Vehicle under hood cooling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10161295-B2
Application number	US-201615088175-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2016
Priority date	Apr 1, 2016
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

An engine cooling system includes an engine, an intercooler, a radiator fan, a cooling circuit thermally coupled to at least one of the engine and the intercooler and circulating a coolant, and a controller in signal communication with the cooling circuit. The controller is configured to: upon receipt of a request, when the engine is in an off state, activate a quick cooldown mode where the radiator fan and the cooling circuit are operated to circulate and supply the coolant to at least one of the engine and the intercooler to cool vehicle under hood components while the engine is in the off state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An engine cooling system for a vehicle, the system comprising:
an engine;
an intercooler;
a radiator fan;
a cooling circuit thermally coupled to at least one of the engine and the intercooler and circulating a coolant; and
a controller in signal communication with the cooling circuit, the controller configured to:
upon receipt of a request, when the engine is in an off state, activate a quick cooldown mode where the radiator fan and the cooling circuit are operated to circulate and supply the coolant to at least one of the engine and the intercooler to cool vehicle under hood components while the engine is in the off state.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cooling circuit is a high temperature cooling circuit circulating a first coolant, and further comprising a low temperature cooling circuit thermally coupled to at least one of the engine and the intercooler and circulating a second coolant, wherein the controller is in signal communication with both the high temperature cooling circuit and the low temperature cooling circuit, the controller configured to:
upon receipt of the request, when the engine is in the off state, activate the quick cooldown mode where the radiator fan, the high temperature cooling circuit, and the low temperature cooling circuit are operated to circulate and supply the first and second coolants to at least one of the engine and the intercooler to cool the vehicle under hood components while the engine is in the off state.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a system condition is satisfied before activating the quick cooldown mode, the system condition including at least one of:
(i) the engine is off;
(ii) a hood of the vehicle is closed;
(iii) a battery of the vehicle has an acceptable status where a voltage and/or a state of charge are above predetermined threshold values;
(iv) no system fault codes are present;
(v) under hood cooling is required; and
(vi) a quick cooldown mode duration timer has not exceeded a predetermined time limit.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to prevent activation of the quick cooldown mode if an exit condition occurs, the exit condition including at least one of:
(a) receiving a signal indicating a driver manually deselects the quick cooldown mode; and
(b) a non-racing vehicle operation is detected.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the non-racing vehicle operation comprises traveling above a predetermined vehicle speed for a predetermined distance.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to deactivate the quick cooldown mode if an exit condition occurs during the quick cooldown mode, the exit condition including at least one of: (a) the coolant reaches a predetermined target temperature; (b) the vehicle battery has an unacceptable status where the voltage and/or state of charge are above the predetermined threshold values; (c) a vehicle fault is present; and (d) the duration timer has exceeded the predetermined time limit.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a plurality of system conditions are satisfied before initiating the quick cooldown mode, wherein the plurality of system conditions includes:
(i) the engine is off;
(ii) a hood of the vehicle is closed;
(iii) a battery of the vehicle has an acceptable status where a voltage and/or a state of charge are above predetermined threshold values;
(iv) no system fault codes are present;
(v) under hood cooling is required; and
(vi) a quick cooldown mode duration timer has not exceeded a predetermined time limit.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to initiate the quick cooldown mode only if all of the plurality of system conditions are satisfied.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein under hood cooling is required when a temperature differential between the ambient temperature and a temperature of the coolant is above a predetermined threshold.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to prevent activation of the quick cooldown mode at least one first exit condition occurs, the first exit conditions including:
(a) receiving a signal indicating a driver manually deselects the quick cooldown mode; and
(b) a non-racing vehicle operation is detected; and
wherein the controller is further configured to deactivate the quick cooldown mode if at least one second exit condition occurs during the quick cooldown mode, the second exit conditions including:
(a) the coolant reaches a predetermined target temperature;
(b) the vehicle battery has an unacceptable status where the voltage and/or state of charge are above the predetermined threshold values;
(c) a vehicle fault is present; and
(d) the duration timer has exceeded the predetermined time limit.

11. A method of operating a cooling system for a vehicle having an engine, an intercooler, a radiator fan, and a cooling circuit thermally coupled to at least one of the engine and the intercooler and circulating a coolant, the method comprising:
receiving a request to enable a quick cooldown mode; and
activating the quick cooldown mode, when the engine is in an off state, such that the radiator fan and the cooling circuit are operated to circulate and supply the coolant to at least one of the engine and the intercooler to cool vehicle under hood components while the engine is in the off state.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the cooling circuit is a high temperature cooling circuit circulating a first coolant, and the vehicle further including a low temperature cooling circuit thermally coupled to at least one of the engine and the intercooler and circulating a second coolant, and wherein the step of initiating the quick cool down mode comprises:
activating the quick cooldown mode, when the engine is in an off state, such that the radiator fan, the high temperature cooling circuit, and the low temperature cooling circuit are operated to circulate and supply the first and second coolants to at least one of the engine and the intercooler to cool the vehicle under hood components while the engine is in the off state.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining if each system condition of a set of system conditions is satisfied before activating the quick cooldown mode, the set of system conditions including:
(i) the engine is off;
(ii) a hood of the vehicle is closed;
(iii) a battery of the vehicle has an acceptable status where a voltage and/or a state of charge are above predetermined threshold values;
(iv) no system fault codes are present;
(v) under hood cooling is required; and
(vi) a quick cooldown mode duration timer has not exceeded a predetermined time limit.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining if one first exit condition of a set of first exit conditions occurs, the set of first exit conditions including:
(a) receiving a signal indicating a driver manually deselects the quick cooldown mode; and
(b) a non-racing vehicle operation is detected; and

preventing activation of the quick cooldown mode if one first exit condition occurs.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
determining if one second exit condition of a set of second exit conditions occurs during the quick cooldown mode, the set of second exit conditions including:
(a) the heat transfer fluid reaches a predetermined target temperature;
(b) the vehicle battery has an unacceptable status where the voltage and/or state of charge are above the predetermined threshold va

Assignees

• Wilder James M
• Anker Jeremy J
• Rodriguez Paul
• Musial Mark V
• Ehsan Farhan
• Fca Us Llc

Inventors

• Wilder James M
• Anker Jeremy J
• Rodriguez Paul
• Musial Mark V
• Ehsan Farhan

Classifications

• F01P2031/30

  Cooling after the engine is stopped · CPC title

• F01P2001/005

  Cooling engine rooms · CPC title

• F01P7/167 Primary

  by adjusting the pre-set temperature according to engine parameters, e.g. engine load, engine speed · CPC title

• F01P2060/02

  Intercooler · CPC title