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US 10,569,728 B2Granted
Method and system for water usage on-board a vehicle
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorDouglas Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods are provided for optimizing generation of water on-board a vehicle with reduced impact on fuel economy. Regenerative braking energy, and/or solar energy, in excess of what is required for charging a system battery, is used to operate a water extractor and save the captured energy as stored water. A proportion of the braking energy used to charge the battery versus operate the water extractor is adjusted as a function of operating conditions including a water level in a water reservoir on-board the vehicle.
Claims18
A method, comprising:
- selectively operating a water generator on-board a vehicle using excess electrical energy, generated at the vehicle, to harvest water from ambient air, the selectively operating based on a water level in a reservoir storing the harvested water and a state of charge of a system battery, wherein the selectively operating includes operating the water generator using the excess electrical energy when the water level in the reservoir is above a lower threshold.
A method for a hybrid vehicle, comprising:
- selectively operating an electrically actuated water extractor using electrical energy drawn from a system battery based on a water level in a water storage tank of the vehicle;
- and
- responsive to a vehicle braking event, operating the electrically actuated water extractor using electrical energy generated from regenerative braking independent of the water level, wherein operating the electrically actuated water extractor using electrical energy generated from regenerative braking includes:
- reducing a vehicle speed to a first level during the braking event by applying a negative torque from an electric motor on a driveline of the vehicle while charging the system battery at or below a threshold rate of charging;
- and
- reducing the vehicle speed to a second level, lower than the first level, during the braking event by applying a negative torque from an electric machine coupled to the water extractor on the driveline while generating water.
3 more elements
A vehicle system, comprising:
- vehicle wheels propelled using torque from one or more of an engine and an electric motor;
- a water generation system including a water extractor driven by an electric machine, the water extractor extracting water from ambient air, and a water reservoir for storing the extracted water;
- a system battery electrically coupled to each of the electric motor and the electric machine;
- a solar energy system including solar cells for capturing incident radiation, the captured incident radiation stored as charge in the system battery;
- a water level sensor coupled to the water reservoir;
- a nozzle for spraying water onto a vehicle component;
- a vehicle speed sensor;
- a pedal for receiving an operator input;
- and
- a controller with computer readable instructions that when executed causes the controller to:
- operate the water extractor using electrical energy drawn at the electric machine from the battery when a water level in the water reservoir is below a threshold;
- and
- operate the water extractor using electrical energy generated via the electric motor during vehicle deceleration, and via the solar cells during solar loading.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.