CELO METHOD FOR VEHICLE

• US 20090101098A1
• Filed: 12/31/2007
• Published: 04/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Motors Corporation (Kia Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Motors Corporation (Kia Corp.)
• Inventors: Hur, Sang Ku, Sung, Nak Sup
• Granted Patent: US 8,485,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 123/179.300
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00764 the input being a vehicle driving condition, e.g. speed B60H1/00828, B60H1/00864 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00828 Ventilators, e.g. speed control B60H1/00864 takes precedence

Abstract

A CELO method is carried out when cooling water of an engine is not sufficiently warmed upon the startup of a vehicle in the winter. A CELO is carried out in various modes according to negligence levels a vehicle, wherein the negligence levels are divided into a total negligence level, a partial negligence level and a care level according to inside and outside air temperatures. The CELO is carried out for the total or partial negligence levels but not for the care level. For the total or partial negligence levels, the CELO is operated according to various times. The CELO operation time can be adjusted according to the vehicle speed in addition to the negligence levels of a vehicle. The CELO can thus be appropriately carried out according to vehicle conditions and passenger demands without a cooling water temperature sensor.

Claims

1. A cold engine lockout method of carrying out an operation mode of a cold engine lockout (CELO) according to negligence levels of a vehicle condition, comprising:

dividing negligence levels into a total negligence level, a partial negligence level and a care level according to inside and outside air temperatures;

carrying out the cold engine lockout (CELO) for the total or partial negligence levels but not for the care level;

carrying out the cold engine lockout (CELO) for a shorter time for a vehicle, which is actually traveling faster than a reference speed; and

carrying out the cold engine lockout (CELO) for a longer time for a vehicle, which is actually traveling lower than the reference speed.

2. The cold engine lockout method according to claim 1, further comprising:

carrying out the cold engine lockout (CELO) for a longer time when the outside air temperature is lower than the inside air temperature; and

carrying out the cold engine lockout (CELO) for a longer time for the partial negligence level than for the total negligence level when the outside and inside air temperatures are the same;

3. The cold engine lockout method according to claim 1, wherein the operation mode of the CELO comprises:

a defrosting mode at which a speed of a blower stays low;

an auto mode at which a speed of the blower stays constant but higher than the speed of the defrosting mode and the speed of the blower remains constant.

a mixed operation mode, during which a speed of the blower is gradually increased for a preheated time period with a predetermined slope.

4. The cold engine lockout method according to claim 1, wherein the negligence levels are determined by comparing actually-measured outside and inside air temperatures with reference data, which are previously divided into the total negligence level, the partial negligence level and the care level based on a correlation between the inside and outside air temperatures,

wherein the reference data are plotted on a graph, which expresses the outside air temperatures on a horizontal axis and the inside air temperatures on a vertical axis, a negligence/care boundary and a partial/total negligence boundary are lines having a positive slope on a plane defined by the horizontal axis and the vertical axis, and

wherein the partial/total negligence boundary is positioned lower than the total negligence/care boundary and the slope of the partial/total negligence boundary is larger than the negligence/care boundary, and the negligence/care boundary and the partial/total negligence boundary meet each other at a maximum temperature.

5. The cold engine lockout method according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the reference speed ranges from 30 to 50 km/hr, preferably 40 km/hr.