Methods and system for inhibiting automatic engine stopping
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsJohn Eric Rollinger, Jeffrey Allen Doering, Jason Meyer
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Abstract
A method and system for operating a vehicle that includes a plurality of engine starting devices and an internal combustion engine is described. In one example, the method determines whether or not to inhibit automatic engine stopping so that a lifespan of an engine starting device may be extended. In one example, the inhibiting is based on a ratio of an actual total number of engine starts generated via the engine starting device to an actual total distance traveled by the vehicle since the engine starting device was installed.
Claims20
A method for operating a vehicle, comprising:
- inhibiting an automatic engine pull-down via a controller based on a minimum engine running time for enabling automatic engine pull-down and based on a minimum vehicle travel distance for enabling automatic engine pull-down.
A vehicle system, comprising:
- an internal combustion engine;
- a plurality of engine starting devices;
- and
- a controller including executable instructions stored in non-transitory memory that cause the controller to inhibit automatic stopping of the internal combustion engine based on a ratio of an actual total number of engine starts generated via an engine starting device and an actual total distance traveled by a vehicle since the engine starting device was installed in the vehicle.
A method for operating a vehicle, comprising:
- inhibiting an automatic engine pull-down via a controller based on a minimum engine running time for enabling automatic engine pull-down as determined via the controller and based on a minimum vehicle travel distance for enabling automatic engine pull-down as determined via the controller, wherein the minimum engine running time for enabling automatic engine pull-down varies as a function of a ratio of an actual total number of engine starts generated via an engine starting device as determined via the controller and an actual total distance traveled by a vehicle since the engine starting device was installed in the vehicle as determined via the controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.