The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 13, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 06, 2001
Mark Akins, Columbus, IN (US);
Scott Thompson, Columbus, IN (US);
Gopal Chamarthi, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Stephanie Goerges, Franklin, IN (US);
Cummins Inc., Columbus, IN (US);
Abstract
A water-in-fuel abuse detection system provides a way to determine if a vehicle operator has ignored a conventional water-in-fuel indicator light and continued to operate the vehicle beyond a certain threshold. The system includes a sensor positioned in a fuel filter capable of separating an amount of water from a source of fuel. The sensor is operatively connected to a software routine, as well as to a conventional indicator light that illuminates to alert a vehicle operator that water must be purged from the fuel filtration system. The software routine determines the duration, in distance traversed or time elapsed, that the amount of water is at or above the level of the sensor. The routine then writes a fault code to permanent memory when the threshold is exceeded. A diagnostic tool can access the permanent memory and reveal whether the fuel system has be the subject of water-in-fuel abuse.