Fuel additive delivery system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for mixing a fuel additive to a fuel comprising:
- a fuel tank for a vehicle;
a level sensor mounted in said fuel tank for providing an electric signal indicative of the level of fuel in said fuel tank;
an additive system for holding a supply of fuel additive;
electric pump for dispensing a predetermined precise amount of said additive to fuel in said fuel tank in response to activation of the pump;
an electronic control circuit having a microprocessor with a clock and a memory, the control circuit utilizing the electric signal of the level sensor to determine fuel levels, determining a first fuel level and storing the first fuel level in memory, determining at least one succeeding second fuel level lesser than the first fuel level and storing in memory such lesser second fuel level, subsequently determining a third fuel level significantly greater than the lesser second fuel level stored in memory, using the third fuel level and the last lesser second fuel level stored in memory to determine the amount of additive to be delivered to the fuel in the fuel tank in proportion to the quantity of fuel added to the fuel tank, and producing control signals causing the electric pump to be energized to deliver to the fuel in the tank the determined quantity of fuel additive which is proportional to the quantity of fuel added to the tank, andan interrupt circuit for preventing the sending of said control signals if the difference between said second level and said third level is in excess of a predetermined value indicating the electric signal of said third level is invalid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel dosing system to provide a controlled level of cereum additive from an additive tank either within or external to a diesel powered vehicle'"'"'s fuel storage tank. The present invention maintains a concentration of cerium that is optimized to assure proper regeneration of a particulate trap used to control particulate emissions from the vehicle'"'"'s exhaust. The present invention determines the additive dosage required by monitoring the fuel added to the tank during refueling of the vehicle and responds with a proper dose of an optimized amount of additive. The present invention is self contained and imposes a minimum encroachment on the vehicle fuel and electrical system and may also provide appropriate alarm signals to warn of additive depletion and other possible malfunctions.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for mixing a fuel additive to a fuel comprising:
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a fuel tank for a vehicle; a level sensor mounted in said fuel tank for providing an electric signal indicative of the level of fuel in said fuel tank; an additive system for holding a supply of fuel additive; electric pump for dispensing a predetermined precise amount of said additive to fuel in said fuel tank in response to activation of the pump; an electronic control circuit having a microprocessor with a clock and a memory, the control circuit utilizing the electric signal of the level sensor to determine fuel levels, determining a first fuel level and storing the first fuel level in memory, determining at least one succeeding second fuel level lesser than the first fuel level and storing in memory such lesser second fuel level, subsequently determining a third fuel level significantly greater than the lesser second fuel level stored in memory, using the third fuel level and the last lesser second fuel level stored in memory to determine the amount of additive to be delivered to the fuel in the fuel tank in proportion to the quantity of fuel added to the fuel tank, and producing control signals causing the electric pump to be energized to deliver to the fuel in the tank the determined quantity of fuel additive which is proportional to the quantity of fuel added to the tank, and an interrupt circuit for preventing the sending of said control signals if the difference between said second level and said third level is in excess of a predetermined value indicating the electric signal of said third level is invalid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of mixing a fuel additive to fuel in a fuel tank of a vehicle comprising the steps of:
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providing a level sensor using an electric signal indicative of the level of fuel in the fuel tank; providing an additive tank for holding a supply of fuel additive; providing an electric pump connected with the additive tank for providing a predetermined precise amount of additive to fuel in the fuel tank in response to each delivery stroke of the pump; providing an electronic control circuit having a microprocessor with a clock and a memory, the control circuit utilizing the electric signal of the level sensor to determine fuel levels, determining a first fuel level and storing the first fuel level in memory, determining at least one succeeding second fuel level lesser than the first fuel level and storing in memory such lesser second fuel level, subsequently determining a third fuel level significantly greater than the lesser second fuel level stored in memory, utilizing the third fuel level and the lesser second fuel level stored in memory to determine the number of pump strokes needed to deliver an amount of additive to fuel in the fuel tank in proportion to the quantity of fuel added to the fuel tank, and producing control signals causing the electric pump to be energized for the determined number of strokes of the electric pump to deliver the quantity of additive to fuel in the fuel tank, storing a determined maximum number of pump strokes in a register; and decrementing said register in response to said number of strokes. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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16. A method of mixing a fuel additive to fuel in a fuel tank of a vehicle comprising the steps of:
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providing a level sensor using an electric signal indicative of the level of fuel in the fuel tank; providing an additive tank for holding a supply of fuel additive; providing an electric pump connected with the additive tank for providing a predetermined precise amount of additive to fuel in the fuel tank in response to each delivery stroke of the pump; providing an electronic control circuit having a microprocessor with a clock and a memory, the control circuit utilizing the electric signal of the level sensor to determine fuel levels, determining a first fuel level and storing the first fuel level in memory, determining at least one succeeding second fuel level lesser than the first fuel level and storing in memory such lesser second fuel level, subsequently determining a third fuel level significantly greater than the lesser second fuel level stored in memory, utilizing the third fuel level and the lesser second fuel level as stored in memory to determine the number of pump strokes needed to deliver an amount of additive to fuel in the fuel tank in proportion to the quantity of fuel added to the fuel tank, and producing control signals causing the electric pump to be energized for the determined number of strokes of the electric pump to deliver the quantity of additive to fuel in the fuel tank, and resampling said third level of fuel if the difference between said second level and said third level is in excess of a predetermined value indicating said third level is invalid.
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Specification