Predictive auxiliary load management (PALM) control apparatus and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of operating a vehicle having a vehicle fan for assisting in the cooling of liquid coolant circulating in a vehicle engine cooling system, the method comprising:
- under first vehicle operating conditions, turning on the vehicle fan when the coolant temperature reaches a first coolant temperature below a maximum coolant temperature; and
under second vehicle operating conditions wherein the vehicle is approaching the crest of a hill, preventing the operation of the vehicle fan even though the coolant temperature has reached or exceeded the first coolant temperature and is below the maximum coolant temperature.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved vehicle cooling system is disclosed having the capability of controlling various thermal components of the system to effectively control the heating and cooling of an engine of the vehicle based on instantaneous vehicle and ambient conditions and also based upon predictive conditions. These predictive conditions can include information about the upcoming terrain of the route along which the vehicle will travel.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a vehicle having a vehicle fan for assisting in the cooling of liquid coolant circulating in a vehicle engine cooling system, the method comprising:
-
under first vehicle operating conditions, turning on the vehicle fan when the coolant temperature reaches a first coolant temperature below a maximum coolant temperature; and under second vehicle operating conditions wherein the vehicle is approaching the crest of a hill, preventing the operation of the vehicle fan even though the coolant temperature has reached or exceeded the first coolant temperature and is below the maximum coolant temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A method of operating a vehicle fan and a coolant pump for assisting in the cooling of coolant liquid being circulated by the coolant pump in a vehicle engine cooling system, the method comprising:
-
under first vehicle operating conditions, operating the coolant pump to pump coolant at least at a first rate greater than a minimum coolant pumping rate when the coolant temperature reaches a first temperature below a maximum coolant temperature; under second vehicle operating conditions wherein the vehicle is going down a grade, operating the coolant pump to pump coolant at least at the first rate even though the coolant temperature is below the first temperature to provide additional cooling of the coolant fluid prior to climbing a grade. - View Dependent Claims (4)
-
-
5. A method of operating a vehicle engine cooling system of a vehicle traveling along a route, the cooling system having cooling fluid circulating in the cooling system, the method comprising:
-
determining the presence of an upcoming uphill grade in a section of a route that has yet to be traversed by the vehicle; and operating the cooling system to remove a first quantity of heat from the cooling fluid prior to reaching the upcoming uphill grade, the first quantity of heat being greater than the quantity of heat that is removed by the cooling system in the absence of the upcoming uphill grade.
-
-
6. A method of operating a vehicle engine cooling system of a vehicle traveling along a route, the cooling system having cooling fluid circulating in the cooling system, the method comprising:
-
determining a desired vehicle engine temperature profile correlated to positions along a section of the route; and controlling the operation of the cooling system to cause the temperature of the vehicle engine to match the desired vehicle engine temperature profile when the vehicle travels along the section of the route. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method of operating a vehicle engine cooling system of a vehicle traveling along a route, the cooling system having cooling fluid circulating in the cooling system, the method comprising:
-
receiving information indicating the presence of upcoming traffic or road work conditions in a section of a route to be traveled by the vehicle that would result in a need to slow down the vehicle when such traffic conditions or road work conditions are encountered by the vehicle; and operating the cooling system to remove a first quantity of heat from the cooling fluid prior to reaching the location of the traffic or road work, the first quantity of heat being greater than the quantity of heat that is removed by the cooling system in the absence of receiving information indicating the presence of upcoming traffic or road work conditions.
-
-
16. A vehicle comprising:
-
an engine; a vehicle engine cooling system for receiving and circulating liquid coolant to cool the engine; a vehicle fan operable to assist the cooling of liquid coolant circulating in the vehicle engine cooling system; the vehicle engine cooling system comprising a coolant pump operable to circulate liquid coolant within the vehicle engine cooling system; a coolant system controller operable under first vehicle operating conditions to turn on the vehicle fan when the coolant temperature reaches a first coolant temperature below a maximum coolant temperature; and the coolant system controller also being operable under second vehicle operating conditions wherein the vehicle is approaching the crest of a hill, to prevent the operation of the vehicle fan even though the coolant temperature has reached or exceeded the first coolant temperature and is below the maximum coolant temperature.
-
-
17. A vehicle comprising:
-
an engine; a vehicle engine cooling system for receiving and circulating liquid coolant to cool the engine; a vehicle fan operable to assist the cooling of liquid coolant circulating in the vehicle engine cooling system; the vehicle engine cooling system comprising a coolant pump operable to circulate liquid coolant within the vehicle engine cooling system; a coolant system controller operable under first vehicle operating conditions to control the coolant pump to pump coolant at least at a first rate greater than a minimum coolant pumping rate when the coolant temperature reaches a first temperature below a maximum coolant temperature; the coolant system controller also being operable under second vehicle operating conditions wherein the vehicle is going down a grade, to control the coolant pump to pump coolant at least at the first rate even though the coolant temperature is below the first temperature to provide additional cooling of the coolant fluid prior to climbing a grade. - View Dependent Claims (18)
-
-
19. A vehicle comprising:
-
an engine; a vehicle engine cooling system for receiving liquid coolant; a coolant pump for circulating coolant liquid through the vehicle cooling system and engine; the vehicle engine cooling system comprising a fan selectively operable to cool the coolant liquid circulating through the vehicle cooling system; an elevation profile determiner operable to determine the presence of an upcoming uphill grade in a section of a route that has yet to be traversed by the vehicle; and a cooling system controller operable to control the cooling system to remove a first quantity of heat from the coolant liquid prior to reaching the upcoming uphill grade, the first quantity of heat being greater than the quantity of heat that is removed by the cooling system in the absence of the upcoming grade.
-
-
20. A vehicle comprising:
-
an engine; a vehicle engine cooling system for circulating cooling fluid to remove heat from the engine, the vehicle engine cooling system comprising at least a plurality of cooling components; a cooling system controller operable to determine a desired vehicle engine temperature profile correlated to positions along a section of a route to be traveled by the vehicle; the cooling system controller also being operable to control the vehicle engine cooling system to cause the temperature of the vehicle engine to match the desired vehicle engine temperature profile when the vehicle travels along the section of the route. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A vehicle comprising:
-
an engine; a vehicle engine cooling system for receiving and circulating liquid coolant to cool the engine; the vehicle engine cooling system comprising at least a first cooling component comprising a vehicle fan operable to assist the cooling of liquid coolant circulating in the vehicle engine cooling system; the vehicle engine cooling system comprising at least a second cooling component comprising a coolant pump operable to circulate liquid coolant within the cooling system; the vehicle comprising a receiver operable to receive information indicating the presence of upcoming traffic or road work conditions in a section of a route to be traveled by the vehicle that would result in a need to slow down the vehicle when such traffic conditions or road work conditions are encountered by the vehicle; and a cooling system controller operable to control the cooling components to cause the vehicle engine cooling system to remove a first quantity of heat from the cooling fluid prior to reaching the location of the traffic or road work, the first quantity of heat being greater than the quantity of heat that is removed by the vehicle engine cooling system in the absence of the traffic or road work.
-
Specification