Washer fluid level detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11454979-B2
Application number	US-201815907692-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2018
Priority date	Feb 28, 2018
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

A system includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to, upon determining that a first fluid level in a vehicle container is below a threshold based on fluid level sensor data, determine a second fluid level based on a fluid consumption signal and the fluid level sensor, and to navigate the vehicle based on the determined second fluid level.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
upon determining that a first fluid level in a vehicle container is below a threshold based on fluid level sensor data,
determine a leak in the container upon simultaneously determining a lack of fluid consumption and determining that the first fluid level in the container has changed from a first value above the threshold to a second value below the threshold and that a request for cleaning is deactivated; and
navigate the vehicle based on the determined leak.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions include further instructions to determine that the first fluid level is below the threshold further based on data describing vehicle motion.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions include further instructions to:
apply a filter to the fluid level sensor data, wherein a filter parameter is based on the vehicle motion data including a vehicle acceleration and a vehicle yaw rate; and
determine that the container contains a predetermined volume of fluid upon determining based on the filtered data that the first fluid level is below the threshold.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the filtered data omits disturbances of fluid level caused by motion of the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the data describing the vehicle motion include a vehicle speed.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions include further instructions to determine a second fluid level upon determining, based on the fluid consumption signal, at least one of a fluid pump is activated and the request for cleaning is activated.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions include further instructions to:
determine a critical fluid threshold based on at least one of a vehicle route and a weather condition; and
perform an action upon determining that the second fluid level is below the critical threshold.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions include further instructions to:
determine a predetermined volume of fluid at the first fluid level based on a location of the fluid level sensor;
determine a discharged volume of fluid based at least in part on the fluid consumption signal; and
determine the second fluid level based on the predetermined volume of fluid at the first fluid level and the determined discharged volume of fluid.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the fluid consumption signal includes at least one of a number of cleaning cycles and a duration of an actuation of a fluid pump.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions include further instructions to determine the discharged volume of fluid based at least in part on one of a predetermined flow rate of a fluid pump and a predetermined consumed fluid volume per each cleaning cycle.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef
• Hicks Brandon
• Krishnan Venkatesh
• Schmidt David J

Classifications

• G01C21/3697

  Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level (G01C21/3679 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S7/497

  Means for monitoring or calibrating · CPC title

• G01F23/804 Primary

  containing circuits handling parameters other than liquid level · CPC title

• G01F23/802

  Particular electronic circuits for digital processing equipment · CPC title

• G01S2007/4977

  including means to prevent or remove the obstruction · CPC title