Automatic voltage regulator

Claim 1

A voltage regulator for an alternator having a field winding, said regulator comprising: input terminals for connection to the alternator output, output terminals for connection to the alternator field winding, a field-winding excitation control circuit connected across said input terminals and including full wave rectification means arranged to supply a direct current to said output terminals, and current control means, drive means for said field-winding-excitation control circuit and connected to said current control means, and voltage monitoring means including a voltage cross-over detector coupled to said input terminals and a pulse generator connected to the output of said voltage cross-over detector and providing an output control signal for each half cycle of alternator output voltage, the train of output control signals so produced being coupled controllably to operate said drive means said voltage monitoring means further including a sensing circuit for amplitude sensing of the alternator output voltage applied to said input terminals, and a comparator circuit for comparing the sensed voltage with a reference means, the comparator output being coupled to said pulse generator to control the mark-to-space ratio of said train of control signals wherein said amplitude sensing circuit comprises amplitude sampling means, a pulse width modulator incorporating a free-running square wave generator the mark-to-space ratio of which is controllable in accordance with the output of said sampling means, a polarity-reversible amplifier coupled to the output of said sampling means and polarity controlled in accordance with the polarity of the sampled voltage, and a low-pass filter coupled to the output of said amplifier to provide a d.c. signal representative of the mean square value of the alternator voltage sensed by the sensing circuit.