Ehc warmup notification
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorAlessandro Concas
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods of electrically heating catalyst (EHC) driver notification are provided. With the goal of increasing driver cooperation in reducing emissions, EHC driver notification systems notify the driver when the EHC is in an inefficient operation state. This notification is provided to the driver so that the driver may consciously operate the vehicle in a fashion that reduces emissions while the EHC is in the inefficient operation state. EHC driver notifications systems may also restrict operation of the vehicle when the EHC is in an inefficient operation state. However, for safety reasons, these systems provide the driver a function to bypass the restriction as needed.
Claims20
A computer implemented method comprising:
- comparing data associated with an electrically heated catalyst (EHC) in a vehicle with corresponding threshold value data;
- and
- based on the comparison, impeding travel range of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle to restrict acceleration of the vehicle.
A computer implemented method comprising:
- determining an amount of time it will take an electrically heated catalyst (EHC) in a vehicle to heat to a corresponding threshold EHC temperature;
- and
- based on the amount of time it will take the EHC to heat to the corresponding threshold EHC temperature, restricting acceleration of the vehicle during operation of an internal combustion engine in the vehicle.
A vehicle comprising:
- an accelerator pedal;
- an electrically heated catalyst (EHC);
- non-transitory memory configured to store instructions;
- and
- one or processors configured to execute the instructions to:
- compare data associated with a current operational state of the EHC with corresponding threshold value data;
- and
- impede travel range of the accelerator pedal to restrict acceleration of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.