Internal-combustion engines – Igniters – Incandescent
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-11
2001-02-13
Dolinar, Andrew M. (Department: 3747)
Internal-combustion engines
Igniters
Incandescent
C123S179600, C361S264000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186107
ABSTRACT:
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The present invention refers to an electronic device intended for controlling the heating glow plugs in internal combustion engines of the diesel type.
The control performed by the glow plug controlling device also allows detection of failures which may be produced in glow plugs such as open circuit and short-circuit, which makes it a safety and control measure which, in the event these situations arise, prevents damage to the leads, connectors and the device itself.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
To perform the control function, electromechanical relays are being used which make it possible to stop current flow through the glow plug in the event a short-circuit is detected.
However, these electromechanical relays have a high response time, on the order of several milliseconds, so they are not able to open the circuit with the speed required, and damages due to overcurrents may occur in the few milliseconds in which the relay is still closed and the short-circuit exists.
Certain known control devices of this type already incorporate semiconductors to reduce the response time, such as those presented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,122,968 and 4,500,775 and German patents nos. 38.06.649 and 40.04.400.
In some of these known devices, the glow plugs are connected in parallel whether in groups or the entire set, making diagnosis of failures difficult precisely because of this connection.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With the heating glow plug controller for diesel engines, response times to minor short-circuits of under 1 millisecond are achieved, which removes any possibility of damages to the electrical system of the vehicle or to the device itself in the event of this type of accident.
This quick response in order to open the circuit is achieved by making the element performing this action be an electrical component with very short commutation times, which acts as an electronic relay, one of these elements existing per glow plug. The current flowing through each of these is probed, so that a short-circuit or open circuit may be detected, in which case a status line informs of the breakdown.
Each of the electronic relays consists of a power transistor performing the functions of the relay itself, and a set of electronic components for its control and failure detection.
The glow plug controller therefore consists of a set of electronic relays, one per glow plug existing in the engine; there may be any number of glow plugs depending on the number of cylinders, although the most common situation is four glow plugs for conventional passenger cars.
The set of electronic relays is connected to a calculator module which determines the need or not to connect the glow plugs and prepares the information for the breakdown diagnosis.
The glow plug controller is made of integrated electronic components in which the functions of control, diagnosis and power are carried out., allowing this device to be compact and easily handled, occupying a minimal space in the vehicle.
The controller which is the object of this invention has been designed to work with all presently existing models of heating glow plugs for diesel engines.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3882840 (1975-05-01), Adamian et al.
patent: 4369756 (1983-01-01), Ezoe
patent: 4457286 (1984-07-01), Katayama et al.
patent: 5529046 (1996-06-01), Werner et al.
patent: 964154 A2 (1999-12-01), None
Dolinar Andrew M.
Helfgott & Karas, P C.
Nagares S.A.
Vo Hieu T.
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