Including Means Responsive To Instantaneous Change In Engine Speed Patents (Class 123/436)
  • Publication number: 20100192905
    Abstract: A system for an engine of a vehicle includes methanol and water injection to abate engine knock. The injection is provided directly into the cylinder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2010
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Applicant: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Donald Lewis, John D. Russell
  • Publication number: 20100192909
    Abstract: The invention provides a practical diesel engine that uses plasma formed by microwave emissions. In a compression-ignition internal combustion engine, fuel is sprayed by an injector in the combustion chamber in which compressed oxidizing gas is present, and the fuel is compressed and ignited. The engine has one antenna or a plurality of antennas in the combustion chamber, and when the oxidizing gas or moisture and charged particles are present in the combustion chamber, an electromagnetic wave is emitted using the antenna in a space in which the oxidizing gas and the charged particles are present, and plasma is generated in the space by the energy fed to the charged particles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2008
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Applicant: IMAGINEERING, INC.
    Inventor: Yuji Ikeda
  • Patent number: 7769535
    Abstract: Method for dosing fuel injected into an engine, with a fuel quantity for an injector, the fuel quantity being divided into pilot and main injections for respective activation duration having activation duration corrective value, the method may include storing correlation data between fuel injection quantity and activation time under at least a state parameter of the injector, wherein the fuel injection quantity includes reference total injection quantities determined for predetermined operating states of the engine, determining a present operating state of the engine, placing the engine into one of the predetermined operating states, determining a present total injection quantity and a reference total injection quantity in one of the at least a state parameter of the injector, and defining the respective activation duration corrective value for the pilot and main injection considering a difference between the reference total injection quantity and the present total injection quantity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH
    Inventors: Johannes Ullrich, Roland Steininger, Jurgen Grimm, Stefan Lang, Julian Kuric, Viktor Boschmann, Daniela Bollmann
  • Patent number: 7765041
    Abstract: An electronic control apparatus for a vehicle having an engine control unit 114 controlling an electronically-controlled throttle of an engine and a valve control unit 141 controlling a variable lift mechanism 112 that varies a lift amount of an intake valve are provided. Information of a target lift amount and an actual lift amount is transmitted/received between these control units. Each of the control units diagnoses a state of data transmission from the other control unit, transmits the diagnosis result to the other control unit and, when the diagnosis result of itself and/or the diagnosis result of the other control unit shows an abnormal state, moves to the mode of a fail-safe operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoki Tatsumi, Kazuhiko Abe, Mitsuhiko Kubota
  • Patent number: 7761222
    Abstract: A method of operating a fuel injected multi-cylinder internal combustion engine includes establishing a flow shift compensation term by comparing a pre-flow shift value with a post-flow shift value. The pre-flow shift value is indicative of a pre-flow shift fueling signal duration linked with an engine test speed, and the post-flow shift value is indicative of a post-flow shift fueling signal duration linked with the engine test speed. The method further includes controlling an engine speed via outputting fueling signals from a digital engine speed governor to a plurality of fuel injectors of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc
    Inventor: Victoriano Ruiz
  • Publication number: 20100175663
    Abstract: When a fuel-supply cutoff condition is satisfied (“YES” in S1010), an ECU executes a program including: calculating the target torque (S1020); detecting the engine speed NE (S1030); calculating the target KL based on the target torque, NE and MBT (S1040); controlling an engine using the throttle valve opening amount based on the target KL, the base fuel ignition timing, and the fuel injection amount based on the current KL until the target KL becomes equal to or lower than the KL lower limit (“NO” in S1050) (S1100); controlling the engine using the throttle valve opening amount based on the KL lower limit, NE, the target ignition timing calculated based on the current KL and the target torque, and the fuel injection amount based on the current KL when the target KL reaches the KL lower limit (“YES” in S1050) (S1170); and actually starting a fuel-supply cutoff when the target ignition timing reaches the retardation limit timing (“YES” in S1130) (S1180).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2008
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masahiro Ito
  • Publication number: 20100147263
    Abstract: An engine system includes two spark plugs in a cylinder of an engine. The two spark plugs have different heat ranges in order to address pre-ignition, where only a first spark plug operates during a first condition, and only a second spark plug operates during a second condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2010
    Publication date: June 17, 2010
    Applicant: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: John D. Russell, Michael Andri
  • Publication number: 20100147265
    Abstract: Engine management system for operation of a direct injection spark ignition gasoline engine. The system includes a gasoline engine, a source of gasoline and a source of an anti-knock agent. Gasoline and anti-knock agent are introduced into a proportioning valve that delivers a selected mixture of gasoline/anti-knock agent to a high pressure pump. At least one injector receives the selected mixture from the high pressure pump and delivers the mixture into a cylinder of the engine. The engine management system provides a rapidly variable mixture of directly injected anti-knock agent and gasoline which prevents knock as the engine torque increases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2010
    Publication date: June 17, 2010
    Applicant: ETHANOL BOOSTING SYSTEMS LLC
    Inventors: Leslie Bromberg, Paul Blumberg, Daniel R. Cohn, John Heywood
  • Patent number: 7721708
    Abstract: In a system for controlling a general-purpose air-cooled internal combustion engine having two cylinders each equipped with a throttle valve and a fuel injector, and a cooling fan that selectively directs air onto the cylinders, a throttle driver selectively drives the respective throttle valve of each cylinder to open or close. The system also includes an injector driver that selectively drives the respective injector of each cylinder to open, and a controller that controls operation of the throttle driver and injector driver in such a way that the throttle opening and an amount of fuel to be injected are different for each cylinder, such that an engine speed becomes substantially constant, thereby enabling the engine to obtain desired output characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2010
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hayato Matsuda, Tomoki Fukushima
  • Publication number: 20100121559
    Abstract: A fuel management system for using water for on-board vehicular separation of ethanol from ethanol-gasoline blends is described. Water or a water-alcohol mixture from a secondary tank is mixed with the ethanol-gasoline blend resulting in separation of the ethanol. By using on-board vehicular separation, the consumption of the externally supplied liquid from a secondary tank can be decreased to less than 1% of the gasoline consumption. This allows for long refilling periods for the externally supplied fluid. In another embodiment, a water-based fluid is directly injected into the cylinders of a spark ignition engine to eliminate knocking without causing misfire. In a further embodiment, an alcohol-based fluid is also used in those circumstances where injection of the water-based fluid may cause misfire.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2009
    Publication date: May 13, 2010
    Inventors: Leslie Bromberg, Daniel R. Cohn, John Heywood
  • Publication number: 20100116250
    Abstract: An engine control system includes an air control module, a spark control module, and a reserves module. The air control module controls a throttle valve of an engine based on an adjusted predicted torque request. The spark control module controls spark timing of the engine based on an adjusted immediate torque request. The reserves module determines an arbitrated reserve based on a maximum one of a minimum reserve and an additive reserve sum. The reserves module also generates the adjusted predicted torque request based on a sum of an arbitrated predicted torque request and a requested reserve, wherein the requested reserve is based on the arbitrated reserve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2009
    Publication date: May 13, 2010
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Robert C. Simon, JR., Christopher E. Whitney, Leonard G. Wozniak
  • Publication number: 20100116247
    Abstract: A control system for an internal combustion engine for driving a vehicle, which controls an output torque of the engine, is provided. In this control system, a rapid change in a demand torque of the engine is detected, and a feedforward correction amount is generated during a correction period which is substantially equal to a resonance period of a powertrain of the vehicle, from a time when the rapid change in the demand torque is detected. An output torque control amount of the engine is corrected with the feedforward correction amount. A torque change amount integrated value is calculated by integrating an amount of change in the demand torque, and the feedforward correction amount is generated according to the torque change amount integrated value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2008
    Publication date: May 13, 2010
    Inventors: Mahito Shikama, Ryuji Kohno, Eisei Yamazaki, Hidekazu Hironobu
  • Patent number: 7703441
    Abstract: A method for determining one or more cylinder pressure features for setting the combustion position in an internal combustion engine includes ascertaining a curve of a cylinder pressure or a curve of a cylinder pressure gradient with respect to a crankshaft angle, filtering the curve of the cylinder pressure or the curve of the cylinder pressure gradient using a filter, in order to eliminate a component of a pressure fluctuation brought about by the piston movement in the combustion chamber, and determining at least one cylinder pressure feature from the filtered curve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Jean-Pierre Hathout, Axel Loeffler, Wolfgang Fischer
  • Publication number: 20100094527
    Abstract: The temperature at the tip of a fuel injection valve (31) is estimated based on first to third parameters. The first parameter is a parameter that indicates the combustion temperature, such as the fuel injection amount and the combustion timing. The second parameter is a parameter that indicates the heat exposure timing and the heat exposure time. Examples of the second parameter include the engine speed and the combustion timing. The third parameter is a parameter that indicates the temperature increase of the fuel along with a decrease in pressure of the fuel at the injection hole (31b, 31c), such as the pressure of the fuel in the fuel injection device (3).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2008
    Publication date: April 15, 2010
    Inventors: Yoshinori Futonagane, Kazuhiro Omae
  • Publication number: 20100077989
    Abstract: There is provided, in one aspect of the present description, a method of controlling a spark ignited internal combustion engine having a fuel injector which injects fuel directly into its combustion chamber. The method comprises stopping the fuel injection if a desired torque for the engine is a predetermined torque or less and a speed of the engine is a predetermined speed or greater. The method comprises resuming the fuel injection by injecting a first amount of fuel directly into the combustion chamber during a negative pressure period and injecting a second amount of the fuel into the combustion chamber during an intake period. The method further includes resuming the fuel injection by injecting a third amount of the fuel directly into the combustion chamber during the negative pressure period and injecting a fourth amount of the fuel into the combustion chamber during the intake period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Publication date: April 1, 2010
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Masahisa Yamakawa, Shinichi Sugihara, Naohiro Yamaguchi, Keiji Araki
  • Patent number: 7684922
    Abstract: A cam sensor is provided in a position opposing one surface side of a cam driven sprocket in a valve timing control device. When the valve timing control device is in a high revolution state, a weight is pivoted by centrifugal force caused by the rotation. This allows a projection at the weight to be detected by the cam sensor. In this case, for each rotation of the valve timing control device, the projection of the weight passes the detectable position of the cam sensor and a pulse is generated in a cam signal to be transmitted from the cam sensor to an ECU.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Ishigami, Yoshitaka Nagai
  • Patent number: 7676321
    Abstract: A hybrid propulsion system for a vehicle and method of operation are provided. As one example, the system comprises an engine including at least one combustion chamber, a motor configured to selectively propel the vehicle via the drive wheel, a fuel system configured to deliver a first substance and a second substance to the combustion chamber in varying relative amounts, wherein the first substance includes a fuel and the second substance includes a greater concentration of a knock suppressing substance than the first substance; and a control system configured to operate the fuel system to vary the relative amounts of the first substance and the second substance delivered to the combustion chamber in response to an operating condition while operating the motor to propel the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2010
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Michael Andri
  • Publication number: 20100050985
    Abstract: A variety of methods and arrangements for improving the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines are described. Generally, an engine is controlled to operate in a skip fire variable displacement mode. Feedback control is used to dynamically determine the working cycles to be skipped to provide a desired engine output. In some embodiments a substantially optimized amount of air and fuel is delivered to the working chambers during active working cycles so that the fired working chambers can operate at efficiencies close to their optimal efficiency. In some embodiments, the appropriate firing pattern is determined at least in part using predictive adaptive control. By way of example, sigma delta controllers work well for this purpose. In some implementations, the feedback includes feedback indicative of at least one of actual and requested working cycle firings. In some embodiments, the appropriate firings are determined on a firing opportunity by firing opportunity basis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2009
    Publication date: March 4, 2010
    Applicant: TULA TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: Adya S. TRIPATHI, Chester J. SILVESTRI
  • Publication number: 20100050986
    Abstract: A variety of methods and arrangements for improving the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines are described. Generally, an engine is controlled to operate in a skip fire variable displacement mode. Feedback control is used to dynamically determine the working cycles to be skipped to provide a desired engine output. In some embodiments a substantially optimized amount of air and fuel is delivered to the working chambers during active working cycles so that the fired working chambers can operate at efficiencies close to their optimal efficiency. In some embodiments, the appropriate firing pattern is determined at least in part using predictive adaptive control. By way of example, sigma delta controllers work well for this purpose. In some implementations, the feedback includes feedback indicative of at least one of actual and requested working cycle firings. In some embodiments, the appropriate firings are determined on a firing opportunity by firing opportunity basis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2009
    Publication date: March 4, 2010
    Applicant: TULA TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: Adya S. TRIPATHI, Chester J. SILVESTRI
  • Publication number: 20100043744
    Abstract: What is disclosed is a micro-pilot injection ignition type gas engine, whereby an air fuel ratio control in starting the engine is executed with enhanced precision, by means of introducing skip-firing intermittent operations which reflect the engine operation conditions, while an idling time span can be shortened or omitted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2008
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Hajime Suzuki, Hideki Nishio, Yuuichi Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20100037859
    Abstract: An engine ECU runs a program that detects the speed of an engine, a depression amount of an accelerator (ACC) and a vehicle speed, and determines that the vehicle being started from an idle state, if the ACC is more than an ACC threshold value or if the a time differential value (DACC) of the depression amount of the accelerator is more than a DACC threshold value. In addition, the program also detects an intake air temperature (TA), and if the TA is more than a TA threshold value, calculates an air flow guard from a map, which is defined to largely limit the amount of intake air as a KCS learning value is large to a retard side or as the TA is high.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Publication date: February 18, 2010
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Zenichiro Mashiki
  • Publication number: 20100037852
    Abstract: A method for introducing fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine is provided, in which fuel is injected at variable metering directly into the combustion chamber by a first fuel injector on the one hand, and into an air aspiration channel leading to the combustion chamber by a second fuel injector on the other hand. To ensure a reliable cold start of the internal combustion engine when using regenerative fuels even at low temperatures, in the cold start of the internal combustion engine a partial quantity of the required overall fuel quantity is injected via the second fuel injector, this partial quantity being the particular fuel quantity that exceeds a maximum fuel quantity able to be injected via the first fuel injector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2009
    Publication date: February 18, 2010
    Inventors: Georg Mallebrein, Michael Frank, Alexander Schenck Zu Schweinsberg, Helerson Kemmer, Wolfgang Samenfink
  • Patent number: 7660661
    Abstract: A fuel injection control device is disclosed that includes a fuel injection valve for performing a fuel injection event at an assumed fuel quantity. The device also includes a rotation detecting device for detecting a change in rotation amount of the output shaft. The device further includes a slip rate detection device for detecting a slip rate between the output shaft and the driven shaft. Also included is an actual fuel injection amount estimating device for estimating an actual fuel injection quantity during the fuel injection event based on the detected change in rotation and the detected slip rate. The device also includes a learning device for learning a deviation based on the difference between the estimated actual fuel injection quantity and the assumed fuel injection quantity. A related method is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Asano, Eiji Takemoto
  • Patent number: 7654248
    Abstract: An engine torque control module comprises a derivative module and a cylinder torque module. The derivative module determines a derivative term for a first cylinder of an internal combustion engine based on rotation of a crankshaft and determines an average derivative term for the first cylinder based upon the derivative term. The cylinder torque module determines an operating condition of the first cylinder based on the average derivative term, adjusts a torque output of the first cylinder based on the operating condition, and adjusts a torque output of a second cylinder based on the operating condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Buslepp, Douglas R. Verner, Randall J. Guild, David S. Mathews, Todd R. Shupe, Robert Douglas Shafto, Kevin C. Wong, Karen A. Blandino
  • Patent number: 7657361
    Abstract: An electronic control unit 30 of a diesel engine 10 stores a relationship between a required fuel injection amount and a corresponding injection command signal. The unit 30 generates the injection command signal corresponding to the required fuel injection amount based on the stored relationship, and drives injectors 20 based on the injection command signal to inject fuel. The unit 30 includes a shifting section, which forcibly changes the engine rotational speed by temporarily shifting the fuel injection mode between a first injection mode and a second injection mode. The first injection mode is a mode in which an after injection is executed after a main injection. The after injection has less fuel injection amount than the main injection. The second injection mode is a mode in which the after injection is not executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mikio Inoue, Yasuyuki Terada
  • Patent number: 7657360
    Abstract: Dither frequency analysis systems include a controller for directing a control signal and a dither frequency to an actuation driver. One or more sensors are used for receiving and relaying a signal downstream from an actuation element, which downstream signal includes the dither frequency. A frequency analysis device receives and analyzes the downstream dither frequency and directs the same to a controller that is configured to evaluate the analyzed downstream dither frequency, and evaluate whether the same indicates proper or improper actuation system operation. The downstream dither frequency is analyzed and evaluated at a frequency of less than about one second, and the frequency analysis device analyzes downstream dither frequencies in the range of from about 50 to 500 hertz. The system can include algorithms and test sequences to address and/or further evaluate improper actuation system operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: Honeywell International, Inc.
    Inventor: John Skowron
  • Patent number: 7650875
    Abstract: To quickly suppress a detected decrease in engine speed in a direct injection internal combustion engine (10), a fuel injection quantity is increased by performing a supplementary fuel injection in addition to a normal fuel injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masanao Idogawa, Osamu Hosokawa
  • Publication number: 20100011597
    Abstract: Method for adjusting the air-fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine, in a fuel supply section thereof, such as a carburettor or a fuel-injection system, the fuel supply section having a control unit for adjusting the air-fuel ratio of the engine and the engine having an engine speed and an engine throttle ranging from zero throttle to full throttle. The method including: a) measuring the engine speed of the engine; b) comparing the engine speed to a first engine speed value; c) adjusting the air fuel ratio if the engine speed is lower than the first engine speed value; and d) repeating a) to c) until the engine speed is either greater than or equal to the first engine speed value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2006
    Publication date: January 21, 2010
    Applicant: HUSQVARNA AB
    Inventors: Carlsson Bo, Enander Niklas, Gustafsson Reine, Larsson Mikael, Roberg Mats
  • Publication number: 20100010724
    Abstract: A variety of methods and arrangements for improving the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines are described. Generally, selected combustion events are skipped during operation of the internal combustion engine so that other working cycles can operate at a better thermodynamic efficiency. In one aspect of the invention, an engine is controlled to operate in a variable displacement mode. In the variable displacement mode, fuel is not delivered to the working chambers (e.g. cylinders) during selected “skipped” working cycles. During active (“non-skipped”) working cycles, a maximum (e.g., unthrottled) amount of air and an optimized amount of fuel is delivered to the relevant working chambers so that the fired working chambers can operate at efficiencies closer to their optimal efficiency. A controller is used to dynamically determine the chamber firings required to provide the engine torque based on the engine's current operational state and conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2009
    Publication date: January 14, 2010
    Applicant: Tula Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Adya S. TRIPATHI, Chester J. SILVESTRI
  • Patent number: 7647161
    Abstract: A fuel injector performs a main injection and a pilot injection prior to the main injection. A fuel injection controller detects an ignition timing of a fuel injected at the main injection, detects a driving condition of the internal combustion engine, and varies a pilot injection quantity of the pilot injection when the driving condition is stable. Furthermore, the controller detects a variation in ignition timing due to a variation in the pilot injection quantity, and learns the pilot injection quantity based on the variation in ignition timing due to the variation in the pilot injection quantity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Haraguchi, Akikazu Kojima, Youhei Morimoto
  • Patent number: 7644701
    Abstract: A preset waiting period is previously set on the basis of a signal in correspondence to a detection of a start point of a detection of a no-tooth portion of a signal rotor. In the case of a control for injecting a fuel after the preset waiting period has elapsed, an output of a signal indicating a start point of an actual detection of the no-tooth portion by a waveform shaping portion is delayed due to the existence of the no-tooth portion. A control computer corrects the preset waiting period to be shorter by an amount corresponding the delay. Accordingly, an accuracy of a fuel injection start timing control is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Takahashi, Yuji Narita, Hisanobu Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20090320787
    Abstract: In an internal combustion engine, at least one rotation variable characterizing the rotational movement of a crankshaft is ascertained cylinder-specifically. It is provided that, in an operating state in which differences and/or fluctuations of the rotation variable are basically a function of a combustion position, the instant of a fuel injection is adapted cylinder-specifically in order to reduce the differences and or fluctuations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2007
    Publication date: December 31, 2009
    Inventors: Horst Wagner, Michael Kessler, Simon Wunderlin, Jens Damitz, Thomas Bossmeyer
  • Publication number: 20090320793
    Abstract: In a method for operating an internal combustion engine, in particular of a motor vehicle, the internal combustion engine is controlled by at least one drive variable, and an instantaneous torque output by the internal combustion engine is determined from a performance variable of the internal combustion engine that differs from the drive variable. To determine the instantaneous torque, an exhaust-gas temperature of the internal combustion engine is used as performance quantity that differs from the drive variable.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2007
    Publication date: December 31, 2009
    Inventors: Volker Pitzal, Wolfram Gerwing
  • Publication number: 20090308350
    Abstract: A method for determining the Ethanol content of the fuel in a motor vehicle uses the dependence of the lean-running limit of the internal combustion engine on the ethanol content of the fuel to determine the ethanol content, by the fact that the ethanol content is arrived at from the required reduction in the injected fuel quantity to reach the lean-running limit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2007
    Publication date: December 17, 2009
    Inventors: Gerhard Haft, Wolfgang Moser
  • Patent number: 7630824
    Abstract: A requested injection time InjT necessary for a fuel injector to inject a fuel per one combustion cycle is computed in response to a position of an accelerator manipulated by a driver, an injectable time InjMax per one combustion cycle is computed on the basis of an engine speed, and whether or not the requested injection time InjT is larger than the injectable time InjMax is determined. Then, when it is positively determined that the requested injection time InjT is larger than the injectable time InjMax, it is estimated that an alternate fuel (for example an alcohol fuel) other than a regular fuel (for example gasoline) is blended with a fuel in a fuel tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2009
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuo Hirata
  • Patent number: 7623955
    Abstract: A method for inferring Indicated Mean Effective Pressure as total transient indicated engine torque in an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of acquiring at least one crankshaft time stamp for use in determining a cylinder-specific engine velocity; calculating an incremental change in engine kinetic energy from the previously fired cylinder (j?1st) to the currently fired (jth) cylinder using the cylinder-specific engine velocity; equating the incremental change in engine kinetic energy to a change in energy-averaged cylinder torque (IMEP) from the previously-fired (j?1st) to a currently-fired (jth) cylinder; summing a plurality of the incremental changes in engine kinetic energy over time to determine a value of the transient component of indicated torque; determining a value of the quasi-steady indicated engine torque; and adding the value of transient component of indicated torque to the value of quasi-steady indicated engine torque to yield the Indicated Mean Effective Pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2009
    Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles I. Rackmil, Daniel L. McKay, Gerard W. Malaczynski
  • Patent number: 7617039
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of operating an internal combustion engine. With reference to FIG. 1, fuel is supplied to charge air using an injector (116) which in each operation delivers a set amount of fuel. The amount of fuel supplied to the charge air in each engine cycle is controlled by how many times the injector (116) operates in each cycle. A desired fuel demand is calculated as a number of operations of the injector per cycle, calculated to at least one decimal place. The desired fuel demand is rounded to a near integer to provide an output fuel demand for the injector as a number of operations of the injector for the next operating cycle in varying operating conditions of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2009
    Assignee: Scion-Sprays Limited
    Inventors: Jeffrey Allen, Paul Bartholomew Ravenhill, Steven Barraclough, Benjamin David Smither, Timothy Guy Drake
  • Publication number: 20090272362
    Abstract: A method for controlling a homogeneous-charge compression-ignition capable engine, operating with spray-guided spark ignition stratified combustion at low load, includes monitoring a speed of the engine, monitoring a load of the engine, determining a desired fuel pressure based upon the speed of the engine and the load of the engine, and utilizing the desired fuel pressure to control fuel injection into the engine, wherein the desired fuel pressure is calibrated to the speed and the load based upon increased stability of the engine at lower fuel pressures and lower soot emissions from the engine at higher fuel pressures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2009
    Publication date: November 5, 2009
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Hanho Yun, Nicole Wermuth, Barry L. Brown, Jun-Mo Kang, Paul M. Najt
  • Patent number: 7610896
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine system, including a primary fuel tank that stores a fuel, a fuel reformer that reforms the fuel from the primary fuel tank, a secondary fuel tank that stores the fuel reformed by the fuel reformer, a fuel injection device that injects the fuel that is selectably supplied from either the primary fuel tank or secondary fuel tank into a combustion chamber, a sensor that detects the quantity of fuel remaining in the secondary fuel tank, and a control device that sets and outputs a load and revolution speed of the engine. The control device is configured to set the engine load and engine revolution speed according to a request output determined based upon an operation performed by an operator. The engine load and engine revolution speed when the quantity of fuel remaining in the secondary fuel tank is more than a predetermined value, are set different than when the quantity of fuel remaining in the secondary fuel tank is less than the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2009
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihiko Kakuho, Atsushi Teraji, Toru Noda
  • Patent number: 7607345
    Abstract: In an internal combustion engine including a flywheel damper, an operation range in which misfire detection is affected by the flywheel damper is set in advance. Whether or not an operation state of the internal combustion engine is within an operation range affected by the flywheel damper is determined. When the operation state is within the operation range affected by the flywheel damper, for example a cylinder specifying process specifying a misfiring cylinder is stopped. By such processing, erroneous detection attributed to irregular rotation fluctuation behavior caused by the flywheel damper can be avoided, and misfire detection performance can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akihiro Katayama
  • Publication number: 20090250037
    Abstract: A control system for an internal combustion engine calculates a provisional target value of the throttle opening in accordance with an accelerator pedal travel, upon detection of a sudden operation of the accelerator pedal. The system also calculates a target pressure change in the surge tank according to the provisional target value, on the basis of the actual surge tank pressure and the cylinder intake mass airflow, using a virtual intake system model. The control system sets a target throttle opening in accordance with the surge tank pressure and the cylinder intake mass airflow, so as to provide the target pressure change under a condition of the actual surge tank volume.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2006
    Publication date: October 8, 2009
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Akira Eiraku
  • Patent number: 7599783
    Abstract: An injection quantity control unit controls an injection quantity of a plurality of fuel injection valves, respectively. The unit includes a rotational speed obtaining device for obtaining a rotational speed of the engine, an integration value calculating device for calculating an integration value of the rotational speed, which is equal to or more than a predetermined rotational speed, in an explosion stroke of each of the cylinders, and a correcting device for correcting the injection quantity of the plurality of fuel injection valves based on the integration value of each of the cylinders so as to reduce variation in a rotational speed variation among the cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2009
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Noriaki Nakane
  • Publication number: 20090217909
    Abstract: With reference to FIG. 1, the present invention provides an internal combustion engine (10) comprising a variable volume combustion chamber (13); an air intake system (18,20,21) for delivering charge air to the combustion chamber (13); an exhaust system (17) for relaying combusted gas from the combustion chamber (13) to atmosphere; and a fuel injection system (19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) for delivering fuel into the charge air for combustion therewith in the combustion chamber (13). The fuel injection system (19,21,22,23,24,25,26) comprises a fuel injector (19) which functions as a positive displacement pump and dispenses an amount of fuel which is fixed for each and every operation of the injector (19); and a controller (23) which controls the operation of the fuel injector (19). In. response to an increasing engine speed and/or load the controller (23) increases in amount the fuel delivered per engine cycle by increasing in number the occasions the fuel injector (19) is operated per engine cycle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2006
    Publication date: September 3, 2009
    Inventor: Jeffrey Allen
  • Publication number: 20090199560
    Abstract: A method comprises modifying combustion parameters of an engine of a hybrid vehicle to provide an engine power level insufficient to maintain crankshaft rotation at a desired speed including increasing a temperature of an exhaust gas and reducing an emissions content of the exhaust gas; and supplementing the engine power level with an electric machine of the hybrid vehicle to maintain crankshaft rotation at the desired speed. A control module comprises a cold start combustion control module that modifies combustion parameters of an engine of a hybrid vehicle to provide an engine power level insufficient to maintain crankshaft rotation at a desired speed, wherein the modifying includes increasing a temperature of an exhaust gas, and reducing an emissions content of the exhaust gas; and an electric machine control module that supplements the engine power level using an electric machine of the hybrid vehicle to maintain crankshaft rotation at the desired speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2008
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Colleen Marie Maier, David N. Belton
  • Publication number: 20090177364
    Abstract: A direct injection spark ignition internal combustion engine including a controller that controls a fuel injector to perform a plurality of fuel injections to inject a necessary amount of fuel during an intake stroke, or from an intake stroke to a first half of a compression stroke, when homogeneous combustion is to be performed. The fuel injection control sets an injection prohibition period, in which injection of the fuel is prohibited, to a middle of the intake stroke. The injection prohibition period is decreased as the engine speed and as the intake air pressure increase. In addition, the amount of fuel injected before the injection prohibition period is reduced, and the amount of fuel injected after the injection prohibition period is increased, as the engine speed decreases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2007
    Publication date: July 9, 2009
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Fumiaki Hattori
  • Patent number: 7533655
    Abstract: With reference to FIG. 1, the present invention provides an internal combustion engine (10) comprising a variable volume combustion chamber (13); an air intake system (18,20,21) for delivering charge air to the combustion chamber (13); an exhaust system (17) for relaying combusted gas from the combustion chamber (13) to atmosphere; and a fuel injection system (19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) for delivering fuel into the charge air for combustion therewith in the combustion chamber (13). The fuel injection system (19,21,22,23,24,25,26) comprises a fuel injector (19) which functions as a positive displacement pump and dispenses an amount of fuel which is fixed for each and every operation of the injector (19); and a controller (23) which controls the operation of the fuel injector (19). In response to an increasing engine speed and/or load the controller (23) increases in amount the fuel delivered per engine cycle by increasing in number the occasions the fuel injector (19) is operated per engine cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2009
    Assignee: Scion-Sprays Limited
    Inventor: Jeffrey Allen
  • Patent number: 7516732
    Abstract: A method detects the beginning of combustion in an internal combustion engine (1) having several cylinders (2, 3, 4, 5), form a rotation speed signal determined for a shaft (6) of the engine (1). A segment signal (SS), whose signal length corresponds to an integral multiple of one or more full rotation of the shaft (6), is extracted from the rotation speed signal. A cylinder signal (ZS1, ZS2, ZS3, ZS4), which reproduces the operational state in a cylinder (2, 3, 4, 5), is generated from the segment signal (SS). The cylinder signal is transformed into a cylinder frequency signal (FS1, FS2, FS3, FS4) in an angular frequency range. Signal information indicating the beginning of combustion in the associated cylinder is extracted from the cylinder frequency signal at least one predefined angular frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2009
    Assignee: Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
    Inventors: Reinhold Hagel, Mehmet Tuna, Ernst Meyer
  • Patent number: 7500470
    Abstract: An engine torque control system for balancing torque output across cylinders of an internal combustion engine includes a first module that determines a derivative term for each cylinder of the engine based on rotation of a crankshaft. A second module determines a torque correction for a first cylinder based on an average derivative term associated with the first cylinder. The second module adjusts a torque output of the first cylinder based on the torque correction and adjusts a torque output of a second cylinder based on the torque correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Buslepp, Douglas R. Verner, Randall J. Guild, David S. Mathews
  • Patent number: 7500471
    Abstract: A fuel injection start timing is determined based on the engine revolution or the engine load, and a common rail pressure is detected simultaneous to this fuel injection start timing. The fuel injection duration is then calculated based on the detected value of the common rail pressure. By doing this, it is possible to obtain a fuel injection duration that is suited for the common rail pressure at the actual fuel injection start time, resulting in an appropriate injection amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Assignee: Yanmar Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Adachi, Tomohiro Otani, Fumiya Kotou, Hideo Shiomi
  • Patent number: 7500465
    Abstract: A method for operating an internal combustion engine, in which fuel is injected into a combustion chamber of a cylinder of the internal combustion engine in at least two partial injections, and in which an actual torque supplied by the internal combustion engine is ascertained from operating variables of the internal combustion engine, this actual torque being compared to an admissible torque, and an error response being initiated if the actual torque is at a predefined ratio to the admissible torque. In the ascertainment of the actual torque, taking into consideration a torque efficiency of the respective partial injection is provided, whereby a more accurate monitoring of the actual torque is made possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Andreas Pfaeffle, Marco Gangi, Gerit Von Schwertfuehrer