FILTER PRE-FILL DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
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1. A fuel system comprising:
- a fuel supply;
a fuel conduit for delivering fuel from the fuel supply to an engine;
a pump coupled between the fuel supply and the fuel conduit and operable to pump fuel between the fuel supply and the fuel conduit to prime the fuel system;
a fuel filter positioned fluidly between the pump and the fuel conduit; and
a filter pre-filling detection system including at least one monitoring mechanism structured to monitor a property of the fuel system indicative of a start of priming the fuel system and a property of the fuel system indicative of an end of priming the fuel system;
the filter pre-filling detection system further including a control mechanism coupled with the at least one monitoring mechanism, the control mechanism being structured to determine a time from the start of priming the fuel system to the end of priming the fuel system that is indicative of pre-filling of the fuel filter, and to produce an error signal responsive to the determined time.
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Abstract
A fuel filter pre-fill detection system includes a monitoring mechanism structured to monitor a fluid property of a fuel system indicative of priming of the fuel system. A control mechanism is coupled with and structured to received data from the monitoring mechanism, and outputs a signal responsive a time to prime the fuel system that is indicative of a filter pre-fill state.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A fuel system comprising:
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a fuel supply; a fuel conduit for delivering fuel from the fuel supply to an engine; a pump coupled between the fuel supply and the fuel conduit and operable to pump fuel between the fuel supply and the fuel conduit to prime the fuel system; a fuel filter positioned fluidly between the pump and the fuel conduit; and a filter pre-filling detection system including at least one monitoring mechanism structured to monitor a property of the fuel system indicative of a start of priming the fuel system and a property of the fuel system indicative of an end of priming the fuel system; the filter pre-filling detection system further including a control mechanism coupled with the at least one monitoring mechanism, the control mechanism being structured to determine a time from the start of priming the fuel system to the end of priming the fuel system that is indicative of pre-filling of the fuel filter, and to produce an error signal responsive to the determined time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A fuel filter pre-filling detection system for a pressurized fuel system comprising:
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at least one monitoring mechanism structured to couple with the pressurized fuel system to monitor a property having a range of possible values indicative of a range of priming states of the pressurized fuel system; a control mechanism coupled with the at least one monitoring mechanism and structured to determine a time to transition the pressurized fuel system from a first one of the priming states to a second one of the priming states; the control mechanism being further structured to compare the determined time with an expected time to transition the fuel system from the first one of the priming states to the second one of the priming states, to determine a pre-fill state of a fuel filter in the pressurized fuel system based on a difference between the determined time and the expected time, and to generate a signal based at least in part upon the difference between the determined time and the expected time. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of detecting a fluid filter fill state in a pressurized fluid system comprising:
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detecting a start of priming of the pressurized fluid system; determining an expected time to prime the pressurized fluid system; detecting an end of priming of the pressurized fluid system; determining an actual time to prime from the start of priming to the end of priming; and comparing the actual time to prime with the expected time to prime to detect a pre-filled state of a filter in the pressurized fluid system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification