A method and an assembly for vehicle thermal management
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsDavid Crist Gabriel, James Paul McCarthy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus are provided which use, or which calculate, a temperature gradient of a portion of a vehicle to determine a value equal to, or representative of, a time before a maximum allowable operating temperature is reached by the portion. If the value is less than a certain threshold, the apparatus reduces the operating speed of the portion and, in one embodiment, provides a warning signal to an operator of the vehicle.
Claims20
A method for operating a vehicle having a torque producing assembly, the method comprising:
- defining a maximum temperature value of the torque producing assembly;
- operating the torque producing assembly at a certain speed;
- monitoring a change in temperature of the torque producing assembly;
- using the monitored change in temperature to ascertain the amount of time in which the maximum temperature value will be achieved;
- and
- reducing the certain speed of the torque producing assembly when the ascertained amount of time is less than a certain value.
A method for operating a vehicle having a component to be regulated, the method comprising:
- monitoring temperature of the component over a time period during which the component is operating;
- comparing a current component temperature to a predetermined temperature;
- calculating a time for the component temperature to reach the predetermined temperature, the time calculation being based on the monitored temperature and the comparison of the current temperature to the predetermined temperature;
- and
- regulating operation of the component based on the calculated time.
A method for operating a vehicle having a component to be regulated, the method comprising:
- determining a temperature difference between a current component temperature and a predetermined temperature;
- calculating a time for the component temperature to reach the predetermined temperature, the time calculation being based on a predetermined component temperature gradient and the determined temperature difference;
- and
- regulating operation of the component based on the calculated time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.