Vehicle thermal management systems and methods
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsHafiz Shafeek Khafagy, Kirk Pebley, Eric Michael Rademacher, Michael J. Irby, James C. Rollinson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle climate control system includes a heat exchanger to heat ambient air using engine waste heat, and a plurality of positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heating elements to heat air passed through the heat exchanger. The vehicle also includes a controller programmed to, while the vehicle is driven without engine propulsion, issue a command to sequentially de-energize the PTC heating elements before an upcoming engine activation. The sequential de-energization of the PTC heating elements is performed according to a schedule that is based upon a power surge dissipation time.
Claims20
A vehicle climate control system comprising:
- a heat exchanger to heat ambient air using engine waste heat;
- an auxiliary heater independent of engine waste heat;
- and
- a controller programmed to issue an on/off command to the auxiliary heater offset from an engine on/off transition by a power-surge dissipation time period.
The vehicle climate control system of claim l wherein the auxiliary heater comprises a plurality of heating elements, wherein the controller issues the on/off command sequentially to each of the plurality of heating elements.
A method comprising:
- providing an auxiliary heater to warm air supplied to a vehicle cabin independent of any waste heat provided by an engine;
- receiving an input indicating an on/off transition of the engine;
- and
- issuing an on/off command to the auxiliary heater offset from an engine on/off transition by a power-surge dissipation time.
A hybrid vehicle comprising:
- a climate control system having an auxiliary heater to warm air supplied to a vehicle cabin independent of any waste heat provided by an engine;
- and
- a controller programmed to issue an on/off command to the auxiliary heater offset from an engine on/off transition by a power-surge dissipation time period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.