Cooling system with a coolant pump for an internal combustion engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10190479-B2
Application number	US-201615155524-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2016
Priority date	May 16, 2015
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

A method is disclosed for operating a cooling system with a heater and a coolant pump for an internal combustion engine. The cooling system is switched into a predetermined operating mode as a function of a heater request and a temperature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating a cooling system of an engine of a vehicle, with a heater for the vehicle and a coolant pump for the engine, the method comprising:
starting the engine;
operating the engine for a time period immediately following the start of the engine;
operating, during the time period, the cooling system in a first mode where the coolant pump circulates coolant through the cooling system and is on;
reading, after the time period, a temperature sensor to determine a temperature;
evaluating, by a controller, whether a heater request is present;
switching the cooling system from the first mode into one of a number of predetermined operating modes as a function of the heater request and the temperature, wherein the predetermined operating modes comprise a first warming-up operating mode, a second warming-up operating mode, and a heater operating mode;
evaluating, by the controller, the temperature to determine whether a first warming-up condition is fulfilled in which the temperature is below a first limit value;
when the first warming-up condition is fulfilled, operating by the controller, the cooling system in the first warming-up operating mode in which the coolant pump is off and in which a radiator line containing a radiator and a bypass line that bypasses the radiator are both completely closed by a control valve;
when operating in the first warming-up operating mode, evaluating, by the controller, whether a second warming-up condition is fulfilled;
when the second warming-up condition is fulfilled, operating, by the controller, the coolant system in the second warming-up operating mode in which the coolant pump is operated pulsed, and the control valve closes the radiator line and opens the bypass line;
when operating in the second warming-up operating mode, evaluating, by the controller, whether a third warming-up condition is fulfilled in which a heater request is present; and
when the third warming-up condition is fulfilled, operating, by the controller, the cooling system in the heater operating mode with the coolant pump continuously operated at a rotational sped that is constant, and where the control valve closes the radiator line and modulates the bypass line as a function of the temperature.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature is a coolant temperature, and further comprising switching the cooling system from the second warming-up operating mode into the heater operating mode wherein the rotational speed is predetermined dependent on the heater request.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising controlling a valve in the heater operating mode based on the coolant temperature to direct flow through a radiator line of the cooling system in which a radiator is arranged and a bypass line of the cooling system in which an oil-coolant heat exchanger is arranged.

4. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising switching the cooling system from the heater operating mode into the first warming-up operating mode based on the coolant temperature.

5. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
evaluating, by the controller, whether a fourth warming-up condition is fulfilled where the coolant temperature exceeds a predetermined limit value; and
switching the cooling system from the heater operating mode into a closed loop control operating mode in which at least one of the coolant pump and a control valve of the cooling system is controlled when the warming-up condition is fulfilled.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising switching, from the heater operating mode into a closed loop control operating mode in which the coolant pump is open loop controlled and the control valve is closed loop controlled.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein in the second warming-up operating mode the coolant pump is operated pulsed as a function of an engine operating parameter.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:
switching from the second warming-up operating mode into the closed loop control operating mode when the third warming-up condition is fulfilled; and
switching from the second warming-up operating mode into the first warming-up operating mode when a fourth warming-up condition is fulfilled.

9. A cooling system for an internal combustion engine comprising:
a heater;
a cooling circuit having a pump in fluid communication with the heater and configured to circulate a fluid through the heater and the internal combustion engine; and
a controller operably coupled to the coolant circuit and configured to:
operate the cooling system in one of a number of predetermined operating modes as a function of a heater request and a temperature, wherein the predetermined operating modes comprise a first warming-up operating mode, a second warming-up operating mode, and a heater operating mode;
evaluate the temperature to determine whether a first warming-up condition is fulfilled in which the temperature is below a first limit value:
when the first warming-u condition is fulfilled, overate the cooling system in the first warming-up operating mode in which the coolant pump is off and in which a radiator line containing a radiator and a bypass line that bypasses the radiator are both completely closed by a control valve;
when operating in the first warming-up operating mode, evaluate whether a second warming-up condition is fulfilled:
when the second warming-up condition is fulfilled, operate the coolant system in the second warming-up operating mode in which the coolant pump is operated pulsed, and the control valve closes the radiator line and opens the bypass line;
when operating in the second warming-up operating mode, evaluate whether a third warming-up condition is fulfilled in which a heater request is present; and
when the third warming-u condition is fulfilled, operate the cooling system in the heater operating mode with the coolant pump continuously operated at a rotational speed that is constant, and where the control valve closes the radiator line and modulates the bypass line as a function of the temperature.

10. The cooling system according to claim 9 , wherein in the second warming-u operating mode, the controller is further configured to operate the pump in a predetermined rotational speed mode when the temperature exceeds a second limit value.

11. The cooling system according to claim 9 , wherein the temperature is a coolant temperature, and wherein in the second warming-up operating mode the pump is operated with a rotational speed that is predetermined dependent on the heater request.

12. A method for operating a cooling system of an engine of a vehicle with a heater for an interior of the vehicle, a coolant pump for circulating a coolant through the cooling system, a control valve for controlling a flow of the coolant, a radiator line containing a radiator and a bypass line bypassing the radiator and containing a heat exchanger, the method comprising:
operating, by a controller and following a start of the engine, the coolant pump for a time period;
reading, by the controller and after the time period, a coolant temperature sensor to determine a coolant temperature;
evaluating, by the controller, the coolant temperature to determine whether a first warming-up condition is fulfilled in which the coolant temperature is below a first limit value;
when the first warming-up condition is fulfilled, operating the cooling system in a first warming-up operating mode in which the coolant pump is off and the bypass and the radiator lines are completely closed by the control valve;
when operating in the first warming-up operating mode,

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Reichenbach Mario
• Mueller Torsten
• Brinker Michael
• Selinger Michael

Classifications

• F01P2060/18

  Heater · CPC title

• F01P2060/04

  Lubricant cooler · CPC title

• F01P7/164 Primary

  by varying pump speed · CPC title

• F01P2060/08

  Cabin heater · CPC title

• F01P2025/08

  Temperature · CPC title