An electric starting system is provided for an engine. The electric starting system may include a self-contained housing configured to be mounted between an engine and a tool driven by the engine. The electric starting system may also include an electric motor mounted to the housing, the electric motor configured rotationally engage an output shaft of the engine to effectuate starting of the engine.

A present invention is a power supply device, comprising a battery unit, a heater configured to generate heat on the basis of power of the battery unit, and a driving unit configured to drive the heater with a driving force according to a temperature of the battery unit.

To prolong a lifetime of a starter battery, a starting system (5) for an internal combustion engine (3) includes: a starter battery (22) constituted of a lithium-ion battery and configured to supply electric power to a starter motor (21); and a controller (51) configured to drive the starter motor (21) by the electric power from the starter battery (22) to perform cranking operations of the engine (3) intermittently, wherein the controller (51) is configured to prohibit the cranking operations for a first time interval before the cranking operations are performed a prescribed number of times within a prescribed time window, and to prohibit the cranking operations for a second time interval longer than the first time interval right after the cranking operations are performed the prescribed number of times within the prescribed time window.

A vehicle electrical system includes a battery, a customer connection point, a switch electrically connected in series between the battery and the customer connection point, a computer communicatively coupled to the switch, and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the computer. The computer is programmed to instruct the switch to open in response to a state of charge of the battery decreasing below a charge threshold, receive an input selecting a time limit, and instruct the transceiver to transmit a message to a remote server upon determining that the state of charge of the battery will decrease below the charge threshold in less than the time limit from a current time.

In one aspect, a method for controlling an engine system includes starting the engine system, activating an engine idling reduction mode allowing automatic shutdown and automatic restarting of an engine, disallowing automatic shutdown of the engine within the engine idling reduction mode if a state of charge of a voltage source is below a charge limit for permitting automatic shutdown of the engine, and modifying the charge limit as a function of a number of starts of the engine. Other aspects include a method for disallowing automatic shutdown of an engine if a voltage source has not achieved a fully charged condition, a method of triggering an automatic restarting of an engine, if the engine is automatically shutdown, based on at least two separate indicators of engine temperature, and a method of disallowing automatic shutdown of an engine if ambient temperature is less than a predetermined value.

A battery pack has a battery connection assembly for connecting to an electric motor with at least one lithium-based rechargeable cell therein and associated means for turning the at least one lithium-based rechargeable cell ON or OFF. The battery pack is configured to store a reserve within the at least one lithium-based rechargeable cell that is sufficient to start the engine electric motor. The battery pack can be activated by the associated means for turning the at least one lithium-based rechargeable cell ON or OFF to access the reserve to start the engine electric motor.

An engine generator coupled to an external battery. The engine generator includes: an engine; a motor generator configured to apply a starting force to the engine at a start of the engine, and to perform power generation by a driving force of the engine during driving of the engine;

a first step-down section and an engine accessory, the first step-down section being configured to step down a voltage of the external battery to obtain a first stepped-down voltage, and supply the first stepped-down voltage to the engine accessory; and a power converter that converts power of the external battery and supplies the converted power to the motor generator.

A method and system for operating a vehicle that includes an automatic transmission with a torque converter clutch is described. In one example, the method includes predicting a time that the torque converter clutch will open so that stopping rotation of the engine may be requested before the torque converter clutch is opened. The stopping rotation of the engine is requested to conserve fuel.

A vehicle controlling apparatus includes an engine processor, an electric motor, an electric power storage, an SOC detector, an internal resistance detector, and a resistance threshold setting unit. The engine processor is configured to stop an engine of a vehicle on the basis of a stop condition, and start the engine on the basis of a start condition. The engine processor is configured to prohibit a stop of the engine based on the stop condition based on determining that an internal resistance of the electric power storage detected by the internal resistance detector is equal to or greater than a resistance threshold set by the resistance threshold setting unit on the basis of a state of charge of the electric power storage, and permit the stop of the engine based on determining that the internal resistance is less than the resistance threshold.

A system for starting an engine of a vehicle has a fuel injector injecting fuel into a closed intake port to form an air fuel mixture. The system also includes an actuator rotating a crankshaft in a first direction to open the intake port by moving a piston within a cylinder coupled to the crankshaft. A combustion chamber defines between the cylinder and the port receiving the air fuel mixture through the intake port. The actuator rotates the crankshaft in a second direction to close the intake port. A spark plug ignites the air fuel mixture to start the engine. The engine also includes many other disclosed features.