Apparatus and method for fan soft-start controller

A method for controlling operation of a vehicle radiator fan motor that transports a cool ambient air over a radiator of a vehicle so that a cooled radiator fluid may be transported from the radiator of the vehicle into a combustion engine block to cool the combustion engine block, comprising:

• sensing a temperature of the combustion engine block of the vehicle using a sensor that detects the temperature of the combustion engine block;
• communicating, from the sensor to a vehicle engine control module, temperature information, wherein the temperature information corresponds to the temperature of the combustion engine block;
• communicating, from the vehicle engine control module to a radiator fan soft-start controller, one of a low-speed radiator fan control signal and a high-speed radiator fan control signal,
• wherein the low-speed radiator fan control signal is communicated from the vehicle engine control module in response to the temperature of the combustion engine block exceeding a first predefined threshold temperature, and
• wherein the high-speed radiator fan control signal is communicated from the vehicle engine control module in response to the temperature of the combustion engine block exceeding a second predefined threshold temperature that is higher than the first predefined threshold temperature;
• outputting, from the radiator fan soft-start controller to the vehicle radiator fan motor, a first soft start to the vehicle radiator fan motor in response to receiving the low-speed radiator fan control signal from the vehicle engine control,
• wherein the first soft start is defined by a first increasing power ramp that starts at a zero-power level and ends at a low-speed power level,
• wherein the first soft start is defined by a first duration, and
• wherein the low-speed power level operates the vehicle radiator fan motor at a predefined low speed to transport the cool ambient air over the radiator of the vehicle so that the cooled radiator fluid may be transported from the radiator of the vehicle into the combustion engine block to cool the combustion engine block;
• outputting, from the radiator fan soft-start controller to the vehicle radiator fan motor, a second soft start to the vehicle radiator fan motor in response to receiving the high-speed radiator fan control signal from the vehicle engine control module,
• wherein the second soft start is defined by a second increasing power ramp that starts at the zero-power level and ends at a high-speed power level,
• wherein the second soft start is defined by a second duration, and
• wherein the high-speed power level operates the vehicle radiator fan motor at a predefined high speed that is faster than the predefined low speed to transport the cool ambient air over the radiator of the vehicle so that the cooled radiator fluid may be transported from the radiator of the vehicle into the combustion engine block to cool the combustion engine block;
• and
• operating the vehicle radiator fan motor, in response to receiving one of the first soft start and the second soft start from the radiator fan soft-start controller, to transport the cool ambient air over the radiator of the vehicle to cool the radiator fluid that is transported from the radiator of the vehicle into the combustion engine block to cool the combustion engine block.