Maintenance alert system for heavy-duty trucks
AssigneeDetroit Diesel Corporation
InventorLawrence David Hasfjord
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A real-time maintenance alert system and method for use in a heavy-duty truck having an engine controller with memory are provided. The system includes a sensor operative to indicate an engine condition from the group consisting of: oil filter restriction, air filter restriction, fuel filter restriction, oil level, and coolant reserve tank fluid level. Control logic at the engine controller processes the sensor signal to determine a real-time fault condition, when appropriate.
Claims20
A real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine including an air filter at an air inlet, and an engine controller having a communications data link and, the system comprising:
- a sensor operative to produce a signal indicative of an air inlet depression;
- control logic at the engine controller, the control logic being conjured to process the sensor signal and to determine an air filter restriction real-time fault condition when the air inlet depression falls below a threshold, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the air filter restriction real-time fault condition;
- and
- a display device having a memory and configured to transmit and receive information over the data link, the display device processing the output signal and storing a status of the air filter in the memory, and generating an output signal indicative of the status.
A real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine including a fuel filter at a fuel inlet, and an engine controller having a communications data link and, the system comprising:
- a sensor operative to produce a signal indicative of a fuel inlet depression;
- control logic at the engine controller, the control logic being configured to process the sensor signal and to determine a fuel filter restriction real-time fault condition when the fuel inlet depression falls below a threshold, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the fuel filter restriction real-time fault condition;
- and
- a display device having a memory and configured to transmit and receive information over the data link, the display device processing the output signal and storing a status of the fuel filter in the memory, and generating an output signal indicative of the status.
A real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine including an oil filter having an inlet and an outlet, and an engine controller having a communications data link and, the system comprising:
- a sensor operative to produce a signal indicative of an oil filter pressure differential between the oil filter inlet and the oil filter outlet;
- control logic at the engine controller, the control logic being configured to process the sensor signal and to determine an oil filter restriction real-time fault condition when the oil filter pressure differential exceeds a threshold, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the oil filter restriction real-time fault condition;
- and
- a display device having a memory and configured to transmit and receive information over the data link, the display device processing the output signal and storing a status of the oil filter in the memory, and generating an output signal indicative of the status.
A real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine including an oil pan, and an engine controller having a communications data link and, the system comprising:
- a sensor operative to produce a signal indicative of an oil level;
- control logic at the engine controller, the control logic being configured to process the sensor signal and to determine a low oil real-time fault condition when the oil level falls below a threshold, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the oil level real-time fault condition;
- and
- a display device having a memory and configured to transmit and receive information over the data link, the display device processing the output signal and storing a status of the oil level in the memory, and generating an output signal indicative of the status.
A real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine including a coolant reserve tank, and an engine controller having a communications data link and, the system comprising:
- a sensor operative to produce a signal indicative of a coolant level;
- control logic at the engine controller, the control logic being configured to process the sensor signal and to determine a low coolant real-time fault condition when the coolant level falls below a threshold, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the low coolant real-time fault condition, wherein the threshold is sufficiently high such that engine shutdown is not required upon the presence of the low coolant real-time fault condition;
- and
- a display device having a memory and configured to transmit and receive information over the data link, the display device processing the output signal and storing a status of the coolant reserve tank in the memory, and generating an output signal indicative of the status.
A real-time maintenance alert system for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine, and an engine controller having a communications data link, the system comprising:
- a sensor operative to produce a signal indicative of at least one engine condition from the group consisting of:
- an oil filter restriction condition, a fuel filter restriction condition, an air filter restriction condition, an oil level, and a coolant level in a coolant reserve tank;
- control logic at the engine controller, the control logic being configured to process the sensor signal and to determine a real-time fault condition when the engine condition falls outside of a predetermined acceptable range, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the real-time fault condition;
- and
- a display device having memory and configured to transmit and receive information over the data link, the display device processing the output signal and storing a fault condition status in the memory, the display device having an indicator operative to alert a user of the real-time fault condition.
A real-time maintenance alert method for use in a heavy duty truck having an engine, and an engine controller having a communications data link and, the method comprising:
- generating a signal with an engine sensor, the signal being indicative of at least one engine condition from the group consisting of:
- an oil filter restriction condition, a fuel filter restriction condition, an air filter restriction condition, an oil level, and a coolant level in a coolant reserve tank;
- processing the signal with control logic at the engine controller to determine a real-time fault condition when the engine condition falls outside of a predetermined acceptable range, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the real-time fault condition;
- receiving the output signal over the data link at a display device having a memory;
- and
- storing a fault condition status in the memory.
A display device for use with a real-time maintenance alert system for a heavy duty truck having an engine and an engine controller having a communications data link, the display device comprising:
- a housing;
- an interface configured to communicate with control logic at the engine controller over the data link, the control logic being configured to process a sensor signal indicative of an engine condition from the group consisting of:
- an oil filter restriction condition, a fuel filter restriction condition, an air filter restriction condition, an oil level, and a coolant level in a coolant reserve tank, and the control logic being further configured to determine a real-time fault condition when the engine condition falls outside of a predetermined acceptable range, the control logic being operative to produce an output signal at the data link in response to the real-time fault condition, the interface receiving the output signal;
- a memory for storing a fault condition status based on the output signal;
- and
- an indicator device affixed to the housing and in communication with the interface, the indicator device producing a visual indication when the output signal corresponding to the real-time fault condition is received at the interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.