Vehicle power generation human machine interfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11712980-B2
Application number	US-201615264861-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 14, 2016
Priority date	Sep 14, 2016
Publication date	Aug 1, 2023
Grant date	Aug 1, 2023

Abstract

A vehicle includes a passenger cabin and a human machine interface (HMI) located remote from the passenger cabin. The HMI includes an electronic display and at least one power outlet adapted to selectively supply power to non-vehicle equipment. The HMI may be accessed to control the vehicle in a Power Generation mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
accessing a human machine interface (HMI) of a vehicle, wherein the HMI is located remotely from a passenger cabin of the vehicle and is mounted directly within a wall of a truck bed or a trunk of the vehicle;
actuating a power button of the HMI to initialize a Power Generation mode of the vehicle;
authenticating whether a valid key or fob is in a vicinity of the HMI prior to initializing the Power Generation mode;
wherein power is generated with an engine or an electric machine of the vehicle in response to initializing the Power Generation mode; and
wherein the power generated by the engine or the electric machine is supplied to a power outlet of the HMI during the Power Generation mode.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , comprising:
powering non-vehicle equipment during the Power Generation Mode.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , comprising:
actuating a lock button to lock or unlock the HMI.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , comprising:
plugging a non-vehicle equipment into the power outlet of the HMI; and
powering the non-vehicle equipment using power generated by the vehicle during the Power Generation Mode.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 , wherein the non-vehicle equipment includes a saw, a drill, or a hand-held power tool.

6. A method, comprising:
receiving a notification that a power button of a human machine interface (HMI) of a vehicle has been actuated to initialize a Power Generation mode of the vehicle;
wherein the HMI is located remotely from a passenger cabin of the vehicle and is mounted directly within a wall of a truck bed or a trunk of the vehicle;
authenticating whether a valid key or fob is in a vicinity of the HMI prior to initializing the Power Generation mode;
wherein power is generated with an engine or an electric machine of the vehicle in response to authenticating the Power Generation mode; and
wherein the power generated by the engine or the electric machine is supplied to a power outlet of the HMI during the Power Generation mode.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the HMI includes an electronic display and at least one power outlet adapted to selectively supply power to non-vehicle equipment.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the electronic display includes a state of charge (SOC) gauge that displays a current SOC of a battery pack of the vehicle.

9. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the at least one power outlet includes a universal serial bus (USB) port.

10. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the electronic display includes a power generation gauge that displays a current amount of power being generated by the vehicle during the Power Generation mode.

11. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the electronic display includes a fuel gauge that displays a current fuel level of the vehicle.

12. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the HMI includes a plurality of power outlets, and at least a portion of the plurality of power outlets have different configurations.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Collins Patrick Gordon

Classifications

• B60L58/12 Primary

  responding to state of charge [SoC] · CPC title

• B60R16/0238

  Electrical distribution centers · CPC title

• B60R16/03

  for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems {or for (circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00)} · CPC title

• G06F3/0412

  Digitisers structurally integrated in a display · CPC title

• B60K35/00 Primary

  Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles · CPC title