Abstract: A method for balancing the torque generated by the cylinders of an internal combustion engine comprising the stages of: determining for each cylinder quantity which indicates the torque generated by the cylinder in a given engine cycle; determining for each cylinder a nominal fuel amount to be injected in this cylinder in a subsequent engine cycle; determining for each cylinder a correction coefficient of the nominal fuel amount to be injected in the cylinder in this subsequent engine cycle according to the quantity determined for this cylinder; correcting the nominal fuel amount to be injected in each cylinder according to the correction coefficient determined for the cylinder itself; and injecting into each cylinder the corresponding corrected fuel amount.

Abstract: A method for balancing the torque generated by the cylinders of an internal combustion engine comprising the stages of: determining for each cylinder quantity which indicates the torque generated by the cylinder in a given engine cycle; determining for each cylinder a nominal fuel amount to be injected in this cylinder in a subsequent engine cycle; determining for each cylinder a correction coefficient of the nominal fuel amount to be injected in the cylinder in this subsequent engine cycle according to the quantity determined for this cylinder; correcting the nominal fuel amount to be injected in each cylinder according to the correction coefficient determined for the cylinder itself; and injecting into each cylinder the corresponding corrected fuel amount.

Abstract: A system for detecting the operative strokes of an internal combustion reciprocating engine (10) includes a plurality of cylinders (C1, C2, C3, C4), a crankshaft (12) and at least one camshaft (22). The system also includes first and second sensors (14, 28, 26, 30), each including one sensor (28, 30) and one wheel (14, 26), the first sensor detecting the frequency of revolution of the crankshaft (12) and the angular position of at least one cambshaft (22), respectively. The second sensor includes a phonic wheel (26) split into a number of sectors (S1, S2, S3, S4) equal to the number of cylinders (C1, C2, C3, C4) in which each sector (S1, S2, S3, S4) has a characteristic number of projections and recesses (34) which is different from those of other sectors. An electronic control unit (32) establishes the operative strokes of the cylinders (C1, C2, C3, C4) in accordance with the signals output by the first and second sensors.

Abstract: A method of calibrating the injectors of an injection system for an internal combustion engine which can compensate for the different flow rates of the injectors fitted in the engine, which are due to the production tolerances of the injectors, in order to re-match the injectors with consequent balancing of the combustion and overall improvement in the performance of the engine. The method is based on the determination of the flow rates of the injectors both with low admissions (idling) and with high admissions (acceleration) by measurement of the torque pulses supplied by each cylinder of the engine with the use of a dynamic torque measurement method.

Abstract: A method of generating a phase signal over 720.degree. for an internal-combustion engine comprises a multi-point electronic injection system operating sequentially, permitting firing in only some of the cylinders during the starting stage and detecting the angular position in which the first firing occurs.

Abstract: Starting from a sequence of values of indicated torque detected for each expected combustion in the engine a cycle signal is generated as a combination of at least two successive values of the said sequence. The peak value of the said cycle signal is then compared with a comparison threshold chosen preferably in proportion of the fuel injection duration into the cylinders. Misfires are identified preferably from the result of a comparison between the said peak value and the said comparison threshold which differs from the result of comparison in the presence of regular operation of the engine.

Abstract: A solar energy converter is provided in the form of a unit for assembly together with other similar units to build up a solar-energy conversion installation. Each unit includes a fixed support structure, a mounting element articulated on the support structure, and an optical concentrator carried by the mounting element. The optical concentrator consists of a plurality of coplanar, spherical lenses the centers of which are located at the vertices of a polygon. The center of the polygon lies on a line extending perpendicularly to the plane of the lenses through the point of articulation of the mounting element on the support structure. Each unit further includes a plurality of converter modules located at the foci of respective ones of the spherical lenses and carried by respective connecting legs which extend from the mounting element. Each converter module includes a photo-voltaic cell and means for transferring the heat dissipated in the photo-voltaic cell to a liquid.