Power supply systems

Claim 1

A power supply system comprising: a power supply; a plurality of loads; a plurality of switches connecting each respective one of the loads to the power supply; and a processor controlling the operation of the switches, the processor delaying closing of said switches when power is to be supplied to several of said loads such that there is a time delay between different ones of said loads being supplied with power, the time delay for each said load being variable such that the delay differs according to which combination of said loads is to be supplied with power, said processor including a software store, said processor supplying the contents of said software store to control reconnection of at least one of said loads when power consumed becomes less than power supply capacity, said processor also including a software command register containing software information for control of reconnection of load, an output drive unit, a multiplexer having two inputs, an off signal input, a connection between one of said inputs of said multiplexer and an output of said software command register, and a connection between the other of said inputs and said off signal input, said processor being operative to switch the multiplexer to supply the off signal to said output drive unit so as to turn off a load when the power consumption exceeds the capacity of the power supply and being operative to switch the software information to said output drive unit when load is to be reapplied.