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US 10,017,047 B2Granted
Method and system for diagnosing an active grill shutter system fault in a hybrid electric vehicle
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorAed M. Dudar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is provided for diagnosing an AGS system fault in a hybrid electric vehicle. That method includes validating shutter movement and inferring shutter position based upon stall current of a shutter drive motor and current drawn by an HEV traction motor. A new and improved active grill shutter system for a hybrid electric vehicle is also disclosed.
Claims9
A method for diagnosing an active grill shutter (AGS) system fault in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), comprising:
- validating shutter movement and inferring shutter position via a controller based upon (a) stall current of a shutter drive motor monitored by a first device and (b) electric current drawn by an HEV traction motor monitored by a second device;
- triggering an AGS diagnostic in response to a lack of AGS sensor data indicating shutter movement;
- and
- driving, by command of the controller, said shutter drive motor to a first limit position in a first direction at said stall current and (b) monitoring, by the second device, for any change in average current consumption of said HEV traction motor.
1 more element
An active grill shutter (AGS) system for a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), comprising:
- a plurality of shutters;
- a shutter drive motor for displacing said plurality of shutters between an opened position and a closed position;
- an AGS sensor for monitoring a current shutter position;
- a first device monitoring electric current drawn by said shutter drive motor and a second device monitoring electric current drawn by a traction motor of said HEV;
- and
- a controller configured to (a) command operation of said shutter drive motor and initiate an AGS diagnostic in response to a lack of data received from said AGS sensor indicating shutter movement, (b) validate shutter movement and infer shutter position based upon (i) stall current of said shutter drive motor monitored by the first device and (ii) current drawn by said traction motor monitored by the second device, (c) complete said AGS diagnostic during a steady state cruise of said HEV in pure electric mode (EV mode), and (d) drive said shutter drive motor to a first limit position in a first direction at the stall current and monitor, by data received from said second device, for any change in average current consumption of said traction motor.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.