Stored power system for vehicle accessories
First Claim
1. In a land automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine or the like for supplying its entire forward drive force and having its own powered accessories including ones which use rotating power as well as other non-rotating electrically powered accessories, said accessories being specifically of the type which if operated together by power supplied mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically by the engine or turbine and/or indirectly electrically by the engine or turbine through a generator, would require in total at least 5 horse power, assuming the vehicle is driven in accordance with the 1982 SAE 55 miles/hour Interstate Driving Cycle conditions, and assuming that all of the accessories are operating, at full load, the improvement comprising:
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
including in said vehicle all of said eliminated accessories as electrically powered accessories, at least some of which are rotary powered electrically and therefore include their own electric motor means, and means including externally chargable electrical battery means carried by said vehicle, or by a unit towed by it, normally maintained in a charged state by charging means supplied by stationary sources of electricity substantially independent of the mechanical load on said engine or turbine, said battery means being coupled with substantially all of said electrically powered accessories for operating the latter without using any mechanical power from said engine or turbine, either directly or through a generator driven by the engine or turbine, so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged, such that the engine or turbine uses at most a minimal amount of its power for accessories and thereby displays reduced fuel consumption, reduced generation of pollutants and improved vehicle performance, said vehicle being provided with means including a mechanically powered electrical generator for electrically powering said electrically powered accessories from mechanical power supplied by said engine or turbine in the event said battery means falls below a predetermined charge level, said means including said generator also including means for enabling said generator for providing electrical power to said accessories and for disabling the generator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A stored electric power system selectively operates automotive accessories independent of the motive drive force generated by the vehicle heat engine so as to reduce fuel consumption, reduce the generation of pollutants and improve the vehicle performance. The electric power system is charged from sources external to the engine drive.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. In a land automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine or the like for supplying its entire forward drive force and having its own powered accessories including ones which use rotating power as well as other non-rotating electrically powered accessories, said accessories being specifically of the type which if operated together by power supplied mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically by the engine or turbine and/or indirectly electrically by the engine or turbine through a generator, would require in total at least 5 horse power, assuming the vehicle is driven in accordance with the 1982 SAE 55 miles/hour Interstate Driving Cycle conditions, and assuming that all of the accessories are operating, at full load, the improvement comprising:
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
including in said vehicle all of said eliminated accessories as electrically powered accessories, at least some of which are rotary powered electrically and therefore include their own electric motor means, and means including externally chargable electrical battery means carried by said vehicle, or by a unit towed by it, normally maintained in a charged state by charging means supplied by stationary sources of electricity substantially independent of the mechanical load on said engine or turbine, said battery means being coupled with substantially all of said electrically powered accessories for operating the latter without using any mechanical power from said engine or turbine, either directly or through a generator driven by the engine or turbine, so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged, such that the engine or turbine uses at most a minimal amount of its power for accessories and thereby displays reduced fuel consumption, reduced generation of pollutants and improved vehicle performance, said vehicle being provided with means including a mechanically powered electrical generator for electrically powering said electrically powered accessories from mechanical power supplied by said engine or turbine in the event said battery means falls below a predetermined charge level, said means including said generator also including means for enabling said generator for providing electrical power to said accessories and for disabling the generator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
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12. A method of reducing fuel consumption, reducing generation of pollutants and improving performance of a land automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine or the like for supplying its entire forward drive force and specifically of the type having its own powered accessories including ones which use rotating power as well as other nonrotating electrically powered accessories, said accessories being specifically of the type which, if operated together by direct power supplied mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically by the engine or turbine and/or indirectly electrically by the engine or turbine through a generator, would require in total at least 5 horsepower assuming the vehicle is driven in accordance with the 1982 SAE 55 miles/hour Interstate Driving Cycle conditions and assuming that all of the accessories are operating, said method comprising the steps of:
- utilizing at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power for driving accessories by substantially eliminating from said vehicle most of those accessories which are mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly electrically by the engine or turbine through a generator providing said vehicle with all of said eliminated accessories as electrically powered accessories, at least some of which are rotary powered electrically and therefore include their own or shared electric motor means;
powering said electrically powered accessories only by means of an externally chargable electrical battery means carried by said vehicle or by a unit towed by it without using mechanical power from the engine or turbine, either directly or electrically through a generator driven by the engine, so long as said battery means is sufficiently charged; and
charging said battery means from a charging means supplied by electricity from a source external to said vehicle, at least some of said electrically motorized accessories correspond in function to accessories which have heretofore been only mechanically driven by the engine or turbine directly, said method including the additional step in said vehicle of selectively powering such accessories either by said electric motor means or mechanically by the engine or turbine directly. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- utilizing at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power for driving accessories by substantially eliminating from said vehicle most of those accessories which are mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly electrically by the engine or turbine through a generator providing said vehicle with all of said eliminated accessories as electrically powered accessories, at least some of which are rotary powered electrically and therefore include their own or shared electric motor means;
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19. In an automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or heat turbine for supplying entire its forward drive force and having electrically powered accessories, rechargable battery means connected with said accessories and capable of powering the latter so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged and mechanically driven generator means, the improvement comprising:
- means movable between a first operating condition for maintaining said generator means out of mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine in order to disable said generator and allow said battery means to power said accessories and a second operating condition for maintaining said generator means in mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine whereby to enable the generator means and, at the same time, in electrical engagement with said accessories and/or said battery means in order to power said accessories and/or to change said battery means by the enabled generator means; and
means for indiscriminately placing said movable means in either its first or second operating condition at the discretion of vehicle'"'"'s operator. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
- means movable between a first operating condition for maintaining said generator means out of mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine in order to disable said generator and allow said battery means to power said accessories and a second operating condition for maintaining said generator means in mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine whereby to enable the generator means and, at the same time, in electrical engagement with said accessories and/or said battery means in order to power said accessories and/or to change said battery means by the enabled generator means; and
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23. In an automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine or the like for supplying entire its forward drive force and having its own powered accessories including ones which use rotating power as well as other non-rotating electrically powered accessories, rechargable battery means connected with said electric powered accessories and capable of powering the latter so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged and mechanically driven generator means, the improvement comprising:
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
including in said vehicle all of said eliminated accessories as electrically powered accessories, at least some of which are rotary powered electrically and therefore include their own electric motor means, means movable between a first operating condition for maintaining said generator means out of mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine in order to disable said generator and allow said battery means to power said accessories and a second operating condition for maintaining said generator means in mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine whereby to enable the generator means and, at the same time, in electrical engagement with said accessories and/or said battery means in order to power said accessories and/or charge said battery means by the enabled generator means, and including a manually actuatable switch for indiscriminately placing said movable means in either its first or second operating condition at the discretion of vehicle'"'"'s operator. - View Dependent Claims (24)
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
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25. In an automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine for supplying entire its forward drive force and having electrically powered accessories, rechargable battery means connected with said accessories and capable of powering the latter so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged and mechanically driven generator means, the improvement comprising:
- means movable between a first operating condition for maintaining said generator means out of mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine in order to disable said generator and allow said battery means to power said accessories and a second operating condition for maintaining said generator means in mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine whereby to enable the generator means and, at the same time, in electrical engagement with said accessories and/or said battery means in order to power said accessories and/or to charge said battery means by the enabled generator means;
electrical motor means having its own drive shaft and adapted to be powered by a source of electricity external of said vehicle, means for disengagably connecting the drive shaft of said electrical motor means with said generator means when the latter is out of engagement with said engine or turbine and means for maintaining said generator means in electrical engagement with said battery means when the drive shaft of said motor means is disengagably connected with said generator means, whereby to cause said motor means to drive said generator for charging said battery means.
- means movable between a first operating condition for maintaining said generator means out of mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine in order to disable said generator and allow said battery means to power said accessories and a second operating condition for maintaining said generator means in mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine whereby to enable the generator means and, at the same time, in electrical engagement with said accessories and/or said battery means in order to power said accessories and/or to charge said battery means by the enabled generator means;
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26. In an automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine for supplying entire its forward drive force and having electrically powered accessories, rechargable battery means connected with said accessories and capable of powering the latter so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged and means including a mechanically driven generator for powering said accessories and/or charging said battery means through mechanical engagement with said engine or turbine or for remaining out of engagement with said engine or turbine, the improvement comprising:
- electrical motor means having its own drive shaft and adapted to be powered by a source of electricity external of said vehicle, means for disengagably connecting the drive shaft of said electrical motor means with said generator when the latter is out of engagement with said engine or turbine and means for maintaining said generator in electrical engagement with said battery means when the drive shaft of said motor means is disengagably connected with said generator, whereby to cause said motor means to drive said generator for charging said battery means.
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27. In a land automotive vehicle utilizing a heat engine or a heat turbine or the like for supplying its entire forward drive force and having its own powered accessories including ones which use rotating power as well as other non-rotating electrically powered accessories, said accessories being specifically of the type which if operated together by power supplied mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically by the engine or turbine and/or indirectly electrically by the engine or turbine through a generator, would require in total at least 5 horsepower, assuming the vehicle is driven in accordance with the 1982 SAE 55 miles/hour Interstate Driving Cycle conditions, and assuming the vehicle is driven in accordance with the 1982 SAE 55 miles/hour Interstate Driving Cycle conditions, and assuming that all of the accessories are operating, at full load, the improvement comprising:
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
including in said vehicle all of said eliminated accessories as electrically powered accessories, at least some of which are rotary powered electrically and therefore include their own electric motor means, and means including externally chargable electrical battery means carried by said vehicle, or by a unit towed by it, normally maintained in a charged state by charging means supplied by stationary sources of electricity substantially independent of the mechanical load on said engine or turbine, said battery means being coupled with substantially all of said electrically powered accessories for operating the latter without using any mechanical power from said engine or turbine, either directly or through a generator driven by the engine or turbine, so long as the battery means is sufficiently charged, such that the engine or turbine uses at most a minimal amount of its power for accessories and thereby displays reduced fuel consumption, reduced generation of pollutants and improved vehicle performance, at least some of said electrically motorized accessories corresponding in function to accessories which have theretofore been only mechanically driven by the engine or turbine directly, said improvement including means in said vehicle for selectively powering such accessories either by said electric motor means or mechanically by the engine or turbine directly.
- substantially eliminating from said vehicle at least most of the rotary powered accessories which are driven by said engine or turbine directly or indirectly such that at most a minimal amount of engine or turbine power is required for driving any remaining accessories; and
Specification