Internal-combustion engines – Charge forming device – Including cylinder pressure or temperature responsive means
Patent
1994-09-19
1996-04-09
Nelli, Raymond A.
Internal-combustion engines
Charge forming device
Including cylinder pressure or temperature responsive means
F02M 710
Patent
active
055051774
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an apparatus for sensing engine parameters of an internal combustion engine, in particular a four-stroke engine driven by gaseous fuels, with at least one optical sensor for observing the light emission caused by combustion in a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine, and with at least one photo-sensor for converting the light emission into electrical signals which are processed in a processing apparatus.
The use of the light emission produced by combustion in a combustion chamber to control engine parameters has previously been proposed. The light is conducted from the engine, without affecting the rest of the combustion process, by means of an optical sensor which is attached to the engine and is generally a light-conducting element leading into the combustion chamber (in the simplest case a so-called combustion chamber window). The optical sensor can also be integrated into the spark plugs.
Until now a control signal for controlling the ignition timing has mainly been obtained from the state of the light emission over a period of time.
A control apparatus for an engine is known from DE-OS 35 05 063, in which the difference between the maximum value of the light intensity and an average value formed from several maximum values represents the regulating variable. With this subtraction, the information about the absolute value of the maximum value is lost. The known control system in the end acts to control running disturbances in the engine. Which engine parameters, in particular which fuel-air ratio (Lambda) produces the desired smooth running is irrelevant in this case. There is thus no control directed towards a specific fuel-air ratio.
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the type described in the introduction, with which it is possible to precisely control at least one engine parameter.
According to the invention this is solved with an apparatus of the type described in the introduction, in that the processing apparatus includes a system for determining the maximum intensity of the light emission of each combustion cycle from the corresponding electrical signals and the processing apparatus further includes a control unit, which controls at least one engine parameter dependent upon the maxima of intensity.
Whereas with the known proposals the state of the light emission is evaluated over a period of time, according to the invention it is proposed that the magnitude of the maximum intensity of the light emission be used to sense an engine parameter and preferably to control engine parameters by means of a control unit. Such an engine parameter is, in particular, the fuel-air ratio (Lambda). However, other engine parameters such as, for example, ignition timing, compression, engine temperature and so on can also be controlled essentially dependent upon the maximum intensity or integral value of the intensity of the light emission of each combustion cycle. The maximum of the light emission which is reflected in the electrical signal of the photo-sensor can easily be determined by an electronic processing apparatus and be supplied to the actual value input of a control system, which then controls or adjusts at least one engine parameter dependent thereupon.
In order to smooth out variations in the light emission in individual successive combustion cycles, it is advantageous when the apparatus for determining the maximum of intensity is connected on the output side to an averaging device, which supplies a signal corresponding to the average value of the maxima of intensity of a pre-determinable number of combustion cycles, and that the output of the averaging device is connected to the actual value input of the control unit. The maximum intensity can in this way be averaged over, for example, 20 to 100 cycles.
A further preferred embodiment is characterised in that the processing apparatus is provided with an apparatus for sensing combustion misfires, which receives on the one hand signals in connection with the light emission, and on the other h
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Patent abstracts of Japan, JP,A 57 186 040, Publication Date: Feb. 8, 1983, Hitachi Seisakusho KK.
Adolf Ingobert
Herdin Gunther
Hotger Michael
Picker Walter
Pockstaller Franz
Jenbacher Energiesysteme Aktiengesellschaft
Nelli Raymond A.
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