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US 4,845,630 AGranted
Method and apparatus for calculating corrected vehicle fuel economy
AssigneePACCAR Inc
InventorDonald L. Stephens
Life of this patent
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AssigneePACCAR Inc
InventorDonald L. Stephens
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for calculating a corrected fuel economy rate. A fuel-consuming engine that propels a ground vehicle has at least one fuel rate sensor for measuring the fuel consumption rate of the engine. The apparatus further comprises a sensor for measuring the distance travelled by the ground vehicle. Digital counters accumulate pulse counts from the sensors and the pulse counts are processed by a microprocessor to calculate the distance travelled by the ground vehicle, the fuel consumed by the engine, and the change of the kinetic energy of the vehicle. The microprocessor then corrects the fuel consumed by subtracting the weighted change of the kinetic energy of the vehicle over the sampling period. The microprocessor then calculates the ratio of the distance travelled to the corrected fuel consumed to produce a corrected fuel economy rate, or its reciprocal. The ratio can be displayed on a digital display.
A vehicle fuel economy meter for adjusting the value of a distance traveled by the vehicle per unit of fuel consumed by the vehicle, including means for measuring the speed of the vehicle during a measurement period, means for measuring the change of kinetic energy of the vehicle from measured speeds of the vehicle, and electronic circuitry for adjusting the value in which the value is increased by the change of kinetic energy of the vehicle during the measurement period when the vehicle speed is increasing from a lower value to a higher value, and correspondingly decreased during the measurement period when the vehicle speed is decreasing from a higher value to a lower value.
A vehicle fuel economy meter for adjusting the value of a distance traveled by the vehicle per unit of fuel consumed by the vehicle, including means for measuring the speed of the vehicle during a measurement period, means for measuring the change of kinetic energy of the vehicle from measured speeds of the vehicle, and electronic circuitry for adjusting the value in which the consumed fuel equivalent of the change of vehicle kinetic energy in the distance traveled is a fuel decreasing factor in the calculation of the distance traveled per unit of fuel consumed for an increasing vehicle speed from a lower value to a higher value and in which the consumed fuel equivalent of the change of vehicle kinetic energy in the distence traveled is fuel increasing factor in the calculation of distance traveled per unit of fuel consumed for a decreasing vehicle speed from a higher value to a lower value.
A fuel economy measurement apparatus for use in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising:
A fuel economy measurement apparatus for use in a ground vehicle, propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising:
A method of measuring a corrected fuel economy rate of a fuel-consuming engine in a ground vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
A fuel economy measurement apparatus for use in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising:
The apparatus oflaim 12, further comprising read-only memory (ROM) for storing a program for the microprocessor and random-access memory (RAM) for storing one or more values of data generated by the program, the ROM and RAM being connected to the microprocessor.
A fuel economy measurement apparatus for use in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising:
A method of measuring a corrected fuel economy rate of a fuel-consuming engine in a ground vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
A vehicle fuel economy meter for adjusting the value of the fuel consumed by the vehicle per unit of distance traveled by the vehicle, including means for measuring the speed of the vehicle during a measurement period, means for measuring the change of kinetic energy of the vehicle from measured speeds of the vehicle, and electronic circuitry for adjusting the value in which the value is decreased by the change of kinetic energy of the vehicle during the measurement period when the vehicle speed is increasing from a lower value to a high value, and correspondingly increased during the measurement period when the vehicle speed is decreasing from a higher value to a lower value.
A vehicle fuel economy meter for adjusting the value of the consumed by the vehicle per unit of distance traveled by the vehicle, including means for measuring the speed of the vehicle during a measurement period, means for measuring the change of kinetic energy of the vehicle from measured speeds of the vehicle, and electronic circuitry for adjusting the value in which the consumed fuel equivalent of the change of vehicle kinetic energy in the distance traveled is a fuel decreasing factor in the calculation of the fuel consumed per unit of distance traveled for an increasing vehicle speed from a lower value to a higher value, and in which the consumed fuel equivalent of the change of vehicle kinetic energy in the distance traveled is a fuel increasing factor in the calculation of distance traveled per unit of fuel consumed for a decreasing vehicle speed from a higher value to a lower value.
A method for measuring fuel economy in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising the steps of:
A method for measuring fuel economy in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising the steps of:
A fuel economy measurement apparatus for use in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising:
A fuel economy measurement apparatus for use in a ground vehicle propelled by an engine that consumes a fuel, comprising:
A fuel economy display and measuring apparatus for a vehicel, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.