Method and apparatus for fuel management and for preventing fuel spillage
First Claim
1. A fuel management system for a vehicle having a fuel tank and traveling along a path having a plurality of geographically-distributed fueling stations, said system comprising:
- a fuel sensor for continuously measuring a level of fuel in said fuel tank and providing fuel level data;
a global positioning system (GPS) for determining a location of said vehicle along said path; and
a controller for storing a record of current geographical locations of said fueling stations and current fuel prices thereat, and for calculating refueling schedules of said vehicle at said fueling stations based on an output from each of said GPS and said fuel sensor, and a fuel price at at least some of said fueling stations,wherein said controller obtains data for the lowest price fuel available based on the tank level being measured continuously by said fuel sensor, andwherein said controller controls fueling of said fuel tank such that refueling of said fuel tank is performed only partially at a lowest price fueling station that the vehicle can reach.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A management system for a vehicle having a commodity storage region and traveling along a path having a plurality of geographically-distributed commodity replenishing stations, includes a sensor for measuring a level of the commodity in the storage region and providing commodity level data. A global positioning system (GPS) determines a location of the vehicle along the path. A controller stores a record of current geographical locations of the commodity replenishing stations and current commodity prices thereat, and calculates commodity replenishing schedules of the vehicle at the replenishing stations based on an output from each of the GPS and the sensor, and a commodity price at at least some of the replenishing stations.
155 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A fuel management system for a vehicle having a fuel tank and traveling along a path having a plurality of geographically-distributed fueling stations, said system comprising:
-
a fuel sensor for continuously measuring a level of fuel in said fuel tank and providing fuel level data; a global positioning system (GPS) for determining a location of said vehicle along said path; and a controller for storing a record of current geographical locations of said fueling stations and current fuel prices thereat, and for calculating refueling schedules of said vehicle at said fueling stations based on an output from each of said GPS and said fuel sensor, and a fuel price at at least some of said fueling stations, wherein said controller obtains data for the lowest price fuel available based on the tank level being measured continuously by said fuel sensor, and wherein said controller controls fueling of said fuel tank such that refueling of said fuel tank is performed only partially at a lowest price fueling station that the vehicle can reach. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A fuel management system having an integrated fuel control, comprising:
-
at least one vehicle moving along a path and including a fuel tank; a plurality of fuel stations distributed along said path; a central station having a controller system for optimizing refueling schedules, based on fuel consumption rates, distances, fuel amounts in said fuel tank, and fuel prices, each said at least one vehicle including; a fuel sensor for continuously measuring a level of fuel in said fuel tank and providing fuel level data; a global positioning system (GPS) for determining a location of said vehicle along said path; a controller on board said at least one vehicle for storing a record of current geographical locations of fuel stations and current fuel prices thereat, and for calculating refueling schedules of said at least one vehicle at said fuel stations based on an output from each of said GPS and said fuel sensor, and a fuel price at at least some of said fueling stations; and a transmitter for transmitting fuel level and GPS data to said central station, wherein said controller obtains data for the lowest price fuel available based on the tank level being measured continuously by said fuel sensor, and wherein said controller controls fueling of said fuel tank such that refueling of said fuel tank is performed only partially at a lowest price fuel station that the vehicle can reach. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A vehicle having a fuel tank and traveling along a path having a plurality of fuel stations distributed along said path, and for use with a fuel management system including a central station having a controller system for optimizing refueling schedules of said vehicle, based on fuel consumption rates, distances, fuel amounts in said fuel tank, and fuel prices, said vehicle comprising:
-
a fuel sensor for continuously measuring a level of fuel in said fuel tank and providing fuel level data; a global positioning system (GPS) for determining a location of said vehicle along said path; and a transmitter for transmitting fuel level and GPS data to said central station, wherein said controller system obtains data for the lowest price fuel available based on the tank level being measured continuously by said fuel sensor, and wherein said controller system controls fueling of said fuel tank such that refueling of said fuel tank is performed only partially at a lowest price fuel station that the vehicle can reach. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
-
31. A management system for a vehicle having a commodity storage region and traveling along a path having a plurality of geographically-distributed commodity replenishing stations, said system comprising:
-
a sensor for continuously measuring a level of said commodity in said storage region and providing commodity level data; a global positioning system (GPS) for determining a location of said vehicle along said path; and a controller for storing current geographical locations of said commodity replenishing stations and current commodity prices thereat, and for calculating commodity replenishing schedules of said vehicle at said replenishing stations based on outputs from said GPS and said sensor, and a commodity price at at least some of said replenishing stations, wherein said controller obtains data for the lowest price commodity available based on the commodity level in said storage region being measured continuously by said sensor, and wherein said controller controls replenishment of said storage region such that replenishment of said storage region is performed only partially at a lowest price commodity replenishing station that the vehicle can reach. - View Dependent Claims (32)
-
Specification