CLIAMS:1. A method of alerting a user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle comprising:
receiving, by a controller, a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle;
receiving, by the controller, current of battery of the vehicle from an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS);
receiving, by the controller, ignition state of the vehicle from an ignition switch sensor; and
preventing, by the controller, locking of doors of the vehicle upon determining the ignition state of vehicle to be OFF and the received current to be exceeding a threshold current limit.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the received current of the battery is based upon at least one of state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle and short circuit condition in one or more electrical elements of the vehicle.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising providing a notification to the user of the vehicle upon preventing locking of the vehicle.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the notification is provided in the form of at least one of visual indication and audio indication.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the visual indication comprises at least one of blinking indicator lights and sending message to a mobile device registered with the controller.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the audio indication includes one of a buzzer, a horn, a hooter and a chime.

7. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the electrical loads are selected from at least one of head light, hazard light, indicator light, trunk light, fog light, glove box light and roof lamp.

8. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle is determined by a load state detection logic.

9. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle is determined by the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS).

10. A system for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle comprising:
an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) to determine current of battery of the vehicle;
an ignition switch sensor to determine ignition state of the vehicle;
a controller configured to:
receive a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle; and
prevent locking of doors of the vehicle upon determining the ignition state of vehicle to be OFF and the received current to be exceeding a threshold current limit.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the received current of the battery is based upon at least one of state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle and short circuit condition in one or more electrical elements of the vehicle.

12. The system as claimed in claim 10 is further configured to provide a notification to the user of the vehicle upon preventing locking of the vehicle.

13. The system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the notification is provided in the form of at least one of visual indication and audio indication.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the visual indication comprises at least one of blinking indicator lights and sending message to a mobile device registered with the controller.

15. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the audio indication includes one of a buzzer, a horn, a hooter and a chime.

16. The system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the electrical loads are selected from at least one of head light, hazard light, indicator light, trunk light, fog light, glove box light and roof lamp.

17. The system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle is determined by a load state detection logic.

18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle is determined by the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS).
,TagSPECI:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to a vehicle. Particularly but not exclusively present disclosure relates to a alerting a user of the vehicle to prevent battery run of the vehicle

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Currently most of the vehicles use Remote Key less Entry (RKE) system to remotely lock the vehicle. When the driver leaves the vehicle, the remote control key is pressed, which in turn send signals to door lock motor of the vehicle to lock the door.

Such vehicles are provided with various types of electrical equipment/loads for the purpose of safety of running of the vehicle. The electrical equipment may include various types of lamps, which can be enabled or used as desired when the key switch for enabling the drive operation of the vehicle is turned on. Such lamps comprise headlights, sidelights, parking lights, turn signal lights, and so on. The electrical equipment is energized by a storage battery.

However, if and when a driver neglects to turn off any one of the switches for such lamps when he leaves the vehicle after he ends the drive of the vehicle, the corresponding lamp is kept continually turned on, whereby the electric power is undesirably consumed. As a result, the storage battery could be discharged and problems could occur that a starter motor, a drive motor and the like are not started, the electrical equipment is not operative, and so on, when a driver is about to drive the vehicle next time. Also, in some situations, there may be a leakage of current in the vehicle without knowledge of the driver of the vehicle.

There are many field cases where it is observed that the driver forgets to switch off direct battery supported electrical loads or there is high leakage current in the vehicle, which ultimately leads to battery discharge of the vehicle.

In light of the foregoing discussion, there is a need for a method and a system for detect such undesired conditions and prevent battery run of the vehicle.

 
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The one or more shortcomings of the prior art are overcome by a method and a system as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the provision of method and system as claimed in the present disclosure.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure there is provided a method of alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle. The method comprises receiving a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle, receiving state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle from a load state detection device, receiving current leakage of battery of the vehicle from an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS), receiving ignition state of the vehicle from an ignition switch sensor and receiving short circuit condition in one or more electrical elements. The method further comprises preventing locking of doors of the vehicle upon determining the ignition state of vehicle to be OFF and current (includes both normal current and leakage current) to be exceeding a threshold current limit, which could be either due to state of one or more electrical loads to be active or/and short circuit condition in one or more electrical elements.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the received current of the battery is based upon at least one of state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle and short circuit condition in one or more electrical elements of the vehicle.

In an embodiment of the disclosure the method comprises providing a notification to the user of the vehicle upon preventing locking of the vehicle.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the notification is provided in the form of at least one of visual indication and audio indication.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the visual indication comprises at least one of blinking indicator lights and sending message to a mobile device registered with a controller of the vehicle.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the audio indication includes buzzer, horn, hooter and a chime.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the electrical loads are selected from at least one of head light, hazard light, indicator light, trunk light, fog light, glove box light and roof lamp.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle is determined by a load state detection logic.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle is determined by the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS).

In another non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure there is provided a system for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle. The system comprises of an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) to determine leakage current, current being drawn due to state of one or more electrical loads and short circuit condition current of battery of the vehicle, an ignition switch sensor to determine ignition state of the vehicle. The system further comprises a controller configured to receive a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle, and prevent locking of doors of the vehicle upon determining the ignition state of vehicle to be OFF and the received current to be exceeding a threshold current limit, which could be either due to state of one or more electrical loads to be active or/and short circuit condition in one or more electrical elements. Apart from hardware detection, the controller also has an intelligent logic to detect the state of one or more electrical loads.

In an embodiment of the disclosure the system is further configured to provide a notification to the user of the vehicle upon preventing locking of the vehicle.

In an embodiment of the disclosure the notification is provided in the form of at least one of visual indication and audio indication.

In an embodiment of the disclosure the visual indication comprises at least one of blinking indicator lights and sending message to a mobile device registered with the controller.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the audio indication includes buzzer, horn, hooter and a chime.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the electrical loads are selected from at least one of head light, hazard light, indicator light, trunk light, fog light, glove box light and roof lamp.

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
OBJECTIVE OF THE DISCLOSURE

One non-limiting object of the present disclosure is related to detecting undesired battery drain conditions in a vehicle.

One non-limiting object of the present disclosure is related to alerting the user of the vehicle regarding undesired battery drain conditions.

One non-limiting object of the present disclosure is related to a preventing locking of a vehicle upon detecting undesirable battery drain conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of system for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIGURE 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle according to some embodiment of the present disclosure.

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other mechanism for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that an assembly, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such assembly or system or method. In other words, one or more elements in an assembly or system proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.

In the following description the words such as forward, return are referred with respect to particular orientation of the system as illustrated in drawings of the present disclosure. The words are used to explain the aspects of the present disclosure and for better understanding. However, one should not construe such terms as limitation to the present disclosure, since the terms may interchange based on the orientation of the system.

Henceforth, the present disclosure is explained with the help of figures. However, such exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limitations of the present disclosure. A person skilled in the art can envisage various such embodiments without deviating from scope of the present disclosure. Further, it is to be noted that the system of the present disclosure can be used in the vehicles. However for the purpose of simplicity the vehicle is not illustrated in the figures of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of system for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The system comprises a controller 102, a door locking system 104, an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) 108, an ignition switch sensor 110, an alarm unit 112, and a key 114.

In an embodiment, the door locking system 104 receives instruction from controller 102 to lock doors of the vehicle. The controller 102 provides instructions to the door locking system 104 upon receiving signals from the key 114. In an embodiment, the controller 102 may receive command for locking doors from other means known in the art. Upon receiving instructions from the controller 102, the door locking device 104 locks the doors of the vehicle.

In an embodiment, the load state detection logic detects state or condition of an electrical load corresponding to each of various electrical equipment or components mounted on the vehicle. The load state detection logic may be implemented in the controller 102. Alternatively, state or condition of electrical loads can be detected through intelligent battery sensor (IBS) 108. The electrical loads of the vehicle may include, but are not limited to, head light, hazard light, indicator light, trunk light, fog light, glove box light and roof lamp. The state of the electrical loads may be one of active/ inactive. The one or more electrical loads are said to be in active state when the electrical load are turned on and said electrical loads draw power from the battery of the vehicle. The one or more electrical loads are said to be in inactive state when the electrical loads are turned off and the electrical loads do not draw any power from the battery of the vehicle. While being turned off, the electrical loads may draw small leakage current well within the threshold limit.

The Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) 108 determines current drawn from the battery of the vehicle. Also, the IBS 108 determines the amount of leakage of current from the battery. The value of leakage current amount is then transmitted to the controller 102 by the IBS 108.

The ignition switch sensor 110 determines the ignition state of the vehicle to be one of ON or OFF. In an embodiment, the ignition switch sensor 110 monitors the ignition key switch position of the vehicle. This information is then transmitted to the controller 102 to determine the ignition state of the vehicle. A person skilled in the art would understand that any other sensor capable of determining ignition state of the vehicle may be used with the present disclosure.

The alarm unit 112 provides notification to user of the vehicle upon determining drainage of battery of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the notification may be provided in forms of audio. The audio notification may include buzzer sound. In another embodiment, the alarm unit 112 activates the existing horn or any existing audible alarm in the vehicle.

The short circuit condition in the vehicle is determined by the IBS 108. In an embodiment, the short circuit is detected in one or more electrical elements of the vehicle. The electrical elements may include, but are not limited to, switch relay, fuse etc.

In another embodiment, the notification may be provided in the form of visual alert. The visual alert/indication comprises at least one of blinking indicator lights and sending message to a mobile device registered with the controller 102. In an embodiment, mobile number of user of the vehicle is registered with the controller 102 of the vehicle. Whenever, an unusual event is detected, a notification regarding the event is then sent as a message by the controller 102 to the mobile number of the user. The controller 102 may use appropriate communication network infrastructure to send the message to mobile device of the user.

The controller 102 is configured to receive one or more inputs. The one or more inputs include, but are not limited to, a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle, state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle from a load state detection logic, current leakage of battery of the vehicle from an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) 108, ignition state of the vehicle from the ignition switch sensor 110. In an embodiment, the controller 102 may be an Engine Control Unit (ECU) or engine management system control unit. A person skilled in the art would understand that any controller 102 which needs to be awake for some time after ignition key is OFF may be used with the present disclosure

The controller 102 first receives a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle. Upon receiving the inputs, the controller 102 determines one or more conditions. The controller 102 determines if the ignition state of vehicle is OFF. If the ignition state of the vehicle is OFF, then the controller 102 determines if the leakage of current is exceeding a threshold leakage limit or state of at least one of plurality of electrical loads is active or short circuit in one or more electrical elements. In an embodiment, the threshold current leakage limit is predefined and stored in the system. In one embodiment, threshold current leakage limit is stored in a memory unit associated to the controller 102. If the leakage of current is exceeding a threshold current leakage limit or state of at least one of plurality of electrical loads is active or presence of short circuit in one or more electrical elements, then the controller 102 prevents locking of doors of the vehicle by sending unlock signal door locking system 104. Further, the controller 102 provides a notification to user of the vehicle through the alarm unit 112.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle according to some embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in Figure 2, the method 200 comprises one or more blocks for alerting user on battery drain conditions of a vehicle by the controller 102. The method 200 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types.

The order in which the method 200 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

At block 210, receive, by a controller 102, a lock command to lock doors of the vehicle. Initially, the method starts when the controller 102 receives a lock command to lock the doors of the vehicle. Now, the controller 102 needs to check for one or more conditions before allowing the locking of the vehicle. The checking of one or more conditions helps to detect undesired battery drain conditions in the vehicle.

At block 220, receive, by the controller 102, state of one or more electrical loads of the vehicle from a load state detection device. The controller 102 determines if one or more electrical loads of the vehicle are active. The active state of the one or more electrical load means that the electrical loads are deriving power from the battery. This may happen when the user of the vehicle activates the electrical loads and forgets to deactivate while leaving the vehicle. The one or more electrical loads may include, but are not limited to, head light, hazard light, indicator light, trunk light, fog light, glove box light and roof lamp. A person skilled in the art would understand that any other electrical load deriving power from the battery.

At block 230, receive, by the controller 102, current leakage of battery of the vehicle from an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) 108.

At block 240, receive, by the controller 102, ignition state of the vehicle from an ignition switch sensor 110.

At block 250, receive, by the controller 102, short circuit condition of the vehicle. In an embodiment, a short circuit condition is determined for one or more electrical elements in the vehicle.

At block 250, determine if the ignition state of the vehicle is OFF. If the ignition state of the vehicle is OFF, then the controller 102 determines if the current leakage of the vehicle determined by the Intelligent Battery Sensor is greater than a threshold leakage limit. Also, the controller determines if the state of the one or more electrical loads is active. If the current leakage of the vehicle is not greater than a threshold leakage limit or the state of the one or more electrical loads is not active or if there is no short circuit in one or more electrical elements, then the method proceeds via NO to block 260. Alternatively, if the current leakage of the vehicle is greater than a threshold leakage limit or the state of the one or more electrical loads is active or if there is a short circuit in one or more electrical elements, then the method proceeds via YES to block 270.

At block 260, the controller 102 allows locking of the vehicle and the method ends. In one embodiment, the controller 102 provides appropriate instructions to the doors locking system 104 to allow locking of the doors of the vehicle.

At block 270, the controller 102 prevents locking the doors of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the controller 102 provides appropriate instructions to the doors locking system 104 to prevent locking of the doors of the vehicle. This is to ensure prevention of any undesired battery drain of the vehicle.

At block 280, the controller 102 provides an alert to the user of the vehicle. In an embodiment, a notification is provided to the user of the vehicle using the alarm unit 112. The notification is provided to user of the vehicle upon determining drainage of battery of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the notification any be provided in form of audio. The audio notification may include buzzer sound, sound of the existing horn or any existing audible alarm in the vehicle. In another embodiment, the notification may be provided in the form of visual alert. The visual indication comprises at least one of blinking indicator lights and sending message to a mobile device registered with the controller 102. A person skilled in the art would understand that any other form of notification can be provided with the method of the present disclosure.

Advantages:
The present disclosure provides a system and a method to prevent battery drain conditions in the vehicle.

The present disclosure provides a notification to the user indicating any condition of battery drain, whereby user can take appropriate measures to rectify it.

Equivalents:

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral Numerals:

Reference Number Description
102 Controller
104 Door Locking System
108 Intelligent Battery Sensor
110 Ignition Switch Sensor
112 Alarm Unit
114 Key