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US 10,906,393 B2Granted
Methods and systems for an external flap of a vehicle
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsAhmet Cinar, James Weinfurther, Denney Vellaramkalayil
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for a refueling cap locking mechanism. In one example, a method includes unlocking the refueling cap in response to an engine start. The unlocking occurs without a vehicle operator input outside of a request to start the engine.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- unlocking a refueling cap in response to an engine start or an operator requesting an engine start.
A system comprising:
- a vehicle comprising at least one passenger door, at least one luggage compartment door, and at least one refueling cap arranged on an exterior of the vehicle;
- and
- a controller with computer-readable instructions stored on non-transitory memory thereof that when executed enable the controller to:
- start an engine in response to an engine start request initiated by a vehicle operator;
- and
- simultaneously unlock the at least one refueling cap.
3 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- a first locking mechanism configured to lock each of a passenger door, a luggage compartment door, and a refueling cap in response to a vehicle lock request when a motor is off;
- and
- a second locking mechanism configured to unlock only the refueling cap in response to the motor being started.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.