Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Other

Russell Randall Pearce

Aed M Dudar

Dennis Seung-Man Yang

Scott Alan Bohr

Mark W Peters

Robert Roy Jentz

Patrick Sullivan

Daniel Frank Cragel

Timothy DeBastos

Christopher Kragh

James Michael Kerns

Michael Igor Kluzner

Dennis S Yang

Mark Bunge

William Euliss

Bryan Michael Bolger

Mohammad R Aghili

Niels Kragh

Donald Ignasiak

Robert Ognjanovski, Jr

Mahmoud Yousef Ghannam

Daniel A Gabor

Kevin W Lucka

Mark Edward Hipp

Larry Castleberry

Shahid Ahmed Siddiqui

John Michael Kacewicz

Russ William Ferguson

Michael G Heim

Le Hong

Charles Qin

Kenneth J Kuenzel

Neil Wu

Imad Hassan Makki

Fling Finn Tseng

Matthew Werner

Michael Paul Lindlbauer

Kevin William Plymale

Rob Ognjanovski, Jr

Sheven Sharp

Herbert Thomas Meissner

Chingpo Liu

Roman Schesnuk

Chris Kragh

Robert G Ognjanovski

Andrew M Gitlin

Chad Michael Olson

Paul Dreier

An apparatus and a system are disclosed for preventing fuel starvation in an off-road vehicle that may be operated on a severely inclined surface. A vehicle having a fuel tank for a fuel delivery module disposed in the fuel tank. A fuel pump assembly is disposed in the fuel tank and a slip ring joint is assembled to the fuel delivery module. One or more tubes are assembled to the slip ring joint that extends and retracts relative to the slip ring joint toward and away from the walls of the fuel tank. A remote fuel pick-up is assembled to the tube so that when the vehicle is operated on an inclined surface, the remote fuel pick-up is extended and rotates inside the fuel tank to move toward and away from an inner surface of the fuel tank and follows the fuel contained in the fuel tank.

Apparatus preventing fuel starvation on inclined surfaces

Methods and systems are provided for adjusting a volume of a variable volume device arranged in a fuel tank. In one example, a method may include, upon conditions being met, operating a pump of an evaporative emissions control (EVAP) system leak detection module (ELCM) to increase or decrease the volume of the variable volume device in response to a refueling event of a vehicle being transported.

Methods and systems for controlling a bellows in a pressure-less fuel tank

Systems and methods are presented herein for detecting a degradation condition in a variable volume device of a fuel tank of a vehicle. In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a diagnostic method for a vehicle with a valve and a fuel tank having a variable volume device internal to the tank, comprising: operating the fuel tank over a diurnal cycle; and differentiating between degradation of the fuel tank and the variable volume device based on a fuel tank pressure at a plurality of different valve conditions; and indicating the differentiated degradation.

Diagnostic method for pressure-less fuel tank

Methods and systems are provided for diagnosing leaks in a fuel system. In one example, a method may include monitoring a fuel level in a vehicle fuel tank of the fuel system during refueling and indicating degradation of the vehicle fuel tank and/or a bellows coupled to the vehicle fuel tank based on the monitored fuel level. In some examples, indicating the degradation may further be based on a rate of fuel supplied to the vehicle fuel tank during the refueling and/or a vehicle fuel economy. In this way, degradation to the vehicle fuel tank and the bellows may be passively determined with minimal specialized components in the fuel system.

Methods and systems for diagnosing fuel system degradation

Methods and systems are provided for conducting remote refueling events of a passenger vehicle, and for coordinating said remote refueling events with a fuel tank fill level prior to the remote refueling event, a loading state of a fuel vapor storage device, and current and predicted fuel tank pressure. In one example, an amount of fuel that can be added to the fuel tank without overwhelming a capacity of the fuel vapor storage device is increased responsive to scheduling the remote refueling event to take place at a time when the fuel tank is at a negative pressure, thus resulting in partial purge of the fuel vapor storage device prior to commencing refueling. In this way, environmentally friendly refueling events may be enabled, thus reducing the potential for undesired evaporative emissions during refueling events.

Systems and methods for coordinating remote fuel delivery to vehicles

Methods and systems are provided for regulating evaporative emissions from a fuel system. In one example, a method may comprise spinning an engine unfueled responsive to a hydrocarbon concentration at a fresh air end of a fuel vapor canister increasing above a first threshold. The method may comprise spinning the engine to pull hydrocarbons away until a hydrocarbon concentration at a purge end of the fuel vapor canister, opposite the fresh air end, increases above a second threshold.

Systems and methods for EVAP leak testing

Methods and systems are provided for indicating a restriction in a fuel system vapor recovery line. Responsive to such an indication, methods and systems are provided for taking mitigating actions such that an entirety of a vehicle fuel system and evaporative emissions system, including a fuel filler system, may be diagnosed as to a presence or absence of undesired evaporative emissions, even with the restriction in the vapor recovery line present. In this way, undesired evaporative emissions may be reduced or avoided, completion rates for such tests may be increased, and customer satisfaction may be improved.

Systems and methods for inferring fuel vapor canister loading rate

Methods and systems are provided for aging a new plastic fuel tank in a vehicle. In one example, during a plug-in event to recharge a battery of the vehicle, the fuel tank is isolated and the fuel pump is actuated to agitate fuel within the tank and increase fuel vapors until the plastic fuel tank becomes aged to a predetermined degree by fuel vapors generated therein. In this manner, the fuel tank is aged more rapidly, resulting in more accurate fuel level readings and less noise and vibration.

Methods and systems for aging a fuel tank in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

The present disclosure provides a method for opening a refueling door of a vehicle. The method comprises adjusting a speed of opening the refueling door based on a fuel tank vapor pressure in response to a detected refueling request. Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a refueling door assembly for a vehicle. The refueling door assembly comprises a fuel tank; a refueling inlet to receive a fuel dispensing nozzle; a fuel fill line coupled between the fuel tank and the refueling inlet; a refueling door located at a vehicle body; an operating mechanism connected to the refueling door to open and close the refueling door; and a control module configured to open the refueling door responsive to a refueling request and control an opening speed of the operating mechanism based on a fuel tank vapor pressure.

Method for opening a refueling door of a vehicle and a refueling door assembly

A method for a fuel system is provided, comprising adjusting a volume of a sealed fuel tank while maintaining spatial compartmentalization of bulk fuel within the sealed fuel tank, and indicating degradation of the sealed fuel tank based on a change in fuel tank pressure. In this way, the fuel tank may be tested for leaks without being unsealed, and without engaging the fuel pump or other elements of the fuel delivery system.

Systems and methods for evaporative emissions leak testing

A system for an engine, comprising: a fuel vapor canister coupled to a fuel tank; a thermal jacket comprising a phase-change material, the thermal jacket spatially sheathing the fuel vapor canister; and an engine coolant passage positioned to transfer thermal energy between engine coolant and the phase-change material. In this way, the phase-change material may buffer the temperature of the fuel vapor canister by absorbing heat generated during hydrocarbon adsorption, and returning the heat to the vapor canister during hydrocarbon desorption. By coupling the phase-change material to engine coolant, the thermal capacity of the thermal jacket can be increased, as heated coolant can thus transfer thermal energy to the phase-change material to replace the thermal energy transferred to the canister during hydrocarbon desorption.

System and methods for managing fuel vapor canister temperature

Methods and systems are provided for a fuel vapor canister with a modular configuration that may include a number of physically and releasably coupled canister modules, each module including a temperature sensor embedded therein and filled with one of a number of adsorbents. The temperature sensors may be utilized in combination with information regarding module position and the adsorbents within each module to indicate whether one or more of the individual canister modules are not functioning as desired, where such indications are determined during either refueling events, or during canister purging events. In this way, costs associated with servicing fuel vapor canisters may be reduced, the lifetime of fuel vapor canisters may be improved, an overall reduction in undesired evaporative emissions may be achieved, and the capacity of the canister may be readily adjusted based on emissions standards.

Modular fuel vapor canister

A method is provided, comprising terminating a pressure rise portion of an engine-off natural vacuum test based on an initial rate of change of a fuel system pressure upon sealing a fuel system; and initiating a vacuum portion of the engine-off natural vacuum test responsive to suspending the pressure rise portion. The initial rate of change may indicate a likelihood of the pressure rise portion reaching a pressure rise threshold. In this way, the vacuum portion of the test may be initiated earlier, increasing the likelihood of a conclusive result being obtained during a test time limit.

Systems and methods for engine-off natural vacuum leak testing

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Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Russell Randall Pearce