Using Multiple Injectors Or Injections Patents (Class 123/299)
  • Patent number: 7409926
    Abstract: A method of operating an internal combustion engine including at least a combustion chamber having a piston disposed therein, the method comprising during a first number of cycles after start-up of the engine, supplying at least a first fuel to the combustion chamber, and combusting said first fuel and during a second number of cycles after said first number of cycles, supplying said first fuel and a second fuel to the combustion chamber to form a substantially homogeneous mixture, and compressing said mixture with said piston to cause auto-ignition of said mixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2008
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Harold Sun, Zafar Shaikh
  • Publication number: 20080178836
    Abstract: A method of operating an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber with a piston and a spark plug, comprising during a first mode, bringing the temperature of the combustion chamber to auto-ignition temperature by adjusting engine operating conditions and producing auto-ignition in said combustion chamber without requiring spark from said spark plug; and during a second mode, bringing the temperature of the combustion chamber close to auto-ignition temperature by adjusting engine operating conditions, forming a small cloud of stratified air-fuel mixture near said spark plug, igniting said fuel cloud by a spark form said spark plug, and then causing cylinder pressure to rise, thereby producing auto-ignition at other sites in said combustion chamber wherein said first mode is implemented in a first operating range and said second mode is implemented only in a second operating range where engine speed and load are lower than said first operating range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2008
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Yamashita, Tatsuya Tanaka, Tomomi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 7404390
    Abstract: In a method for forming a fuel/air mixture of a directly injecting internal combustion engine with a spark ignition, the fuel injection is configured in a stratified charge operating mode of the internal combustion engine in such a way that a first, a second and optionally a third part amount are introduced into the combustion chamber during the compression stroke of the internal combustion engine. The injection of the final part amount is ended at a crank angle which lies in a range between ?2° CA and 20° CA before the ignition time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2008
    Assignee: Daimler AG
    Inventor: Frank Altenschmidt
  • Publication number: 20080173277
    Abstract: The invention relates to an internal combustion engine operable in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion mode and in conventional spark ignited combustion mode and a method for restart of HCCI combustion therein. Whilst cranking the exhaust valve is arranged to be closed before top dead center (TDC) during an exhaust stroke. The intake valve is arranged to be opened after TDC during an induction stroke. Fuel injection control means are arranged to perform a first fuel injection after closing of the exhaust valve and before TDC of the exhaust stroke. The ignition control means are arranged to cause said spark plug to ignite the first injected quantity of fuel before said opening of the intake valve. The fuel injection control means are arranged to perform at least one further fuel injection in the interval after TDC of the exhaust stroke and before TDC of a subsequent compression stroke.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2007
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Applicant: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Rob J. Otterspeer, Lucien Koopmans
  • Patent number: 7401591
    Abstract: A control system for an internal combustion engine having at least one fuel injection valve for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of the engine and burning the injected fuel by compression ignition. A fuel injection control parameter for controlling at least one fuel injection valve is changed. A combustion state of the engine is then detected. A cetane number of the fuel is then estimated based on the changed fuel injection control parameter and the detected combustion state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2008
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Yamaguchi, Mamoru Hasegawa, Hideki Sakamoto, Naoto Kitayama
  • Patent number: 7398644
    Abstract: In a mechanical apparatus having a diesel engine including a combustion chamber, the mechanical apparatus also having an aftertreatment device configured to treat emissions from the diesel engine and an intake valve for passing air into the combustion chamber, a method of operating the engine is disclosed, wherein the method includes performing at least one combustion in the combustion chamber at a first intake valve closure timing, determining a temperature of the aftertreatment device, and if the temperature of the aftertreatment device is equal to or below a preselected temperature threshold, then performing at least one combustion in the combustion chamber at a second intake valve closure timing to thereby increase the temperature of exhaust emitted by the diesel engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2008
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Leone, Al Berger, Jeff Doering
  • Publication number: 20080156293
    Abstract: Intake air is restricted to provide an intake manifold pressure that is below the pressure of the ambient atmosphere. Fuel is injected into each combustion chamber at a position of between 15° and 45° BTDC to achieve HCCI combustion under idle and light load operating conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2006
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventor: Yiqun Huang
  • Patent number: 7392785
    Abstract: A method for operating an internal combustion engine in controlled self-ignition, a fuel-air mixture being introduced into a combustion chamber at least partially in a gas-exchange cycle, and being compressed in a compression stroke, the load range usable for the Otto engine self-ignition is broadened in that, in the fuel-air mixture, during the gas-exchange cycle, a flame front is generated at one or a plurality of places by spark ignition, which compresses and/or heats up the remaining fuel-air mixture, and converts the latter thereby at least partially to intermediate combustion products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Andre-Francisco Casal Kulzer
  • Patent number: 7389752
    Abstract: A method and system for providing pilot fuel for a pilot ignition system of an internal combustion engine having one or more cylinders and having a lubrication system. A portion of the lubricating oil is diverted from the lubricating system. During the pilot ignition phase of the engine combustion cycle, the diverted lubricating oil is injected into the one or more cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2008
    Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
    Inventors: Terrence F. Alger, II, Jess W. Gingrich, Stephen F. Hahne
  • Patent number: 7387104
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine with direct gasoline injection and controlled ignition, having at least one cylinder, a cylinder head, sealing the cylinder, a piston, arranged to run in the cylinder, a combustion chamber, defined by the piston and the cylinder head, a gasoline injector into the combustion chamber, an ignition device, for producing an ignition of the air/gasoline mixture in the combustion chamber, inlet and exhaust valves, selectively sealing the combustion chamber and a system for recirculation of at least a part of the exhaust gas into the combustion chamber during the air intake phase, wherein the pressure provided for the injection device is greater than 250 bars, such as to homogenize the air/gasoline/recycled exhaust gas mixture and increase the speed of combustion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: Peugeot Citroen Automobiles SA
    Inventor: Pascal Sulkowski
  • Patent number: 7387105
    Abstract: An injector for a diesel engine that controls an injecting angle of a fuel in accordance with a driving type of the diesel engine. A nozzle body defines first and second injection holes for injecting a fuel into a combustion chamber and first and second needles selectively open and close the first and second injection holes by moving upwardly and downwardly along a guide portion. An ECU controls ignition timing and the opening and closing timings of the first and second ignition holes via the needles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Joon Kyu Lee
  • Publication number: 20080135014
    Abstract: A method for operating an internal combustion engine, injects fuel directly into a combustion chamber as a main injection, a postinjection and optionally also as a preinjection. An injection nozzle with a plurality of injection bores effects the preinjection and the postinjection preferably which is carried out cyclically. To minimize wetting of the combustion chamber walls, during the postinjection the partial quantities of fuel and a lift of the nozzle needle of the injection nozzle are set so that, for each partial quantity of the postinjection injected into the combustion chamber, the reach of the respective fuel jet in the combustion chamber is limited and the reach is less than the distance to a combustion chamber boundary.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2004
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Applicant: DaimlerChrysler AG
    Inventors: Matthias Blessing, Harald Braun, Frank Keller, Gerhard Konig, Christian Krueger, Alois Raab
  • Publication number: 20080135015
    Abstract: Fuel, especially ethanol, is injected in an internal combustion engine via at least one injection device into a combustion chamber, with the injection pressure of the fuel being temporarily increased during the starting phase of the internal combustion engine. The injected fuel quantity is divided among several injections in the intake phase during the start of the internal combustion engine, with at least two injections being performed during the intake phase and with the multiple injections being performed with high injection pressure already in the dragging phase for the first injections. The starting behavior can be improved when the quantity of fuel of the last fuel injection is lower than the quantity of each preceding fuel injection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2007
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Inventor: Paul Kapus
  • Patent number: 7383811
    Abstract: A fuel injection system for an engine is configured of a downstream-side fuel injection valve which is provided to an intake passage connected to a combustion chamber, and from which fuel in the intake passage is injected, and an upstream-side fuel injection valve which is provided in the intake passage upstream of the downstream-side fuel injection valve, and from which fuel in the intake passage is injected. In the fuel injection system, a fuel injection pressure applied to the upstream-side fuel injection valve is set at a higher value than a fuel injection pressure applied to the downstream-side fuel injection valve. Fuel is injected from both injection valves on fuel injection shares depending on a detected load on the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroya Ueda
  • Patent number: 7380537
    Abstract: In a vehicle incorporating an internal combustion engine having in-cylinder injectors and intake manifold injectors and performing engine intermittent operation control, at the end of vehicle operation, the fuel pressure is decreased in both a high-pressure delivery pipe and a low-pressure delivery pipe by actuation (opening) of an electromagnetic relief valve and by stop of operation of a low-pressure fuel pump. This prevents deterioration in emission performance at the next engine start attributable to fuel leakage due to degradation in oil tightness of the injectors during the operation stop period. When the engine is temporarily stopped by engine intermittent operation control, while the low-pressure fuel pump is stopped, actuation (opening) of the electromagnetic relief valve is prohibited. At the engine restart after temporary stop, the fuel in the high-pressure delivery pipe having its pressure secured at a certain level is injected to quickly start the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Yamaguchi, Toshio Inoue, Mamoru Tomatsuri, Keiko Hasegawa, Keita Fukui
  • Patent number: 7380540
    Abstract: A homogenous charge compression ignition engine is operated by compressing a charge mixture of air, exhaust and fuel in a combustion chamber to an autoignition condition of the fuel. The engine may facilitate a transition from a first combination of speed and load to a second combination of speed and load by changing the charge mixture and compression ratio. This may be accomplished in a consecutive engine cycle by adjusting both a fuel injector control signal and a variable valve control signal away from a nominal variable valve control signal. Thereafter in one or more subsequent engine cycles, more sluggish adjustments are made to at least one of a geometric compression ratio control signal and an exhaust gas recirculation control signal to allow the variable valve control signal to be readjusted back toward its nominal variable valve control signal setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin P. Duffy, Parag Mehresh, David Schuh, Andrew J. Kieser, Carl-Anders Hergart, William L. Hardy, Anthony Rodman, Michael P. Liechty
  • Patent number: 7380539
    Abstract: The engine ECU executes a program including the step of detecting an engine coolant temperature, the step of detecting an engine speed and an engine load, the step of estimating a temperature at a tip end of an in-cylinder injector based on the engine coolant temperature, the engine speed and the engine load, and, when the temperature at the tip end is greater than a guaranteed temperature, the step of calculating a drive duty of a high-pressure fuel pump that ensures a decrease of the temperature at the tip end of the in-cylinder injector to the guaranteed temperature, and the step of controlling the high-pressure fuel pump using the drive duty.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuhiko Akita, Naoki Kurata, Daichi Yamazaki, Mitsuto Sakai
  • Patent number: 7373917
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for operating a hybrid vehicle with a drive train which comprises an internal combustion engine driven by diesel fuel and at least one electric driving machine. In order to reduce the nitrogen oxide and exhaust particulate emissions it is provided that the internal combustion engine is operated with an alternative diesel combustion method in at least one operating range of the vehicle and the electric driving machine is switched in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: AVL List GmbH
    Inventors: Raimund Ellinger, Wolfgang Kriegler, Michael Weissbäck, Peter Ebner
  • Patent number: 7373918
    Abstract: When a learning condition is satisfied, an operational state of an engine is adjusted in a retarded combustion operation to a misfire inducing state, at which misfire is prone to occur in a cylinder of the engine due to shortage of a pilot flame generative injection quantity. When the misfire is sensed, the pilot flame generative injection quantity of the misfired cylinder is progressively increased. Then, when the misfire is eliminated through this, a pilot flame generative correction quantity at the time of eliminating the misfire is stored. Thereafter, the pilot flame generative injection quantity is corrected based on the stored pilot flame generative correction quantity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Ken Uchiyama
  • Patent number: 7373928
    Abstract: A method for starting an engine having fuel injected directly into cylinders of the engine is presented. The method can use multiple injections of fuel to start the engine even when the absolute position of each piston is not known. Furthermore, once the engine is started the individual piston positions can be determined and then the engine can be operated in a conventional manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Inventor: Joseph Thomas
  • Patent number: 7370629
    Abstract: In a method for operating a spark-ignition internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection in the post-start phase at low temperatures, fuel is supplied to the combustion air in a pilot injection (MH) of a first fuel quantity during an intake stroke of the internal combustion engine such that the pilot injection (MH) forms a homogeneous, lean air/fuel mixture (?>1) in substantially the entire combustion chamber, and a main injection (MS) of a second fuel quantity is subsequently injected into the combustion chamber during a compression stroke directly before the ignition time (ZT), said main injection (MS) forming in the region of the spark plug a stratified, rich air/fuel mixture (?<1), which is then ignited by the spark plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignee: Daimler AG
    Inventors: Bernd Köhler, Christoph Lux, Michael Oechsle, Andreas Spieth
  • Patent number: 7370631
    Abstract: A fuel-injection system including a fuel injector, having a plurality of spray-discharge orifices, which meters fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, has an ignition device, which projects into the combustion chamber, this ignition device having at least one first pole and one second pole. The fuel jets emerging from the spray-discharge orifices spread an essentially cone-shaped fuel fan below the region of the ignition device. The end of the at least one first pole is arranged to the side adjacent to the end of the second pole projecting into the combustion chamber, and both ends are located on approximately the same level of the longitudinal axis of the ignition device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Klaus-Peter Gansert, Axel Storch, Robert Koehler, Jens Botte
  • Patent number: 7370628
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for heating a catalytic converter which is arranged in the exhaust-gas path of an internal combustion engine with direct injection and spark ignition. In the method, a first fuel injection takes place in the intake stroke (E), whereas a second fuel injection begins in the combustion stroke after top dead center and prior to the spark ignition of the air/fuel mix. It is preferable for the second fuel injection to continue beyond the ignition instant until the pressure in the combustion chamber reaches the fuel injection pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Brian Eves, Dirk Borrmann, Gary Peirce, Franz Brinkmann
  • Patent number: 7370626
    Abstract: The invention relates to a spark-ignition engine with a highly structural compression ratio greater than 15:1, throttle regulation, externally supplied ignition and with direct fuel injection into a precombustion chamber, which is connected to the main combustion chamber via an overflow channel. The fuel is injected into the precombustion chamber during the compression stroke and is ignited by a spark plug located in a manner that is as central as possible. The invention relates to a spark-ignition engine with a highly structural compression ratio greater than 15:1, throttle regulation, externally supplied ignition and with direct fuel injection into a precombustion chamber, which is connected to the main combustion chamber via an overflow channel. The fuel is injected into the precombustion chamber during the compression stroke and is ignited by a spark plug located in a manner that is as central as possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Inventor: Gottfried Schubert
  • Patent number: 7370630
    Abstract: The present invention relates (with reference to FIG. 1) to an internal combustion engine in which a combustion chamber (12) can be connected to a reservoir (16) for storing compressed air. Gas flow control valve means (15) controls flow between the chamber (12) and reservoir (16) so that air pressurised in the chamber (12) can be relayed to charge the reservoir (16) and pressurised air can be delivered to the chamber (12) to drive piston (10). The chamber (12) is also used for combustion of fuel. The invention also relates to a valve mechanism for controlling the flow of pressurised air between the chamber (12) and reservoir (16), in which a balancing force is applied to the gas flow control valve (115) to cancel the force on the valve (115) arising from the pressure applied to the back face of the valve (115).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignee: Lotus Cars Limited
    Inventors: James William Griffith Turner, Jeffrey Allen
  • Patent number: 7370632
    Abstract: A system in which a depollution apparatus is associated with an oxidation catalyst and the engine is associated with a common rail for feeding it with fuel and adapted to implement a regeneration strategy using at least one post-injection of fuel into the cylinders. A request (req.RG) for regeneration is detected, state in which the vehicle accelerator pedal is being raised or a stage in which the engine is idling is detected, the temperature downstream from the catalyst is acquired, and a maximum quantity of fuel to be injected during post-injections is determined. The post-injection is immediately interrupted if the quantity of fuel injected reaches the maximum quantity during a stage of returning to idling. The post-injection is progressively reduced if the quantity of fuel injected reaches the maximum quantity during a stage of idling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignee: Peugeot Citroen Automobiles SA
    Inventor: Christophe Colignon
  • Patent number: 7367317
    Abstract: An engine ECU executes a program including a step of sensing a coolant temperature TW of an engine, if a start request of the engine is sensed, a step of causing only an intake manifold injector to inject fuel to start engine 10, if coolant temperature TW is lower than a threshold value TW(0), and a step of causing only an in-cylinder injector to inject fuel to start engine 10, if coolant temperature TW is higher than threshold value TW(0).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuma Miyazaki, Takashi Watanabe
  • Publication number: 20080098969
    Abstract: A method of operating an engine having at least one cylinder including an intake valve and an exhaust valve, the method comprising of injecting a first amount of fuel into the cylinder; auto-igniting a first mixture of air and said first amount of fuel by compressing said first mixture; injecting a second amount of fuel into the cylinder after auto-igniting said first mixture; combusting a second mixture of said second amount of fuel and gasses from auto-ignition of said first mixture; holding an intake valve of the cylinder closed between auto-igniting the first mixture and combusting the second mixture; and exhausting said combusted second mixture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2006
    Publication date: May 1, 2008
    Inventors: Dennis Reed, Nate Trask, Alex Gibson
  • Publication number: 20080098730
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates to engines, and, more particularly, to an exhaust system for reducing buildup in an exhaust gas recirculation system when mixing hydrocarbons with exhaust.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2006
    Publication date: May 1, 2008
    Inventor: Douglas E. Owens
  • Patent number: 7363906
    Abstract: A control system for an internal combustion engine, which can determine just enough amounts of demanded combustion fuel and auxiliary fuel during execution of auxiliary fuel supply, for improvement of fuel economy and drivability and the emission-reducing capability of a catalyst. The control system carries out auxiliary fuel supply for a cylinder during a predetermined time period within the expansion and exhaust strokes, to control the catalyst to a predetermined state for its emission-reducing capability. The control system calculates a whole demanded fuel amount to make oxygen concentration in exhaust gases equal to a predetermined value for controlling the catalyst to the state during auxiliary fuel supply, determines the amount of demanded combustion fuel to be supplied to obtain engine output, and determines the auxiliary fuel amount based on the difference between the whole demanded fuel amount and the demanded combustion fuel amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ken Ogawa, Toshinari Shinohara, Tetsuaki Nakano
  • Patent number: 7360522
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, there is provided a method of providing a first fuel injection schedule having one or more injections per cylinder per compression stroke at a first discrete power level selected from a plurality of discrete power levels of an engine. The method further includes providing a second fuel injection schedule having a plurality of injections per cylinder per compression stroke at a second discrete power level selected from the plurality of discrete power levels of the engine, wherein the first and second fuel injection schedules comprise different injection characteristics from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bhaskar Tamma, Jennifer Ann Topinka, Roy James Primus, Richard John McGowan
  • Patent number: 7353799
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for operating an internal combustion engine, wherein fuel is injected in a pre-injection and main injection process. According to the invention, pre-injection occurs in the intermediate compression stroke of the internal combustion engine. Main injection is carried out in an intake synchronous manner. The invention can be used for internal combustion engines, particularly for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG
    Inventors: Goetz Brachert, Ruediger Herweg, Kai Kanning, Matthias Pfau, Jochen Schaeflein, Hans-Juergen Weimann
  • Patent number: 7353798
    Abstract: A low-pressure delivery pipe provided with intake manifold injectors, a fuel pressure regulator, a high-pressure fuel pump, a high-pressure delivery pipe provided with in-cylinder injectors, and an electromagnetic relief valve are connected in series at the downstream of a low-pressure fuel pump that discharges a fuel within a fuel tank at a prescribed pressure. Since the low-pressure delivery pipe is arranged downstream of the low-pressure fuel pump, the fuel pressure within the low-pressure delivery pipe is lowered upon stop of vehicle operation, in response to stop of the low-pressure fuel pump. The fuel pressure within the high-pressure delivery pipe is also lowered in response to stop of the low-pressure fuel pump, by opening the electromagnetic relief valve upon stop of vehicle operation. Thus, oil tightness of the injectors during the stop of vehicle operation is ensured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Tokuda, Naoki Kurata, Katsuhiko Yamaguchi, Toshio Inoue, Naoto Suzuki, Mamoru Tomatsuri, Keiko Hasegawa, Keita Fukui
  • Patent number: 7350504
    Abstract: In control apparatus and method for an inner cylinder spark ignited internal combustion engine having a fuel injection valve configured to directly inject fuel into an inside of an engine cylinder and a spark plug, a super retard combustion is executed to set an ignition timing after a compression stroke top dead center and to inject fuel before the ignition timing and after the compression stroke top dead center during a predetermined engine driving condition and at least part of fuel is injected before the compression stroke top dead center to decrease a fuel injection quantity after the compression stroke top dead center during an interval which is immediately after an engine start and in which a pressure of fuel is relatively low.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2008
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Makoto Yasunaga, Tomoyuki Takeda, Akira Nakajima, Taizo Horikomi, Daisuke Takaki, Katsuaki Uchiyama, Masatoshi Hidaka, Hitoshi Ishii, Tomoyuki Shigefuji, Masayuki Tomita, Mitsuhiro Akagi
  • Publication number: 20080072872
    Abstract: A method for controlling direct fuel injection into an engine is detailed. The method comprises determining a quantity of fuel to inject into a combustion chamber during a combustion cycle, and, executing three fuel injection events during the combustion cycle. The first fuel injection event is initiated during a compression stroke immediately before top-dead-center point of piston travel. A first dwell time is substantially equal to a second dwell time. Quantities of fuel injected during each of the three fuel injection events are substantially equal. An aspect of the invention includes the first and second dwell times determined based upon emissions and engine thermal efficiency. The invention facilitates improved engine-out emissions, without substantial changes in engine or aftertreatment hardware.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2006
    Publication date: March 27, 2008
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventor: Robert M. Siewert
  • Patent number: 7347180
    Abstract: In a method for operating an internal combustion engine having a variable compression ratio either in a compression ignition or in a spark ignition operating mode depending on the engine operating point, a higher compression ratio is provided in the compression ignition mode than in the spark ignition mode so as to optimize the operation of the internal combustion engine at low and medium engine loads, and to reduce engine emissions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG
    Inventors: Gots Brachert, Rüdiger Herweg, Matthias Pfau, Jochen Schäflein, Hans-Jürgen Weimann
  • Patent number: 7347181
    Abstract: A direct injection spark ignition engine comprises a cylinder, a piston, a fuel injector arranged at one side of a center axis of the cylinder for directly injecting fuel into the combustion chamber, and a smoothly continuous lowered recess formed on a top surface of the piston surface. The recess has a first cross section along a first plane including the cylinder center axis and a nozzle end of the injector. The first and second lower contours are smoothly connected with each other through a lowest point of the first cross section. The first lower contour is located at the one side of the cylinder center axis. The second lower contour is at the other side. The first contour has a larger radius than a radius of the second contour. Accordingly, the fuel spray having greater movement energy may impinge the recess at a regulated impinging angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Yamashita, Masatoshi Seto, Hiroyuki Yoshida
  • Patent number: 7343895
    Abstract: A pilot fuel injection valve is mountable in a cylinder head of an engine and injects a liquid pilot fuel directly into a combustion chamber. The pilot fuel injection valve comprises a cooling system to keep the pilot fuel at a temperature that is lower than the lowest initial boiling point for the pilot fuel that occurs inside the fuel injection valve. The pilot fuel injection valve further comprises a thermally insulated nozzle having an outer surface that is not cooled by the cooler cylinder head and the cooler pilot fuel held inside the fuel injection valve. During operation, the nozzle's outer surface can be heated to a temperature that is not significantly lower than the final boiling point of the pilot fuel so that a significant amount of pilot fuel does not condense on the nozzle surface during engine operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2008
    Assignee: Westport Power Inc.
    Inventor: Randall Mark
  • Publication number: 20080060609
    Abstract: A method of operating an engine including at least one cylinder and a piston disposed within the cylinder, the method comprising during a first condition, injecting fuel into the cylinder and subsequently operating the piston to perform one compression stroke before combusting the injected fuel, and during a second condition, injecting fuel into the cylinder and subsequently operating the piston to perform at least two compression strokes before combusting the injected fuel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2006
    Publication date: March 13, 2008
    Inventors: Gopichandra Surnilla, Andreas Schamel
  • Patent number: 7337767
    Abstract: In a device for controlling an engine, comprising combustion noise suppressor for suppressing combustion noise of a combustion chamber and controller for controlling the combustion noise suppressor, the device further includes control amount setter for setting a control amount of the combustion noise suppressor so that target combustion noise characteristics corresponding to a required amount of acceleration or deceleration exhibit a slower change in combustion noise than combustion noise characteristics corresponding to output characteristics of the engine over before and after acceleration or deceleration, wherein the controller controls the combustion noise suppressor according to the control amount set by the control amount setter. On the event of a rapid acceleration, a rapid change in the combustion noise in the initial stage of the acceleration is prevented to improve driving comfort.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Naofumi Magarida, Shinobu Ishiyama
  • Patent number: 7334569
    Abstract: An air-fuel ratio feedback system is configured to calculate the deviation between a target air-fuel ratio and an air-fuel ratio sensor value, multiplying a proportional gain by the calculated deviation to obtain a feedback correction value, and add the calculated feedback correction value to the in-cylinder injection quantity of an in-cylinder injector that is obtained by multiplying the fuel injection ratio of the in-cylinder injector by the basic fuel injection quantity. The calculated feedback correction value is not added to the port injection quantity of the intake manifold cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Daisuke Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7334562
    Abstract: A method is shown for operating an internal combustion engine having a combustion chamber with a piston, the internal combustion engine capable of injecting fuel into the combustion chamber multiple times during a cycle, the method comprising: performing a first fuel injection after approximately ?25 crank angle degrees after top dead center and before approximately 15 crank angle degrees after top dead center; and performing a second fuel injection at least 5 degrees after the start of the first fuel injection and less than approximately 25 crank angle degrees after the start of the first fuel injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Lisa Marie Jacobsson, Oivind Andersson
  • Patent number: 7334563
    Abstract: A fuel injector has a plunger for opening/closing a fuel path to control the amount of fuel to be injected; a seat portion for the plunger; and a plurality of nozzle holes for injecting fuel passed through between the plunger and the seat portion, A nozzle plate is provided with the seat portion, and a taper-fuel inlet hole has a diameter that gradually reduces from the seat toward its outlet, An orifice plate is arranged downstream from the taper-fuel inlet hole, and is provided with a concave portion opposite to the nozzle plate, with a plurality of nozzle holes being formed concentrically at a bottom of the concave portion. Each nozzle hole has an inclined angle in the direction of the plate thickness within the concave area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masanori Mifuji, Tohru Ishikawa, Atsushi Sekine, Yoshio Okamoto
  • Patent number: 7334398
    Abstract: In combustion control apparatus and method for an internal combustion engine, an exhaust gas purifying section is disposed in an exhaust system of the engine, a determination is made, on the basis of a state of the exhaust gas purifying section, whether a request is issued to switch a combustion mode of the engine to a split retard combustion (a predetermined fuel combustion mode) in which a preliminary combustion is carried out at least once at or near to a top dead center and a main combustion to develop a main torque is started after a completion of the preliminary combustion, and the combustion mode of the engine is switched to the split retard combustion when the combustion mode switching request determining section determines that the request is issued and during a low load driving state of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuhisa Kitahara
  • Patent number: 7337059
    Abstract: A method and a device for controlling an internal combustion engine. In a first operating mode, a fuel quantity is predefined according to a first rule for calculating the quantity based on at least the torque variable. In a second operating mode, the fuel quantity is predefined according to a second rule for calculating the quantity based on at least the torque variable. A control variable is predefined on the basis of at least the torque variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Andreas Pfaeffle, Stefan Polach, Dietmar Stapel, Oliver Brox, Matthias Wild
  • Patent number: 7331328
    Abstract: An engine control device executes a mechanism of controlling a fuel system during idling including the step of detecting an engine speed NE and an engine load, the step of determining whether fuel can be injected at normal feed pressure from an in-cylinder injector during idling, the step of detecting or estimating a fuel temperature T in a high-pressure delivery pipe, the step of stopping the high-pressure fuel pump and injecting fuel from the in-cylinder injector at the normal feed pressure when the fuel temperature T is not greater than T(0), the step of stopping the high-pressure fuel pump and injecting fuel at the pressure greater than the normal feed pressure when the fuel temperature T is greater than T(0) and not greater than T(1), and the step of driving the high-pressure fuel pump to inject the fuel at high pressure when the fuel temperature T is greater than T(1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Zenichiro Mashiki
  • Patent number: 7331171
    Abstract: A control system for an internal combustion engine that executes post injection, which is capable of accurately estimating the state of dilution of engine oil, thereby properly controlling the amount of oil dilution such that it does not become too large. In an internal combustion engine having an injector that injects fuel into a combustion chamber, post injection is executed in which fuel is injected from the injector during the expansion stroke or the exhaust stroke of the engine, based on a detected operating condition of the engine. The amount of dilution of engine oil diluted with fuel injected by post injection is calculated. The amount of fuel evaporated from the engine oil is calculated. A state of dilution of the engine oil is estimated based on the calculated engine dilution amount and the calculated fuel evaporation amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2008
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Isao Chiba, Ryuji Matsukado, Ryuta Matsui, Yoshinori Ishihara, Isao Kaneko
  • Patent number: 7328687
    Abstract: A fuel supply apparatus includes: a low-pressure fuel system applying pressure to a fuel in a fuel tank by using a first low-pressure pump and supplying the fuel to port fuel injection valves; a high-pressure fuel system applying pressure to the fuel in the fuel tank by using a second low-pressure pump, applying further pressure to the fuel by using a high-pressure pump driven by an internal combustion engine, and supplying the fuel to in-cylinder fuel injection valves; and an ECU controlling actuation of at least the first low-pressure pump and the second low-pressure pump in accordance with an operation state of the internal combustion engine. As the low-pressure fuel system and the high-pressure fuel system are independent of each other, pulsation generated from the high-pressure pump does not propagate to the port fuel injection valves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Susumu Kojima
  • Patent number: RE40144
    Abstract: A fuel injection control system and method for delivering multiple fuel injections to a cylinder of an engine during a fuel injection event based upon engine operating conditions, the control system including an electronic controller coupled to an electrically controlled fuel injector, and a plurality of sensors coupled to the controller for inputting certain signals representative of certain engine operating conditions of the engine, the controller being operable to output a fuel injection signal to the fuel injector to deliver a first, a second, and a third fuel shot to the cylinder during a fuel injection event based upon the sensor signals. The controller also delivers each of the multiple fuel injection shots within defined cylinder piston displacement parameters during a particular piston stroke, within defined fuel apportionment limits, and within defined delay limits between each respective fuel shot so as to control exhaust emissions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2008
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin P. Duffy, Eric C. Fluga, Brian G. McGee, Matthew R. Roth, Gregory G. Hafner
  • Patent number: RE40431
    Abstract: Method of regulating an internal combustion engine in order to reach presettable nitrogen oxide emission values of the internal combustion engine, wherein the internal combustion engine is supplied at least some of the time with a first fuel and at least some of the time with a second fuel, the quantity of the first fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine per unit of time being controlled according to a preset control actual value or kept constant and the quantity of the second fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine per unit of time to reach a presettable nitrogen oxide emission value being regulated according to at least one recorded engine parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2008
    Assignee: GE Jenbacher GmbH & Co OHG
    Inventors: Reinhard Robitschko, Herbert Schaumberger, Johann Hirzinger, Albert Fahringer