Fault detection in an all-wheel-drive system
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorRichard David Bruns
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An all-wheel-drive vehicle includes a primary drive axle, a secondary drive axle, and an all-wheel-drive powertrain configured to selectively power the primary and secondary axles. The powertrain includes a powerplant and a clutch that couples the powerplant to the secondary axle when engaged and that decouples the powerplant from the secondary axle when disengaged. A controller is programmed to disengage the clutch to disable all-wheel drive and propel the vehicle solely with the primary drive axle based on repeated occurrence of power output of the powertrain being less than a value.
Claims20
An all-wheel-drive vehicle comprising:
- a primary drive axle;
- a secondary drive axle;
- an all-wheel-drive powertrain configured to selectively power the primary and secondary axles, the powertrain including a powerplant and a clutch that couples the powerplant to the secondary axle when engaged and that decouples the powerplant from the secondary axle when disengaged;
- and
- a controller programmed to disengage the clutch to disable all-wheel drive and propel the vehicle solely with the primary drive axle based on repeated occurrence of power output of the powertrain being less than a value.
An all-wheel-drive vehicle comprising:
- a powerplant;
- a clutch;
- a primary axle operably coupled to the powerplant;
- a secondary axle coupled to the powerplant when the clutch is engaged and decoupled from the powerplant when the clutch is disengaged;
- and
- a controller programmed to, in response to a summation of a first product of capacity of the clutch and slip of the clutch minus a second product of torque of the powerplant and vehicle speed exceeding a threshold, disengage the clutch to disable all-wheel drive and propel the vehicle solely with the primary drive axle.
A method of detecting mechanical faults in an all-wheel-drive system, the method comprising:
- engaging a clutch of an all-wheel-drive system to power primary and secondary axles of a vehicle;
- and
- in response to occurrence of a predetermined number of instances of a powertrain power being less than a value, disengaging the clutch to disable all-wheel drive and propel the vehicle solely with the primary drive axle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.