초록 ▼

A computerized 2 and 4 cycle internal combustion engine control and optimization/tuning system is disclosed, wherein fuel injector control is optimized to increase horsepower and fuel economy. The system is comprised of an on-board engine controller with communications software allowing technicians

A computerized 2 and 4 cycle internal combustion engine control and optimization/tuning system is disclosed, wherein fuel injector control is optimized to increase horsepower and fuel economy. The system is comprised of an on-board engine controller with communications software allowing technicians to change external sensors via an external computer. The technician may tune engine parameters on the fly as the engine is running. The engine control system displays engine-operating parameters in real time. Fuel mapping can be for the operator's choices of acceleration, maximum speed, gas mileage, altitude of operation and/or engine temperature.

대표청구항 ▼

A computerized 2 and 4 cycle internal combustion engine control and optimization/tuning system is disclosed, wherein fuel injector control is optimized to increase horsepower and fuel economy. The system is comprised of an on-board engine controller with communications software allowing technicians

A computerized 2 and 4 cycle internal combustion engine control and optimization/tuning system is disclosed, wherein fuel injector control is optimized to increase horsepower and fuel economy. The system is comprised of an on-board engine controller with communications software allowing technicians to change external sensors via an external computer. The technician may tune engine parameters on the fly as the engine is running. The engine control system displays engine-operating parameters in real time. Fuel mapping can be for the operator's choices of acceleration, maximum speed, gas mileage, altitude of operation and/or engine temperature. recycle and ignition timing to reduce said unburned fuel amount or rate. 5. A method of detecting the relative completeness of combustion or for classifying a misfire condition in at least one cylinder of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine in an automotive vehicle, said engine comprising a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder containing a reciprocatable piston and having a known volume at each position of said piston, said pistons being connected to a crank shaft for rotation through a top dead center position in their respective cylinders; said engine further comprising means for introducing air and fuel into said cylinders to form a combustible mixture, means for ignition of said combustible mixtures, means for exhausting combustion gases from said cylinders, a crank shaft position sensor to determine the position of said pistons with respect to their top dead center positions, a sensor for providing signals indicative of the pressure in said cylinder at predetermined crankshaft positions; said vehicle comprising a programmed computer for controlling fuel delivery and optional exhaust gas recycle flow to said cylinders and ignition timing therein, and for detecting and recording possible engine operating conditions adverse to an exhaust gas treatment system of said vehicle, said computer being adapted to receive pressure indicative and crank shaft position signals from said sensors, said method being performed by said computer immediately following predetermined combustion events with respect to each cylinder in which said condition is to be detected and comprising, computing values indicative of motored pressure for a plurality of crankshaft angles based on values of the pressure indicative signals at crank angles before the top dead center position of the compression stroke of a said piston, determining a value indicative of the actual pressure in said cylinder at a predetermined crank angle after top dead center and after combustion in said cylinder is expected to have occurred in the current operating mode of said engine, calculating a pressure ratio of said value indicative of actual pressure at said predetermined crank angle to the value indicative of motored pressure at the same crank angle and subtracting a value of one from said pressure ratio to determine a modified pressure ratio at said crank angle, and storing said modified pressure ratio in said computer as indicating a measure of the completeness of combustion or a misfire condition in said cylinder if said modified pressure ratio is a predetermined value in the range of zero to about two. 6. A method as recited in claim 5 comprising determining said modified pressure ratio for each cylinder of said engine. 7. A method as recited in either claim 5 or claim 6 comprising, upon detection of a said possible partial burn or misfire condition, repeating said pressure determination and modified pressure ratio calculation for said cylinder for a predetermined number of ignition events in said cylinder to confirm or discard notice of said possible partial burn or misfire condition. 8. A method as recited in claim 7 comprising storing a misfire condition notice in said computer if said confirmed value of said modified pressure ratio calculations is within a predetermined value of zero. 9. A method as recited in claim 7 comprising changing at least one of said fuel delivery, exhaust gas recycle and ignition timing to increase the value of said modified pressure ratio to a higher value. 10. A method as recited in claim 7 comprising changing at least one of said fuel delivery, exhaust gas recycle and ignition timing to increase the value of said modified pressure ratio to a value of at least two. 11. A method as recited in claim 7 in which said modified pressure ratio is calculated at a crank angle of 25 crank angle degrees after top dead center, or later. 12. A method of controlling the operation of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine in an au tomotive vehicle where the ignition timing of said engine is to be significantly retarded from best efficiency timing, said engine comprising a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder containing a reciprocatable piston and having a known volume at each position of said piston, said pistons being connected to a crank shaft for rotation through a top dead center position in their respective cylinders; said engine further comprising means for introducing air and fuel into said cylinders to form a combustible mixture, means for ignition of said combustible mixtures, means for exhausting combustion gases from said cylinders, a crank shaft position sensor to determine the position of said pistons with respect to their top dead center positions, sensors for providing signals indicative of the pressure in said cylinders at predetermined crankshaft positions; said vehicle comprising a programmed computer for controlling fuel delivery and optional exhaust gas recycle flow to said cylinders and ignition timing therein, said computer being adapted to receive pressure indicative signals and crank shaft position signals from said sensors, said method being performed by said computer during predetermined ignition events with respect to each cylinder in which said condition is to be detected and comprising, computing values indicative of motored pressure for a plurality of crankshaft angles based on values of the pressure indicative signals at crank angles before the top dead center position of the compression stroke of a said piston, determining a value indicative of the actual pressure in each of said cylinders at a predetermined crank angle of twenty five degrees or more after top dead center, calculating a pressure ratio value indicative of the ratio of actual pressure at said predetermined crank angle to the value indicative of motored pressure at the same crank angle, and adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to maintain a predetermined pressure ratio value for said cylinder. 13. A method as recited in claim 12 comprising adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to yield the said predetermined pressure ratio value for optimum heating of the exhaust gas treatment system during cold start and warm-up modes of engine operation. 14. A method as recited in claim 12 comprising adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to yield the said predetermined pressure ratio value for accurate reduction in engine torque during transmission shift mode of engine operation. 15. A method as recited in claim 12 comprising adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to yield the said predetermined pressure ratio value during periods of idle mode engine operation. 16. A method of controlling the operation of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine in an automotive vehicle where the ignition timing of said engine is to be significantly retarded from best efficiency timing said engine comprising a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder containing a reciprocatable piston and having a known volume at each position of said piston, said pistons being connected to a crank shaft for rotation through a top dead center position in their respective cylinders; said engine further comprising means for introducing air and fuel into said cylinders to form a combustible mixture, means for ignition of said combustible mixtures, means for exhausting combustion gases from said cylinders, a crank shaft position sensor to determine the position of said pistons with respect to their top dead center positions, sensors for providing signals indicative of the pressure in said cylinders at predetermined crankshaft positions; said vehicle comprising a programmed computer for controlling fuel delivery and optional exhaust gas recycle flow to said cylinders and ignition timing therein, said computer being adapted to receive pressure indicative signals and crank shaft position signals from said sensors, said method being performed by said computer duri ng predetermined ignition events with respect to each cylinder in which said condition is to be detected and comprising, computing values indicative of motored pressure for a plurality of crankshaft angles based on values of the pressure indicative signals at crank angles before the top dead center position of the compression stroke of a said piston, determining a value indicative of the actual pressure in each of said cylinders at a predetermined crank angle of twenty five degrees or more after top dead center and at a later predetermined crank angle for which combustion should be complete (complete burn), calculating a pressure ratio values indicative of the ratio of actual pressure at said predetermined crank angles to the values indicative of motored pressures at the same crank angles and subtracting a value of one from each said pressure ratio to determine a modified pressure ratio for each, calculating the quotient of said modified pressure ratios corresponding to the twenty five degree or later crank angle to the said modified pressure ratio (complete burn), and adjusting the spark timing in each said cylinder to yield a value of said quotient equal to a predetermined optimum value for the engine operating condition. 17. A method as recited in claim 16 comprising adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to yield the said predetermined quotient value for optimum heating of the exhaust gas treatment system during engine cold start and warm-up modes. 18. A method as recited in claim 16 comprising adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to yield the said predetermined quotient value for accurate reduction in engine torque during transmission shift mode of engine operation. 19. A method as recited in claim 16 comprising adjusting the ignition timing in each cylinder to yield the said predetermined quotient value during periods of idle mode engine operation. to decrease engine airflow when engine speed increases above said desired engine speed; and code for adjusting the inlet control device based at least on an engine operating condition. 5. The article recited in claim 4 wherein the outlet control device is a variable cam timing system. 6. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer storage medium having a computer program encoded therein for controlling an engine speed, the engine having at least one cylinder, the engine also having an intake manifold and an outlet control device for controlling flow from the intake manifold into the cylinder and an inlet control device to control flow into the intake manifold, said computer storage medium comprising: code for determining whether the engine is in an idle condition; code for generating a desired engine speed in response to said determination; and code for adjusting the outlet control device to increase engine airflow when engine speed decreases below said desired engine speed; and code for adjusting the inlet control device based at least on an engine operating condition. 7. The article recited in claim 6 wherein the outlet control device is a variable cam timing system. 8. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer storage medium having a computer program encoded therein for controlling an engine speed, the engine having at least one cylinder, the engine also having an intake manifold and an outlet control device for controlling flow from the intake manifold into the cylinder and an inlet control device to control flow into the intake manifold, said computer storage medium comprising: code for determining whether the engine is in an idle condition; code for generating a desired engine speed in response to said determination; and code for adjusting the outlet control device to control the engine speed to said desired engine speed and code for adjusting the inlet control device based at least on an engine operating condition; and code for adjusting fuel injection based on an exhaust gas sensor to maintain a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. 9. The article recited in claim 8 wherein the outlet control device is a variable cam timing system. 10. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer storage medium having a computer program encoded therein for controlling an engine speed, the engine having at least one cylinder, the engine also having an intake manifold and an outlet control device for controlling flow from the intake manifold into the cylinder, wherein said outlet control device is at least one of a variable cam timing system or a variable valve lift mechanism, said computer storage medium comprising: code for generating a desired engine speed when the engine is in an idle condition; code for generating a desired outlet control device setpoint based on an operating condition during conditions other than said idle condition; code for adjusting the outlet control device to control the engine speed to said desired engine speed when the engine is in said idle condition, and code for adjusting the outlet control device to said control device setpoint during conditions other than said idle condition. 11. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer storage medium having a computer program encoded therein for controlling an engine speed, the engine having at least one cylinder, the engine also having an intake manifold and an outlet control device for controlling flow from the intake manifold into the cylinder, the engine further comprises an inlet control device for controlling flow into the intake manifold, said computer storage medium comprising: code for determining whether the engine is in an idle condition; code for generating a desired engine speed in response to said determination; and code for adjusting both the inlet control device and the outlet control device to control the engine speed to said desired engine speed. 12. An article of manufacture comprising: