Vehicle Information Display And Method

• US 20100265050A1
• Filed: 04/17/2009
• Published: 10/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Shutko, John, Hartl, Derek, Bryan, Paul Stephen, Watson, Angela L., Watson, David, Skaff, Ryan J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,120,478 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/438
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/448 Electrical distribution type
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/90 Vehicles comprising electric prime movers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles

Abstract

An information display system for a hybrid electric vehicle configured to display one or more reasons an engine is on is provided. The information display system determines which engine on reasons are true and applies a prioritization strategy to determine which engine on reasons are displayed to an operator via an information display.

Claims

1. A display system for a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) comprising:

an information display configured to display at least one of a plurality of engine on reasons, each of the plurality of engine on reasons having a display ranking; and

a controller configured to receive input corresponding to at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons and transmit at least one output so that the information display displays the at least one engine on reason based at least in part upon the display ranking.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons is displayed when the engine is on.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the display ranking determines which of the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons are displayed and in what order the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons are displayed.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon whether the driver has direct control over the engine on reason.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon the frequency with which the engine on reason changes.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon which engine on reasons are true most often.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon the degree of driver comprehension.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of engine on reasons is associated with an engine on explanation.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive at least one driver input corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of engine on reasons; and

transmit at least another output so that the information display displays the engine on explanation associated with the selected one of the plurality of engine on reasons.

10. A display method for a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) comprising:

receiving an input corresponding to at least one of a plurality of engine on causes;

determining which of a plurality of engine on reasons with which the at least one engine on cause is associated;

ranking the plurality of engine on reasons according to a pre-determined display ranking; and

displaying at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons on an information display based at least in part upon the display ranking.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving at least one driver input corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of engine on reasons; and

displaying an engine on explanation associated with the selected one of the plurality of engine on reasons.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining whether a vehicle engine is operating; and

upon a determination that the vehicle engine is operating, displaying the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons on the information display.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying a default engine on reason when the engine is on and none of the other engine on reasons are true.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the display ranking determines which of the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons are displayed and in what order the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons are displayed.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon whether the driver has direct control over the engine on reason.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon the frequency with which the engine on reason changes.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon which engine on reasons are true most often.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the display ranking of each of the plurality of engine on reasons is based at least in part upon the degree of driver comprehension.

19. A system for displaying information regarding the operation of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), the system comprising:

an information display configured to display at least one of a plurality of engine on reasons, each of the plurality of engine on reasons assigned a display ranking and associated with one or more engine on causes; and

a controller configured to;

receive input corresponding to at least one of the plurality of engine on causes; and

determine which of the plurality of engine on reasons with which the at least one engine on cause is associated;

wherein the controller is further configured to transmit at least one output so that the information display displays the at least one engine on reason with which the at least one engine on cause is associated based at least in part upon the display ranking.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the display ranking determines which of the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons are displayed and in what order the at least one of the plurality of engine on reasons are displayed.