Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Visteon Global Technolgoies, Inc.

Ford Motor Company Limited

Ballard Power Systems Corporation

Vijay Garg

Abbas Raftari

Patrick Joseph Curran

Mathew Alan Boesch

Sergey Gennadievich Semenov

Bader M Badreddine

Lawrence M Rose

Prabhakar Singh

Alfred Edmund Lynn

Gang Xu

Pam Dawson

Gregory H Benz

Dale Scott Crombez

Steven Yellin Schondorf

Joseph F Stanek

Zheng Lou

Robert Joseph Mohan

William Samuel Schwartz

Sayeed Ahmed

Mukesh Kumar

Peter Francis Worrel

Floyd Cadwell

Shahid Ahmed Siddiqui

Elaine Y Chen

Kanghua Chen

Richard Eric Luken

Joanne Theresa Woestman

Chendong Huang

Jeffrey Boismier

William Donohue

George Dolan

Raj Prakash

George Shih

John O'Rear

Curtis Lee Tyson

Ramakrishna Raju

Byung R Kim

Abul Masrur

David Jorgensen

Sherry Mueller

Joseph Fodera

Zheng Shen

Allen Duan

A method and apparatus are provided for braking and stopping a vehicle whose powertrain includes an electric drive. The electric drive is used to generate braking torque which is used to decelerate the vehicle down to a full stop. The braking torque is achieved using any of several closed loop speed control systems. The system can be used as a substitute for or as a supplement to conventional friction bakes.

Method and apparatus for braking and stopping vehicles having an electric drive

A flush and fill process is used to ready a fuel cell cooling circuit for initial use. An external flushing system releasably connected to the cooling circuit circulates flushing coolant through the cooling circuit to remove contaminants from the wetted surfaces of the cooling circuit before the fuel cell is put into use. The flushing system includes a pump for circulating the flushing coolant through the cooling circuit, filters for removing contaminants from the coolant and a heater for elevating the temperature of the coolant. Following the flushing process to remove contaminants, the flushing system is disconnected from the cooling circuit and the cooling circuit is filled with fresh coolant.

Readying cooling circuits for use in fuel cells

A prognostic method and system for testing and controlling various hybrid, fuel cell, and electric vehicle components. The tests generate test data for determining a state of the tested components. An operating strategy of the vehicle is controlled based on the state of its tested components.

Prognostic method and system for hybrid and electric vehicle components

An alternative fuel vehicle having a fuel economy control module with associated logic that allows the vehicle to operate in a fuel economy mode based on a desired fuel economy preference. The fuel economy control logic is in electrical communication with a vehicle system controller (VSC) and may be integrally formed as a sub-module within the VSC. A fuel economy control switch controlled by the fuel economy control logic toggles between an on and an off position to enable or disable a fuel economy mode. A fuel economy control selector allows a user to select a desired fuel economy mode preference once the fuel economy control switch is on. The fuel economy mode selected represents a predefined desired fuel economy preference such as a distance per amount of fuel consumed, or alternatively, a percentage of a balance between a fuel economy operation and a fuel performance operation.

Fuel economy control system and control strategy

A system for validating velocities of components in a vehicle uses sensor measurements and mathematical relationships between the vehicle components to validate the velocities. A controller or controllers receive speed or velocity inputs and mathematically combine the velocities of more than one of the vehicle components. The velocities of at least one of the vehicle components is validated when the mathematical combination meets at least one predetermined criterion. The validated velocity or velocities are then communicated to at least one of the vehicle components.

System for validating velocities of components in a vehicle

A method for validating engine and motor velocities in a vehicle having an engine and two motors is provided. The method validates the velocities without using two speed sensors for each device. The velocities of the engine and the two motors are first determined, and then mathematically combined using known velocity relationships based on the vehicle architecture. The mathematical combination of the velocities is then compared to a first pre-determined speed range, and if the mathematical combination is within the predetermined range, the velocities of the engine and the two motors are validated. If the validation of the engine and the two motors fails, additional equations can be used utilizing additional inputs, including the vehicle speed as measured at the vehicle wheels. In this way, the velocities of one or more of the torque generating devices in the vehicle may be validated.

System and method for validating velocities of torque generating devices in a vehicle

A system and method for diagnosing a potential electrical operating discrepancy in a polyphase electric motor by generating two independent torque estimates using a plurality of current sensors and, optionally, a shaft position sensor. Differences between the independent torque estimates are used to indicate potential discrepancies in electrical operating characteristics of the motor.

Diagnostic system and method for an electric motor using torque estimates

The present invention can diagnose a potential discrepancy in electrical operating characteristics of a three phase electric motor by generating two independent torque estimates using a plurality of current sensors and a shaft position sensor. The invention provides a strategy to generate two independent torque estimates of a three phase electric motor comprising first and second systems to determine currents in two motor phases, first and second systems to generate a first and second estimate of motor shaft position, and first and second systems to generate first and second estimates of motor torque using the first and second systems to determine current in each motor phase and the first and second values of motor shaft position. The present invention detects also an electrical operating characteristic discrepancy in an electric motor-propelled vehicle's electrical components and subsystems, including single subsystem discrepancies between the two independent torque estimates.

This invention is a method and system to disconnect drive wheels from the powertrain of any electric powered vehicle. A vehicle controller monitors input from, for example, an inertia switch and electric motor generator conditions and can disconnect the output shaft from the drive wheels in predetermined vehicle conditions such as during a rear-end collision, or abnormal electric motor conditions such as over-torque, over-temperature, or over-current. The invention can be configured to monitor and respond to driver demand for four-wheel drive, two-wheel drive, and neutral tow. The disconnect device can comprise a disconnect actuator and joint attached to an axle disconnect. The axle disconnect can be electric or vacuum powered and positioned as a center disconnect or a wheel-end disconnect. The invention can be configured for conventional or limited slip axles.

Wheel-end and center axle disconnects for an electric or HEV

In an electric or hybrid electric vehicle, a voltage monitor ( ) is directly coupled to a traction motor ( ) and/or generator motor ( ) to detect a permanent magnet induced voltage within the motor at a predetermined speed and no load condition. A controller ( ) compares the detected permanent magnet induced voltage with an expected reference voltage that represents an expected permanent magnet induced voltage at full magnetization and the predetermined speed. The comparison includes identifying points of synchronization and using those points to determine a difference in the detected permanent magnet induced voltage that is caused by a faulty component.

Detection of demagnetization in a motor in an electric or partially electric motor vehicle

In an electric or hybrid electric vehicle, a voltage monitor ( ) is directly coupled to a traction motor ( ) and/or generator motor ( ) to detect a permanent magnet induced voltage within the motor at a predetermined speed and no load condition ( ). A controller ( ) compares the detected permanent magnet induced voltage with an expected reference voltage that represents an expected permanent magnet induced voltage at full magnetization and the predetermined speed ( ). The controller produces an indication of magnetization based on the reference voltage, the detected permanent magnet induced voltage, and the predetermined speed. If the indication of magnetism reaches a predetermined threshold, the motor is made inoperable and/or a current to the motor is limited to prevent damage to components ( ). Preferably, a user of the vehicle is made aware of these actions by an audible and/or visual indicator ( ). If available, another source of motive power is substituted for the motor that is made inoperable ( ).

Adaptive demagnetization compensation for a motor in an electric or partially electric motor vehicle

An assembly for cooling an electric motor, the assembly comprising a housing, a stator, a rotor, a winding, an end-winding integrally formed with the winding, and a jet impingement device operable for exposing the end-winding to a temperature controlled stream of fluid. A method for transferring heat between a stream of impinging fluid and the surface of an electric motor end-winding. An electric motor comprising a jet impingement cooling assembly.

Jet impingement cooling of electric motor end-windings

A variable force solenoid valve assembly generally includes a coil, magnetic pole, armature, and one or more variable size air gaps that are disposed within the solenoid. The solenoid may be calibrated by first energizing the solenoid coils and determining a corresponding desired hydraulic pressure, measuring the actual hydraulic pressure, and adjusting the magnetic flux until the desired output pressure is achieved.

Method and apparatus for calibrating a variable force solenoid

The present invention provides an actuator assembly for operating a cylinder valve of an internal combustion engine. The actuator assembly achieves fast response times by utilizing a solenoid actuator that contains an armature element formed of a powder metal. A valve system that utilizes two of the actuator assemblies in conjunction with a cylinder valve is also provided.

Actuator assembly for electrohydraulic operation of cylinder valves

Growing community of inventors

Canton, MI, United States of America

Vijay Garg