Patent ID: 9487061
Filing Date: 2016-11-08
CPC Classification: B60H,B60P,F02M,Y10S

Claim Text:
1. A method for preventing water intrusion into an ambient air intake valve of a vehicle, comprising: receiving, at a control system, a request to open the ambient air inlet valve of an evaporative emissions system, wherein the ambient air inlet valve is operable to move from a closed position to an open position in response to an open signal requesting air intake that is transmitted to the ambient air inlet valve from the control system; when there is indication that the vehicle is towing a trailer with a trailer wiring sensor or by comparing at least one engine operating parameter to a threshold value, determining whether a submergence risk criteria is present, the submergence risk criteria comprising one or more of: sensing with a speed sensor a vehicle speed lower than a threshold vehicle speed; sensing with an inclination sensor an inclination angle of the vehicle greater than a threshold inclination; determining that the vehicle is in a reverse driving mode with a transmission sensor; transmitting the open signal to the ambient air inlet valve, in response to the request to open the ambient air inlet valve, if one or more of the submergence risk criteria is not present; and blocking the open signal to the ambient air inlet valve, in response to the request to open the ambient air inlet valve, if one or more of the submergence risk criteria are present.