Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120109469 | Method and Apparatus for Improved Climate Control Function in a Vehicle Employing Engine Stop/Start Technology - An internal combustion engine has an engine shut-down system that automatically interrupts engine operation when vehicle operation indicates that no torque is required from the engine. An air conditioner compressor operates to cool a passenger compartment of the vehicle and is actuated in a first phase time, and is not actuated in a second phase time. An override system compares the time the compressor is in the enabled first phase time to the time the compressor is in the disabled second phase time. The override system disables the engine shut-down system unless it is determined that a ratio of the disabled second phase time to the enabled first phase time has a low rate of change, that the ratio is greater than a predetermined value, and that the time the compressor is in the disabled second phase is greater than a predetermined value. | 05-03-2012 |
20120330508 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRIC POWER STEERING ASSIST - An automotive vehicle may include an engine, an electric power steering system and at least one controller. The at least one controller may, during an auto stop event of the engine, reduce at a first rate an available electric power steering system current to a non-zero threshold value before fuel to the engine is shut off and reduce at a second rate different than the first rate the available electric power steering system current from the non-zero threshold value to 0 after fuel to the engine is shut off. | 12-27-2012 |
20120330529 | ENGINE AUTO STOP AND AUTO START STRATEGIES - An automotive vehicle includes an engine and at least one controller. The at least one controller receives information about steering angle velocity or steering input torque during an engine auto stop event, and determines whether to allow the engine to auto stop based on the received information. | 12-27-2012 |
20130018569 | ELECTRIC CURRENT BASED ENGINE AUTO STOP INHIBIT ALGORITHM AND SYSTEM IMPLEMENTING SAMEAANM Sangameswaran; SangeethaAACI CantonAAST MIAACO USAAGP Sangameswaran; Sangeetha Canton MI USAANM Harpenau; Kevin RoyAACI Peachtree CityAAST GAAACO USAAGP Harpenau; Kevin Roy Peachtree City GA USAANM Pebley; KirkAACI NoviAAST MIAACO USAAGP Pebley; Kirk Novi MI USAANM Celinske; DavidAACI Wolverine LakeAAST MIAACO USAAGP Celinske; David Wolverine Lake MI USAANM Rademacher; Eric MichaelAACI Royal OakAAST MIAACO USAAGP Rademacher; Eric Michael Royal Oak MI US - A vehicle includes an engine and at least one controller. The at least one controller periodically determines an estimated current to be demanded by vehicle electrical loads during an auto stop of the engine, compares the estimated current with a threshold current, and inhibits an auto stop of the engine if the estimated current is greater than the threshold current for a predetermined period of time. | 01-17-2013 |
20130030670 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ALTERNATOR OR INTEGRATED STARTER GENERATOR OUTPUT VOLTAGE - An automotive vehicle includes an engine, an alternator or integrated starter generator, and at least one controller. The at least one controller reduces voltage output of the alternator or integrated starter generator prior to initiating an auto stop of the engine. | 01-31-2013 |
20130041556 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENABLING ELECTRICAL LOADS DURING AN ENGINE AUTO START - An automotive vehicle includes an engine, a plurality of electrical load subsystems, and at least one controller. During an auto start of the engine, the at least one controller detects a starter disengage condition. In response to detecting the starter disengage condition, the at least one controller periodically determines a value of an operating parameter associated with the vehicle, causes a first subset of the electrical load subsystems to be enabled when the value of the operating parameter falls with a first predefined range of values, and causes a second subset of the electrical load subsystems to be enabled when the value of the operating parameter falls within a second predefined range of values. | 02-14-2013 |
20130066525 | VEHICLE SHUT-DOWN FUNCTIONALITY FOR PEPS-EQUIPPED VEHICLES - A vehicle comprises a plurality of control module structures. A first control module structure is configured for determining a current motive mode of the vehicle. A second control module structure is configured for determining information indicating that a driver of the vehicle has left the vehicle unattended while the vehicle is in a motive-enabled mode. A third control module structure is configured for causing a secure idle mode to be implemented as a function of determining the information indicating that the driver of the vehicle has left the vehicle unattended while the vehicle is in the motive-enabled mode. Implementing the secure idle mode can include inhibiting the vehicle from being driveable until a driver access code is successfully received and authenticated by the vehicle. | 03-14-2013 |
20130124066 | DYNAMIC TUNING OF ENGINE AUTO STOP CRITERIA - The criteria used to determine whether to initiate an auto stop of an engine may be altered based on a number of previous auto stops of the engine, a total auto stop off time of the engine, or a total throughput of a battery. Altering the criteria may influence a frequency with which the engine is auto stopped. | 05-16-2013 |
20130226440 | CONTROL OF VEHICLE ELECTRICAL LOADS DURING ENGINE AUTO STOP EVENT - A vehicle includes an engine, an electrical load and a stop/start system. The stop/start system selectively auto stops the engine when a speed of the vehicle is approximately zero, and in response to a request to activate the electrical load while the engine is auto stopped, auto starts the engine prior to activating the electrical load. | 08-29-2013 |
20130245925 | FEEDBACK SYSTEM FOR ENGINE AUTO STOP INHIBIT CONDITIONS - A vehicle includes an engine and a stop/start system that selectively auto stops and auto starts the engine, detects an auto stop inhibit condition that prevents the engine from being auto stopped, and in response, generates output based on the auto stop inhibit condition if the auto stop inhibit condition falls within a predetermined class of auto stop inhibit conditions. The vehicle also includes an interface that displays or plays the output to inform a driver of the vehicle about the detected auto stop inhibit condition. | 09-19-2013 |
20140081561 | User Interface For Automatic Start-Stop System and Method of Controlling The Same - Vehicles equipped with an automatic start-stop system may include an interface for conveying inhibitors preventing an engine from auto-stopping in addition to the status of the automatic start-stop system. The system may identify one or more inhibitors actively preventing an auto-stop event from occurring and select at least one of the active inhibitors based on a priority scheme. The interface may communicate the at least one selected inhibitor to a driver using a display or a speaker, or both. | 03-20-2014 |
20140214309 | METHOD FOR MAXIMIZING MICROHYBRID AUTO START-STOP AVAILABILITY - A method for maximizing the availability of start-stop operations within a microhybrid vehicle includes determining the electric current drawn by a set of electrical components of the vehicle, from the vehicle's battery. The internal resistance of the vehicle's battery, and the resistance of a starter motor loop circuit coupled to the engine of the vehicle are dynamically calculated. The closed-circuit voltage of the battery is predicted, using the internal resistance of the battery, the resistance of the starter motor loop circuit, and the current drawn by the set of electrical components of the vehicle. The start-stop operation is carried out if the closed-circuit voltage of the battery is predicted to be above a pre-determined minimum value. | 07-31-2014 |
20140278019 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING AVAILABILITY OF VEHICLE ENERGY CONSERVING MODES - Vehicles capable of operating in an energy conserving mode may include an interface for conveying inhibitors preventing activation of the energy conserving mode. The system may identify the inhibiting features and prompt an operator of the vehicle for authorization to disable the inhibiting features or adjust the feature states to enable the energy conserving mode. In response to receiving authorization, the system may automatically control feature interfaces to remove inhibits to the energy conserving mode. The interface may communicate active inhibitors to an operator using a display or a speaker, or both. Additionally, the interface may query the operator to approve automatic deactivation of the inhibiting features and facilitate the receipt of operator input to the query. | 09-18-2014 |
20140350825 | VEHICLE SHUT-DOWN FUNCTIONALITY FOR PEPS-EQUIPPED VEHICLES - A vehicle comprises a plurality of control module structures. A first control module structure is configured for determining a current motive mode of the vehicle. A second control module structure is configured for determining information indicating that a driver of the vehicle has left the vehicle unattended while the vehicle is in a motive-enabled mode. A third control module structure is configured for causing a secure idle mode to be implemented as a function of determining the information indicating that the driver of the vehicle has left the vehicle unattended while the vehicle is in the motive-enabled mode. Implementing the secure idle mode can include inhibiting the vehicle from being driveable until a driver access code is successfully received and authenticated by the vehicle. | 11-27-2014 |