Grill shutter control for brake cooling
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsStuart C. Salter, Jeff Robert Seaman, Annette Lynn Huebner, Kenneth Patrick Mchugh, Andrew Stoscup, Brendan Diamond
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle control system for a vehicle may include a brake assembly for applying negative torque to one or more wheels of the vehicle, a grill shutter assembly that directs airflow over the brake assembly when opened, and prevents airflow toward the brake assembly when closed, and a controller that calculates a target brake temperature, the controller being operably coupled to the grill shutter assembly to control positioning of the grill shutter assembly based on a comparison between a current brake temperature to the target brake temperature.
Claims19
A vehicle control system, the system comprising:
- a brake assembly for applying negative torque to one or more wheels of the vehicle;
- a grill shutter assembly that directs airflow over the brake assembly when opened, and prevents airflow toward the brake assembly when closed;
- and
- a controller that calculates a target brake temperature, the controller being operably coupled to the grill shutter assembly to control positioning of the grill shutter assembly based on a comparison between a current brake temperature to the target brake temperature,
- wherein the target brake temperature is modified based on proximity to a final location associated with a route of the vehicle.
A method of providing selective air cooling to a brake assembly of a vehicle, the method comprising:
- receiving status information from a sensor network of the vehicle;
- determining a target temperature for a brake component of a brake assembly based on the status information;
- comparing a current brake temperature to the target temperature;
- and
- controlling airflow for cooling the brake component via positioning an aerodynamic device based on the comparison of the current brake temperature and the target temperature,
- wherein the target brake temperature is determined based on a thermal model that determines the target temperature:
- based on route information defining a future route of the vehicle, or based on the status information including vehicle loading information indicated by ride height sensors.
A vehicle control system, the system comprising:
- a brake assembly for applying negative torque to one or more wheels of the vehicle;
- a grill shutter assembly that directs airflow over the brake assembly when opened, and prevents airflow toward the brake assembly when closed;
- and
- a controller that calculates a target brake temperature, the controller being operably coupled to the grill shutter assembly to control positioning of the grill shutter assembly based on a comparison between a current brake temperature to the target brake temperature,
- wherein the target brake temperature is determined based on a thermal model, and
- wherein the thermal model determines the target brake temperature based on route information defining a future route of the vehicle or based on status information including vehicle loading information indicated by ride height sensors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.