Neutral apparatus for electric vehicle

Abstract

A neutral apparatus for use on an electric vehicle is disclosed. The neutral apparatus comprises a control state detector and a neutral mechanism control circuit. The control state detector detects whether or not the motor control unit is in a predetermined control state. The neutral mechanism control unit can instruct the neutral mechanism to interrupt the power train according to the output signal from the control state detector. If the motor control unit is not in the predetermined control state, this is detected by the control state detector. In response to the output signal from the control state detector, the neutral mechanism control circuit causes the neutral mechanism to interrupt the power train. Thus, power flow from the motor to the drive wheels is interrupted. The control state detector is comprised of a voltage comparator circuit for comparing the output voltage from the motor driver circuit with a reference voltage and produces an output signal. As a result, it becomes possible to monitor the control state of the vehicle during movement thereof by means of an arrangement simple in construction.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.