Engine start stop inhibit system and method

• US 8,935,075 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2011
• Issued: 01/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Otanez, Paul G., Bai, Shushan, Neelakantan, Vijay A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kwon, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoang, Johnny H
• Application Number:
  US13/198,007
• Publication Number:
  US 20130035839A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 701102-104, 701110-113, 123/179.4, 123/179.5, 123/179.16, 123/179.18, 123/196.S, 123/198.D, 123/198.DB, 123/198.DC, 123/325, 123/406.13, 123/406.14
• US Class Current: 701/102
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/182 for the control of a fuel injection device
• CPC Class Codes: F02N 11/0837 Environmental conditions thereof, e.g. traffic, weather or road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F02N 2200/0801 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: F02N 2200/123 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation systems or GPS signals
• CPC Class Codes: F02N 2200/124 Information about road conditions, e.g. road inclination or surface
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems

Abstract

A system includes a first module configured to determine at least one of a position of a vehicle, an elevation level of the vehicle and a road grade at the position of the vehicle. A second module configured to inhibit an autostop of an engine including generating a start-stop signal based on the at least one of the position of the vehicle, the elevation level of the vehicle and the road grade at the position of the vehicle. An actuator control module configured to prevent the autostop by adjusting at least one of a spark parameter, a fuel parameter and an air flow parameter of the engine based on the start-stop signal.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first module configured to determine at least one of a position of a vehicle, an elevation level of the vehicle and a road grade at the position of the vehicle;

a second module configured to inhibit an autostop of an engine including generating a start-stop signal based on the at least one of the position of the vehicle, the elevation level of the vehicle and the road grade at the position of the vehicle,

wherein the second module is configured to

determine a weight of an object towed by the vehicle based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle and an output torque of the engine, and

inhibit the autostop when the weight of the object is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

an actuator control module configured to prevent the autostop by adjusting at least one of a spark parameter, a fuel parameter and an air flow parameter of the engine based on the start-stop signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the second module is configured to:

determine whether speed of the vehicle is less than a predetermined speed; and

inhibit the autostop when at least one of

the position of the vehicle is in a predetermined position,

the elevation level of the vehicle is outside a first predetermined range, and

the road grade at the position of the vehicle is outside a second predetermined range.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a global positioning system configured to generate a global positioning signal,

wherein the first module is configured to determine the position of the vehicle based on the global positioning signal.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a telematics system configured to generate a telematics signal,

wherein the first module is configured to determine at least one of the position of the vehicle and the elevation level of the vehicle based on the telematics signal.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a third module configured to determine the position of the vehicle;

a fourth module configured to determine the elevation level of the vehicle; and

a fifth module configured to determine the road grade at the position of the vehicle,

wherein the second module is configured to inhibit the autostop

based on the position of the vehicle, the elevation level of the vehicle and the road grade at the position of the vehicle, and

in response to (i) the elevation level of the vehicle being outside a first predetermined range, and (ii) the road grade being outside a second predetermined range.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a third module configured to monitor at least one of a road condition, a traffic condition and a weather condition at the position of the vehicle,

wherein the second module is configured to inhibit the autostop based on the road condition, the traffic condition and the weather condition.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a third module configured to monitor driver behavior at the position of the vehicle and store parameters associated with the driver behavior with the position in a memory,

wherein the second module is configured to inhibit the autostop based on the parameters associated with the driver behavior and the position of the vehicle, and

wherein the parameters associated with the driver behavior include an accelerator pedal position, a time at the accelerator pedal position, a brake pedal position and a time at the brake pedal position.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the second module is configured to:

determine the weight of the object based on the speed of the vehicle and the output torque of the engine; and

inhibit the autostop in response to the weight of the object being greater than the predetermined threshold.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the second module is configured to:

determine whether the position of the vehicle matches a predetermined position;

if the position of the vehicle matches a predetermined position, determine whether the elevation level of the vehicle is in a predetermined range;

if the elevation of the vehicle is in the predetermined range, determine whether the road grade is greater than a second predetermined threshold;

if the road grade is greater than the second predetermined threshold, determine whether the weight of the object is greater than a predetermined weight;

if the weight of the object is greater than the predetermined weight, then inhibit the autostop of the engine; and

if the weight of the object is less than or equal to the predetermined weight, inhibit the autostop of the engine based on a traffic condition, a weather condition, a driver history, or a driver type.

10. A system comprising:

a first module configured to monitor at least one of a traffic condition and a weather condition at a position of a vehicle;

a second module configured to inhibit an autostop of an engine of the vehicle including generating a start-stop signal based on the at least one of the traffic condition and the weather condition; and

an actuator control module configured to prevent the autostop by adjusting at least one of a spark parameter, a fuel parameter and an air flow parameter of the engine based on the start-stop signal.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a third module configured to determine the position of the vehicle, wherein:

the first module is configured to determine the traffic condition and the weather condition based on the position of the vehicle; and

the second module is configured to inhibit the autostop of the engine including generating the start-stop signal based on the traffic condition and the weather condition.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising a third module configured to determine an ambient temperature,

wherein the second module is configured to inhibit the autostop of the engine when the ambient temperature is outside a predetermined range.

13. The system of claim 10, further comprising a telematics system configured to generate a telematics signal,

wherein the first module is configured to determine at least one of the traffic condition and the weather condition based on the telematics signal.

14. A system comprising:

a first module configured to monitor driver behavior at a position of a vehicle and store parameters associated with the driver behavior with the position in a memory, wherein the parameters stored in the memory provide a history of power demands on a drivetrain by the driver;

a second module configured to determine a current position of the vehicle;

a third module configured to inhibit an autostop of an engine of the vehicle including generating a start-stop signal based on the parameters associated with the driver behavior and the current position of the vehicle, wherein the third module is configured to inhibit the autostop of the engine based on the history of power demands; and

an actuator control module configured to prevent the autostop by adjusting at least one of a spark parameter, a fuel parameter and an air flow parameter of the engine based on the start-stop signal.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the parameters associated with the driver behavior comprise:

at least one of an accelerator pedal position and a throttle position; and

at least one of a time at the accelerator pedal position and a time at the throttle position.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the parameters associated with the driver behavior comprise a brake pedal position and a time at the brake pedal position.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the third module is configured to:

determine an average vehicle speed at the current position of the vehicle; and

inhibit the autostop when the average vehicle speed is outside a predetermined range.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the third module is configured to:

determine an amount of change in a road grade for a path of the vehicle; and

inhibit the autostop when the amount of change in the road grade exceeds a predetermined threshold.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the third module is configured to:

determine a weight of an object towed by the vehicle based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle and an output torque of the engine; and

inhibit the autostop when the weight of the object is greater than a predetermined threshold.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the first module is configured to monitor a traffic condition and a weather condition at the position of the vehicle; and

the second module is configured to inhibit the autostop of the engine of the vehicle including generating the start-stop signal based on the traffic condition and the weather condition.