Liquid trap drain pump
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorsRobert P. Benjey, Jeffrey B. Smith, Daniel Pifer, Robert A. Dayton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pump assembly for a liquid trap of a vehicle fuel tank assembly includes a pump configured to couple to the liquid trap and selectively drain liquid therefrom, a sensor configured to monitor an inductive signature of the pump, and a controller programmed to operate the pump and monitor the inductive signature to determine if liquid is present in the liquid trap based on the monitored inductive signature.
Claims22
A pump assembly for a liquid trap of a vehicle fuel tank assembly, the pump assembly comprising:
- a pump configured to couple to the liquid trap and selectively drain liquid therefrom;
- a sensor configured to monitor an inductive signature of the pump;
- and
- a controller programmed to operate the pump and monitor the inductive signature to determine if liquid is present in the liquid trap based on the monitored inductive signature.
A method of operating a vehicle fuel vapor management system having a fuel tank and a liquid trap, the method comprising:
- operating a pump operably coupled to the liquid trap and configured to drain liquid from the liquid trap to the fuel tank;
- monitoring an inductive signature of the operating pump, the inductive signature indicating a presence or absence of liquid in the liquid trap;
- and
- selectively turning the pump on and off based on the monitored inductive signature.
A fuel vapor management system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a fuel tank;
- a liquid trap configured to separate liquid and vapor fuel in the fuel tank;
- and
- a pump assembly configured to pump liquid from the liquid trap and drain the liquid to the fuel tank, the pump assembly comprising:
- a pump operably coupled to the liquid trap;
- a sensor configured to monitor an inductive signature of the pump;
- and
- a controller programmed to operate the pump and monitor the inductive signature to determine if liquid is present in the liquid trap based on the monitored inductive signature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.