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US 5,557,938 AGranted
Transport refrigeration unit and method of operating same
AssigneeThermo King Corporation
InventorsJay L. Hanson, Doyle G. Herrig
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThermo King Corporation
InventorsJay L. Hanson, Doyle G. Herrig
Estimating the term…
Methods and apparatus for extending engine operating time, with a given amount of fuel, of an internal combustion engine connected to drive a compressor of a transport refrigeration unit. A fuel level signal is provided in response to the amount of fuel in a fuel tank associated with the internal combustion engine. The operation of the transport refrigeration unit is modified in different predetermined ways at predetermined different values of the fuel level signal, as fuel is consumed, to reduce the rate at which engine fuel is used after each modification. The time that a space being conditioned by the transport refrigeration unit for a given fuel supply is thus extended, maintaining temperature control of the conditioned space over this extended time while sacrificing non-load threatening, incremental degrees of control precision.
A method of operating a transport refrigeration unit associated with a conditioned space to be temperature controlled, with the transport refrigeration unit including a refrigerant compressor driven by an internal combustion engine having fuel in a fuel supply tank, comprising the steps of:
A transport refrigeration unit associated with a conditioned space to be temperature controlled, with the transport refrigeration unit including a refrigerant compressor driven by an internal combustion engine having fuel in a fuel supply tank, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.