Vehicle with fuel cells mounted thereon and control method of the vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9428182-B2
Application number	US-201514938531-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2015
Priority date	Nov 13, 2014
Publication date	Aug 30, 2016
Grant date	Aug 30, 2016

Abstract

An object is to allow for the move of a vehicle even in the event of an abnormality in a lid sensor. A control method of a vehicle with a fuel cell mounted thereon comprises: (a) if a signal of a lid sensor that is configured to detect opening and closing of a lid door for a gas filler port of the vehicle indicates that the lid door is open, then prohibiting move of the vehicle; and (b) if it is judged that the lid sensor has a defect or if a predetermined special operation is performed, then eliminating prohibition of the move of the vehicle despite that the signal of the lid sensor indicates that the lid door is open.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control method of a vehicle with a fuel cell mounted thereon, comprising:
(a) if a signal of a lid sensor that is configured to detect opening and closing of a lid door for a gas filler port of the vehicle indicates that the lid door is open, then prohibiting move of the vehicle; and
(b) if it is judged that the lid sensor has a defect or if a predetermined special operation is performed, then eliminating prohibition of the move of the vehicle despite that the signal of the lid sensor indicates that the lid door is open.

2. The control method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the specific operation is an operation of pressing a starter switch of the vehicle by a driver of the vehicle after repetition of a predetermined special operation processing loop a specified number of times, and
the special operation processing loop includes:
pressing the starter switch by the driver;
providing a predetermined notification; and
pressing the starter switch again by the driver.

3. The control method according to claim 2 ,
wherein the providing the notification includes at least one of notifying the driver of that the lid door is open, providing an instruction to close the lid door, and notifying the driver of a request for the specific operation.

4. The control method according to claim 2 ,
wherein the providing the notification includes:
providing a specific display by flashing a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined time duration; and
turning off the specific display from flashing.

5. The control method according to claim 1 ,
wherein if the signal of the lid sensor indicates that the lid door is closed to have a predetermined angle or less, then eliminating the prohibition of the move of the vehicle.

6. A vehicle with a fuel cell mounted thereon, comprising:
a gas filler port that is configured to supply a fuel gas into the vehicle;
a lid box that is configured to protect the gas filler port;
a lid door that is a cover of the lid box;
a lid sensor that is configured to detect opening and closing of the lid door;
a controller configured to control move of the vehicle; and
a starter switch that is configured to switch between activation and inactivation of the vehicle,
after the starter switch is on, the controller to performs:
(a) if a signal of a lid sensor that is configured to detect opening and closing of a lid door for a gas filler port of the vehicle indicates that the lid door is open, then prohibiting move of the vehicle; and
(b) if it is judged that the lid sensor has a defect or if a predetermined special operation is performed, then eliminating prohibition of the move of the vehicle despite that the signal of the lid sensor indicates that the lid door is open.

7. The vehicle according to claim 6 ,
wherein the specific operation is an operation of pressing a starter switch of the vehicle by a driver of the vehicle after repetition of a predetermined special operation processing loop a specified number of times, and
the special operation processing loop includes:
pressing the starter switch by the driver;
providing a predetermined notification by the controller; and
pressing the starter switch again by the driver.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7 ,
wherein the providing the notification includes at least one of notifying the driver of that the lid door is open, the controller provides an instruction to close the lid door and notifies the driver of a request for the specific operation.

9. The vehicle according to claim 7 ,
wherein the providing the notification includes:
providing a specific display by flashing a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined time duration; and
turning off the specific display from flashing.

10. The vehicle according to claim 6 ,
wherein if the signal of the lid sensor indicates that the lid door is closed to have a predetermined angle or less, then the controller eliminates the prohibition of the move of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kajiwara Shigeto
• Nada Mitsuhiro

Classifications

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• B60L3/0053 Primary

  relating to fuel cells · CPC title

• B60W2050/143

  Alarm means · CPC title

• B60K2015/0493

  Means for checking absence or presence of closure cap · CPC title

• B60W20/50 Primary

  Control strategies for responding to system failures, e.g. for fault diagnosis, failsafe operation or limp mode · CPC title