alternator voltage regulator

So what's the "inner" voltage reference if not a Zener? Bandgaps in the 60's? Forward biased diodes?

Tim.

By PWMing the field (rotor), but NOT done with a zener... they've been ASICs since the mid-60s.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Neat... so are today's alternator voltage regulators based on the 1970 US patent 3,546,563?

Mike

BG/Diode-combinations to match the TC of lead-acid cells. See my website for the pertinent patents ;-)

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Pretty much so. The primary difference today is constant frequency PWM, which gives better loop stability, but, back in the'60's, no one wanted to pay an extra penny for anything, particularly if it was only for better performance :-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

This page has some schematics (poorly reproduced, sorry) that show a

1970s version.

--
John Popelish

Nothing really. But today, so much is possible on-chip. Back then it would have been an additional external-to-chip capacitor, and there already was one external cap.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Which page is that, John?? BTW, this thread reminded me of my first exposure to automobile voltage regulators. I had never paid them any mind until I saw this article. It came in the form of an idea for design in an old Electronics Magazine Designer's Casebook. It used a 555 timer as a PWM regulator of sorts to switch the field current of an alternator. I actually built one from the article and used it to replace the defunct regulator in an Opel Manta that I once owned. Darn thing worked like a champ for the 3-4 years that I had the car. I guess it was still working when the car finally went to the junque heap. I scanned the article and posted it to A.B.S.E. under the same subject line.

I've used the circuit idea for a few other things too... like a thermostat for fan control, battery charger, etc. I even thought of using it to replace the old mercury switch in my home HVAC system, but never got a round toit.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net  (Just subsitute the appropriate characters in 
the address)

Never take a laxative and a sleeping pill at the same time!!

Crap!

--
John Popelish

In a nutshell, the voltage regulator controls the power being supplied to the rotor, which in turn controls the alternator output. The voltage regulator monitors the output voltage (normally done with a zenor diode) and increases/decrease the rotor power accordingly.

It was 'in a nutshell'. All the diagrams I got shown at college off alternator regulators had a zener diode as the base off the voltage regulator, with other components attached to allow for filtering, load sensing, temperature compensation, amplification...etc depending on the variation. I'm sure many different manufacturers have their own version off the circuits.

I've had multiple requests for that. I'll see what I can do.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

It would be nice if the patents were on your site too, or did I miss them. You did some cool stuff shame you cant post some the older stuff you did to help us youngens 8*) Pat

Hey guys, When I load this page, I cannot read a whole line unless I slide the page back and forth. There must be an easy change to make so I can see the whole line. Any ideas? I'm using XP Pro. (not the first time I've had this problem.)

Differing from today in what way? :-)

Ken

The public. The whole purpose of a patent is to teach the art. If it weren't freely available, teaching would be hindered. If you want the patent, I'll send it. ;-)

--

  Keith

[snip]

Patent Links now added to my Home Page.

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

them.

to

Great, Thanks, now I have some reading to do. Pat