Auxiliary fuel tank system with on-board diagnostics
First Claim
1. In a fuel supply system for providing fuel to an engine, including a main fuel tank for containing a supply of fuel, a main fill neck for filling said main fuel tank, a main fuel pump for transferring fuel from said main fuel tank to said engine, a main emission control system for control of fuel vapors within said main fuel tank, a sending unit for measuring the amount of fuel within said main fuel tank and for sending data corresponding to said main fuel measurements to main computational and display devices, and one or more auxiliary fuel tanks containing additional supplies of fuel, comprising:
- auxiliary fill necks for filling additional fuel in said auxiliary fuel tanks;
auxiliary sending units for measurement of the amount of fuel within said auxiliary fuel tanks, and for sending data corresponding to the measurement of fuel in said auxiliary tanks to auxiliary computational and display devices;
auxiliary fuel pumps for transferring fuel from said auxiliary fuel tanks to said main fuel tank;
an auxiliary emission control system for control of fuel vapors generated within said auxiliary fuel tanks;
pressure sensors for measuring fuel pressure within said auxiliary tanks; and
an auxiliary computer for command and control of both auxiliary and main fuel supply systems in accordance with a selected sequencing program, said auxiliary computer having memories for storing both main and auxiliary fuel and test data on a storage medium, processors for processing said data in said memories, and initialization programs for setting the initial conditions for memory and for processing data from all said fuel storage systems.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer controlled auxiliary fuel tank system provides one or more additional fuel sources as either original equipment with new vehicles, or as an aftermarket addition to an older vehicle. The auxiliary system monitors and controls the on-board testing of each main fuel system, and their associated fuel displays, whether or not the vehicle includes a main fuel computer system. On-board testing is compliant with California Air Resources Board, On Board Diagnostics II, and with the Environmental Protection Agency On Board Diagnostics II) requirements. The auxiliary fuel system comprises an auxiliary fuel tank, having an auxiliary fuel pump, a sending unit, check valves, inlet and outlet fuel lines, a wiring harness, a computer module, an auxiliary emissions canister assembly, vehicle installation means, and LCD and LED display devices. Fuel levels in each tank are read, compared and balanced once every 4 seconds. Prior to each readings, the tank'"'"'s senders are pulse-preconditioned so as to reduce the errors associated with fuel additive corrosion. In addition to the display of the gallons of fuel in each system, the vehicle'"'"'s gas gauges are rescaled so as to indicate the percentage of total fuel on-board. In addition to warning of fuel quantity problems, the operator is made aware of the potential causes of such problems by being provided with a series of diagnostic trouble codes resulting from testing.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. In a fuel supply system for providing fuel to an engine, including a main fuel tank for containing a supply of fuel, a main fill neck for filling said main fuel tank, a main fuel pump for transferring fuel from said main fuel tank to said engine, a main emission control system for control of fuel vapors within said main fuel tank, a sending unit for measuring the amount of fuel within said main fuel tank and for sending data corresponding to said main fuel measurements to main computational and display devices, and one or more auxiliary fuel tanks containing additional supplies of fuel, comprising:
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auxiliary fill necks for filling additional fuel in said auxiliary fuel tanks;
auxiliary sending units for measurement of the amount of fuel within said auxiliary fuel tanks, and for sending data corresponding to the measurement of fuel in said auxiliary tanks to auxiliary computational and display devices;
auxiliary fuel pumps for transferring fuel from said auxiliary fuel tanks to said main fuel tank;
an auxiliary emission control system for control of fuel vapors generated within said auxiliary fuel tanks;
pressure sensors for measuring fuel pressure within said auxiliary tanks; and
an auxiliary computer for command and control of both auxiliary and main fuel supply systems in accordance with a selected sequencing program, said auxiliary computer having memories for storing both main and auxiliary fuel and test data on a storage medium, processors for processing said data in said memories, and initialization programs for setting the initial conditions for memory and for processing data from all said fuel storage systems. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 48, 49, 50)
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25. In a fuel supply system for providing fuel to an engine, said system having a main fuel tank for containing a supply of fuel, a main fill neck for filling said main fuel tank, a main fuel pump for transferring fuel from said main fuel tank to said engine, a main emission control system for control of fuel vapors within said main fuel tank, a sending unit for measuring the amount of fuel within said main fuel tank and for sending data corresponding to said main fuel measurements to main computational and display devices, a method of increasing the total fuel supply comprising the steps of:
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providing an auxiliary fuel supply system having fill necks for filling and storing additional fuel in auxiliary fuel tanks;
connecting said auxiliary fuel tanks to said main fuel tank for fuel transportation thereto;
commanding, and controlling both auxiliary and main fuel supply systems by an auxiliary computer in accordance with a selected sequencing program, said auxiliary computer having memories for storing data on a storage medium, processors for processing said data, and an initialization program for setting the initial conditions for both said processors and said memories;
measuring the amount of fuel within each said fuel tank;
sending signals corresponding to the measurement of fuel in each said fuel tank to said auxiliary computers for determination of the difference in the amount of fuel in each tank; and
transporting fuel from said auxiliary fuel tanks to said main fuel tank to minimize said difference. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 51, 52)
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Specification