Vehicular liquid containment system and method for verifying integrity of same
First Claim
1. A vehicular liquid containment system comprising:
- a tank;
a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure in a vapor dome inside the tank;
at least two thermistors configured to detect temperatures at a plurality of levels of the tank; and
leak detection logic processor operatively connected to the pressure sensor and the thermistors, the leak detection logic configured to;
use a first thermistor to perform a first measurement indicative of a temperature in the vapor dome in the tank and use a second thermistor to perform a second measurement indicative of a temperature in a volume of liquid contained in the tank,estimate an expected pressure evolution in function of at least the first temperature measurement and at least the second temperature measurement,monitor pressure sensed by the pressure sensor,determine whether the monitored pressure deviates from the expected pressure evolution, andgenerate a leak condition signal based on whether the monitored pressure deviates from the expected pressure evolution.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicular liquid containment system including a tank, a pressure sensor arranged to detect a pressure in a vapor dome inside the tank, at least two thermistors configured to detect temperatures at a plurality of levels of the tank, and leak detection logic operatively connected to the pressure sensor and the thermistors. The leak detection logic is configured to: use a first thermistor of the thermistors to perform a first measurement indicative of a temperature in the vapor dome in the tank; estimate an expected pressure evolution in function of at least the first temperature measurement; monitor pressure sensed by the pressure sensor, determine whether the monitored pressure deviates from the expected pressure evolution, and generate a leak condition signal conditional on the determining.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A vehicular liquid containment system comprising:
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a tank; a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure in a vapor dome inside the tank; at least two thermistors configured to detect temperatures at a plurality of levels of the tank; and leak detection logic processor operatively connected to the pressure sensor and the thermistors, the leak detection logic configured to; use a first thermistor to perform a first measurement indicative of a temperature in the vapor dome in the tank and use a second thermistor to perform a second measurement indicative of a temperature in a volume of liquid contained in the tank, estimate an expected pressure evolution in function of at least the first temperature measurement and at least the second temperature measurement, monitor pressure sensed by the pressure sensor, determine whether the monitored pressure deviates from the expected pressure evolution, and generate a leak condition signal based on whether the monitored pressure deviates from the expected pressure evolution. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for verifying integrity of a vehicular liquid containment system including a tank, a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure in a vapor dome inside the tank, and at least two thermistors with a first thermistor configured to detect a temperature at a first level of the tank and a second thermistor configured to detect a temperature at a second level of the tank, the method comprising:
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using the first thermistor to perform a first measurement indicative of a temperature in the vapor dome in the tank and using the second thermistor to perform a second measurement indicative of a temperature in a volume of liquid contained in the tank; estimating an expected pressure evolution in function of at least the first temperature measurement and at least the second temperature measurement; monitoring pressure sensed by the pressure sensor; and determining whether the monitored pressure deviates from an expected pressure evolution based on one or more measurements. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification