Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
226 words
A voltage regulating system comprising a substantially permanent magnet alternating current generator (10) including a rotor (12) and a polyphase output winding (14), which output winding includes first and second winding sets (15-16B,15-16A), the first winding set providing a larger number of turns per phase than the second winding set; a first full wave bridge rectifier (22) including a plurality of first controlled rectifiers (24-34) and being connected to the first winding set; a second full wave bridge rectifier (62) including a plurality of second controlled rectifiers (64-74) and being connected to the second winding set; enabling means (122) responsive to the speed of rotation of the rotor for enabling the first bridge rectifier and disabling the second bridge rectifier when the speed of the rotor is below a predetermined speed and for enabling the second bridge rectifier and disabling the first bridge rectifier when the speed of the rotor is higher than the predetermined speed; a voltage sensor (114,116) connected to the first and second bridge rectifiers for sensing the voltage output from the first and second bridge rectifiers; and control means (100) responsive to the magnitude of the output voltage sensed by the voltage sensor for controlling the conduction of the controlled rectifiers (24-34; 64-74) of the enabled bridge rectifier so as to maintain the output voltage of the enabled bridge rectifier substantially constant.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
35 words
A voltage regulating system according to claim 1, wherein the enabling means (122) is adapted selectively to apply or cut-off the supply of gate signals to the controlled rectifiers (24-34; 64-74) of the bridge rectifiers.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
A voltage regulating system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bridge rectifiers (22,62) are adapted to supply d.c. voltage loads of a motor vehicle; the rotor (12) being adapted to be driven by the engine of a motor vehicle.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
A voltage regulating system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein each bridge rectifier (22,62) is formed entirely of controlled rectifiers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
A voltage regulating system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein one of the bridge rectifiers (22,62) is formed of a plurality of controlled rectifiers (64-68) and a plurality of diodes (150-154), the other bridge rectifier (22,62) being formed entirely of controlled rectifiers.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
A voltage regulating system according to any preceding claim, wherein the control means (100) is adapted to respond to the frequency of voltage generated in the output winding (14).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
119 words
A voltage regulating system according to any preceding claim, wherein the polyphase output winding (14) is a three-phase Y-connected output winding including a plurality of phase windings (16-20) connected to respective output terminals (16B-20B) and to respective taps (16A-20A), each tap being located between a neutral node (15) of the output winding and a respective output terminal, the number of turns per phase between the neutral node and a tap being less than the number of turns per phase between the neutral node and the corresponding output terminal; the first and second full wave bridge rectifiers (22,62) being three-phase rectifiers, the output terminals being connected to the first bridge rectifier, the taps being connected to the second bridge rectifier.