System for automatically resetting an oil condition alarm light after an oil change

• US 6,564,126 B1
• Filed: 05/10/2000
• Issued: 05/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc. (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc. (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Inventors: Buelna, Carlos A., Lin, Yingjie
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, RAMESH B
• Application Number:
  US09/567,907
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 700/281, 700/12, 700/13, 700/19-20, 700/274-275, 700/26, 700/27, 700/29-30, 700/31, 700/32, 700/80, 700/81, 700/69, 701/41, 701/29-30, 701/111, 701/123, 340/457, 340/450, 340/647, 340/438, 340/439, 340/457.4, 192/3.37, 324/551, 324/541, 477/176, 477/169, 477/906
• US Class Current: 701/30
• CPC Class Codes: F01M 1/18 Indicating or safety devices concerning lubricant level F01M11/06, F01M11/12

Abstract

A system for automatically resetting an oil condition alarm light after an oil change includes an in-vehicle digital processing apparatus electrically coupled to a warning lamp and to an oil sensor installed in an engine oil pan. The digital processing apparatus further includes a warning lamp reset module to automatically reset the oil sensor following an oil change, based on an oil parameter difference value.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for automatically resetting an oil alarm lamp after an oil change in a vehicle, the oil alarm lamp being associated with at least one sensor, the method comprising:

receiving a current signal from the sensor representative of at least one current oil parameter value;

comparing the current value to a prestored value; and

based on the comparing act, selectively resetting the oil alarm lamp.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a level sensor, the prestored value is a prestored oil level value, the current value is a current oil level value, and the method further comprises:

periodically energizing the sensor to obtain the current oil level value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the comparing act produces a difference value, and the method further comprises:

determining whether the difference value is greater than a difference threshold;

when the difference value is greater than the difference threshold, determining whether the current oil level value indicates empty, and if so, resetting the lamp, otherwise setting the prestored oil level value equal to the current oil level value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor generates at least one signal representative of an oil parameter value other than level, the oil parameter value establishing the current value.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the oil parameter value represents at least one of oil condition, and oil impedance.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the oil parameter value includes both a current oil impedance value and a current oil condition value, the prestored value includes at least a prestored oil condition value and a prestored oil impedance value, and the comparing act is undertaken by adding an impedance difference value representative of the difference between the prestored oil impedance value and the current oil impedance value to a condition difference value representative of the difference between the prestored oil condition value and the current oil condition value.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the comparing act is undertaken only if a temperature of oil equals at least a threshold temperature.

8. A device comprising:

a computer program storage device readable by a digital processing apparatus; and

a program means on the program storage device and including instructions executable by the digital processing apparatus for performing method acts for determining when an oil change has been undertaken on a vehicle, the method acts comprising;

comparing at least one current oil parameter value with a prestored oil parameter value; and

based on the comparing act, outputting a signal representative of whether oil has been changed in the vehicle.

9. The computer program device of claim 8, wherein the method acts undertaken by the processing apparatus include:

receiving a current signal from at least one oil parameter sensor representative of the current oil parameter value; and

based on the comparing act, selectively resetting an oil condition warning lamp associated with the sensor.

10. The computer program device of claim 9, wherein the sensor is a level sensor, the prestored oil parameter value is a prestored oil level value, the current oil parameter value is a current oil level value, and the method undertaken by the processing apparatus further comprises:

periodically energizing the sensor to obtain the current oil level value.

11. The computer program device of claim 10, wherein the comparing act produces a difference value, and the method undertaken by the processing apparatus further comprises:

determining whether the difference value is greater than a difference threshold;

when the difference value is greater than the difference threshold, determining whether the current oil level value indicates empty, and if so, resetting the lamp, otherwise setting the prestored oil level value equal to the current oil level value.

12. The computer program device of claim 9, wherein the sensor generates at least one signal representative of an oil parameter value other than level, the oil parameter value establishing the current oil parameter value.

13. The computer program device of claim 12, wherein the current oil parameter value represents at least one of:

oil condition, and oil impedance.

14. The computer program device of claim 13, wherein the current oil parameter value represents both a current oil impedance value and a current oil condition value, the prestored oil parameter value includes at least a prestored oil condition value and a prestored oil impedance value, and the comparing act is undertaken by adding an impedance difference value representative of the difference between the prestored oil impedance value and the current oil impedance value to a condition difference value representative of the difference between the prestored oil condition value and the current oil condition value.

15. The computer program device of claim 14, wherein the comparing act is undertaken only if a temperature of oil equals at least a threshold temperature.

16. The computer program device of claim 14, wherein the method acts further comprise:

holding data useful in the comparing act in storage when electrical power to the storage is absent.