# US 2018/0323626 A1 · Seat box power management > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0323626 A1 - Document ID: US20180323626A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/584,967 - Filed: 2017-05-02 - Published: 2018-11-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-02 - Assignees: Panasonic Avionics Corporation - Applicants: Panasonic Avionics Corporation - Inventors: Paulo Suen; Christopher Do - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180323626A1 ## CPC - B60R 16/03: for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems {or for (circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00)} - B60L 1/006: {to power outlets} - B60R 16/0238: {Electrical distribution centers} - B64D 11/00: Passenger or crew accommodation; Flight-deck installations not otherwise provided for - B64D 11/0015: {Arrangements for entertainment or communications, e.g. radio, television} - B64D 11/0624: {Arrangements of electrical connectors, e.g. for earphone, internet or electric supply} - H02J 7/50: acting upon multiple batteries simultaneously or sequentially - H02J 7/731: {specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries (H02J7/751 takes precedence)} - B64D 2221/00: Electric power distribution systems onboard aircraft - H02J 7/00: Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries - H02J 7/1423: {with multiple batteries} - H02J 7/42: with electronic devices having internal batteries, e.g. mobile phones - H02J 2105/30: the load networks being external to vehicles, i.e. exchanging power with vehicles - H02J 2105/32: {for aircrafts} - H02J 2105/33: exchanging power with road vehicles - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - Y02T 50/40: Weight reduction - B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - B64D: EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLIGHT SUITS; PARACHUTES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF POWER PLANTS OR PROPULSION TRANSMISSIONS IN AIRCRAFT - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for PEDs. The seat box including ports each configured to connect to an outlet, distribution circuitry for distributing power among the ports from the vehicle for supply to an outlet connected to the port; a processor in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to an outlet connected to the port; and a power load manager executed on the processor. The power load manager receives data from each controlled power outlet connected to one of the ports, indicating power supplied from the outlet and requests for power. The power load manager when receiving a request for power from an outlet for which there is insufficient power available to meet the request, controlling the outlet drawing the most power to reduce power, and supplying at least some power to the controlled power outlet from which the request was received. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for a personal electronic device to connect to a power controlled outlet and receive power, the seat box comprising: a plurality of ports in which each port is configured to connect to a controlled power outlet; distribution circuitry including an input connectable to the vehicle electrical power system, and an output connected to each of the ports for receiving power from the vehicle electrical power system and distributing power among the ports for supply to a controlled power outlet connected to the port; a processor connected in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to a power controlled outlet connected to the port; and a power load manager executed on the processor, the power load manager receiving data from each controlled power outlet connected to one of the ports, the data indicating power supplied from the controlled power outlet and requests for power from each controlled power outlet, the power load manager when receiving a request for power from a controlled power outlet for which there is insufficient power available to meet the request, controlling the controlled power outlet drawing the most power to reduce power supplied therefrom, and supplying at least some power to the controlled power outlet from which the request for power was received. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The seat box of claim 1, wherein if there is more than one controlled power outlet drawing substantially the same amount of power in which said amount of power is the most amount of power being supplied by any one controlled power outlet, the power load manager determines which controlled power outlet has been supplying said amount of power longer than any of the other controlled power outlets, and controls the determined controlled power outlet to reduce power supplied therefrom. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The seat box of claim 1, wherein the controlled power outlet from which the request for power was received, is a controlled power outlet that previous to the request had not been supplying power therefrom. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The seat box of claim 1, wherein each controlled power outlet reports to the power load manager connection of a personal electronic device to the controlled power outlet. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The seat box of claim 4, wherein the power load manager tracks the duration of time a personal electronic device has been connected to a controlled power outlet based on when a report was received from the controlled power outlet of connection thereto. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The seat box of claim 5, wherein each power controlled outlet reports disconnection of a personal electronic device to the power load manager, and in response to a report of disconnection, the power load manager resets the duration of time for that power controlled outlet. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The seat box of claim 1, wherein the power load manager communicates a power data object to a personal electronic device connected to a power controlled outlet indicating a power limit for that power controlled outlet, and communicates another power data object to a power controlled outlet for which power supplied therefrom is to be reduced. ### Claim 8 A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for a personal electronic device to connect to a power controlled outlet and receive power, the seat box comprising: a plurality of ports in which each port is configured to connect to a power controlled outlet; distribution circuitry including an input connectable to the vehicle electrical power system, and an output connected to each of the ports for receiving power from the vehicle electrical power system and distributing power among the ports for supply to a controlled power outlet connected to the port; a processor connected in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to a power controlled outlet connected to the port; and a power load manager executed on the processor, the power load manager receiving data from each controlled power outlet indicating power supplied from the controlled power outlet and requests for power from each controlled power outlet, the power load manager when receiving a request for power from a controlled power outlet, controlling the power outlet to supply at least a predefined minimum amount of power, and controlling the power outlet to not supply an amount of power beyond a predefined maximum. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The seat box of claim 8, further comprising storage media in communication with the power load manager in which the power load manager establishes the predefined minimum amount of power and predefined maximum amount of power based on values in a configuration file on the storage media. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The seat box of claim 9, wherein if the power load manager cannot establish a predefined minimum amount of power, the power load manager uses a default value for the minimum amount of power to supply. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The seat box of claim 9, where the configuration file further includes an identification of each type of controlled power outlet, and each controlled power outlet communicates its type to the power load manager, and if the identification on the configuration file for a controlled power outlet does not match the identification communicated by that controlled power outlet to the power load manager, the power load manager disables power from the controlled power outlet for which there is not a match. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The seat box of claim 8, wherein the vehicle includes an inflight entertainment system in communication with the power load manager, and if the inflight entertainment system communicates a priority request for power for one of the controlled power outlets, the power load manager controls said one of the controlled power outlets to provide a fixed power output for a predefined duration, and decreases the power available for the remaining power controlled outlets. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The seat box of claim 8, further comprising a static power outlet connected to the distribution circuitry, wherein the power load manager allocates a fixed amount of power for the static power outlet. ### Claim 14 A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for a personal electronic device to connect to a power controlled outlet and receive power, the seat box comprising: a plurality of ports in which each port is configured to connect to a controlled power outlet; distribution circuitry including an input connectable to the vehicle electrical power system, and an output connected to each of the ports for receiving power from the vehicle electrical power system and distributing power among the ports for supply to a controlled power outlet connected to the port; a processor connected in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to a power controlled outlet connected to the port; and a power load manager executed on the processor, the power load manager receiving data from each controlled power outlet indicating power supplied from the controlled power outlet and requests for power from each controlled power outlet; and storage media in communication with the power load manager in which the power load manager controls distribution of power among the controlled power outlets according to information in a configuration file on the storage media, the distribution being at least one of distributing power to a power controlled outlet first requesting the power with a predefined minimum amount of power supplied in response to another power controlled outlet requesting power later; and redistributing some power from one outlet to another in response to a later request for power. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The seat box of claim 14, wherein said distributing power to a power controlled outlet first requesting the power with a predefined minimum amount of power supplied in response to another power controlled outlet requesting power later, includes controlling the controlled power outlet first requesting power, to not supply an amount of power beyond a predefined maximum. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The seat box of claim 15, wherein the power load manager establishes the predefined minimum amount of power and the predefined maximum amount of power based on values in the configuration file. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The seat box of claim 14, wherein said redistributing some power from one outlet to another in response to a later request for power is performed when there is insufficient power to meet the later request in which the power load manager controls the power outlet drawing the most power to reduce power supplied therefrom, and supplies at least some power to the controlled power outlet from which the later request for power was received. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The seat box of claim 17, wherein if there is more than one controlled power outlet drawing substantially the same amount of power in which said amount of power is the most amount of power being supplied by any one controlled power outlet, the power load manager determines which controlled power outlet has been supplying said amount of power longer than any of the other controlled power outlets, and controls the determined controlled power outlet to reduce power supplied therefrom. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The seat box of claim 17, wherein the controlled power outlet from which the later request for power was received, is a controlled power outlet that previous to the request had not been supplying power therefrom. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The seat box of claim 14, wherein if information from a configuration file is not available, the power load manager supplies a default value minimum amount of power.