Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – With indicator or control of power plant
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-28
2004-11-09
Argenbright, Tony M. (Department: 3747)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
With indicator or control of power plant
C073S116070, C123S406140, C123S436000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06816775
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a method for detecting misfirings in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having the features indicated in the preamble of Claim
1
.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Methods for detecting combustion misses having the features according to the species are generally known from the related art. The methods are essentially based on a comparison of values determined internally within the engine and pertaining to the irregular running of individual cylinders of the internal combustion engine to defined threshold values, and inferring a combustion miss in those cases where the detected irregular running values exceed the threshold value.
The irregular running values of individual cylinders relevant for detecting combustion misses are obtained by exploiting the knowledge that, in contrast to normal operation, an absent or incomplete combustion within a cylinder causes characteristic changes in the torque curve of the engine. By comparing the torque curves, i.e. the contribution made to the torque by individual cylinders, a distinction can then be made between normal, misfire-free operation of the internal combustion engine and the operation in which misfires occur. The differences in the torque characteristic are determined by calculating segment times, taking into account that a lower torque contribution, resulting from a misfire, causes longer segment times of the crankshaft, one crankshaft segment in each case corresponding to the piston movement of individual cylinders during the torque-producing expansion phase. The crankshaft segment times may be sampled via appropriate sensors, for instance at a trigger wheel mounted on the crankshaft or camshaft, on which the limits of the segment areas are marked. The crankshaft segment times are usually determined in synchronism with the firing and stored and analyzed in engine control units. In this case, the evaluation is carried out by calculating irregular running values from the determined crankshaft segment times, the irregular running values allowing the detection of combustion misses through a comparison of a setpoint value with a threshold value, where the exceeding of the established threshold value is interpreted as a combustion miss in the associated cylinder.
The described method for detecting combustion misses has generally been useful in the case of multi-cylinder internal combustion engines having a central engine control unit. However, in the case of engines having a high number of cylinders and a plurality of control units, the problem arises that the evaluation of irregular running values from consecutive segment times is extremely complicated, due to the fact that each control unit only serves a number of cylinders connected thereto, with only data from a subset of ignition output stages and fuel injectors being processed in each of the control units. Because the cylinders are distributed among a plurality of control units, the irregular running values from consecutive segment times can only be determined by a corresponding investment in memory and calculation and used for the detection of misfirings.
Furthermore, problems may occur in computing time.
For the purpose of illustration, an engine having two control units is considered, each controlling the firing and injection of one group of cylinders each, and in which the detection of combustion misses is integrated into one control unit. Hereinafter this control unit is also referred to as a diagnostic control unit.
The present invention distinguishes itself by an advantageous division of the computing time of the diagnostic CU between two firings within the cylinder group associated with this control unit.
In principle, the time interval between two such firings is sufficient to process the data from the first firing, to generate an additional interrupt which is assigned to a firing of the other control unit, to detect an associated segment time and to process it for detecting combustion misses.
Not only is an evaluation of the associated segment times for detecting misfires carried out in the interrupt routines of the cylinders whose firings are controlled by the diagnostic control unit. In addition, further functions, such as firing and fuel injection, are also calculated within the framework of these routines.
In contrast, in the routines of the interrupt, which are allocated to the firings of the other cylinders that are calculated by the second control unit, only segment times are detected and evaluated for the detection of combustion misses.
For that reason, the interrupt routines of the cylinders controlled by the diagnostic control unit are considerably longer in the time characteristic than those of the cylinders that are controlled by the second control unit.
It is problematic that the processing of the data from the first firing may require so much time that the further interrupt, given complete processing of the data from the first firing, does not occur in synchronism with the firing interrupt of the second control unit.
If the processing of the data from the first interrupt is interrupted and if precedence is given to the further interrupt occurring in synchronism, including calculation of its data, it may occur that the calculation results of the further interrupt are available before the calculation results of the first interrupt. In such a case, undesirable switches in the calculation sequence of the irregular running may result.
According to the present invention, the processing of data from the first firing is interrupted in order to trigger the further interrupt; after triggering the further interrupt, the associated segment time is detected in correct phase relation to the firing interrupt of the second CU and stored.
Thereupon,. the processing of data from the first firing is first completed before the irregular running value is calculated with the aid of the segment time of the further interrupt.
In this manner, it is advantageously assured that the irregular running value from the first firing is always present in the CU before the irregular running value from the immediately following firing interrupt of the second CU. Switches in the order or calculation of the irregular running are thereby avoided.
A further important advantage is that, due to the additional interrupts for those cylinders that are not connected to the diagnostic CU, the algorithm for detecting combustion misses, and thus the software implementation for designs having two control units, may largely correspond to the software implementation for one-control unit design.
Reason: The software used to evaluate the segment times is running in both interrupts, i.e., in the interrupts of the connected, and in the interrupts of the unconnected cylinders. If only the interrupt of the connected cylinders were present, the algorithm for detecting combustion misses and/or the software implementation for two-CU designs would need to be fundamentally changed, since segment times for two firings would then have to be analyzed within one interrupt routine.
With the aid of the additional interrupts, the running time of the interrupt routines of the connected cylinders may be shortened.
The design approach according to the present invention discloses in detail a method for detecting combustion misses in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having at least one first engine control unit, which controls at least the injection and firing of a first subset of the cylinders of the internal combustion engine; and having at least one additional engine control unit (diagnostic control unit), which controls the injection and firing of a further subset of cylinders and in which the detection of combustion misses for the first and the further subset(s) of cylinders is also carried out; the control units using an engine control program which is interrupted in phase-synchronism with the rotational movement of the crankshaft by employing interrupt routines in which at least those data are processed that are required for the injection and firing. Furthermore, in this method
Barho Hans
Bulla Martin
Gross Helmut
Lehner Michael
Lohmann Andrea
Argenbright Tony M.
Kenyon & Kenyon
Robert & Bosch GmbH
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