US 12,436,200 B2
Battery load test in agricultural utility vehicle
Sean P. West, Cedar Falls, IA (US); Joseph P. Boyer, Cedar Falls, IA (US); Christopher D. Jensenius, Janesville, IA (US); Shane M. Boden, Vinton, IA (US); and Jeff L. Lubben, Hudson, IA (US)
Assigned to Deere & Company, Moline, IL (US)
Filed by DEERE & COMPANY, Moline, IL (US)
Filed on Feb. 21, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/583,353.
Prior Publication US 2025/0264543 A1, Aug. 21, 2025
Int. Cl. G01R 31/392 (2019.01); B60R 16/033 (2006.01); B60R 16/08 (2006.01); B62D 5/06 (2006.01); G01R 31/374 (2019.01); G01R 31/382 (2019.01); G07C 5/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01R 31/392 (2019.01) [B60R 16/033 (2013.01); B60R 16/08 (2013.01); B62D 5/062 (2013.01); G01R 31/374 (2019.01); G01R 31/382 (2019.01); G07C 5/008 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An onboard battery load test system for a utility vehicle, the onboard battery load test system comprising:
a vehicle battery;
an alternator configured to charge the vehicle battery with an alternator charge current;
a primary pump disposed in a fluid circuit and configured to pressurize a fluid in the fluid circuit;
a backup pump disposed in the fluid circuit as a redundancy to the primary pump;
wherein the fluid circuit is a hydraulic steering circuit, the primary pump is a primary steering pump, and the backup pump is a hydraulic backup steering pump;
at least one battery sensor operable to generate a battery sensor signal representative of a condition of the vehicle battery; and
a controller operatively coupled with the at least one battery sensor, the controller including a processor, a memory device operatively coupled with the processor, and battery load test logic stored in the memory device and being executable via the processor to determine health of the vehicle battery by:
(i) isolating the vehicle battery from the alternator charge current;
(ii) initiating a current draw on the vehicle battery by the backup pump while the vehicle battery is isolated from the alternator charge current and while the utility vehicle is running without disruption to an operation of the vehicle,
(iii) receiving the battery sensor signal, and
(iv) determining the battery health based on the battery sensor signal.