Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Jacob Mathews

Patrick Daniel Maguire

Douglas X Zhu

Hadi Malek

Daniel Lewis Boston

Pax Daniel Maguire

James Castellano

Mark G Smith

Venkateswa Anand Sankaran

Christopher Westfall

Halim Wijaya

Bob Taenaka

Hannah Bailey

Patrick Lively Padgett

Leonard Anthony Shaner

Adrian Nania

James A Lathrop

Ranganathan Madhavan

Brett Stephens

Ronald C Elder

Jeffrey Boismier

Sara Dadras

Ranganathan Madhaven

Alison Japikse Carothers

A vehicle charging station includes a shroud configured to guide a vehicle charge plug that is lowered from a vehicle toward a charge connector as the vehicle moves toward the charging station. The vehicle charge plug and the charge connector have contacts arranged on a connector face that is generally perpendicular to a surface on which the vehicle charging station rests.

System for hands-free electrified vehicle charging with connector attachment mechanism

System for hands-free electrified vehicle charging

An assembly includes a photovoltaic module including a solar cell and a cooling system including a heat pipe adapted to dissipate heat from the solar cell. A method includes dissipating heat from the solar cell using the heat pipe. The photovoltaic module may be disposed on a vehicle to convert solar energy into electricity.

Systems and methods for passively cooling photovoltaic modules

An electrical storage device heater system according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an electrical storage device, a heater configured to regulate a temperature of the electrical storage device and a controller configured to actuate the heater using power sourced from a location separate from the electrical storage device.

Electrical storage device heater for vehicle

An exemplary charger positioning method includes, among other things, positioning a charging plug of a conductive charger relative to a charge port of a vehicle based on a wireless transmission between the conductive charger and the vehicle. An exemplary charger assembly includes a transmitter system associated with one of a vehicle or a conductive charger, a receiver system associated with the other of the vehicle or the conductive charger, and an actuator that moves a charging plug of the conductive charger to a charging position in response to a transmission from the transmitter system.

Vehicle charger positioning method and charger assembly

Systems to wirelessly power transfer to a tailgate are disclosed. An example disclosed vehicle includes a transmitting circuit in a body of the vehicle configured to transmit power via wireless capacitive transfer. The example vehicle also includes a receiving circuit in a tailgate of the vehicle configured to receive power via wireless capacitive transfer.

Wireless power transfer to a tailgate through capacitive couplers

A voltage quality module (VQM) function and a solar power generation function are integrated by sharing a single voltage converter (VC) within the electrical system of an automotive vehicle with an electric-start internal combustion engine. The cost of adding solar power generating capabilities to vehicles, the packaging complexities of the systems, and the number of added components are all decreased. The VC can be a DC-DC converter in a boost mode or a buck mode. A switching circuit selectably couples the VC between a main battery and an accessory bus or to between a solar panel and an auxiliary battery. A VC controller regulating a VC output using the main battery to stabilize an accessory bus voltage when in an engine crank mode and otherwise regulating the VC output to match an auxiliary battery voltage using the solar panel output.

Solar panel power point tracker integrated with vehicle electrical system

A glass roof system includes a first glass layer, a photovoltaic module, a switching film powered by the photovoltaic module, and a control module configured to selectively control the switching film based on a passenger cabin temperature.

Vehicle glass roof systems

A system and method for rebalancing a battery in a vehicle during vehicle operation, the battery including a plurality of modules, is provided. The method may include determining when an automatic rebalance mode start condition is satisfied, modifying a target state of charge for the battery at least in part in response to the start condition being satisfied such that the target state of charge is raised from a standard operating value to a rebalance value, operating the vehicle with the target state of charge at the rebalance value, determining when an automatic rebalance mode end condition or an interrupt condition is satisfied, and modifying the target state of charge in response to the automatic rebalance mode end condition or the interrupt condition being satisfied such that the target state of charge is lowered from the rebalance value to the standard operating value.

System and method for rebalancing modules of a battery during vehicle operation

A heater system for an electrical storage device, such as a high voltage traction battery, is connectable to an external AC power source maintain a proper temperature of the battery as long as the system remains connected to the external power source. The battery temperature can be maintained at a level that ensures that the vehicle will start even in extremely cold climates. The heater system includes a heater disposed within the battery itself. Other system components, such as an AC/DC converter and a control module, may be connected to the battery heater system outside of the battery, allowing the battery heater system to act as a modular component that can be easily included in or excluded from a vehicle as an option, either alone or in a package with an engine block heater. The battery heater system is designed so that it can be connected along with the engine block heater to the AC power source using a single common connector.

A cooling system and method for cooling a battery in a vehicle is provided. The method includes determining whether the cooling system is operating to cool a passenger compartment in the vehicle, operating the cooling system to cool the battery when it is determined that the cooling system is operating to cool the passenger compartment, and it is determined that at least one predetermined condition is met. The method also includes determining whether an engine in the vehicle is operating, and then operating the cooling system to cool the battery when it is determined that the engine is operating and a battery temperature is greater than a predetermined battery temperature.

Cooling system and method for cooling a battery in a vehicle

A cooling system for a battery in a vehicle does not use air from the vehicle passenger compartment, but rather, takes in ambient air from outside the vehicle. When the temperature of the ambient air outside the vehicle is low enough, the air is moved through a duct system by a pair of fans and blown across a battery assembly. When the temperature of the ambient air outside the vehicle is too warm to cool the battery directly, it is first passed through an evaporator coil where it exchanges heat with a refrigerant, prior to being blown across the battery assembly. The cooling air may be recirculated across the battery assembly, or exhausted from the vehicle through an air extractor.

Cooling system for a vehicle battery

A circuit disconnect assembly for a high-voltage electrical storage device in a vehicle includes a handle, a fuse and a detent. The handle is manually manipulated within a housing of a circuit between a locked position and an unlocked position. The fuse includes a first terminal and a second terminal which are moveable by the handle between the locked position to close the circuit and the unlocked position to open the circuit. The detent prevents shifting of the handle until a predetermined force is applied to the handle.

Circuit disconnect assembly

A circuit disconnect assembly for a high-voltage electrical storage device in a vehicle integrates a grip portion and a fuse holder portion into one unit. The handle is easily manipulated manually within a housing of the storage device to open a high-voltage circuit and allow quick replacement of the fuse. The handle is manually shiftable between a locked state and an unlocked state to connect and disconnect the fuse from the circuit.

A system for heating a vehicle battery and a method for using the same. The system and method enable energy flow from the battery to a heater to heat the battery after determining a shut-down condition.

Growing community of inventors

Canton, MI, United States of America

Jacob Mathews