Dual distance to empty function for bi-fuel vehicle

• US 9,441,999 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2013
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Saavedra, Jose Guillermo
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Application Number:
  US13/968,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20150051825A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/169 Remaining operating distance or charge
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/566 Mobile devices displaying vehicle information
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/169 Remaining operating distance or charge
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/566 Mobile devices displaying vehicle information
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/80 Arrangements for controlling instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/209 Fuel quantity remaining in tank
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/213 Fuel type
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/0618 depending on the engine's or vehicle's position, e.g. on/off road or proximity to a harbor
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/0647 the gaseous fuel being liquefied petroleum gas [LPG], liquefied natural gas [LNG], compressed natural gas [CNG] or dimethyl ether [DME]
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/066 Retrofit of secondary fuel supply systems; Conversion of engines to operate on multiple fuels
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 9/023 with electric, electro-mechanic or electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/00 Registering or indicating the working of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0825 using optical means
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/30 Use of alternative fuels, e.g. biofuels
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 Data processing systems or methods, management, administration
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49622 Vehicular structural member making

Abstract

A vehicle includes a powertrain comprising an engine configured to separately burn first and second types of fuels and propel the vehicle therefrom, and a computer programmed to compute a distance traveled per unit fuel burned for each fuel type, compute distance-to-empty (DTE) for each fuel type, and display DTE for each fuel type.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

an engine; and

a controller to, in response to the engine switching from a first to a second fuel, compute a distance traveled per unit fuel burned for each of the fuels, display a single total distance-to-empty from a distances traveled sum for each of the fuels, and transmit the single total distance-to-empty to a phone within and a device external to the vehicle.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to use independent fuel burn parameters of the vehicle for the first and second fuels to compute a distance-to-empty for each of the first and second fuels based on the fuel burn parameters for the first and second fuels and alter the interface to display both distance-to-empty computations for each fuel type on the interface.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the first fuel is gasoline and the second fuel is one of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG).

4. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a toggle switch to alter the interface to display a distance-to-empty for each of the first fuel and the second fuel.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to display an amount of fuel for the first and second fuel.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to alter the interface to:

display distances traveled per fuel type; and

display fuel amount for both fuel types on a single gauge.

7. An information display system for a dual-fuel vehicle, comprising:

an interface configured to display a summed distance-to-empty calculated from a distance traveled per unit fuel for each fuel, and having a user-interface button; and

a controller configured to, in response to activation of the button, alter a cellphone paired with the controller to display the summed distance-to-empty and stop displaying the summed distance-to-empty on the interface.

8. The information display system of claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured to access fuel burn parameters of the vehicle for a first fuel and for a second fuel, and compute the distance-to-empty for the first fuel and for the second fuel based on the fuel burn parameters for each fuel type and alter the interface to display the distance-to-empty for the first and second fuels.

9. The information display system of claim 7, wherein a first fuel is gasoline and a second fuel is one of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG).

10. The information display system of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to alter the interface to display the summed distance-to-empty and the distance-to-empty for the first and second fuels.

11. The information display system of claim 7 further comprising a toggle switch to selectively alter the interface to display a distance-to-empty of the first fuel or the second fuel.

12. The information display system of claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured to alter the interface to:

display fuel level for each fuel type with only one gauge.

13. A vehicle information system control method comprising:

in response to receiving a request for a summed total distance-to-empty based on a first and a second fuel from a cellular telephone, send, via a controller, data of the summed total distance-to-empty from a sum of a distance traveled per unit fuel for each fuel such that the cellular telephone is configured to display the data on an interface.