Granted Patent B2

US 8,035,532 · App. 12/261,334 · Granted Oct 11, 2011

Abstract

Claims (33)

1. A regeneration control system for a vehicle, comprising:

a regeneration control module that selectively initiates a regeneration of a particulate matter filter of said vehicle;

a disabling module that selectively disables said regeneration control module based on a location of said vehicle provided by a global positioning system (GPS); and

a location identification module that identifies expected parking locations for said vehicle based on stored vehicle locations at or near which at least one of said vehicle was parked and an engine of said vehicle was shut down and that selectively outputs a parking indicator based on said vehicle location and at least one of said expected parking locations,

wherein said disabling module disables said regeneration control module when said parking indicator is output.

2. The regeneration control system of claim 1 wherein said location identification module outputs said parking indicator when said vehicle location is less than a predetermined distance from one of said parking locations.

3. The regeneration control system of claim 1 wherein said location identification module identifies one of said expected parking locations based on a desired location input by a driver of said vehicle.

4. A regeneration control system for a vehicle, comprising:

a regeneration control module that selectively initiates a regeneration of a particulate matter filter of said vehicle;

a disabling module that selectively disables said regeneration control module based on a location of said vehicle provided by a global positioning system (GPS); and

an off-road identification module that selectively outputs an off-road indicator based on said vehicle location and a database of roadways,

wherein said disabling module disables said regeneration control module when said off-road indicator is output.

5. The regeneration control system of claim 4 wherein said off-road identification module outputs said off-road indicator when said vehicle location is greater than a predetermined distance from a nearest one of said roadways.

6. The regeneration control system of claim 1 further comprising an overriding module that overrides said disabling module and enables said regeneration control module when particulate matter loading of said particulate matter filter is greater than a predetermined loading amount.

7. The regeneration control system of claim 6 wherein said regeneration control module initiates said regeneration when said particulate matter loading is greater than said predetermined loading amount.

8. The regeneration control system of claim 1 wherein said disabling module also disables said regeneration control module when a fuel level of said vehicle is less than a predetermined fuel level.

9. A method for a vehicle, comprising:

selectively initiating regeneration of a particulate matter filter of said vehicle using a regeneration control module;

selectively disabling said regeneration control module based on a location of said vehicle provided by a global positioning system (GPS);

identifying expected parking locations for said vehicle based on stored vehicle locations at or near which at least one of said vehicle was parked and an engine of said vehicle was shut down; and

selectively outputting a parking indicator based on said vehicle location and at least one of said expected parking locations,

wherein said selectively disabling comprises disabling said regeneration control module when said parking indicator is output.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said selectively outputting said parking indicator comprises outputting said parking indicator when said vehicle location is less than a predetermined distance from one of said parking locations.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said identifying said expected parking locations comprises identifying one of said expected parking locations based on a desired location input by a driver of said vehicle.

12. A method for a vehicle, comprising:

selectively initiating regeneration of a particulate matter filter of said vehicle using a regeneration control module;

selectively disabling said regeneration control module based on a location of said vehicle provided by a global positioning system (GPS); and

selectively outputting an off-road indicator based on said location of said vehicle and a database of roadways,

wherein said selectively disabling comprises disabling said regeneration control module when said off-road indicator is output.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said selectively outputting said off-road indicator comprises outputting said off-road indicator when said vehicle location is greater than a predetermined distance from a nearest one of said roadways.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising overriding said selectively disabling and enabling said regeneration control module when particulate matter loading of said particulate matter filter is greater than a predetermined loading amount.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising initiating said regeneration when said particulate matter loading is greater than said predetermined loading amount.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising disabling said regeneration control module when a fuel level of said vehicle is less than a predetermined fuel level.

Assignments (12)

Continuity (1)