Automatic reset of lubricating fluid life monitoring system
First Claim
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1. A method of detecting a filter change in an engine, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining an average time for a fluid pressure in said engine to reach a predetermined level following startup of the engine;
detecting an amount of time for the fluid pressure to reach the pre-determined level; and
resetting a fluid life monitoring system if the amount of time for the fluid pressure to reach a pre-determined level varies from the average time by a pre-determined amount.
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Abstract
The fluid life monitoring system of the present invention includes a pressure monitor coupled to an engine. The pressure monitor is configured to detect a change in the amount of time it takes the engine'"'"'s lubricating fluid to reach a pre-determined fluid pressure and, based on a detected change, reset the fluid life monitoring system.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of detecting a filter change in an engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an average time for a fluid pressure in said engine to reach a predetermined level following startup of the engine; detecting an amount of time for the fluid pressure to reach the pre-determined level; and resetting a fluid life monitoring system if the amount of time for the fluid pressure to reach a pre-determined level varies from the average time by a pre-determined amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A fluid monitoring system for an engine containing a lubricating fluid, the fluid monitoring system comprising:
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a pressure monitor coupled to said engine configured to provide an indication of a fluid pressure; an engine control module configured to receive the indication of the fluid pressure, to determine an average value for the fluid pressure over a time period following startup of the engine, to detect a change in an amount of time for said fluid to reach a pre-determined fluid pressure from the average value, and to reset the fluid monitoring system in response to the change in the amount of time. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of resetting a fluid life monitoring system in an engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining an average time for a fluid pressure in said engine to reach a predetermined level following startup of the engine; evaluating the actual length of time for said fluid pressure to reach the pre-determined level; comparing said actual length of time to the average length of time; setting a flag in a first memory location, based on a difference between said actual length of time and said average length of time, thereby resetting a fluid life monitoring system; and storing at least one data element related to said difference between said actual length of time and said average length of time in a second memory location. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A digital storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
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a first module configured to determine an amount of time for a fluid pressure in an engine to reach a pre-determined level following startup of the engine; a second module configured to determine an average time for a fluid pressure in said engine to reach a predetermined level following startup of the engine; and a third module configured to reset a fluid life monitoring system if the amount of time for the fluid pressure to reach a pre-determined level varies from the average time by a pre-determined amount.
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Specification