254 results about "Fuel gauge" patented technology

A wireless piconet transceiver is mounted in a vehicle, and a complementary fixed wireless piconet transceiver is mounted in a garage, service station, police squad car, etc., for communication with the vehicle when parked adjacent thereto. The vehicle establishes a temporary piconet network with the user's home piconet. Vehicle operational statistics are tracked and maintained in a centralized vehicle computer database. This database can be manipulated to store the data desired by the vehicle owner. Via a wireless piconet connection, this database can transmitted to another piconet device such as the owner's computer. This computer system can be part of a wireless piconet, such as Bluetooth, This provides the computer with the ability to communicate with external wireless devices such as a cell phone, PDA, computer, or a cordless telephone. This invention allows for the configuration, or selection of desired vehicle data to be tracked. This configuration can take place on the owner's home computer (or laptop) and consequently transmitted to the vehicle computer using a wireless piconet protocol, e.g., the Bluetooth protocol. Additionally, this configuration can be manipulated by a direct interface to the vehicle provided by the manufacturer. Exemplary vehicle statistics which may be tracked include, but are not limited to, miles per gallon, average miles per hour, maximum MPH, miles driven per trip, driving statistics based on time of day and / or on identified driver, rotations of the engine per minute (RPM), temperature of engine, fuel gauge level, oil pressure, tires, brakes, engine coolant, wiper fluid, global positioning satellite (GPS) system, and / or even compressed voice from inside car cockpit during operation of vehicle.

A system and method for digital management and control of power conversion from battery cells. The system utilizes a power management and conversion module that uses a CPU to maintain a high power conversion efficiency over a wide range of loads and to manage charge and discharge operation of the battery cells. The power management and conversion module includes the CPU, a current sense unit, a charge / discharge unit, a DC-to-DC conversion unit, a battery protection unit, a fuel gauge and an internal DC regulation unit. Through intelligent power conversion and charge / discharge operations, a given battery type is given the ability to emulate other battery types by conversion of the output voltage of the battery and adaptation of the charging scheme to suit the battery.

Systems and methods for accurately determining the state of charge and the relative age of lithium sulfur batteries are provided. The cell resistance and taper input charge of a particular type of lithium sulfur battery are respectively measured to determine the state of charge and age of the battery.

A system and method is described for rapid charging and power management of a battery for a meter. A charger component is operably associated with the meter and is capable of executing a rapid charge algorithm for a rechargeable battery. The algorithm includes monitoring for a connection to an external power source and implementing a charging routine of a battery at a first charge rate and then at a second charge rate. The second charge rate is lower than the first charge rate. A temperature rise in the rechargeable battery due to the first charge rate has a negligible heat transfer effect on the fluid sample. The meter can also include a power switch for controlling current flow to a battery fuel gauge. The power switch is open when the meter enters into a sleep mode. The state of battery charge is determined after the meter exits the sleep mode.

Systems and methods for accurately determining the state of charge and the relative age of lithium sulfur batteries are provided. The cell resistance and taper input charge of a particular type of lithium sulfur battery are respectively measured to determine the state of charge and age of the battery.

A hybrid battery and full charge capacity calculation method thereof. A full charge capacity is calculated for each battery at at least two discharge voltage levels, and a total full charge capacity is calculated by adding the calculated full charge capacity of the discharging battery to a full charge capacity of a non-discharging battery. A hybrid battery includes: a first power source and a second power source; a sense resistor that senses and outputs current information of at least one of the first power source or the second power source; and a fuel gauge circuit that calculates a first accumulated discharge amount using the current information from the sense resistor when a voltage of a currently discharging one of the first or second power source reaches a first discharge voltage level, and to add a first capacity corresponding to the first discharge voltage level to the first accumulated discharge amount.

The invention discloses a LabVIEW and PXI based automobile digital instrument testing system, which comprises a LabVIEW graphical program compiling platform and a PXI hardware platform which are in charge of testing the automobile digital instrument to be tested, a speedometer, a tachometer of an engine, a fuel gauge, a water-temperature gauge, a switching value testing module, a user-customized CAN communication testing module which is used for testing and calibrating a digital instrument with a CAN interface to test a communication protocol and a calibration protocol, and a data communication switching card for calibrating parameters of the instrument to be tested and implementing data exchange between an interface of a controller serial port and the CAN interface of the automobile digital instrument to be tested, wherein a related board card is connected with a controller mainboard and is connected with the automobile digital instrument to be tested through a signal connector; the data communication switching card adopts a circulating queue-based buffering mechanism. The system can perform module testing on the speedometer, the tachometer, the water-temperature gauge, the fuel gauge and a switching value signal by modules, and also can perform integration testing on the digital instrument.

A power management system for batteries includes: a controller that controls a charger, switch matrix, and outputs, using algorithms to optimize system states based on a fuel gauge and learned conditions; a charger, which converts various inputs into charge voltage; a fuel gauge, which calculates remaining charge and battery health so the controller can effectively manage the battery and extend run-time; and a switch matrix providing management at individual cell level so that cell performance / health can be monitored. Cells can be combined dynamically in series and / or in parallel, and “bad” cells can be removed from service. A related method is also disclosed.

The invention relates to an online furnace fuel flow control device and a method thereof. The device introduces a fuel gas molecular weight measuring instrument, a fuel gas temperature measuring instrument of a fuel gas feeding pipe, and fuel gas pressure measuring instrument parameters and is used for calculation after precision compensation. In the future, the first calculation module for the measured value of the fuel gas flow and the second calculation module for calculating the set value of the fuel gas flow when the real-time ideal combustion effect of the on-line furnace is used will correct and adjust the flow of the fuel gas to ensure that the fuel gas involved in the control The air flow value is the flow rate that can be completely burned. At the same time, the third calculation module is introduced to calculate the air flow setting value of the real-time ideal combustion effect of the online furnace to adjust the air flow flowing into the online furnace, so that the air flow into the online furnace The fuel ratio in the furnace can achieve the ideal combustion effect, ensuring that the temperature of the exhaust gas of the online furnace is at the ideal temperature value.

A fuel consumption device is suitable for insertion into a diagnostic port of a motor vehicle. The device is operable to receive a fuel gauge signal and one or more powertrain signals. The device estimates fuel consumption based on said one or more powertrain signals and uses the estimated fuel consumption data to generate a fuel consumption database. The database indicates a relationship between a fuel gauge signal and actual amounts of fuel. Upon detecting a refueling event, the device consults a fuel consumption database to determine an estimated amount of fuel associated with the refueling event. The powertrain signals may include a mass air flow signal. The device may be able to store the fuel consumption database locally and transmit the database remotely. The device is still further preferably operable to record and transmit a record of the refueling event that includes an estimated amount of fuel.

Systems and methods may be provided for monitoring a fuel level of a vehicle. The fuel may be a gaseous fuel, such as natural gas. An electronic control unit may be able to receive a signal from one or more sensors. The electronic control unit may provide a command to drive a fuel gauge to display the fuel level. The electronic control unit may determine the gauge command based on the received signal and a filling compensation scheme. The electronic control unit may be initialized through a user interface. A filling compensation scheme may be selected during initialization. The electronic control unit may be capable of communicating various sensors, gauges, devices, controls and / or other ECUs of varying specifications.

A system and method for digital management and control of power conversion from battery cells. The system utilizes a power management and conversion module that uses a CPU to maintain a high power conversion efficiency over a wide range of loads and to manage charge and discharge operation of the battery cells. The power management and conversion module includes the CPU, a current sense unit, a charge / discharge unit, a DC-to-DC conversion unit, a battery protection unit, a fuel gauge and an internal DC regulation unit. Through intelligent power conversion and charge / discharge operations, a given battery type is given the ability to emulate other battery types by conversion of the output voltage of the battery and adaptation of the charging scheme to suit the battery.

Fuel gauges for fuel supplies for fuel cells are disclosed. Each fuel gauge has a property that is readable by an electrical circuit. These properties are related to the remaining fuel in the fuel supplies. These properties include, but are not limited to, electrical capacitance, magnetic, semi-conducting resistance, bi-metal resistance, and oscillating magnetic field. These fuel gauges are functional at any fuel supply orientation.

A speedometer, a fuel gauge, an odometer, left and right turn indicators, and an ignition indicator are arranged in a meter panel of a meter unit. An IC tag into which an ID code in standardized data form is registered is installed on the back surface of the meter panel. The IC tag is resin molded and is installed on the back surface of the meter panel made of resin. The mold resin and the meter panel are both made of a resin material having transmissivity to electromagnetic waves. Information is wirelessly transferred to and from the IC tag, and may be managed using a data management system.

A speedometer, a fuel gauge, an odometer, left and right turn indicators, and an ignition indicator are arranged in a meter panel of a meter unit. An IC tag into which an ID code in standardized data form is registered is installed on the back surface of the meter panel. The IC tag is resin molded and is installed on the back surface of the meter panel made of resin. The mold resin and the meter panel are both made of a resin material having transmissivity to electromagnetic waves. Information is wirelessly transferred to and from the IC tag, and may be managed using a data management system.

A system and method is described for rapid charging and power management of a battery for a meter. A charger component is operably associated with the meter and is capable of executing a rapid charge algorithm for a rechargeable battery. The algorithm includes monitoring for a connection to an external power source and implementing a charging routine of a battery at a first charge rate and then at a second charge rate. The second charge rate is lower than the first charge rate. A temperature rise in the rechargeable battery due to the first charge rate has a negligible heat transfer effect on the fluid sample. The meter can also include a power switch for controlling current flow to a battery fuel gauge. The power switch is open when the meter enters into a sleep mode. The state of battery charge is determined after the meter exits the sleep mode.

Enhanced voltage-based fuel gauges and methods that increase the accuracy of voltage-based fuel gauges and allow the use of voltage-based fuel gauges to detect current, and particularly excessive current from a battery without the use of a sense resistor. When used with a coulomb counter, the outputs of a voltage-based fuel gauge and a coulomb counter may be combined in a manner that allows the combination to provide better performance that either alone may provide. Various embodiments and methods of operation are disclosed.

The invention provides an indication control method of an automobile fuel gauge. By adopting tactics including time-division sampling, threshold value control, indicator angle memory, resistance memory, indicator response time control and the like, accurate sampling and stable indication are realized under the condition of specific road conditions or automobile conditions, such as continuous ignition, signal mutation or losing, rapid acceleration, upslope and down-slope and the like; and the problem of abnormal indication in the actual use process of a plurality of the fuel gauges is solved, so that the product performance and the use effect all meet the standard requirements of the automobile industry.

A safety circuit for a rechargeable cell is employed as a simple, low cost, fuel gauging circuit. The safety circuit includes an undervoltage circuit having a reference voltage. The input of the safety circuit is selectively coupled between the voltage of a rechargeable cell and a scaled down voltage of the rechargeable cell. The scaled down voltage corresponds to a predetermined capacity threshold. A user or electronic device actuates a switch that couples the scaled down voltage to the safety circuit. The safety circuit compares this scaled down voltage to the reference voltage of it's under voltage circuit. If the scaled down voltage is above the reference voltage, the safety circuit causes a transistor coupled serially with the cell to be on, or in a conductive state, so as to allow current to flow through a capacity indicator like a LED. If the scaled down voltage is below the reference voltage the safety circuit causes the transistor to enter a high impedance state, thereby turning the indicator off. The state of the indicator provides the user with an approximation of the cell's remaining capacity. In a battery pack, two or more safety circuits with different reference voltages may be employed for increased resolution.

A gaseous fuel control system for regulating fuel flow to a dual fuel internal combustion engine has a phase converter for converting the fuel from a liquid state to a gaseous state and control means for controlling the supply of fuel to the engine in response to sensor signals including a throttle position signal and an alternator signal. A valve actuated by the control means regulates the supply of said fuel in a gaseous state, which is mixed with air in the engine manifold. A display mounted in the vehicle cabin includes a fuel gauge, an override switch and means for adjusting the parameters for the control of supply of fuel. The control means is programmed to close the valve means, preventing the supply of said fuel, when the throttle position is in an idling position or substantially fully open and when the engine is not operating.

The invention provides a fuel-tank system with an ultrasonic fuel-gauging system for an aircraft. The fuel-tank system includes a fuel tank, a transducer carrier tape covered with a separation barrier, and coupled to a surface of the fuel tank, and at least one ultrasonic transducer attached to the transducer carrier tape. An ultrasonic signal from at least one ultrasonic transducer is reflected from a fuel-air surface and a reflected signal is received by at least one ultrasonic transducer to determine a fuel level in the fuel tank.

The invention relates to a comprehensive test system for automobile instruments. According to the comprehensive test system for the automobile instruments, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) master control module is used for carrying out global control on other eight modules, the outputs of the modules are controlled at all time according to control instructions from a man-machine interface display module, and various parameters of the system can be inputted, modified and stored. The comprehensive test system can randomly meet the requirements on the repeated endurance test and basic error test on various automobile instruments, such as odometers, tachometers, water temperature gauges, fuel gauges, oil pressure gauges, barometers, voltmeters, and various indication lamps and lighting lamps of instrument panels, and the operation is simple. During the process of system designing, the ergonomic factors are fully considered, and the error-proofing design is fused during the process of parameter input, so that the parameter input is rejected and the operation of alarming is carried out if the data input is incorrect.

A vehicle including an engine, a fuel tank configured to store a fuel supplied to the engine, a fuel gauge configured to detect a fuel level of the fuel inside the fuel tank, and a tilting detector configured to determine whether or not a body of the vehicle is tilted, based on a signal output from the fuel gauge.

This invention pertains to determining the proper discharge level of lithium sulfur, as well as to determine the state of charge and remaining capacity of battery cells. In particular, this invention provides for a method for determining the charge and / or discharge level of a lithium sulfur cell. Also, this invention provides for a method for determining the capacity of a battery cell charge and / or discharge level of lithium sulfur cell. Further, this invention provides a method for determining the impedance of a lithium sulfur battery cell.

A method and a battery powered electronic device incorporate use-adaptive fuel gauging. The use-adaptive fuel gauging adapts a fuel gauge algorithm to an average use model for the device. The adaptation accounts for the effects that variations in average use by a user of the device have on a total available energy or charge capacity of a battery. Accordingly, use-adaptivity can improve the fuel gauging accuracy by improving an estimate of the total energy available. The method and device optionally account for different battery chemistries yielding further increases in fuel gauging accuracy compared to conventional fuel gauging approaches.

Multiple power chargers for mobile terminals are disclosed. In particularly contemplated aspects, a mobile terminal may include two charging circuits arranged serially, such that only one charging circuit charges a battery of the mobile terminal at a time. The serial arrangement allows consolidation of fuel gauge circuitry within one of the charging circuits. In a particularly contemplated aspect, a second charger is tied to a first charger at a system power node. The system power node is further tied to a top port of the second charger. A bottom port of the second charger is tied to a top port of the first charger. A bottom port of the first charger is tied to the battery of the mobile terminal. The fuel gauge circuitry may sense battery current using a known ON resistance of a field effect transistor (FET) of the first charger.

A hybrid battery and full charge capacity calculation method thereof. A full charge capacity is calculated for each battery at at least two discharge voltage levels, and a total full charge capacity is calculated by adding the calculated full charge capacity of the discharging battery to a full charge capacity of a non-discharging battery. A hybrid battery includes: a first power source and a second power source; a sense resistor that senses and outputs current information of at least one of the first power source or the second power source; and a fuel gauge circuit that calculates a first accumulated discharge amount using the current information from the sense resistor when a voltage of a currently discharging one of the first or second power source reaches a first discharge voltage level, and to add a first capacity corresponding to the first discharge voltage level to the first accumulated discharge amount.