004 to support a wide variety of contemplated applications, each of which may be supported by manipulating only the solid state switches and drive controls for the components of the converter/inverter library 9004 without changing the hardware of the multiport power converter 9008. For example, if a given class of off-highway vehicle can be supported by 4 different DC voltage interactions (e.g., high voltage battery, 12-V circuit, 24-V circuit, and 48-V circuit) and 2 different AC voltage interactions (including the possibility to drive the load and accept regenerative inputs), then packaging the configurable component library and a sufficient number of ports for the converter/inverter library 9004 will support the entire class of off-highway vehicle without changing the hardware of the multi-port power converter 9008. Thus, a given application may be supported at a selected point in the manufacturing cycle, by calibration in the controller 9002 at the design time of the multi-port power converter 9008 (e.g., prior to integration with an OEM), by the OEM assembling the vehicle and/or the driveline of the vehicle, and/or by the body manufacturing industry assembling the final vehicle for a particular application. The controller 9002 may be accessed through the use of a manufacturing tool, repair tool, or the like to configure the component library 9004 in the multiport power converter 9008 and/or to define drive controls for components in the component library 9004 to meet the electrical characteristics of the load/source 9006 in an application.

In some embodiments, DC/DC conversion may be supported by a half-bridge with 4 MOSFET switches, and AC/DC conversion may be supported by a half-bridge with 6 MOSFET switches. In some embodiments, the half-bridge may be modular and may be combined as needed to support specific electrical inputs, outputs, or interfaces. Additionally or alternatively, an H-bridge circuit supporting three-phase output, or other components may be included in the component library 9004, depending on the requirements of the application class to be supported by a particular multi-port power converter 9008.

The use of the multi-port power converter 9008 provides a variety of benefits and features that allow the system 9000 to integrate with a wide variety of applications without requiring hardware changes. For example, the multi-port power converter 9008 allows for centralized processing of power management across a given application, rather than having multiple converters and/or inverters distributed throughout a vehicle or application. Thus, the cooling requirements, especially in terms of the number of interfaces and connections for providing cooling, may be reduced. In addition, electrical connectors for power conversion throughout a vehicle or application may be standardized and the number of connectors reduced. Each connector drives a potential point of failure or environmental intrusion and requires specification, testing, and other integration requirements. The use of the multi-port power converter 9008 greatly simplifies integration and allows for electrification and hybrid power in many applications where electrification and/or hybrid power were not employed in previously known systems, such as off-highway applications with various load types. Furthermore, the ability of the multi-port power converter 108 to configure port outputs and inputs allows for a wider variety of loads on a particular system to be easily integrated into the electrification and/or hybrid schemes, thereby increasing the overall efficiency gains that can be achieved for the application, and enabling electrification and hybrid use cases that would otherwise be prohibitive for proper design and integration challenges (commercially unreasonable for complex design and/or low volume applications). The ability to configure the multi-port power converter 108 without changing the hardware, interfaces, and selected points in the manufacturing cycle additionally supports powering and/or mixing power for many applications where design control and integration responsibilities may vary throughout the industry. Further, the multi-port power converter 9008 is configurable after initial use by an end user, for example, to allow for changes to the power rating or other system changes of the vehicle or application (which may be implemented remotely via updates to the controller 9002), changes to electrical components on the customer-implementable vehicle or application, and/or changes to electrical components made during a repair tool, remanufacturing, or other post-use event.

Referring to fig. 91, an exemplary controller 9002 is depicted having a plurality of circuits structured to functionally execute certain operations and aspects of the controller 9002. The controller 9002 is depicted as a single device positioned on the multi-port power converter 108, but the controller 9002 may be a distributed device having portions positioned on a vehicle controller, in a manufacturing or repair tool, on a server (e.g., cloud-based or internet-accessible server), or a combination of these. In certain embodiments, aspects of the controller 9002 may be implemented as computer readable instructions stored on a memory, logic circuitry or other hardware devices structured to perform certain operations of the controller 9002, and/or sensors, data communications, electrical interfaces, or other aspects not depicted. The example controller 9002 includes a component library configuration circuit 9102 structured to interpret port electrical interface descriptions 9104. The example of fig. 91 depicts the port electrical interface description 9104 being transferred to the component library configuration circuit 9102, but the port electrical interface description 9104 may additionally or alternatively be stored on the controller 9002 or in memory in communication with the controller 9002. The example controller 9002 further includes a component library implementation circuit 9106 that provides a solid state switch state 9108 in response to the port electrical interface description 9104, wherein the component library 9004 is responsive to the solid state switch state 9108 to set connections between components on the component library and ports on the multi-port power converter 9008 to provide a desired electrical interface, including a varying DC voltage input/output and/or a varying AC voltage input/output.

The example controller 9002 further includes a load/source drive description circuit 9110 structured to interpret the source/load drive characteristics 9112. The source/load drive characteristics 9112 are depicted as being communicated to the controller 9002, but may additionally or alternatively be stored on the controller 9002 or in a memory in communication with the controller 9002. The source/load drive characteristics 9112 provide any characteristics for driving a particular load, such as desired phase, frequency, rise time parameters, and/or may include qualitative functionality, such as emergency shutdown commands that need to be supported, and the like. The example controller 9002 further includes a load/source drive implementation circuit 9114 providing a component driver configuration 9116. The component driver configuration 9116 can be, for example, an actual gate driver control for driving components of the component library 9004. In certain embodiments, components of the component library 9004, such as SiC solid state inverter/converter components, are provided with gate driver controls from a manufacturer. In certain embodiments, the component driver configuration 9116 provides interface commands and requests that are passed to the manufacturer gate driver control to make appropriate requests for driving the components so that the source/load drive characteristics 9112 are satisfied. The actual arrangement and location of the gate driver controls is not limited, and any arrangement is contemplated herein and may be adapted for a particular system. It can be seen that the example controller 9002 of fig. 91 provides for a quick configuration of electrical characteristics at the ports of the multi-port power converter 9008, including motor independent configured driver controls (e.g., capable of scaling within a range of motor capabilities and meeting the mechanical requirements of the motor), without requiring hardware changes to the multi-port power converter 9008.

Referring to fig. 151, the example component library configuration circuit 9102 may be further structured to interpret a port configuration service request value (e.g., port configuration request 15102), and wherein the component library implementation circuit 9106 also provides a solid state switch state 9108 in response to the port configuration service request value 15102. The component library configuration circuit 9102 may be further structured to interpret the port configuration definition values 15104, and wherein the component library implementation circuit 9106 also provides solid state switch states in response to the port configuration definition values 15104. Thus, the controller 9002 of the system may respond to configuration requests and/or configuration definitions such as: service, integration, manufacturing, remanufacturing, upgrade, retrofit, and/or change to a system application.

Referring to fig. 92, an exemplary system 9200 is depicted that includes a multi-port power converter 9008. Exemplary system 9200 can be a virtually contemplated system, such as a series hybrid vehicle with multiple DC loads, a traction motor, an internal combustion engine with a motor/generator interface to a multi-port power converter 9008, and a high voltage battery. In some embodiments, the system 9200 may be a representative system for a class of applications, for example, including a sufficient number of interfaces and loads such that if the exemplary system 9200 can be adequately supported, the multiport power converter 9008 supporting the system will be able to support a full class of applications without hardware changes. In some embodiments, the multi-port power converter 9008 can be designed to be more than one version, for example to support a similar number of electrical interfaces and a similar number of interface types, but with different components such as to support a high voltage level in one version and a lower voltage level in another version. It can be seen that the exemplary system 9200 would still function as an actual system to be built that can be replicated with few hardware changes to support similar classes of applications, or as a representative system in which a limited number of selected hardware changes in the multiport power converter 9008 can support a large class of applications.

The exemplary system 9200 includes an internal combustion engine 9202. Internal combustion engine 9202 represents any prime mover or power source and may additionally or alternatively include a grid power connector, fuel cell, or other device. In certain embodiments, the internal combustion engine 9202 provides power to the multi-port power converter 9008 during certain operating conditions and may receive power from the multi-port power converter 9008 during other operating conditions. The exemplary system 9200 also includes a motor/generator 9204 that electrically interfaces the internal combustion engine 9202 with the multi-port power converter 9008 and is typically (but may not be) an AC device having a relatively high power rating (e.g., 80hp in this example). The motor/generator 9204 can transmit power in either direction, i.e., accept power from the internal combustion engine 9202 and/or return power to the internal combustion engine 9202, as necessary for the application or class of application in question. This example depicts a multi-port power converter 9008 having a 3-wire interface to the motor/generator 9204, but any interface may be supported.

The exemplary system 9200 also includes a traction motor 9206, which may be an AC motor and/or a motor/generator, and is depicted as having a 3-wire interface to the multi-port power converter 9008. In the example of fig. 92, traction motor 9206 drives transmission 9208, but traction motor 9206 may drive any traction device, such as providing power to a vehicle or other device. Transmission 9208 conceptually represents any of the primary power components of system 9200 and may additionally or alternatively be a pump or other high power requiring device in the system. Additionally, the transmission 9208 may not be present and the traction motor 9206 may interface directly with the primary power components. The example of fig. 92 is a "serial hybrid" example in which the prime mover 9202 and the main load 9208 are electrically separated, but a given system 9200 (whether an actual design system or a representative system for designing appropriate functions for the multi-port power converter 9008) may be "parallel hybrid" (e.g., the prime mover 9202 is capable of directly, at least intermittently, fully or partially driving the main load 9208), an all-electric system (e.g., in which the prime mover 9202 is absent, and/or is used only as a backup power source), and/or any other arrangement (e.g., in which shaft power from some other source is provided in addition to or at the location of the prime mover 9202 depicted in fig. 92). In certain embodiments, an arrangement such as the serial blending arrangement of fig. 92 is contemplated for a system or representative system, as the serial blending arrangement provides many interface requirements for the multi-port power converter 9008 that are also sufficient to support other systems (e.g., serial blending or all-electric), the multi-port power converter 9008 capable of supporting a serial blending arrangement is capable of supporting a broad class of systems, vehicles, and applications without requiring hardware changes to the multi-port power converter 9008.

The example system 9200 of fig. 92 also depicts a plurality of DC loads and sources. In the example of fig. 92, a high voltage DC interface (650V in this example) is coupled to high voltage battery 9212 and main pump motor 9210 (e.g., supporting a hydraulic pump for off-highway vehicles with large hydraulic systems). The main pump motor 9210 and the high voltage battery 9212 are depicted as being coupled to the same 650V circuit, but the large DC load (e.g., main pump motor 9210) and the high voltage battery 9212 need not be at the same voltage on a particular system. In the example of fig. 92, the main pump motor 9210 is also rated at 80hp, which in this example allows the Xu Dianji/generator 9204 to fully support traction or main pump loads, which may be a contemplated arrangement for a particular system or an contemplated system supporting a class of applications. However, in certain embodiments, the main DC load and/or traction load may be different, and the motor/generator 9204 may support only the highest of the available loads, all available loads at the same time, and/or some other load values (e.g., an expected average load over an operating period of the application, a load value expected to depend on the net battery 9212 being discharged during some operating period, etc.). In certain embodiments, the motor/generator 9204 may not be present, or may have a load capacity independent of the DC and/or traction loads on the application.

In the example of fig. 92, a 12V DC interface 9214 is depicted that drives an actuator to operate the load 9216 using hydraulic pressure from the main pump motor 9210 in the example of fig. 92. In this example, the 12V DC interface 9214 is coupled to the load 9216, allowing for actuation and regeneration recovery from the load 9216. The directional operation of the power on the 12V DC interface 9214 drives the configuration of components in the multiport power converter 9008 to allow power to be supplied to the 12V DC interface 9214 and recovered from the 12V DC interface 9214, and may be used for any 12V DC operation (e.g., vehicle accessories, low power devices, etc.). In some embodiments, the power recovered on the 12V DC interface 9214 may be returned to the high voltage battery 9212, provided to a low voltage battery interface (not shown), and/or used for other loads in the system.

In the example of fig. 92, a 48V DC interface 9218 is depicted that drives an actuator to operate the second load 9220 using hydraulic pressure from the main pump motor 9210 in the example of fig. 92. In this example, the 48V DC interface 9218 is coupled to the load 9220, allowing for actuation and regeneration recovery from the load 9220. The directional operation of the power on the 48V DC interface 9218 drives the configuration of components in the multiport power converter 9008 to allow power to be supplied to the 48V DC interface 9218 and recovered from the 48V DC interface 9218, and may be used for any 48V DC operation (e.g., vehicle accessories, refrigeration, PTO devices, etc.). In some embodiments, the power recovered on the 48V DC interface 9218 may be returned to the high voltage battery 9212, provided to a low voltage battery interface (not shown), and/or used for other loads in the system.

It can be seen that a system 9200 such as depicted in fig. 92 can easily provide integration and support for a large number of applications with minimal changes to the design of the interface to the multi-port power converter 9008 and no changes to the hardware or selected versions of a small number of hardware versions from the multi-port power converter 9008. Certain application differences may be supported without changes, such as changing the load type on the 12V interface 9214 without any hardware or even calibration changes in the controller 9002. Certain application differences may be supported where only calibration changes are made in the controller 9002, such as switching the 12V interface 9214 to a 24V interface (or some other value). Certain application differences may be supported with only minor hardware version changes, for example switching high voltage DC from 650V to 900V may only require different versions of the multiport power converter 9008 with more capable SiC components that can interact with higher voltages. It can also be seen that many application changes can be accommodated at selected points in the manufacturing cycle, including at design time of the multi-port power converter 9008, at the OEM stage (e.g., integrating the multi-port power converter 9008 with a selected drive train), at the body manufacturing stage (e.g., integrating a particular vehicle or a particular load with the multi-port power converter 9008), and/or after the application has been in use (e.g., changing or upgrading the vehicle's electrical system, changing the power rating, performing remanufacturing or upgrading of the application, and/or changing the basic usage scenario or duty cycle of the system, vehicle, or application). Additionally or alternatively, versions of the multi-port power converter 9008 may be configured for different applications that are electrically similar (e.g., require the same or similar number of different voltages, electrical types, and power ratings) but have different authentications or regulations applicable (where the configuration of the multi-port power converter 9008 is otherwise similar, but the components, diagnostics, or other aspects of the multi-port power converter 9008 are configured in each version for different authentications, regulations, or other requirements for each type of application). For example, electrically similar highway and off-highway applications may have different requirements for authentication and/or different regulatory requirements for components on the multi-port power converter 9008.

Referring to fig. 107, an exemplary X-port converter 9008 is depicted, similar to the embodiment depicted in fig. 92. In the example of fig. 107, the X-port converter 9008 further includes fuses/contactors 10702 that may be disposed on a circuit to be used for power connections and/or may be configured to be coupled into selected circuits through solid state switches. The example X-port converter 9008 further includes a solid state switch set 10706 positioned between the power electronics 9222, 9224 and a coupled port on the housing of the X-port converter 10706, allowing configured power electronics, fuses and/or contactors to be directed into circuitry associated with any selected port. The example X-port converter 9008 further includes a controller 10704 that can interrogate the power supply and the load in response to commands to configure the converter to determine its electrical characteristics and/or to determine power exchange parameters (e.g., received regenerative load, etc.) and to increase the operating efficiency of the converter to support the load and the source. Referring to fig. 108, an exemplary X-port converter 9008 is depicted, similar to the embodiment depicted in fig. 107. In the example of fig. 108, port group 10806 may not include a solid state switch group. In the example of fig. 108, the ports of the transducer 9008 have configurable electrical properties, but may have less flexibility than the example of fig. 107. For example, the given port may be a dedicated AC port in the example of fig. 108 having configurable voltage, frequency, and phase ratings, wherein in the example of fig. 107, the given port may be switched between AC and DC. The example converter 9008 of fig. 108 additionally includes coolant ports (e.g., coolant inlet coupling and coolant outlet coupling) for coupling to a coolant source 10802 (e.g., a main cooling system for an electric mobile application). In this example, coolant coupling 10804 provides a consistent cooling interface for all power electronics. The coolant coupling 10804 may be present in any embodiment of the converter 9008.

It can be seen that the system described herein provides high machine-level efficiency for systems, vehicles, and applications at lower cost than previously known systems. Additionally, the ease and selectivity of integration of the systems herein enables the use of hybrid, all-electric, and/or regenerative systems for applications that were previously unavailable due to the difficulty of integration and/or low capacity of such applications that prohibit the development of hybrid, all-electric, and/or regenerative systems for such applications. The system described herein can be extended to different power ratings and voltage levels on both the DC and AC portions of the system. In addition, energy recovery systems for various loads (such as for hydraulic loads, power loads, PTO loads, pneumatic loads, and/or any other type of load capable of interacting with any type of electrical system) may be readily supported, including as a type of application supported without hardware changes to the multiport power converter 9008. In addition, the systems herein are independent of the motor and/or motor/generator requirements of a particular application and can support any type of electrical interface without hardware changes and/or with only minimal calibration changes in the controller 9002 at selected points in the manufacturing cycle, and including post-use changes, such as for upgrades, remanufacturing, repair, and/or maintenance. The system herein provides an off-the-shelf interface and integration with the prime mover or power source, traction drive, and system load. Load support and energy recovery are easily supported on any interface of the multi-port power converter 9008. Various previously known applications did not utilize hybrid and/or electrification because integration, authentication, and/or different amounts of load on those systems prevented the rational integration of hybrid and/or electrified actuation and energy recovery of various loads such as pumps, cranes, heavy duty work vehicles, wheel loaders, aerial work vehicles, and tractors. The system herein can be conveniently designed and integrated with any such application, including supporting application classes with a configurable multi-port power converter 9008 that can adapt to the application class without hardware changes and/or with a small number of selected hardware versions. The use of SiC components in the multi-port power converter 9008 may provide 5-10% power conversion efficiency improvement in terms of electrical conversion, and for applications where previously known systems cannot employ hybrid and/or electrification of loads and energy recovery, the increase in energy recovery and prime mover optimization (e.g., operating the prime mover in an efficient operating region for a greater percentage of the time during operation) may yield an overall machine level efficiency gain of > 50%. The system herein enables off-the-shelf adoption of hybrid and electrification of loads on applications where previously known systems are not feasible for integration, and enables the design selection of the multi-port power converter 9008 to be engaged in the manufacturing and supply chain to further enhance ease of integration and enable adoption for applications where previously known systems are not feasible.

Referring to fig. 93, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay 9302 is schematically depicted in the context 9300. The exemplary context 9300 includes a regulatory interface 9304, including, for example, laws or industry rules, policies, or other executable frameworks for which the circuit breaker/relay 9302 is responsible for maintaining certain performance characteristics thereof. The example supervisory interface 9304 may be physically manifested during runtime operation of an application having the circuit breaker/relay 9302 thereon, e.g., as network communications, calibration values for response, selection of dimensions of components of the circuit breaker/relay 9302, etc., and/or the supervisory interface 9304 may represent one or more design time considerations made during selection, installation, repair, maintenance, and/or replacement of the circuit breaker/relay 9302 that are not physically manifested during runtime operation of an application having the circuit breaker/relay 9302 thereon.

The exemplary context 9300 also includes a command and/or control interface 9306 that can include signals, voltages, electrical couplings, and/or network couplings through which command functions (e.g., connector open or close commands) are received by the circuit breaker/relay 9302. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay 9302 includes only electromechanical components, for example, wherein the circuit breaker/relay 9302 does not include a microprocessor, controller, printed circuit board, or other "smart" feature. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay 9302 includes some functional controllers located locally on the circuit breaker/relay 9302, as well as other functional controllers located elsewhere on the application on which the circuit breaker/relay 9302 is located (e.g., on a battery management system controller, a vehicle controller, a power electronics controller, and/or having aspects distributed over one or more controllers). In certain embodiments, certain command or control aspects are provided as physical or electrical commands, while other command or control aspects are provided as communication elements (e.g., data link or network commands) and/or as intelligent aspects of the circuit breaker/relay 9302 determined from programming logic in response to parameters detected or otherwise determined during runtime operation.

The exemplary context 9300 also includes an environmental interface 9308, such as vibration, temperature events, shock, and other environmental parameters experienced by the circuit breaker/relay 9302. Aspects of the environmental interface 9308 can be physically manifested in the circuit breaker/relay 9302, for example, through material design choices, size and location of components, connector choices, active or passive cooling choices, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the duty cycle, power supply throughput, etc. planned or experienced may be part of the environmental interface 9308 of the circuit breaker/relay 9302.

The exemplary context 9300 also includes a high voltage interface 9310, such as a high voltage battery coupled to the system, a system load, a charger, and the like. In certain embodiments, the high voltage interface 9310 is physically manifested on the circuit breaker/relay 9302, for example, with a voltage rating, size of the components, rating of the current sensor (if present), material selection, and the like. Any of the example features of the circuit breaker/relay described throughout this disclosure may include those described herein for example circuit breaker/relay 9302, including but not limited to arc extinguishing features, contactor design elements, connector contact force impact aspects, and the like. Any aspect of the context 9300 may be included or omitted, and the aspect of the context 9300 is not limited to the envisaged context 9300 of a particular circuit breaker/relay 9302. Additionally, it should be understood that the organization of the context 9300 aspects is an example for clarity of description, but in certain embodiments, particular aspects 9304, 9306, 9308, 9310 may be omitted, separated, and/or present on other aspects 9304, 9306, 9308, 9310. For example, in one embodiment, voltage limits, response time limits, etc. may be understood to originate from the supervisory interface 9304, in another embodiment from the command/control interface 9306, and in yet another embodiment from both interfaces 9304, 9306.

Referring to fig. 94, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay architecture 9400 is depicted. The exemplary circuit breaker/relay 9302 includes all electronic control functions located remotely from the circuit breaker/relay 9302, with only electromechanical hardware remaining on the circuit breaker/relay 9302. The example circuit breaker/relay 9302 includes a contactor 9402 (e.g., a normally open or normally closed high voltage contactor) movably operated by a coil 9404, and wherein power to the coil 9404 provides an opening or closing force to the contactor 9402. In certain embodiments, the contactor 9402 is normally open and power to the coil 9404 closes the contactor 9402. The exemplary architecture 9400 further includes a high voltage circuit 9406 switched by a contactor 9402 and a pair of input signals (e.g., an a input 9408 and a B input 9410), although any number and type of input signals are contemplated herein. An exemplary system is depicted in fig. 96, which illustrates exemplary operation of the electronics to control an exemplary circuit breaker/relay 9302 (magnetic drive 2302 in the depiction of fig. 96). The exemplary architecture 9400 further includes an external controller 9412, such as a battery management controller, a vehicle controller, or other controller present on the application, the external controller 9412 including an electronics portion and a management portion. For the exemplary architecture 9400, the electronics section schematically depicts a controller configured to manage direct opening and closing control of the circuit breaker/relay 9302 and communicate diagnostic information regarding the circuit breaker/relay 9302. The management portion schematically depicts supplying external commands to the circuit breaker/relay 9302, such as to command the circuit breaker/relay 9302 to open or close, implement an over-current shutdown, and/or implement an auxiliary or safety shutdown (e.g., a crash signal, a maintenance event signal, etc.). The electronics and management portions are depicted in an arrangement for clarity of description, but it should be understood that aspects of the electronics and management portions may be distributed throughout the system and/or portions of the electronics may be positioned on the circuit breaker/relay 9302.

Referring to fig. 95, an exemplary system 9500 is depicted that illustrates particular voltages, amperages, and time-based values of the exemplary system. Exemplary system 9500 includes a turn-on signal having certain electrical characteristics and a hold signal having certain electrical characteristics, which are non-limiting examples. The exemplary system 9500 is consistent with certain embodiments of the architecture 9400 depicted in fig. 94. An exemplary circuit breaker/relay consistent with certain embodiments of the system of fig. 95 responds to an 8.2V on voltage, a 1.5V hold voltage, and includes a 3 ohm resistance in the actuation coil.

Referring to fig. 96, operation of an exemplary electronics portion of an architecture 9400, such as depicted in fig. 94, is shown for illustrative purposes. It should be appreciated that components of a system such as in fig. 96 may be implemented in hardware, software, logic circuitry, and/or may be combined or distributed around the system. An exemplary electronic device includes a turn-on response in which a 12V control voltage is applied to the module. The actual driving coil of the circuit breaker/relay may be switched to the control voltage via the de-energizing circuit and the driver. The on-driver 9702 is controlled at about 65% of a minimum nominal voltage of 100ms (e.g., nominal <70% or 8.2V). The timing, voltage and switching logic of the turn-on operation are non-limiting examples. During a switching-on operation, the drive coil is energized with an induced current so that the driver can switch on.

An exemplary electronic device includes a tuning response. An exemplary regulation response includes linearly regulating the voltage during the turn-on process, for example using a control circuit (regulation) and linkage for the duration of the turn-on process (e.g., 100 ms), to apply a selected actuation voltage to the drive coil.

An exemplary electronic device includes a hold response. An exemplary hold response includes disabling the driver after the on period and providing a hold signal (e.g., 1.5V) to the drive coil that is continuously held on and/or continuously held on with a diagnostic interrupt (see, e.g., exemplary voltage graph 9708).

In some embodiments, the powered down transistors are checked at selected intervals (e.g., depending on fault tolerance time intervals, regulatory or policy intervals, and/or intervals of interest). If the power down transistor is defective (e.g., if it is permanently conductive), the circuit breaker/relay will rely on breaking the 1.5V power supply to power down the magnetic drive. While the system may still be shut down, the de-energized relay may operate in a defective manner slower than expected and/or be too slow for the circuit breaker/relay to be compliant. In certain embodiments, frequent blanking pulses (or diagnostic breaks) form cut-off voltage peaks (freewheel levels, in this exemplary system, about 180V) at the coil connections. If the voltage peak remains off, the power down transistor may be diagnosed as defective. In some embodiments, the blanking pulse is kept short, thereby keeping the energy in the freewheel circuit low, thereby reducing wasted energy and heat, and also keeping the energy low to reduce noise emissions. In some embodiments, a 100 microsecond blanking pulse is sufficient. In some embodiments, faster or slower blanking pulses may be utilized. In certain embodiments, diagnostics on the power down relay and/or system response (e.g., more conservative shut down to account for slower response) may be used elsewhere in the electronic device, management, or system.

Exemplary electronic devices include disconnect and/or power down responses. In this example, the power down circuit is disabled (nominally <50% uirate=6v) with a 1.5V hold voltage above a trigger voltage of about 4.5V.

Some further exemplary embodiments of the system in which the circuit breaker/relay device is incorporated are set forth below. Any one or more aspects of the following systems may be included within any other system or portion of a system described throughout this disclosure. Any one or more aspects of the following systems may be used to perform any process, operation, or method herein.

Referring to fig. 97, an exemplary system 9702 includes a circuit breaker/relay device having a pre-charge circuit, a current sensor, and a high temperature switching device positioned within a single housing. Referring to fig. 98, for ease of illustration, system 9207 is depicted with a transparent housing. The example system 9702 includes a circuit breaker/relay 6502, a current sensor 6706, a pre-charge fuse 6406, and a pre-charge contactor 6408 positioned within a housing and arranged to electrically interface with a power supply circuit, such as a mobile power supply circuit for mobile electric applications.

In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay device includes any combination short circuit and contact device, for example, as described throughout this disclosure. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay apparatus includes a single contact (e.g., as compared to a two-contact embodiment). In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay apparatus includes two contacts that operate with a single actuator. In certain embodiments, the system includes a fuse, depicted in the embodiment of fig. 98 as a high temperature switch 9802 (or high temperature fuse), such as a high temperature technology activated fuse (e.g., a fuse that is separated at a selected time by operating a small explosive device to open a circuit). In certain embodiments, the high temperature switch operates on a circuit in series with one leg of the circuit controlled by the circuit breaker/relay device 6502, for example to provide high temperature switch protection for the high or low side of the circuit. For ease of illustration, precharge circuit routing is not depicted. The precharge circuit may be wired in parallel with the contactor of the circuit breaker/relay 6502 and/or in parallel with the high temperature switch 9802. Referring to fig. 99, a top schematic view of a system 9702 is depicted, showing an exemplary arrangement of components in the system. The exemplary system 9702 includes high voltage connections 9902, such as low side and high side connections to a power source (e.g., a high voltage battery) and low side and high side connections to a load (e.g., a powered motor). Referring to fig. 100, a side schematic view of the system is depicted from the end with the high temperature switch 9802 and the precharge fuse 6406.

In certain embodiments, the system 6702 (e.g., "breaker/relay PDU") has a mass of no more than 5kg and/or no more than 1.5 kg. In certain embodiments, the size of the circuit breaker/relay PDU is less than one or more of: 600mm long, 140mm wide and/or 110mm high. In certain embodiments, the size of the circuit breaker/relay PDU is less than one or more of: 160mm long, 135mm wide and/or 105mm high. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay PDU is capable of supporting operation at continuous currents of 300A or greater. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay PDU can interrupt 1100A and/or over 400V without assistance. In certain embodiments, the breaker/relay PDU can interrupt 8,000A and/or exceed 400V. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay PDU can passively interrupt a short circuit condition (e.g., without external control signals or communications), and/or can also actively interrupt other operating conditions (e.g., actively triggering commands for any reason). In some embodiments, the high temperature switch 9802 is located on the negative leg of the overall circuit, but the high temperature switch may be located anywhere desired. In certain embodiments, a trigger is used to actively control the high temperature switch to command an interrupt. In certain implementations, the circuit breaker/relay, the high temperature switch 9802, and/or both may be actively commanded to interrupt the circuit. In certain embodiments, the circuit breaker/relay PDU is capable of supporting double amp ratings, such as 90A and 1000A (non-limiting examples).

Referring to fig. 101, an exemplary system 10100 includes a power circuit protection arrangement for a high voltage load, such as a power supply circuit for mobile applications. The exemplary system 10100 includes a circuit breaker/relay PDU 10102, wherein the circuit breaker/relay 10106 is disposed in a high side of the power supply circuit. The exemplary system 10100 includes a precharge circuit 10104, including precharge resistors and precharge contactors, positioned within a housing of the circuit breaker/relay PDU 10102. The exemplary system also includes a current sensor 6706 and a high temperature switch 9802 positioned within the housing of the circuit breaker/relay PDU 10102. The system includes a circuit breaker/relay PDU 10102 that interfaces with a high voltage battery 10110 on a first side and a high voltage load 10108 on a second side.

Referring to fig. 102, an oblique view of a system 10200 having a double pole circuit breaker/relay 10302 is depicted with a coupled current sensor 6706 connected thereto. An exemplary current sensor 6706 is shown having a connector 10202 for communicatively coupling to a controller. Referring to fig. 103, a top view of system 10200 is depicted with a partially transparent top side of the housing of system 10200. Exemplary positions of the precharge fuse 6406 and precharge connector 6408 are shown, and coupling positions of the high voltage battery (HV battery + and-) and the high voltage load (HV load + and-) are shown. Referring to fig. 104, a system 10200 is depicted consistent with the system of fig. 103, wherein the top side of the housing of the system is normally positioned. Referring to fig. 105, an exemplary circuit breaker/relay PDU is depicted showing high voltage bus bar couplings 10502, 10504, 10506, 10508 to the circuit breaker/relay PDU. In the example of fig. 105, connection 10508 is the battery low side, connection 10506 is the battery high side, connection 10502 is the high voltage load high side, and connection 10504 is the high voltage low side. However, any arrangement of high voltage power supply and load connections is contemplated herein.

Referring to fig. 106, an exemplary system 10600 includes a power circuit protection arrangement for high voltage loads, such as power supply circuits for mobile applications. The example system 10600 includes a two-pole circuit breaker/relay PDU 10602, where the circuit breaker/relay 10606 includes a first pole disposed on a high side of the power supply circuit and a second pole disposed on a low side of the power supply circuit. The exemplary system 10600 includes a precharge circuit 10104, including precharge resistors and precharge contactors, positioned within the housing of the circuit breaker/relay PDU 10602. The exemplary system also includes a current sensor 6706. The example system 10600 does not include a fuse or a high temperature switch, but in some embodiments a fuse or a high temperature switch may be present. The system includes a circuit breaker/relay PDU 10602 that interfaces with the high voltage battery 10110 on a first side and with the high voltage load 10108 on a second side.

An example double-pole circuit breaker/relay device includes individual circuit breaker/relay contactors responsive to active and passive interruption operations, with arc suppression, and/or with one or more poles of a current sensor. In certain embodiments, each knife is disposed in a high-side or low-side circuit of the system. In certain embodiments, one or more blades include an integrated precharge circuit in parallel therewith.

It can be seen that the exemplary single and double pole circuit breaker/relay devices provide a high capacity interrupt system, as well as a system with a high degree of flexibility in capacity. In addition, the system has a resettable interrupt (with a circuit breaker/relay), and the integration as depicted reduces the footprint of previously known systems significantly.

Exemplary embodiments include a high voltage electric vehicle battery power distribution system architecture that includes a circuit breaker/relay with a precharge circuit integrated in the same housing. These two elements distribute power from one side of the battery. In addition to these two elements, the housing also contains a current sensor and a high temperature disconnect (e.g., a high temperature switch) in series with each other on opposite sides of the battery.

High voltage batteries in mobile applications contain a large amount of energy such that protection of the rest of the vehicle and the operator in overload, short circuit or emergency situations is desired. Previously known systems include contactors and fuses on the high side of the battery, a precharge circuit in parallel with the high side contactor, and contactors and current sensors on the low side of the battery. In comparison to previously known systems, certain exemplary systems of the present disclosure have at least one or more of the following benefits: efficiency is improved by reducing the number of contactor poles from two to one (e.g., power transfer, loss, reduced cooling requirements); active and passive protection is provided in the event of an overcurrent, short circuit or emergency, as either the circuit breaker/relay or the hot piece can be actively triggered; additional trip protection in overload or short circuit events, such as physical trip operation independent of active and properly operating controllers; size and weight advantages because the shared housing and modular components occupy less area; etc.

Referring to fig. 109A, a top view of an exemplary embodiment of an integrated inverter assembly 10900 is schematically depicted, and a side view (right) thereof is schematically depicted in fig. 109B. The example of fig. 109A, 109B includes a high voltage DC battery coupler 10902 and a vehicle (or mobile application) coupler 10904. The vehicle coupling 10904 provides for data communication, key switch status, sensor communication, and/or any other desired coupling aspects. With reference to fig. 109A, 109B, a battery connector 10902 and a vehicle connector 10904 are provided, which may be any type of connector known in the art and selected for a particular application. Exemplary battery connectors 10902 include Rosenberger HPK series connectors, but any battery connector may be used. Exemplary vehicle connectors 10904 include Yazaki connector part number 7282885330, although any vehicle connector may be used. In the example of fig. 109A, 109B, the main cover is visible, which may be located on a vertically upward portion of the integrated inverter assembly 10900 mounted on a vehicle or mobile application, although other orientations of the integrated inverter assembly 10900 are contemplated in certain embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 109A, 109B, a harness 10906 is depicted that provides connectivity for motor temperature and/or position sensors. The harness 10906 may be shielded as determined by the particular EMI environment, sensor characteristics, and/or communication mechanism between the sensor and the integrated inverter assembly 10900. In the side view of fig. 109B, the base (or back cover) can be seen.

Referring to fig. 110, an underside view of the main cover of the integrated inverter assembly 10900 is schematically depicted with certain aspects removed for clarity of description. The integrated inverter assembly 10900 includes coolant inlet and outlet connectors 11002, which may be blind connectors, and/or which may be sized to accommodate SAEJ2044 quick connect couplings. The coolant connection provides coolant flow through one or more coolant channels, as described in the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 110, the main lid is coupled to the rear lid using an in-situ cured gasket.

Referring to fig. 111, an underside view of a main cover of an integrated inverter assembly 10900 is schematically depicted, including certain aspects of the electronics package of the integrated inverter assembly 10900 for reference. Referring to fig. 112, motor connector 11202 is configured for a 3-phase high voltage motor connector, such as a blade configured to interface with motor connector 10906 of fig. 111. The example of fig. 112 depicts a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) of a gate driver in which an inverter is mounted, and a current sensor corresponding to each phase of the gate driver. The example of fig. 112 depicts a second PCB (partially obscured by the DC link capacitor 11206) for controlling the inverter (including interface with the vehicle, power control operation, diagnostics, etc.). DC link capacitor 11206 provides a coupling between the DC high voltage system (e.g., battery) and the gate driver. In certain embodiments, the DC link capacitor 11206 may include certain power conditioning aspects, such as capacitors, bus bars, and/or chokes. Referring to fig. 113, an embodiment with coolant channels 11304 is depicted in which connectors 11306 are used for the inverter drives of inverter assembly 10900.

Referring to fig. 113, a top surface 11402 of a coolant channel (upper coolant channel in the example of fig. 113) is depicted. A gate driver (e.g., an IGBT) is mounted in thermal contact with the coolant channel such that coolant flowing through the coolant channel is in thermal communication with the inverter power electronics.

Referring to fig. 114, the underside of the main cover (relative to fig. 113) is depicted to illustrate aspects of the coolant channels 11402, with the lower coolant channels depicted in fig. 114. The coolant channels include heat transfer features (pins, in the example of fig. 114) to provide a desired heat transfer environment between the coolant flowing in the channels and the cooling components of the integrated inverter assembly 10900. Two of the holes defined in the lower coolant passage of fig. 114 provide inlet and outlet communication of coolant into the inverter. Two of the holes defined in the lower coolant passage of fig. 114 provide fluid communication between the upper coolant passage and the lower coolant passage. Referring to fig. 115, an exemplary relationship between the upper coolant channels 11506 and the lower coolant channels 11504 is depicted. In the example of fig. 115, each of the coolant channels includes a heat transfer feature, such as a pin. The use of two parallel coolant channels provides increased heat transfer capacity and makes it easier to communicate with all cooling components within a compact integrated package. The coolant channels are described as "upper" and "lower" for convenience and clarity of description to identify individual channels. The actual vertical positioning of the tunnel may vary with the specific design of the integrated inverter assembly and the orientation of the integrated inverter assembly at the time of installation. Fig. 115 additionally depicts an external coolant coupling port 11204, which in the example of fig. 115 has a baffled stem 11502.

Referring to fig. 116, an assembly example for coupling a coolant channel with a main cover is depicted. In this example, a coolant channel separation body 11604 (having a lower coolant channel on a lower side and an upper coolant channel on an upper side) is assembled with a lower coolant channel cover 13102 (e.g., part of the coolant channel visible in fig. 109A) and a main cover body. In certain embodiments, the assembly of fig. 116 is formed using Friction Stir Welding (FSW), which is a low cost process that provides a sealed joint that forms a coolant channel. Other assembly techniques are contemplated herein. Each component of the assembly may be formed by any known technique. It is desirable that the coolant channel separation body is thermally conductive and may be formed of, for example, aluminum. In certain embodiments, the coolant channel separator body is forged, but it may be cast, machined, or formed by any other technique. In certain embodiments, the lower coolant channel cover is stamped. In certain embodiments, the main cap body is cast. Referring to fig. 131, an exemplary embodiment is depicted in which the lower coolant channel cover is depicted in place, integrated with the main cover and coolant channel separation body.

Referring to fig. 117, the underside of the main cap is depicted with an insulated gate bipolar transistor 11702 (IGBT) mounted therein. The IGBTs 11702 are thermally coupled (e.g., using a thermal adhesive) to the surface of the upper cooling channel, thus having high heat transfer capability to the coolant to support high power density mounting.

Referring to fig. 118A, the size and weight of an exemplary integrated inverter assembly 10900 is shown, with a width 11806 of about 118mm, and with a length 11804 of about 277mm. Referring to fig. 118B, the exemplary embodiment includes a depth 11802 of about 87 mm. The total mass of the exemplary inverter assembly 10900 is less than about 5kg. The example of fig. 118A is based on aspects of the present disclosure and is believed to describe one example of an achievable size with sufficient power capacity for automotive passenger vehicle applications.

Referring to fig. 119, a perspective view depicting a gate driver PCB 11902 and a DC link capacitor 11206 is shown. Referring to fig. 120, a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment depicts AC bus bar 11202, motor temperature/position sensor 10906. The AC connection utilizes two foam seals 12002 and an alternative captive nut 13502 (see also fig. 35). Referring to fig. 121, an underside view of the main lid is depicted. In the example of fig. 121, a cure-in-place gasket (CIPG) 12102 is dispensed and cured on the cap, and may be reused after a repair event if the gasket is not damaged during the repair event.

Referring to fig. 122, a close-up of one corner of an exemplary main lid is depicted. In the example of fig. 122, a flange 12204 is provided that provides controlled compression of CIPG 12102 by selecting a flange height and CIPG distribution (the height difference 12202 provides selectable compression), thus providing convenience and reliability in proper installation and sealing of the main cap. Referring to fig. 123, certain aspects of an exemplary installation of IGBTs are depicted, wherein a thermal paste 12302 provides thermal coupling for the IGBTs and PCBs, and wherein in-situ forming gaskets 12304 provides a reliable seal for coolant flow between cooling channels. Fig. 124-127 depict various views of an exemplary embodiment of a main cover portion, wherein the mounting components of the integrated inverter assembly 12400 are consistent with aspects of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 125, the lower cooling channel 11504 and side cross-sectional view of the IGBT 11702 provide an exemplary heat transfer environment for the integrated inverter assembly IGBT 11702. Referring to fig. 128, the exemplary embodiment depicts upper 11506 and lower 11504 cooling channels, wherein exemplary locations of temperature sensor 12802 (in this example, a thermistor) may be used, for example, to control active cooling and/or monitor power electronics.

An exemplary IGBT consistent with certain embodiments of the present disclosure is a double-sided cooled half-bridge power module capable of 750V, 800A operation, and an operating temperature capability for continuous operation is 175 ℃. Some commercially available FS4 IGBTs that use a half-bridge configuration exhibit low losses under light loads and, in certain embodiments, are advantageous for applications that tend to have low duty cycles, such as passenger car applications.

Referring to fig. 129, an exemplary coupling mechanism of the main cover and the rear cover is depicted. The exemplary coupling mechanism includes a threaded region 12908 in the main cap to retain the coupling screw 12906 when disengaged, and wherein the height 12902 of the unthreaded portion in the motor casting (rear cap) is greater than the threaded engagement portion 12904 of the screw 12906. Thus, the screw may be backed into the threaded region 12908 in the main cap and ensure that the threads remain disengaged from the motor casting. Referring to fig. 130, an exemplary coupling mechanism includes a reduced diameter portion 13004 for coupling a portion of a screw, thereby providing a convenient captive screw mechanism. In the example of fig. 130, the screw primary threads 13006 are disengaged from the motor casting and the second threaded portion 13002 of the screw is engaged with the threaded region 12908 of the primary cover. Referring to FIG. 131, a side cross-sectional view is depicted

Referring to fig. 132, a previously known DC link capacitor is depicted. The DC link capacitor includes bus bars, common mode choke coils, and a capacitor (Y cap) as external elements of the DC link capacitor. The bus bar is a laminated bus bar to provide isolation of the three AC phases and requires the bus bar outside the DC link capacitor case to be as long as the case, with the full thickness along the length of the case.

Referring to fig. 133, an exemplary DC link capacitor 11206 is depicted in which a bus bar, common mode choke, and Y cap are included in the housing of the DC link capacitor 11206. The bus bars, choke and Y cap are enclosed within the DC link capacitor, providing a compact design and enhanced mechanical integrity. In certain embodiments, the example DC link capacitor 11206 in fig. 133 may be used in an integrated inverter assembly 10900 consistent with any other aspect of the disclosure. DC link capacitor 11206 also includes an IGBT interface 13302 that provides power to each of the IGBTs, and a DC interface 13304 that provides an interface to a DC power source (such as to a battery). Referring to fig. 134, an exemplary embodiment depicts a closed DC link capacitor 11206 coupled to three phases of an AC motor connector through an IGBT 11702. In the example of fig. 134, the connectors are welded, providing reduced assembly complexity and reduced contact resistance. In certain embodiments, the utilization of the integrated inverter assembly 10900 (which has a fixed small footprint and has a limited external interface with the vehicle and/or the rest of the electric drive system) enables one or both of the enclosed DC link capacitor 11209 and the welded connection, for example by providing consistent geometric positioning, thereby allowing the components to be assembled using encapsulation and welding without having to arrange or assemble the positioning of the DC link capacitor, bus bars, common mode choke, Y cap, and/or the spatial arrangement of the IGBT and AC connector blades. Referring to fig. 135, another view of the embodiment depicted in fig. 126, wherein fig. 135 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of fig. 126 and may be used to reference the positioning of the DC link capacitor assembly within the exemplary integrated inverter assembly 10900.

Referring to fig. 136, a previously known quick connector conforming to the SAEJ2044 quick connect coupling standard is depicted. The quick connector of fig. 136 includes a lock 13608 with a retaining spring and two internal O-rings 13602 for sealing the fluid coupling. A spacer is disposed between the two inner O-rings. The quick connector of fig. 136 is configured to receive a fluid coupling, such as an end piece having an end form (13702) such as depicted in fig. 26. The quick connector of fig. 136 includes ribs ("fir tree") 13606 on the outside diameter of the pipe connection, with an external O-ring 13604 on the pipe side for sealing.

Referring to fig. 138, a first embodiment of a fluid connector of the present disclosure is depicted. The fluid connector of fig. 138 does not include a locking element, but is configured to receive an end piece having the end form of a standard SAEJ 2044. The exemplary fluid connection includes two internal O-rings 13804 and a spacer 13806 therebetween. The connector also includes a shaped receiving portion 13802 and does not include a lock. The connector also includes an outer O-ring 13808. In certain embodiments, the fluid connections within the integrated inverter assembly 10900 have tight spacing and are difficult to access (or cannot access) portions of the quick connector to manipulate the lock and thereby operate the quick connector. Additionally, in certain embodiments, the integrated inverter assembly 10900 provides a fixed geometry of the fluid coupling locations that are at least partially inside the housing of the integrated inverter assembly 10900, thereby providing a secure fluid connection without a lock. Thus, it can be seen that a quick connector embodiment such as depicted in fig. 138 improves and/or implements certain aspects of the integrated inverter assembly 10900.

Referring to fig. 139, a second embodiment of a fluid connector of the present disclosure is depicted. The fluid connector of fig. 139 does not include a locking element, but is configured to receive an end piece having the end form of a standard SAEJ 2044. In addition, it can be seen that the fluid connector of the example in fig. 139 omits the right extension, thereby utilizing the housing of the fluid connector to form the ribs 13902 and support the seal. The fluid connector of the example in fig. 139 also includes an O-ring 13808 on the outer body. Referring again to fig. 115, it can be seen that the fluid connector for coolant outlet depicted in fig. 115 is consistent with the quick connector embodiment of fig. 139. It can also be seen that the quick connector depicted in fig. 139 greatly reduces the vertical footprint of the fluid connection, thereby allowing for a more compact footprint of the integrated inverter assembly. The embodiment of fig. 115 additionally depicts a hose coupled to the quick connector that provides compliance in both the horizontal and vertical planes (using a baffled hose 11502), further enhancing the ease of installation of the coolant connection. It can also be seen that coolant channel split body 11604 (e.g., with reference to fig. 116) includes an integrated hose fitting configured to couple with a quick connector, further reducing the footprint and assembly complexity of integrated inverter assembly 10900. A given embodiment of integrated inverter assembly 10900 may utilize one or both of the quick connector embodiments of fig. 138 and 139, or neither.

An exemplary circuit breaker/relay may include: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power bus for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact; an armature operatively coupled to the movable contact such that the armature in the first position prevents electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact and the armature in the second position allows electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact. The example circuit breaker/relay further includes a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first or second positions, a standard on/off circuit having at least two states, wherein the standard on/off circuit provides the actuation signal in the first state and prevents the actuation signal in the second state. Referring to fig. 40, an exemplary current response circuit 14002 is depicted that may be used with any system or for performing any of the operations described throughout this disclosure. The example current response circuit 14002 determines a current in the power bus 14004 and further blocks the actuation signal 14006 of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus 14006 indicating a high current value 14003. The actuation signal may be provided as an armature position command 14008, wherein the armature is responsive to the actuation signal to electrically couple the movable contact to the fixed contact. In an embodiment, a mobile application may include at least two current operating regions. The current response circuit 14002 may be further structured to adjust the high current value 14003 in response to active ones of the at least two current operating regions.

Referring to fig. 141, an exemplary process 14100 for opening a contact is schematically depicted. The operations of process 14100 can be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and can also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. In one aspect, the process 14100 includes an operation 14102 of selecting a contact force of the circuit breaker/relay such that the contact is opened at a selected current value of the current through the contact. The process 14100 also includes an operation 14104 of applying a contact force to the movable contact of the circuit breaker/relay, and an operation 14106 of determining a current value through the contact. The process 14100 also includes an operation 14108 of determining whether the current value exceeds a threshold value, and an operation 14110 of commanding the armature or actuator to open the contact in response to the current value exceeding the threshold value. The example process 14100 also includes an operation 14112 of opening the contact in response to a repulsive force on the contact (e.g., as a physical response of the movable contact at a selected current value). In certain embodiments, operation 14110 may begin prior to operation 14112. In certain embodiments, operation 14110 is performed such that the movable contact does not return to the closed position after operation 14112 opens the contact (e.g., thereby mitigating a return force of the movable contact that could otherwise drive the contact back to the closed position after physical opening operation 14112).

Referring to fig. 142, an exemplary process 14200 for opening a contact is schematically depicted. The operations of process 14200 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. The example process 14200 includes an operation 14202 of determining a first threshold (for current in the electrical load circuit) in response to a first physical current disconnect value (e.g., based on a disconnect characteristic of a contactor), an operation 14204 of determining a second threshold in response to a second physical current disconnect value, an operation 14206 of determining a first current value in the first electrical load circuit, and an operation 14208 of determining a second current value in the second electrical load circuit. The process 14200 also includes an operation 14210 of determining whether the first current value exceeds a first threshold and/or whether the second current value exceeds a second threshold. The example process 14200 includes an operation 14214 to command an armature (or actuator) of the first contactor to open if a first threshold is exceeded, and an operation 14212 to diffuse an arc from the first contactor (e.g., using a separator plate and/or a magnet). The example process 14200 includes an operation 14216 of commanding an armature of the second contactor to open if the second threshold is exceeded, and an operation 14218 of spreading an arc of the second contactor. In certain embodiments, determining the first threshold or the second threshold includes providing a component configured to provide a selected value (e.g., a selected contact area, a contact force value, and/or a bus bar configuration) of the first threshold or the second threshold. In certain embodiments, process 14200 is utilized with respect to systems having more than one contactor (where each contactor is individually controllable).

In one aspect, a system may include: a housing; a circuit breaker/relay device positioned in the housing, wherein the circuit breaker/relay device is configurable to interrupt a power supply circuit of the electric vehicle system, wherein the housing is disposable on the electric vehicle system; wherein the circuit breaker/relay device may include a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a first current value in the power supply circuit, and a controlled disconnection response portion responsive to a second current value in the power supply circuit; and a precharge circuit electrically coupled in parallel to the circuit breaker/relay device. In an embodiment, the precharge circuit may be positioned within the housing. The first current value may be greater than the second current value. The physical opening response portion may include a first biasing member biasing the armature of the circuit breaker/relay device into an open position of the contactor of the power supply circuit, and a selected difference between a first force of the armature closing the contactor and a second force of the first biasing member opening the contactor. The controlled opening response portion may include a current sensor that provides a current value through the power supply circuit, and a current response circuit 14304 (see fig. 143) structured to command the armature to open the contactor in response to the current value 14314 exceeding the second current value 14316. The circuit breaker/relay device may comprise a double-pole circuit breaker/relay device. The circuit breaker/relay device may comprise a single-pole circuit breaker/relay device. The circuit breaker/relay device may be positioned on one of a high side circuit or a low side circuit of the power supply circuit. The system may also include a high temperature switching device positioned on the other of the high side circuit or the low side circuit.

Referring to fig. 43, the exemplary system includes a physical disconnection response adjustment circuit 14302 that determines a first current value adjustment 14312 and adjusts the physical disconnection response portion in response to the first current value adjustment 14312. The physical disconnection response adjustment circuit 14302 may be further structured to adjust the physical disconnection response portion by providing an adjustment implementation command 14310, which may include adjusting the compression of the first biasing member; adjusting a first force (e.g., a force applied by an armature); and/or adjust the second force (e.g., the force of a compression spring). The physical disconnection response adjustment circuit 14302 may be further structured to adjust the physical disconnection response portion in response to an operating condition 14308 of the electric vehicle system. Exemplary and non-limiting operating conditions 14302 include time-current distribution of the power supply circuit; time-current trace of the power supply circuit; time-current area value of the power supply circuit; the rate of change of the current value through the power supply circuit; and/or a difference between a current value through the power supply circuit and the second current value.

Referring to fig. 144, an exemplary process 14400 for opening a contact is schematically depicted. The operations of process 14400 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. The example process 14400 includes an operation 14402 of determining a physical opening response adjustment of the contactor, e.g., wherein an operating condition of the electric mobile application indicates that current through the load circuit should be allowed to increase or decrease, including during high performance operation, charging operation, and/or emergency operation. The example process 14400 also includes an operation 14404 of adjusting a physical opening response value of the contactor and an operation 14406 of determining a current in a load circuit (e.g., a power supply circuit) of the electric mobile application. The example process 14400 also includes an operation 14408 of determining whether a current value in the load circuit exceeds a controlled opening threshold and an operation 14410 of commanding an armature (or actuator) of the contactor to an open position in response to the current exceeding the controlled opening threshold. In certain embodiments, the controlled disconnect threshold is different from and may be below the physical disconnect threshold. The example process 14400 also includes an operation 14412 of determining whether the current value exceeds a physical opening threshold and an operation 14414 of opening the contact in response to the repulsive force in the contactor in response to determining 14412 indicating a "yes" value. In certain embodiments, the operation of determining whether a physical open current value is exceeded described throughout this disclosure includes configuring a contactor (e.g., within a circuit breaker/relay) to open at a selected current value to expose the contactor to a load current, wherein the contactor is responsive to the load current according to a configuration formed responsive to the selected current value. The order of determinations 14408, 14412 may be reversed and/or one or more of determinations 14408, 14412 may be omitted. The operation 14402 of determining the physical disconnect response adjustment may be performed during run-time or design-time operation of the system, and similarly the operation 14404 of adjusting the physical disconnect response may be performed during run-time or design-time operation.

Referring to fig. 145, an exemplary process 14500 for opening a contact is schematically depicted. The operations of process 14500 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. The example process 14500 includes an operation 14502 of configuring a physically responsive opening portion of a circuit breaker/relay of a mobile power circuit to provide opening of contactors of the circuit breaker/relay based on a physically open responsive threshold current. Exemplary and non-limiting operations 14502 include operations 14502a of selecting a mass (e.g., a mass of a moving portion of a movable contact), a lorentz force area (e.g., a contact area, a bus bar area in a contact area, etc.), and/or selecting a contact force (e.g., adjusting a strength or number of biasing members engaged, and/or changing an amount of compression on the biasing members, and/or changing a moving position of an actuator of the movable contact). In some embodiments, configuring the physical disconnection response portion may include selecting a bus bar configuration, wherein the bus bar couples the two movable contacts, and wherein the bus bar configuration may include at least one of: the bus bar region is near the current providing portion of the mobile power supply circuit or a portion of the bus bar is positioned near the current providing portion of the mobile power supply circuit. The example process 14500 also includes an operation 14504 of operating a movable contact of the circuit breaker/relay between an open position and/or a closed position (e.g., moving to the closed position to allow power flow through the contactor, and moving to the open position to prevent power flow through the contactor). The example process 14500 also includes an operation 14506 of determining a current value in the mobile power circuit and an operation 14508 of commanding the movable contact to an open position based on a current threshold separate from a physical open current threshold. In certain embodiments, the split current threshold utilized in operation 14508 is a lower current threshold than the configured physical disconnect response threshold current.

In one aspect, referring to fig. 146, a system may include: a vehicle having a power supply circuit 14600 (or power path) between a power supply 14601 and a load 14608; and a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit provided in the power supply circuit 14600. An exemplary current protection circuit includes a circuit breaker/relay 14602 that includes: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, and wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. The exemplary current protection circuit 14600 includes a contactor 14604 in parallel with a circuit breaker/relay 14602; a pair of parallel circuit breakers/relays 14602, 14702 (e.g., see fig. 147) and/or a double-pole circuit breaker/relay 14602 providing two parallel electrical paths; and/or a circuit breaker/relay 14602 (e.g., see fig. 148) in parallel with the contactor 14604 and the fuse 14802. In certain embodiments, the current protection circuit 14600 comprises a contactor in series with a circuit breaker/relay.

In one aspect, referring to fig. 146, a system may include: a vehicle having a power supply circuit 14600 (or power path) between a power supply 14601 and a load 14608; and a power distribution unit having a current protection circuit provided in the power supply circuit 14600. An exemplary current protection circuit includes a circuit breaker/relay 14602 that includes: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, and wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value. The exemplary current protection circuit 14600 includes a contactor 14604 in parallel with a circuit breaker/relay 14602; a pair of parallel circuit breakers/relays 14602, 14702 (e.g., see fig. 147) and/or a double-pole circuit breaker/relay 14602 providing two parallel electrical paths; and/or a circuit breaker/relay 14602 (e.g., see fig. 148) in parallel with the contactor 14604 and the fuse 14802. In certain embodiments, the current protection circuit 14600 includes a contactor 14604 (e.g., see fig. 149) in series with the circuit breaker/relay 14202. The use of a circuit breaker/relay in series with the contactor allows the circuit breaker/relay to open the circuit, thereby allowing the contactor to open when the circuit is not powered. The use of a circuit breaker/relay in parallel with the contactor allows the contactor to open when the circuit is powered and allows the circuit breaker/relay to open the circuit.

The power distribution unit may further include a plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices disposed therein, and wherein the current source circuit 15002 may be further electrically coupled to the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices and sequentially inject current across each of the fixed contacts of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices; and wherein the voltage determination circuit 15006 may be further electrically coupled to each of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices and further structured to determine at least one of an injected voltage amount and a contactor impedance value for each of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices (e.g., voltage drop determination 15008). The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to sequentially inject current across each of the plurality of circuit breaker/relay devices in a selected order of the circuit breaker/relay devices. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to adjust the selected order in response to one or more operating conditions 15016 or stored attributes 15018, such as: the rate of change of temperature of each of the fixed contacts of the circuit breaker/relay device; importance value of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices; the criticality of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices; power throughput of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices; and/or a fault condition or contactor health condition of each of the circuit breaker/relay devices. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to adjust the selected sequence in response to an operating condition 15016, such as a planned duty cycle and/or an observed duty cycle of the vehicle. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to scan the injection current through a series of injection frequencies. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection frequencies. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to an operating condition 15106, such as a power supply throughput of the circuit breaker/relay device. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to the duty cycle of the vehicle.

In one aspect, a system includes a vehicle having a power supply path; a power distribution unit including a current protection circuit disposed in a power supply path, the current protection circuit comprising: a circuit breaker/relay, the circuit breaker/relay comprising: a stationary contact electrically coupled to a power supply circuit for mobile applications; a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, wherein the movable contact in a first position allows power to flow through the power supply circuit and the movable contact in a second position does not allow power to flow through the power supply circuit; and a physical disconnection response portion responsive to a current value in the power supply circuit, wherein the physical disconnection response portion is configurable to move the movable contact to the second position in response to the current value exceeding a threshold current value; a current source circuit 15002 electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to inject current across the fixed contact (injection command 15004); and a voltage determination circuit 15006 electrically coupled to the circuit breaker/relay and structured to determine an injection voltage amount and a contactor impedance value (voltage drop determination 15008), wherein the voltage determination circuit 15006 may be structured to perform a frequency analysis operation to determine the injection voltage amount. In an embodiment, the voltage determination circuit 15006 may be further structured to determine the amount of injection voltage by determining the magnitude of the voltage across the fixed contact at the frequency of interest. The frequency of interest may be determined in response to the frequency of the injection voltage. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to scan the injection current through a series of injection frequencies. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection frequencies. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at a plurality of injection voltage magnitudes. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to the power supply throughput of the circuit breaker/relay. The current source circuit 15002 may be further structured to inject current across the fixed contact at an injection voltage magnitude determined in response to the duty cycle of the vehicle.

Referring to fig. 152, an exemplary process 15200 for configuring an X-in-1 power converter is schematically depicted. The operations of process 15200 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. In certain embodiments, process 152 may be used with any system having configurable power electronics, a multi-port power converter, "X" port power converter, and/or an X in 1 port power converter. The use of the terms "multiport", "X-port" and/or "X-in-1 port" indicates that the power converter includes one or more ports that can service different power loads and/or power sources having one or more varying electrical characteristics. The configurable power converter may have one or more fixed ports, one or more configurable ports, or a combination of these ports.

The example process 15200 includes interpreting an operation of a port electrical interface description (or specification), wherein the port electrical interface description includes a description (or specification) of an electrical characteristic of at least one of a plurality of ports of a power converter for an electrical mobile application. The example process 15200 also includes an operation 15204 of providing a solid state switch state in response to the port electrical interface description, thereby configuring at least one of the AC inverter or the DC/DC converter to provide power to at least one of the plurality of ports in accordance with the port electrical interface description. In certain embodiments, operation 15204 provides a solid state switching state to configure at least one of the rectifier or DC/DC converter to interface with a power source (e.g., battery, capacitor, regenerative state of a load, etc.), and/or to configure a port to accept power under certain operating conditions and provide power under other operating conditions. Without limitation, the configurable electrical characteristics include voltage levels, frequency values, phase values (including the number and arrangement of phases), and/or tolerances of one or more of these.

The example process 15200 also includes an operation 15206 of interpreting a source/load drive characteristic (e.g., frequency, phase, or other characteristic of an electric motor, motor/generator, or other device) and an operation 15208 of providing a component driver configuration (e.g., a gate driver of an insulated gate bipolar transistor) in response to the source/load drive characteristic. In certain embodiments, one or more aspects of process 15200 may be performed at various periods in the life cycle of the power converter and/or the electric mobile application having the power converter, such as: at design time (e.g., specifying settings for a power converter), at installation time (e.g., configuring settings for a power converter according to specifications and/or requirements of a particular installation), as service operation (e.g., adjusting configuration as part of testing, to correct for failure or faulty components, and/or as diagnostic operation), as remanufacturing operation (e.g., testing and/or confirming operation of a power converter, configuring a power converter to a standard or planned state for installation, etc.), as upgrade operation (e.g., providing an upgraded capability (such as a greater power rating) for an electrically powered mobile application, changing one of voltage and/or current ratings across a port, adding power input or output, changing one of power input or output, and/or adding phase or other capability to interface with a load or power source), as manufacturing time (e.g., configuring settings for a power converter according to specifications and/or requirements of a particular installation, testing and/or confirming operation of a power converter, configuring a power converter to a standard or planned state for installation, etc.), and/or as application change operation (e.g., converting an electrically powered mobile to a different duty cycle, service and/or removing one or more loads).

Referring to fig. 153, an exemplary process 15300 for integrating a power converter into an electric mobile application is depicted. The operations of process 15300 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure. The example process 15300 includes an operation 15302 of providing a power converter having a plurality of ports for connection to an electrical load and/or a power source, an operation 15304 of determining an electrical interface description for an electric mobile application, and an operation 15306 of providing a solid state switch state in response to the electrical interface description. The example process 15300 also includes an operation 15308 of installing the power converter in the electric mobile application and an operation 15310 of coupling the coolant port of the power converter to the cooling system of the electric mobile application. It can be seen that process 15300 provides fast and low cost integration with many electric mobile applications, including integrated design and engineering and simplified installation operations. The example process 15300 provides the ability to meet a variety of applications with a single power converter device and/or with a small number of power converter devices having similar (or identical) footprints and interface locations. The process 15300 also includes the ability to provide a simple cooling interface for power electronics of an electric mobile application without having many cooling connections and cooling fluid routing challenges to provide cooling for multiple power electronics distributed around the electric mobile application.

Referring to FIG. 154, an exemplary process 15400 for adjusting motor operation in response to motor temperature is schematically depicted. The operations of process 15400 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. The example process 15400 includes an operation 15402 of operating a motor for an electric mobile application, and an operation 15404 of determining a motor temperature value (e.g., a modeled motor temperature, an inferred motor temperature, and/or a motor temperature determined from a virtual sensor). Exemplary operations 15404 for determining the motor temperature include, but are not limited to, determining and considering parameters such as power supply throughput of the motor, determining voltage and/or current input values for the motor, adjusting the motor temperature values based on ambient temperature values, determining motor efficiency values under current operating conditions (e.g., to separate useful operating energy from energy throughput of potential heat generation), and/or utilizing rates of change of these.

The example process 15400 also includes an operation 15406 of determining a sensed temperature value of the motor. Exemplary operations 15406 for determining a sensed motor temperature include, but are not limited to: determining a temperature from a sensor positioned to provide a signal representative of a temperature of the motor; determining a temperature from a sensor positioned to provide a temperature associated with the motor (e.g., having a known offset from the motor temperature, and/or from which the motor temperature may be derived); and/or determining the temperature from a sensor positioned to provide a temperature from which the temperature of interest of the motor is determined. For example, operation 15406 includes applying a hotspot adjustment correction to the sensed motor temperature (e.g., where the temperature of interest is the hottest location in the motor, which may not be reflected in the body temperature reading of the sensor). In some embodiments, the hotspot adjustment correction may be calibrated to an offset from the detected temperature (which may be scheduled, for example, as a function of the detected temperature), and/or an offset from a calibration relationship between the detected temperature and the hotspot temperature. In certain embodiments, the hotspot adjustment correction may also include dynamic information related to the sensed temperature, such as a rate of change of the sensed temperature or power by the motor, and/or an integral-based parameter of the sensed temperature or power by the motor (e.g., an accumulator, a time value relative to a threshold, etc.).

The example process 15400 also includes an operation 15408 of adjusting an operating parameter of the motor in response to the temperature value (e.g., the motor temperature value and the sensed motor temperature value). Exemplary and non-limiting operations 15408 include: adjusting a rating of the motor (e.g., derating the motor, allowing a greater power output of the motor, adjusting a voltage parameter of the motor to reduce heat generation, etc.); adjusting a rating of a load of the electric mobile application (e.g., limiting the requested power and/or torque based on a temperature-induced limitation of the motor); adjusting an amount of active cooling of the motor (e.g., performing active cooling and/or changing a flow rate of active cooling to the motor); and/or adjusting an operating space of the motor based on an efficiency profile of the motor (e.g., moving the motor to a more efficient operating point to reduce heat generation, thereby allowing the motor to operate at a less efficient operating point, e.g., to allow for system level optimization or efficiency routines, etc.).

Referring to fig. 155, an exemplary process 15500 of determining sensed motor temperature values and/or reliability values of modeled/estimated motor temperature values is schematically depicted. Process 15500 includes an operation 15502 of determining a first reliability value for a motor temperature value (e.g., a modeled, estimated, or virtual motor temperature value) in response to a first operating condition of the motor. For example, the model or estimator may have a valid range, be based on a known relationship of operating condition areas to uncertainty, and/or be dependent on other sensors or determined values having a fault or failure condition. The example process 15500 also includes an operation 15504 of determining a second reliability of the sensed motor temperature value. For example, sensing a motor temperature value may have a fault condition or failure condition of an associated sensor, the sensor may have a time constant that is slower than a currently observed temperature change, and/or the sensor may be saturated, have low resolution, and/or have reduced accuracy under certain temperature or other operating conditions. Exemplary and non-limiting operating conditions for determining the first reliability value include: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; a defined range value of the model for determining a motor temperature value; and/or a rate of change of one of the motor temperature value or the effective motor temperature value. Exemplary and non-limiting operating conditions for determining the second reliability value include: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; providing a defined range value of a temperature sensor that senses a temperature value of the motor; providing a defined temperature-accuracy relationship of a temperature sensor sensing a temperature value of the motor; providing a response time of a temperature sensor sensing a temperature value of the motor; and providing a fault condition of the temperature sensor sensing the temperature value of the motor.

The example process 15500 also includes an operation 15506 of determining an effective motor temperature value in response to the motor temperature value and the sensed motor temperature value, and in some embodiments, the operation 15506 also determines an effective motor temperature in response to the first reliability value and the second reliability value. The example operation 15506 includes selecting one or the other of the motor temperature value or the sensed motor temperature value as the valid motor temperature value based on the first reliability value and the second reliability value; and/or utilize one or the other of the motor temperature value or the sensed motor temperature value as a target for the effective motor temperature value based on the first reliability value and the second reliability value (e.g., where the effective motor temperature value is a filtered value that moves toward the target). In certain embodiments, the effective motor temperature value or target of effective motor temperature values uses a mix of motor temperature values and/or sensed motor temperature values (e.g., a weighted average as a function of reliability values). In certain implementations, operation 15506 may also include hysteresis or other processing (e.g., filtering, averaging, rate limiting, etc.), such as to avoid dithering of the effective motor temperature value, such as where one or the other of the motor temperature value or the sensed motor temperature value is utilized to drive the effective motor temperature value. In certain embodiments, process 15500 is utilized in conjunction with process 15400, for example, using the effective motor temperature value as an input to operation 15408, and adjusting an operating parameter of the motor in response to the effective motor temperature value.

The term "motor temperature value" or "temperature of the motor" should be understood in a broad sense. The motor temperature value may be any temperature value of interest associated with the motor, such as the motor, a component of the motor that is most susceptible to failure in response to a temperature spike, a hottest location within a component of the motor that is most susceptible to affecting some other component of the system in response to a temperature spike, and/or a temperature associated with the motor and associated with efficient power conversion of the motor. Exemplary and non-limiting motor temperature values include, but are not limited to: winding temperature of the motor, bus bar temperature of a bus bar that provides power to the motor, connector temperature associated with the motor, and/or hot spot temperature of the motor.

Referring to fig. 156, in one aspect, an apparatus 15600 may comprise: a motor control circuit 15602 structured to operate the motor for electric mobile applications; an operating condition circuit 15604 structured to interpret a sensed motor temperature value 15608 of the motor and further structured to interpret at least motor temperature dependent operating conditions 15620 such as: power throughput of the motor; a voltage input value of the motor; a current input value of the motor; an ambient temperature value; and/or the active cooling capacity of the motor. The example apparatus 15600 includes a motor temperature determination circuit 15606 structured to determine a motor temperature value 15614 responsive to a motor temperature-related operating condition 15620. The example motor temperature determination circuit 15606 also determines a motor effective temperature value 15612 in response to the motor temperature value 15614 and the sensed motor temperature value 15608; wherein the motor control circuit 15602 may be further structured to adjust at least one operating parameter of the motor (e.g., as an updated motor command 15610) in response to the motor effective temperature value 15614. In an embodiment, the motor temperature determination circuit 15606 may be further structured to determine a first reliability value of the motor temperature value in response to a first operating condition of the motor and a second reliability value (reliability value 15616) of the sensed motor temperature value in response to a second operating condition of the motor, and further determine the motor effective temperature value 15612 in response to the reliability value 15616.

The motor temperature determination circuit 15606 may be further structured to use the sensed motor temperature value 15608 as the motor effective temperature value in response to the second reliability value exceeding the threshold. The motor temperature determination circuit 15606 may be further structured to apply a temperature adjustment 15618, such as an offset component adjustment or a hot spot adjustment, to the sensed motor temperature value 15608 and to determine a motor effective temperature value 15612 further responsive to the adjusted sensed motor temperature value. The motor temperature determination circuit 15606 may also be structured to determine the first reliability value responsive to at least one operating condition 15620 such as: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; a defined range value of the model for determining a motor temperature value; and a rate of change of one of the motor temperature value or the effective motor temperature value. The motor temperature determination circuit 15606 may also be structured to determine the second reliability value responsive to at least one operating condition 15620 such as: power throughput of the motor; the rate of change of the power throughput of the motor; providing a defined range value of a temperature sensor that senses a temperature value of the motor; providing a response time of a temperature sensor sensing a temperature value of the motor; and providing a fault condition of the temperature sensor sensing the temperature value of the motor. The motor control circuit 15606 may be further structured to adjust at least one operating parameter of the motor (e.g., an adjusted motor command 15610), such as: rated value of the motor; rating of a load for an electric mobile application; active cooling capacity of the motor; and an operating space of the motor based on an efficiency map of the motor.

In one aspect, a system may include an electric mobile application having a motor and an inverter, where the inverter may include a plurality of drive elements for the motor. Referring to fig. 157, the exemplary system further includes a controller 15700 having motor control circuitry 15702 structured to provide driver commands (drive element commands 15704), and wherein a plurality of drive elements are responsive to the driver commands 15704. The controller 15700 also includes an operating condition circuit 15706 structured to interpret the motor performance request values 15708, such as power, speed, and/or torque requirements of the motor. The controller 15700 further includes a driver efficiency circuit 15710 that interprets a driver activation value 15712 of each of the plurality of drive elements of the inverter in response to the motor performance request value 15708, and wherein the motor control circuit 15702 may be further structured to provide a driver command 15704 to deactivate at least one of the drive elements of the motor in response to the driver activation value 15712 of each of the plurality of drive elements of the inverter. In an embodiment, the motor may comprise a three-phase AC motor, wherein the plurality of drive elements comprises six drive elements, and wherein the driver efficiency circuit 15710 provides the driver activation value 15712 to deactivate three of the six drive elements in response to the motor performance request value 15708 being below a threshold value.

Referring to fig. 158, an exemplary process 15800 for selectively disabling portions of a power inverter for an electric mobile application is depicted. The operations of process 15800 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. The example process 15800 includes an operation 15802 of providing a driver command to a plurality of drive elements electrically coupled to an inverter of a motor for an electric mobile application and an operation 15804 of interpreting a motor performance request value for the electric mobile application. Exemplary and non-limiting motor performance request values include, but are not limited to, power, speed, and/or torque requirements of a motor powered by a power inverter. The example process 15800 also includes an operation 15806 of interpreting a driver activation value for each of the plurality of drive elements in response to the motor performance request value. For example, if the motor performance request value includes a power request that requires all drive elements (e.g., IGBTs on the inverter) to be active to accommodate the power request, operation 15806 may determine that the driver activation value for each drive element is "true. As another example, if the motor performance request value includes a power request in which only a portion of the drive elements are needed to satisfy the power request, operation 15806 may include determining whether some of the drive elements may be deactivated. In another example, operation 15806 may include determining an efficiency of the drive element under the first condition (e.g., all drive elements are active) and an efficiency of the drive element under the second condition (e.g., some drive elements are inactive), and determining a driver activation value that meets a desired objective (e.g., power conversion efficiency, temperature objective of the drive element, planned lifecycle of the drive element, noise or electrical characteristic requirements of the motor or load, etc.). The example process 15800 also includes an operation 15806 of providing a driver command to the drive element in response to the driver activation value (including disabling one or more drive elements in response to the driver activation value). The example process 15800 includes an operation 15806 of disabling three of the total six drive elements (e.g., maintaining the ability to support three balanced phases to drive the motor). Another example process 15800 includes an operation 15806 of disabling a first three of the total of six drive elements during a first disabling operation and disabling a second three of the total of six drive elements during a second disabling operation (e.g., to balance a lifecycle of the drive elements, to balance heat generation within the inverter over time, to utilize groups of drive elements having different capabilities, such as power ratings, etc.).

Referring to fig. 159, an example system 15900 may include an electric mobile application having a plurality of electric motors 15904, 15508, 1596, 15916, each of which is operatively coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of electric loads 15906, 15910, 15914, 15918. The example system 15900 includes four motors coupled to four loads, but the system may include any number of motors coupled to any number of loads, and the motors and loads may have more than one motor for a given load, and/or may have more than one load for a given motor. The system includes a controller 15202, wherein the controller 15202 includes (with reference to fig. 160) an application load circuit 16002 structured to interpret an application performance request value 16010; a performance service circuit 16004 structured to determine a plurality of motor commands 16010 in response to the motor performance description (motor performance capabilities 16016) and the application performance request values 16010. The controller 15202 further includes motor control circuitry 16006 structured to provide a plurality of motor commands 16014 to corresponding motors 15904, 15008, 15112, 15916 of the plurality of electric motors; and wherein the plurality of electric motors 15904, 15108, 1596, 15916 may be responsive to the plurality of motor commands 16014. The determined motor command 16010 may be different from the transmitted motor command 16014, for example to account for system dynamics, rate change limits, and/or other constraints unrelated to meeting performance requirements of the system.

In an embodiment, the performance service circuit 16004 may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands 16020 in response to one of a fault condition or failure condition 16012 of at least one of the plurality of electric motors and/or a component associated with one of the plurality of electric motors (e.g., a local inverter, a local controller, a sensor, and/or a load). The performance service circuit 16004 may be further structured to determine the plurality of motor commands 16020 to satisfy the application performance request value 16010 by at least partially reassigning load requirements from one of the plurality of electric motors having a fault condition or failure condition 16012 to at least one of the plurality of electric motors having available performance capabilities (but which may have a separate fault condition or failure condition 16012). The performance service circuit 16004 may be further structured to de-rate one of the plurality of electric motors in response to one of the fault condition or the failure condition 16012. The system may further include a first data store 16024 associated with a first of the plurality of electric motors, a second data store 16026 associated with a second of the plurality of electric motors, and wherein the controller 15202 may further include a data management circuit 16008 structured to command at least partial data redundancy (e.g., redundancy data values 16022) between the first data store 16024 and the second data store 16026 and/or between one of the data stores 16024, 16026 and another data store (not shown) and/or an external data store in the system. At least a portion of the data redundancy may include at least one data value selected from the data values consisting of: fault values, system states, and learning component values. The data management circuitry 16008 may be further structured to command at least partial data redundancy in response to one of a fault condition or a failure condition 16012 associated with at least one of (but not limited to): an electric motor of the plurality of electric motors, an inverter operatively coupled to the electric motor of the plurality of electric motors; a sensor operatively coupled to one of the plurality of electric motors; and/or a local controller operatively coupled to one of the plurality of electric motors. The performance service circuit 16004 may be further structured to determine a plurality of motor commands 16020 in response to one of the fault condition or the failure condition 16012 and further in response to data 16022 from at least a portion of the data redundancy. The performance service circuit 16014 may be further structured to suppress the operator notification 16018 of one of the fault condition or the failure condition 16012 in response to the performance capabilities 16016 of the plurality of electric machines being capable of delivering the application performance request value 16010. The performance service circuit 16004 may be further structured to transmit the suppressed operator notification 16018 to at least one of the maintenance tool 16030 or the external controller 16028, wherein the external controller 16028 and/or the maintenance tool 16030 may be at least intermittently communicatively coupled to the controller 15202. The performance service circuit 16004 may be further structured to adjust the application performance request value 16010 in response to the performance capabilities 16016 of the plurality of electric motors being unable to deliver the application performance request value 16010.

Referring to fig. 161, an exemplary process 16100 for controlling an electric mobile application having a plurality of distributed motors is schematically depicted. In certain embodiments, process 16100 can be used with an electric mobile application having one or more distributed drive elements (e.g., inverters) associated with one or more distributed motors and/or one or more distributed controllers of the inverters and/or motors. The distributed motor may be configured to power various loads within an electric mobile application, and in some embodiments, more than one motor may be capable of providing power to a particular load (e.g., motors associated with wheels may combine to provide overall power). The operations of the process 16100 may be performed by any controller, circuit, and/or hardware arrangement as described throughout this disclosure, and may also be performed with respect to any system or hardware arrangement described throughout this disclosure. The exemplary process 16100 includes an operation 16102 of interpreting the application performance request value. Exemplary and non-limiting application performance request values include power or load source requests, power or load torque requests, and/or power or load speed requests. The application performance request may relate to the entire application (e.g., vehicle speed) and/or any portion of the application (e.g., pump speed, fan torque, etc.). The example process 16100 includes an operation 16104 of determining a fault and/or failure condition of one or more motors, inverters, and/or local controllers of the electric mobile application. The determination of the fault and/or failure condition may also include determining the ability of the faulty or failed component (e.g., the de-rated motor may still be able to provide some delta of power and/or the motor having the faulty inverter associated with the motor may have some ability to receive power provided by another inverter in the system). In certain embodiments, for example, where the motor is associated with a local controller of the motor and the local controller has failed, the motor can still be controlled by another controller in the system and/or another local controller associated with another motor in the system. In some embodiments, control of the motor by another controller in the system may be derated, for example, where the remote controller does not have one or more available parameters such as a temperature value, a speed value, or another feedback value of the motor and/or any such parameter (e.g., slower, lower resolution, and/or lower certainty) with a degraded version, the remote controller may control the motor at a reduced power limit to protect the motor and/or the electric mobile application.

The example process 16100 also includes an operation 16106 of determining a motor command in response to the motor capability description (e.g., motor ratings, including based on failure or failure conditions of related components and/or derating due to a control type, such as when the remote controller is operating the motor), the application performance request value, and the failure/failure conditions of the motor. In certain embodiments, operation 16106 comprises providing sufficient performance across available motors such that the application performance request values may be met. In certain embodiments, operation 16106 further comprises providing a command to one or more of the motor, the local controller, and/or the associated inverter in response to the determined motor command.

In certain embodiments, process 16100 also includes an operation 16108 of commanding a data redundancy storage operation. For example, critical operating information such as motor or inverter calibration, operating conditions, limits, etc. may be stored in more than one location. In certain embodiments, operation 16108 is responsive to a fault or failure condition in the electric mobile application, e.g., in the event that the local controller, sensor, or other component has a fault or failure condition, operation 16108 may include commanding redundant storage of data associated with the component (or related component) having the fault or failure condition. In certain embodiments, operation 16108 may include commanding a data redundancy storage for a component that does not have a fault or failure condition, and further enhancing the data redundancy storage in response to the occurrence of the fault or failure condition. In certain embodiments, operation 16108 provides redundant storage of data regardless of a failure or failure condition of a component in an electric mobile application. Thus, operation 16108 provides protection against loss of data (e.g., parameters stored on the local controller) in response to loss of the data storage component, and provides improved control of the component (e.g., inverter and/or motor) in the event that the associated local controller has a fault or failure and is unable to control the relevant component and/or transmit control parameters out of the local component after the fault or failure. In some embodiments, the data redundancy may include at least one data value selected from the group consisting of: fault values, system states, and learned component values (e.g., control parameters related to machine learning operations and/or real-time calibration values). In certain embodiments, operation 16106 comprises determining a motor, inverter, or local controller command in response to the data in the data redundancy store. Operation 16108, providing the redundant storage of data, includes distributing the data in any manner within a data store available outside of the host data store, including a data store associated with at least any one or more of: another local controller, a master controller, and/or a distributed (e.g., virtual) controller, a powertrain controller, a vehicle controller, and/or an external controller (e.g., manufacturer server, fleet server, cloud-based server, personal devices such as an operator's smart phone, etc.).

The example process 16100 includes an operation 16110 of suppressing an operator notification (e.g., a warning light or maintenance light, a vehicle response-based notification, an application-based notification, etc.) of a fault or failure (e.g., as determined in operation 16104) in response to the available motor command being able to satisfy the application performance request value. For example, if derating of the motor occurs while the tasks of the electric mobile application may still be satisfied (e.g., rated power is available and/or power requests exceeding the current capability of the motor are not occurring or are unlikely to occur), operation 16110 may suppress operator notification of a fault or failure indication that would normally occur. The example process 16100 also includes an operation 16112 of transmitting the suppressed operator notification (and/or potential fault or failure condition) to a service tool or external controller. For example, if motor derating occurs while the tasks of the electric mobile application may still be satisfied, process 16100 may include suppressing operator notifications and notifying external controllers (e.g., fleet maintenance servers, manufacturer servers, or other external servers) and/or maintenance tools (e.g., OBD devices connected to the communication ports of the electric mobile application, wi-Fi based devices in a maintenance factory, etc.). Thus, inconvenient and/or expensive maintenance events may be avoided and/or the maintenance party may be notified so that the malfunction or failure may be resolved at a convenient time and/or when the electric mobile application has been serviced. In certain embodiments, process 16100 includes an operation (not shown) that receives parameters defining the types of faults and/or failures that may be notified of the suppression from an operator and/or the performance limits and/or component types (related to faults/failures) that may be notified of the suppression from an operator. Additionally or alternatively, process 16100 includes an operation (not shown) that receives parameters defining a type of failure and/or failure to be communicated to an external controller and/or a performance limit and/or component type to be communicated to the external controller. Additionally or alternatively, process 16100 includes operations (not shown) that define the type of operator notification that should be suppressed (e.g., where one type of operator notification is suppressed and another type is performed) and/or the timing or location of the external controller notification.

The methods and systems described herein may be partially or wholly deployed by a machine having a computer, computing device, processor, circuitry, and/or server that executes computer-readable instructions, program code, instructions, and/or includes hardware configured to functionally execute one or more operations of the methods and systems disclosed herein. As used herein, the terms computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server should be construed broadly.

The terms computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server include any type of computer that is capable of accessing instructions stored in communication therewith (such as on a non-transitory computer-readable medium), whereby the computer performs the operations of the systems or methods described herein when the instructions are executed. In certain embodiments, such instructions themselves comprise computers, computing devices, processors, circuitry, and/or servers. Additionally or alternatively, the computer, computing device, processor, circuitry, and/or server may be separate hardware devices, one or more computing resources distributed across hardware devices, and/or may include aspects such as: logic circuitry, embedded circuitry, sensors, actuators, input and/or output devices, network and/or communication resources, any type of memory resources, any type of processing resources, and/or hardware devices configured to functionally execute one or more operations of the systems and methods herein in response to determined conditions.

The network and/or communication resources include, but are not limited to, local area networks, wide area networks, wireless, the internet, or any other known communication resources and protocols. Exemplary and non-limiting hardware, computers, computing devices, processors, circuits, and/or servers include, but are not limited to, general purpose computers, servers, embedded computers, mobile devices, virtual machines, and/or emulated versions of one or more of these. Exemplary and non-limiting hardware, computers, computing devices, processors, circuits, and/or servers may be physical, logical, or virtual. The computer, computing device, processor, circuitry, and/or server may be: a distributed resource included as an aspect of a number of devices; and/or distributed resources included as an interoperable resource set to perform the described functions of a computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server, such that the distributed resources are used together to perform the operations of the computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server. In some embodiments, each computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server may be located on separate hardware, and/or one or more hardware devices may include aspects of more than one computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server, e.g., as separately executable instructions stored on a hardware device, and/or as logically partitioned aspects of a set of executable instructions, where some aspects of a hardware device include a portion of a first computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server, and some aspects of a hardware device include a portion of a second computer, computing device, processor, circuit, and/or server.

The computer, computing device, processor, circuitry, and/or server may be part of a server, client, network infrastructure, mobile computing platform, fixed computing platform, or other computing platform. A processor may be any type of computing or processing device capable of executing program instructions, code, binary instructions, etc. The processor may be or include a signal processor, a digital processor, an embedded processor, a microprocessor, or any variation that may directly or indirectly facilitate execution of program code or program instructions stored thereon, such as coprocessors (mathematical coprocessors, graphics coprocessors, communication coprocessors, etc.), and the like. Further, a processor may allow for the execution of multiple programs, threads, and code. Threads may be executed simultaneously to enhance the performance of the processor and facilitate simultaneous operation of the application. As an implementation, the methods, program code, program instructions, etc. described herein may be implemented in one or more threads. A thread may spawn other threads that may have an assigned priority associated with it; the processor may execute the threads based on priority or based on any other order of instructions provided in the program code. The processor may include a memory storing methods, codes, instructions, and programs as described herein and elsewhere. The processor may access the storage medium through an interface that may store the methods, code, and instructions as described herein and elsewhere. A storage medium associated with a processor for storing methods, programs, code, program instructions or other types of instructions that can be executed by a computing or processing device may include, but is not limited to, one or more of CD-ROM, DVD, memory, hard disk, flash drive, RAM, ROM, cache, etc.

A processor may include one or more cores that may increase the speed and performance of the multiprocessor. In embodiments, the process may be a dual-core processor, a quad-core processor, other chip-level multiprocessor, or the like, combining two or more independent cores (referred to as dies).

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or in whole by executing computer-readable instructions on a server, client, firewall, gateway, hub, router, or other such computer and/or networking hardware. The computer readable instructions may be associated with a server, which may include a file server, a print server, a domain server, an internet server, an intranet server, and other variants, such as a secondary server, a host server, a distributed server, and the like. The servers may include one or more of memory, processors, computer-readable transitory and/or non-transitory media, storage media, ports (physical ports and virtual ports), communication devices, interfaces to other servers, clients, machines, and devices, etc., that can be accessed through wired or wireless media. The methods, programs, or code as described herein and elsewhere may be executed by a server. Furthermore, other devices required to perform the methods as described in this disclosure may be considered part of the infrastructure associated with the server.

The server may provide interfaces to other devices including, but not limited to, clients, other servers, printers, database servers, print servers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers, and the like. In addition, such coupling and/or connection may facilitate executing instructions remotely across a network. Networking of some or all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of program code, instructions, and/or programs at one or more locations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, all devices attached to the server through the interface may include at least one storage medium capable of storing methods, program code, instructions and/or programs. The central repository may provide program instructions to be executed on different devices. In this embodiment, the remote repository may act as a storage medium for methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs.

The methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs may be associated with clients, which may include file clients, print clients, domain clients, internet clients, intranet clients, and other variants, such as auxiliary clients, host clients, distributed clients, and the like. The clients may include one or more of memory, processors, computer-readable transitory and/or non-transitory media, storage media, ports (physical and virtual), communication devices, interfaces to other clients, servers, machines and devices, etc. that can be accessed through wired or wireless media. The methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs as described herein and elsewhere may be executed by a client. In addition, other devices for performing the methods as described in the present disclosure may be considered part of the infrastructure associated with the client.

The client may provide interfaces to other devices including, but not limited to, servers, other clients, printers, database servers, print servers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers, and the like. In addition, such coupling and/or connection may facilitate remote execution of methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs across a network. Networking of some or all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs at one or more locations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, all devices attached to the client through the interface may include at least one storage medium capable of storing methods, program code, instructions and/or programs. The central repository may provide program instructions to be executed on different devices. In this embodiment, the remote repository may act as a storage medium for methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed, in part or in whole, through a network infrastructure. The network infrastructure may include elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs, firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routing devices, and other active and passive devices, modules, and/or components known in the art. Computing and/or non-computing devices associated with the network infrastructure may include storage media such as flash memory, buffers, stacks, RAM, ROM, etc., among other components. The methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs described herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of the network infrastructure elements.

The methods, program code, instructions and/or programs described herein and elsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having a plurality of cells. The cellular network may be a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network. Cellular networks may include mobile devices, cell sites, base stations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like.

The methods, program code, instructions and/or programs described herein and elsewhere may be implemented on or by a mobile device. Mobile devices may include navigation devices, cellular telephones, mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers, electronic book readers, music players, and the like. These mobile devices may include storage media such as flash memory, buffers, RAM, ROM, and one or more computing devices, among other components. A computing device associated with a mobile device may be enabled to execute methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs stored thereon. Alternatively, the mobile device may be configured to execute instructions in cooperation with other devices. The mobile device may communicate with a base station that interfaces with the server and is configured to perform methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs. The mobile device may communicate over a peer-to-peer network, a mesh network, or other communication network. The methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs may be stored on a storage medium associated with a server and executed by a computing device embedded within the server. The base station may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storage device may store methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs for execution by a computing device associated with the base station.

The methods, program code, instructions, and/or programs may be stored on and/or accessed on a machine readable transitory and/or non-transitory medium, which may include: computer components, devices and recording media for retaining digital data for computation for a number of time intervals; a semiconductor memory device called a Random Access Memory (RAM); mass storage devices, which are commonly used for more permanent storage, such as optical disks, magnetic storage devices such as hard disks, tapes, cartridges, cards, and other types of forms; processor registers, cache memory, volatile memory, and non-volatile memory; optical storage devices such as CDs, DVDs; removable media such as flash memory (e.g., U disk or U shield), floppy disk, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, stand alone RAM disk, zip drive, removable mass storage, off-line storage, etc.; other computer memory, such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/write memory devices, variable memory devices, read only memory, random access memory, sequential access memory, location addressable memory, file addressable memory, content addressable memory, attached network memory devices, storage area networks, bar codes, magnetic ink, and the like.

Certain operations described herein include interpreting, receiving, and/or determining one or more values, parameters, inputs, data, or other information. Operations including interpreting, receiving, and/or determining any value parameter, input, data, and/or other information include, but are not limited to: receiving data via user input; receiving data over any type of network; reading a data value from a memory location in communication with a receiving device; using the default value as the received data value; estimating, calculating, or deriving a data value based on other information available to the receiving device; and/or update any of these in response to a later received data value. In some embodiments, the data value may be received by a first operation and later updated by a second operation as part of receiving the data value. For example, a first operation of interpreting, receiving and/or determining a data value may be performed when communication is stopped, intermittent or interrupted, and an update operation of interpreting, receiving and/or determining a data value may be performed when communication is resumed.

Certain logical groupings of operations, such as methods or processes of the present disclosure, are provided herein for illustrating aspects of the present disclosure. Operations described herein are schematically described and/or depicted, and may be combined, divided, reordered, added, or removed in a manner consistent with the disclosure herein. It should be appreciated that the context of the description of an operation may require ordering one or more operations and/or may explicitly disclose the order of one or more operations, but such order of operations should be construed broadly, wherein any equivalent grouping of operations providing equivalent operation results is specifically contemplated herein. For example, if a value is used in one operational step, the value may need to be determined prior to the operational step in some contexts (e.g., where the time delay of the data for the operation to achieve a particular result is important), but not prior to the operational step in other contexts (e.g., where the use of the value in a previous execution cycle of the operation would be sufficient for those purposes). Thus, in certain embodiments, the order and grouping of operations described herein are explicitly contemplated, and in certain embodiments, reordering, subdividing, and/or grouping of operations into different groups are explicitly contemplated herein.

The methods and systems described herein may transition a physical object and/or intangible object from one state to another. The methods and systems described herein may also transition data representing physical and/or intangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein (including those in flow charts, block diagrams, and/or operational descriptions) depict and/or describe specific example arrangements of elements for purposes of illustration. However, the depicted and/or described elements, their functions, and/or arrangements of elements may be implemented on a machine, such as through a computer-executable transitory and/or non-transitory medium having a processor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon, and/or as a logic circuit or hardware arrangement. An exemplary arrangement of programming instructions includes at least: a single instruction structure; a separate instruction module for the element or part thereof; and/or instruction modules employing external routines, code, services, etc.; and/or any combination of these, and all such embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines include, but are not limited to, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices, medical devices, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers, chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic books, gadgets, electronic devices, devices with artificial intelligence, computing devices, networking devices, servers, routers, and the like. Furthermore, elements depicted and/or described herein and/or any other logic components may be implemented on a machine capable of executing program instructions. Thus, while the foregoing flow diagrams, block diagrams, and/or operational descriptions set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems, any arrangement of program instructions that implements such functional aspects is contemplated herein. Similarly, it should be appreciated that the various steps identified and described above may be varied and that the order of the steps may be adapted to the specific application of the techniques disclosed herein. In addition, any step or operation may be divided and/or combined in any manner that provides similar functionality to the described operation. All such variations and modifications are contemplated in the present disclosure. The methods and/or processes described above, and the steps thereof, may be implemented in hardware, program code, instructions and/or programs, or in any combination of hardware and methods, program code, instructions and/or programs, as appropriate for the particular application. Exemplary hardware includes a special purpose computing device or a particular computing device, a particular aspect or component of a particular computing device, and/or an arrangement of hardware components and/or logic circuitry to perform one or more operations of the method and/or system. The processes may be implemented in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or other programmable devices, as well as internal memory and/or external memory. These processes may also or alternatively be embodied in application specific integrated circuits, programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, or any other device or combination of devices that may be configured to process electronic signals. It should also be understood that one or more of the processes may be implemented as computer executable code capable of being executed on a machine readable medium.

The computer-executable code may be created using a structured programming language (such as C), an object oriented programming language (such as c++), or any other high-level or low-level programming language (including assembly languages, hardware description languages, and database programming languages and techniques), which may be stored, compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices and heterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, or combinations of different hardware and computer-readable instructions, or any other machine capable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, each of the methods described above, and combinations thereof, may be embodied in computer-executable code that, when executed on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of the methods. In another aspect, the methods may be embodied in a system that performs the steps of the methods and may be distributed across devices in a variety of ways, or all of the functions may be integrated into a dedicated stand-alone device or other hardware. In another aspect, means for performing steps associated with the processes described above may comprise any of the hardware and/or computer-readable instructions described above. All such permutations and combinations are contemplated in embodiments of the present disclosure.

While the method and system described herein have been disclosed in conjunction with certain preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereto may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the methods and systems described herein are not limited by the foregoing examples, but should be construed in the broadest sense permitted under law.

All documents cited herein are incorporated by reference.

Claims

1. A mobile application, the mobile application comprising:

a power supply circuit comprising an electrical power storage device and an electrical load, wherein the electrical power storage device and the electrical load are selectively electrically coupled by a power bus;

a power distribution unit electrically interposed between the power storage device and the electrical load, wherein the power distribution unit includes a circuit breaker/relay positioned on one of a high side and a low side of the power storage device;

wherein the circuit breaker/relay comprises:

a stationary contact electrically coupled to the power bus;

a movable contact selectively electrically coupled to the fixed contact, and wherein the movable contact allows power flow through the power bus when electrically coupled to the fixed contact and prevents power flow through the power bus when not electrically coupled to the fixed contact; and

An armature operatively coupled to the movable contact such that the armature in a first position prevents electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact and the armature in a second position allows electrical coupling between the movable contact and the fixed contact;

a first biasing member biasing the armature into one of the first position or the second position; and

a contact force spring operatively interposed between the armature and the movable contact such that the contact force spring is at least partially compressible in response to the armature being in the second position, and wherein the contact force spring is configurable such that a lorentz force acting between the fixed contact and the movable contact further compresses the contact force spring in response to a selected current value.

2. The mobile application of claim 1, wherein the movable contact comprises a body extending away from the fixed contact, wherein the body of the movable contact is disposed within a plurality of separation plates.

3. The mobile application of claim 2, wherein the plurality of separator plates are disposed at least partially within a permanent magnet.

4. The mobile application of claim 1, the mobile application further comprising:

a standard on/off circuit having at least two states, wherein the standard on/off circuit provides an actuation signal in a first state and blocks the actuation signal in a second state;

a current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to block the actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value; and is also provided with

Wherein the armature is responsive to the actuation signal to electrically couple the movable contact to the fixed contact.

5. The mobile application of claim 1, wherein the circuit breaker/relay further comprises an auxiliary closing circuit structured to interpret an auxiliary command and further structured to block an actuation signal of a standard on/off circuit in response to the auxiliary command indicating that the movable contact should not be electrically coupled to the fixed contact.

6. The mobile application of claim 5, wherein the auxiliary command comprises at least one command selected from the group consisting of: emergency shutdown commands, maintenance event indication identifications, accident indication identifications, vehicle controller requests, and equipment protection requests.

7. The mobile application of claim 5, wherein the standard on/off circuit comprises one of a key switch voltage and a key switch indication identifier.

8. The mobile application of claim 4, wherein the high current value is lower than the selected current value.

9. The mobile application of claim 1, further comprising a charging circuit, and wherein the circuit breaker/relay is further positioned on the charging circuit.

10. The mobile application of claim 9, wherein the charging circuit comprises a fast charging circuit having a higher current throughput value than a rated current for operation of the electrical load.

11. The mobile application of claim 10, the mobile application further comprising:

A current response circuit structured to determine a current in the power bus and further structured to block the actuation signal of the standard on/off circuit in response to the current in the power bus indicating a high current value;

wherein the current response circuit is further structured to utilize a first threshold current value for the high current value in response to the power supply circuit powering the electrical load, and a second threshold current value for the high current value in response to the charging circuit being coupled to a fast charging device; and is also provided with

12. The mobile application of claim 1, wherein the electrical load comprises at least one load selected from the group consisting of: a power source load, a regenerative load, a power output load, an auxiliary device load, and an accessory device load.

13. The mobile application of claim 1, further comprising a second circuit breaker/relay disposed on the other of the high side or the low side of the power storage device.

14. The mobile application of claim 1, wherein the power storage device comprises a rechargeable device.

15. The mobile application of claim 1, wherein the power storage device comprises at least one device selected from the group consisting of: batteries, capacitors, and fuel cells.