Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – With indicator or control of power plant
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-10
2001-02-13
Dolinar, Andrew M. (Department: 3747)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
With indicator or control of power plant
C123S490000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06188954
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an internal combustion engine with electronic components controlled from a central unit and arranged together with the central unit in a fully enclosed metal part of the internal combustion engine.
Modern internal combustion engines are controlled to an increasing extent electronically and require a number of electronic components for this purpose, in particular sensors, actuators and associated control units. Such sensors include, for example, digital Hall sensors with which the rotational speed of the crankshaft can be determined. As an example of actuators, solenoid valves can be named with which the valve needle is controlled in fuel injectors. The sensors and actuators are connected via supply lines to a voltage source and connected via control lines to a control unit or to a central unit. These supply and control lines are usually connected at both ends by means of plug contacts to the electronic components and to the control unit or central unit. In motor vehicles, the entire supply and control leads are grouped together to form the so-called cable tree.
The disadvantage of cable trees made up in this way is the high number of plug contacts needed between the electronic components and the electrical leads. These plug contacts represent the main source of faults in the case of motor vehicle malfunctions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to specify an internal combustion engine with electronic components controlled from a central unit, where the number of electrical leads and thus the plug contacts between the electrical components and the control unit or the central unit of the internal combustion engine is significantly reduced.
This object is accomplished in accordance with the invention in that the power to at least some of the electronic components is transmitted without cables by electromagnetic waves generated in a high-frequency source and radiated in a fully enclosed metal housing part of the internal combustion engine. Correspondingly, the electronic components concerned are provided with receiving devices for receiving the electromagnetic waves. The high-frequency source arranged in the fully enclosed metal housing part can be a constituent part of the central unit.
The fully enclosed metal housing part of the internal combustion engine can be designed in such a way that the field strength of the electromagnetic waves at the receiving devices of the electronic components is high, i.e., that potential antinodes form at the receiving devices of the electronic components in the field strength curve of the electromagnetic wave.
The energy of the electromagnetic waves can additionally be supplied via waveguides to unfavorably placed electronic components with high power consumption within the fully enclosed metal housing part.
The energy can be transmitted without cable via loose transformer coupling, as known for example from DE 39 12 497, or by means of inductive coupling to electronic components placed at locations within the fully enclosed metal housing part of the internal combustion engine at which they cannot be reached by the electromagnetic waves.
In a further development of the invention, supply leads can be avoided in the fully enclosed metal housing part of the internal combustion engine by making use of locally available potential gradients in order to obtain electrical energy for the supply of electronic components.
In an advantageous further development of the invention, provision is made for equipping the electronic components, the high-frequency source and the central unit with devices for wireless data transmission in order to reduce the number of electrical leads and plug contacts. The wireless data transmission between the electronic components, the high-frequency source and the central unit can be utilized by means of loose transformer coupling, and/or inductive coupling, and/or IR sections, and/or optical waveguides and/or electromagnetic alternating fields of suitable frequency.
In a design of this kind of an internal combustion engine with its electronic components, supply and data leads and also plug contacts are avoided to a large extent thereby greatly reducing the susceptibility to faults of the internal combustion engine. The already existing fully enclosed metal housing parts of an internal combustion engine, such as those formed by the cylinder head or the valve cover, are utilized effectively.
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IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 32, No. 12, May 1990, S. 454 bis 456.
Hettich Gerhard
Schenk Jurgen
Dolinar Andrew M.
Kunitz Norman N.
TEMIC Telefunken microelectronic GmbH
Venable
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