Granted Patent B1

US 6,990,945 · App. 10/891,292 · Granted Jan 31, 2006

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A system for disabling a vehicle engine during fueling operations, comprising:

one or more sensors for providing an output indicating whether a cap for closing a fuel fill-pipe of the vehicle is ON (closed) or OFF (open);

a processor coupled to the one or more sensors for receiving the output thereof;

an engine control coupled to the processor and the engine for disabling the vehicle engine when the output of the one more sensors indicates that the fuel fill-pipe cap is OFF;

wherein the one or more sensors also provide an output indicating whether a fueling nozzle has been inserted in the fuel fill-pipe of the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a disable switch that allows the vehicle to operate even when the fuel fill-pipe cap is OFF, wherein the engine is allowed to operate unless the one or more sensors detect that a fueling nozzle has been inserted in the fuel fill-pipe of the vehicle.

3. A method for limiting vehicle engine operation during fueling, comprising:

testing whether a fuel-cap function by-pass switch is ON (YES) or OFF (NO), and if NO;

determining if the fuel-cap is OFF the fuel fill-pipe of the vehicle;

and if NO, enabling operation of the engine of the vehicle, and

and if YES, disabling operation of the vehicle engine; and

if the fuel cap function by-pass switch is ON;

determining if a fuel supply nozzle is in a fuel fill-pipe of the vehicle,

and if YES, disabling operation of the vehicle;

and if NO, enabling operation of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first determining step is performed using a first sensor and the second determining step is performed using a second sensor.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the first and second determining steps are performed using the same sensor.

6. A system for limiting vehicle engine operation during fueling, comprising:

an engine control for enabling or disabling operation of the engine;

one or more sensors for detecting whether a fueling nozzle is inserted in the vehicle fuel fill-pipe;

a processor coupled to the engine control and the one or more sensors for receiving inputs from the one or more sensors and directing the engine control to enable or disable the vehicle engine depending upon the inputs received from the one or more sensors; and

wherein, when the fueling nozzle is in the vehicle fuel fill-pipe, the engine is disabled.

7. The system of claim 6 further comprising, re-enabling the engine when the fueling nozzle not in the fuel fill-pipe.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the one or more sensors detect whether a cap is on the fuel fill-pipe and the processor disables the engine when the cap is not on the fuel fill-pipe and re-enables the engine when the cap is on the fuel fill-pipe.

9. A system for limiting vehicle engine operation during fueling, comprising:

a fuel level sensor;

an engine control processor coupled to the fuel level sensor and the engine for determining a rate of change of fuel level R(t) and when R(t) equals or exceeds a predetermined value Rc, disabling the engine;

an idle timer coupled to the control processor for measuring the time duration t(i) during which the engine has been idling, wherein the control processor disables the engine when R(t)≧Rc and t(i)≧tc where tc is a predetermined idle time.

10. A method for limiting operation of a vehicle engine during fueling comprising:

determining whether a change in fuel tank level R(t) exceeds a predetermined threshold value Rc; and

if R(t)>Rc, disabling the engine; and

if R(t)<Rc, not disabling the engine;

determining whether or not the engine has been idling for time t(i)≧tc where tc is a predetermined threshold value; and

if t(i)≧tc and R(t)≧Rc, disabling the engine; and

if t(i)<tc or R(t)<Rc, enabling the engine.

Assignments (13)