Patent ID: 9435235
Filing Date: 2016-09-06
CPC Classification: F01M

Claim Text:
1. An engine oil supply system having an engine driven oil pump to provide a supply of oil at pressure to an oil supply circuit and an oil accumulator connectable to the oil supply circuit by means of an electronically controlled valve, an electronic controller arranged to receive an input indicative of at least one engine operating condition and to control operation of the electronically controlled valve based at least partly upon the at least one engine operating condition, a first pressure sensor to sense a pressure of oil in the oil supply circuit and supply an output indicative of the sensed pressure to the electronic controller and a second oil pressure sensor to sense a pressure of the oil in the oil accumulator and supply an output indicative of the sensed pressure to the electronic controller, wherein the electronic controller is operable to compare the output from the first pressure sensor with the output from the second pressure sensor and, if the sensed pressure of the oil in the oil accumulator is lower than the sensed pressure of the oil in the oil supply circuit and a predefined engine operating condition indicating that charging of the oil accumulator with oil will incur substantially no fuel usage by the engine is present, operate the electronically controlled valve to connect the oil accumulator to the oil supply circuit so as to charge the oil accumulator with oil at pressure, where the electronically controlled valve is formed as an integral part of an outlet from the engine driven oil pump.