DESCRIPTION

Technical field

The present invention relates to:

- a CNG or LPG fuel supply installation installable in a road vehicle;

- a system comprising a service station and a vehicle equipped with the installation;

- a method for controlling the refuelling of a road vehicle.

Prior Art

It is known that some service stations dispensing fuel have signed an exclusivity agreement with installers/producers of CNG or LPG fuel installations usable in road vehicles. The service stations provide a contribution for buying the gas installation and in exchange the motorist contractually undertakes to carry out refuelling in a network of subscribing service stations, while avoiding all the others. With the aim of monitoring the respect for the contractual conditions, each time one of the vehicles equipping these fuel supply installations stops at a subscribed service station the refuelling is recorded. If, after a prolonged lapse of time, the motorist does not stop to refuel in the subscribing stations, inquiring communications can be sent to the motorist.

A drawback of this solution is tied to the fact that the lack of refuelling at the subscribing stations does not necessarily mean that the vehicle has refuelled at non-subscribing stations; in fact, for a plurality of reasons the vehicle may be unused for even protracted periods of time; consequently, in the already-known solutions, the managers of subscribing service stations cannot be certain that the user has used other non-subscribed stations and thus has infringed the contractual obligations.

The aim of the present invention is to disclose a CNG or LPG fuel supply installation usable in a road vehicle, a system comprising both a service station and a vehicle equipped with such a supply installation as well as a method for controlling refuelling of a road vehicle which obviate the above- indicated drawbacks. In particular, an aim of the present invention is to enable a complete loyalty of the customer, by precisely monitoring the situation and enabling the enacting of adequate counter-measures.

Aim of the invention

The specified technical aim and the specified objectives are substantially attained by a CNG or LPG fuel supply installation, a system comprising a service station and a vehicle equipped with the fuel supply installation as well as a method for control of the supply of fuel in a road vehicle comprising the technical characteristics set out in one or more of the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will more fully emerge from the indicative, and thus non-limiting, description of a CNG or LPG fuel supply installation illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

- figure 1 is a schematic view of a first solution according to the present invention;

- figure 2 is a schematic view of a second solution according to the present invention;

- figure 3 is a schematic view of a third solution according to the present invention;

- figure 4 is a schematic view of a system comprising a fuel installation according to the present invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention

In the accompanying figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a CNG or LPG fuel supply installation installable in a road vehicle. CNG is intended to refer to compressed natural gas, commonly methane. LPG is understood to mean liquefied petroleum gas. The fuel supply installation 1 enables use of CNG or LPG in internal combustion engines. The installation 1 is additional and alternative to petrol or diesel supply of the internal combustion engine the vehicle is equipped with.

The installation 1 comprises a tank 2 for CNG or LPG fuel. The installation 1 further comprises a means 3 for detecting an introduction of fuel into the tank 2. The means 3 comprises a sensor 30 of the quantity of fuel present in the tank 2: for example it can provide a signal tied to the quantity of the fuel as a ratio of the overall volume of the tank (degree of filling) or can provide a signal associated to the absolute measurement of the fuel present in the tank 2. When the sensor 30, with the engine switched off, signals a sharp variation of the quantity of fuel, the installation notices that fuel has been introduced into the tank 2.

The installation 1 further comprises a means 4 for recognising the positioning of the installation 1 (or in any case the vehicle the installation 1 is mounted on) in predetermined service stations that dispense CNG or LPG. In other words, the means 4 enable to detect whether the installation 1 is physically in predetermined subscriber service stations or not.

The recognition means 4 comprise:

- wireless transceiver means 41 , intended to interact with the service station; and

- a means 42 for processing a signal coming from the wireless means 41 . The wireless means 41 advantageously operate in a radio frequency. The wireless means 41 advantageously operate in the area of frequency band 868 MHz. In an exemplary solution, the wireless means send a signal and the absence of pre-codified feedback indicates that the vehicle equipped with the installation 1 is in a service station that is not a subscriber (subscriber stations will have been equipped with a system able to provide a feedback to the signal emitted by the wireless means 41 ).

In an alternative solution the wireless means 41 may receive a predetermined signal from the service station, thus ascertaining that it is in a subscriber station; in this case the recognition means 4 advantageously respond to the service station to confirm the presence of the vehicle.

The installation 1 advantageously comprises a means 5 for blocking the CNG or LPG fuel supply upon the occurrence of a predetermined situation. In this matter, advantageously but not necessarily, the blocking means 5 block the switching towards a CNG or LPG supply upon the occurrence of a predetermined situation (in fact on starting up vehicles are usually supplied with petrol or diesel and only thereafter the supply is switched to CNG or LPG). The predetermined above-mentioned situation is a function of the signals received from the means 3 for detecting the introduction of fuel and of the signals coming from said recognition means 4.

The blocking means 5 can be integrated in a same control unit (see figure 3) or in control units that are physically distinct (see figures 1 or 2). The installation is in any case able to autonomously decide, without the intervention of an external operator, when to block the CNG or LPG supply.

Likewise, the means 5 for blocking and the means 42 for processing a signal coming from the wireless means 41 can be integrated, or not, in a common control unit.

With reference to figures 1 and 2, the installation 1 advantageously comprises:

- a first control unit 1 1 , which in turn comprises: the wireless transceiver means 41 intended to interact with the service station and the means 42 for processing a signal coming from the wireless means 41 ;

- a second control unit 12 (in the technical sector also known as gas ECU) for controlling the fuel supply installation 1 . The first control unit 1 1 is an additional control device separate from the second control unit 12.

The first and the second control units 1 1 , 12 are connected by means of a communication line 13.

The first control unit 1 1 can advantageously comprise a storage zone 1 10 to store a conversion characteristic of the signal of the sensor 30 (for example a voltage) in a datum relating to the quantity of fuel present in the tank. The conversion characteristic will depend on the sensor 30 used, the dimensions of the tank 2 and the conformation thereof, as well as the way of supplying/polarising the sensor 30. Alternatively, the storage zone 1 10 of the conversion characteristic may be located on the second control unit 12.

The first control unit 1 1 can further comprise storage means 1 1 1 to store the signal of the sensor 30 (detected at predetermined readings) or of the corresponding datum determined by the above-indicated conversion characteristic. This would enable to save statistics relating to the trend of the level of fuel in the tank. In particular this enables to perform statistical analyses on the fuel consumption of a vehicle.

In a first construction solution exemplified in figure 1 , the first control unit 1 1 is indirectly connected to the sensor 30 via the second control unit 12. In this case the second control unit 12 is connected to the sensor 30 by means of an electrical connection 14. The first control unit 1 1 requests the value of the sensor 30 via the communication line 13 to the second control unit 12. Advantageously, though without limitation, the communication line 13 is of the CAN-bus (controller Area Network) type. The first control unit 1 1 also communicates via the first communication line 13 when to inhibit CNG or LPG supply.

In a second construction solution exemplified in figure 2, the first control unit 1 1 is connected to the sensor 30 bypassing the second control unit 12 (this is done via the connection 15). The first control unit 1 1 therefore comprises electronics 1 12 for reading the signal coming from the sensor 30.

In this case the first control unit 1 1 communicates to the second control unit 12 when to inhibit CNG or LPG supply; appropriately, this takes place via a communication line 13.

In a third construction solution (see figure 3) the first and the second control units 1 1 , 12 merge in a common control unit. In this case the control unit includes a software routine which autonomously decides when to inhibit the CNG or LPG supply as a function of the signals coming from the sensor 30 and the transceiver wireless means 41 . In the preferred solution, the first and the second control units 1 1 , 12 are distinct as this enables a greater productive standardisation of the hardware (the first control unit 1 1 is added to the second only in installations where the customer loyalty of the present invention is required; this enables to concentrate in an additional single device the modifications required with respect to other conventional installations). The object of the present invention is also a system comprising:

- a road vehicle 100 in turn comprising an installation 1 for CNG or LPG fuel supply having one or more of the characteristics indicated in the foregoing;

-a service station 101 dispensing LPG or CNG comprising a wireless transceiver 102 capable of dialoguing with the wireless means 41 of the CNG or LPG fuel supply installation 1 of the vehicle 100.

The present invention further relates to a method for controlling the refuelling of a road vehicle 100 equipped with a CNG or LPG fuel supply installation 1 .

The method comprises the implementation on the part of the vehicle 100 (or rather on the part of the CNG or LPG fuel supply installation 1 ) of the steps of:

-detecting the introduction of CNG or LPG fuel into a tank 2 of the vehicle;

- recognizing whether or not said step of detecting the introduction of fuel into the tank 2 of the vehicle 100 takes place in a service station 101 belonging to a predetermined group of service stations; the step of recognizing comprises at least the exchange of a wireless signal with the service station 101 ;

-blocking a CNG or LPG fuel supply to the vehicle 100 upon the occurrence of a predetermined situation associated with the introduction of fuel into the tank 2 of the vehicle 100 outside said predetermined group of service stations. The step of blocking the CNG or LPG supply preferably includes blocking the switching towards a CNG or LPG supply (as explained in the foregoing, usually vehicles start up with petrol or diesel and then switch to LPG or CNG).

In particular the predetermined situation is tied to the introduction into the tank 2, outside said predetermined group of service stations, of at least a predetermined quantity of fuel. The predetermined quantity of fuel can be introduced in a single refuelling operation or distributed among a plurality of refuelling operations.

In an alternative solution said predetermined situation is tied to a carrying out of a predetermined number of refuelling operations not in a service station that is a part of the predetermined group.

In addition and possibly the method can comprise the step of blocking the supply of CNG or LPG of the vehicle following a predetermined time after which the vehicle has not performed a refuelling operation at one of the predetermined service stations or when during a predetermined lapse of time it has not performed a minimum number of refuelling operations at the subscribing stations.

The exchanging of a wireless signal with the service station 101 (for recognizing whether or not said step of detecting the introduction of fuel takes place in a service station belonging to a predetermined group) can advantageously comprise wireless transmission of a signal by the vehicle 100 and the analysis of a corresponding feedback. In this case the wireless transmission of a signal by the vehicle 100 and the analysis of a corresponding feedback is triggered by the step of detecting the introduction of fuel into a tank 2 of the vehicle 100. Preferably though not necessarily the wireless transmission of the signal occurs towards the outside of the vehicle 100. In practice, with the engine turned off, when via a sensor 30 the installation 1 notices that the quantity of fuel in the tank 2 is increasing, then the wireless transmission of a signal by the vehicle 100 (more precisely, by the installation 1 ) and the analysis of the corresponding feedback in input (in the absence of the expected feedback the installation 1 will realize that it is outside said group of predetermined service stations) occurs. In an alternative embodiment the wireless transmission of the signal is triggered by the service station for example by means of "polling" and a subsequent detection of the presence of the vehicle 100. The service station may activate following an input of the management system (for example by means of a command on the manual input of an operator) or by periodic scanning of the frequency of communication at congruous intervals.

The method advantageously also comprises the step of storing the refuelling operations carried out at the group of predetermined service stations and/or out of the group of predetermined service stations.

In the exemplary construction solution of figure 1 :

- the step of detecting the introduction of fuel into a tank 2 of the vehicle 100 comprises a step of a first control unit 1 1 querying a second control unit 12, said second control unit 12 being connected with the sensor 30; appropriately, the first control unit 1 1 periodically queries the second control unit 12 with a certain frequency so that it notices when a modification of the quantity of fuel present in the tank 2 occurs; and/or

- the step of recognizing whether or not said step of detecting the introduction of fuel into the tank 2 of the vehicle 100 takes place in a service station 101 belonging to a predetermined group of service stations is implemented by said first control unit 1 1 ; and/or

- the step of blocking the CNG or LPG fuel supply comprises a step of transmitting a blocking signal from the first to the second control unit 1 1 , 12.

In the solution of figure 2:

- the step of detecting the introduction of fuel into a tank 2 of the vehicle 100 comprises the step of putting a first control unit 1 1 into communication with a sensor 30 for sensing the quantity of fuel present in the tank 2; in this matter, the first control unit 1 1 can read the electric signal at predetermined intervals; in an alternative embodiment it may periodically query the sensor 30 with a certain frequency so as to notice when a modification of the quantity of fuel present in the tank 2 occurs; and/or

- the step of recognizing whether or not said step of detecting the introduction of fuel into the tank 2 of the vehicle 100 takes place in a service station 101 belonging to a predetermined group of service stations is implemented by said first control unit 1 1 ; and/or

- the step of blocking the CNG or LPG fuel supply comprises a step of transmitting a blocking signal from the first control unit 1 1 to a second control unit 12, said second control unit 12 being bypassed during the step of putting the first control unit 1 1 into communication with the sensor 30 for sensing the quantity of fuel present in the tank 2.

With reference to figure 3 the following steps are implemented by a first control unit 1 1 :

-detecting the introduction of fuel into a tank 2 of the vehicle;

- recognizing whether or not said step of detecting the introduction of fuel into the tank 2 of the vehicle 1 takes place or not in a service station belonging to a predetermined group of service stations;

- blocking the CNG or LPG fuel supply.

The present invention offers important advantages.

Primarily, is enables to achieve customer loyalty that is technically measurable objectively and which enables adequate technical countermeasures.

Further, owing to the possibility of recording the refuelling data, it is possible to use this information to obtain post-payments for the fuel.

Moreover, it is possible to request a confirmation of the operation by sending a message, for example via SMS.

The invention as it is conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications, all falling within the scope of the inventive concept characterising it. Further, all the details can be replaced with other technically-equivalent elements. In practice, all the materials used, as well as the dimensions, can be any according to requirements.