Internal-combustion engines – High tension ignition system – Current or voltage sensing in coil primary
Patent
1996-06-20
1997-04-15
Nelli, Raymond A.
Internal-combustion engines
High tension ignition system
Current or voltage sensing in coil primary
F02P 312
Patent
active
056199759
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is based on a method for monitoring operations of an internal combustion engine to detect combustion misses.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A method is described in German Patent Publication No. 40 35 957, or in the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,293, in which a primary-side monitoring of the spark voltage and/or of the spark duration, as a method for detecting ignition misfirings, is so combined with a method for measuring irregular running, as a recognition of combustion misses, that at least one of the two methods will work under every engine operation condition, and that under those engine operation conditions, in which one of the two methods yields inaccurate results, the method yielding inaccurate results is masked out (suppressed), the consequence being that only the other method is performed each time. In those cases, in which both methods are performed, the results of the various methods can be examined in a plausibility check to reduce the risk of faulty monitoring results.
Individual methods for monitoring operations of the internal combustion engine are also described in European Patent Application No. 0 344 349, for example, which shows a primary-side monitoring of the spark duration. A method for detecting irregular operation of the internal combustion engine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,288.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In contrast, the method according to the present invention is advantageous in that, when working with internal combustion engines having two spark plugs per cylinder, a recognition of ignition misfiring at the first spark plug in one cylinder is monitored by applying the irregular-running method after the second spark plug in this cylinder has been de-energized.
Accordingly, it is possible to diagnose a twin-spark ignition by selectively de-energizing the spark plugs. Therefore, the present invention provides a reliable method for detecting combustion misses, in particular at high speeds and loads.
Another embodiment of the present invention allows, for example, after a malfunction is detected at one spark plug, to shut off the injection into a specific cylinder in order to prevent unburned (combustible) mixture from getting in the exhaust.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an internal combustion engine having dual spark coils for implementing the method according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a sequence of process steps for monitoring operations of the internal combustion engine according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary design of an internal combustion engine including dual spark coils and the sensing (recording) of quantities required for monitoring operations of the internal combustion engine according to the present invention. An exemplary four-cylinder internal combustion engine is illustrated in FIG. 1. It is possible to have other internal combustion engines with more cylinders, as well. In the internal combustion engine as shown in FIG. 1, four ignition coils ZS1, ZS2, ZS3, ZS4 are provided, each consisting of a primary winding and of a secondary winding. The primary winding of each ignition coil is connected, for example, to the supply voltage U.sub.V, e.g. to the battery of the internal combustion engine. The other side of the primary winding is connected respectively to ground via transistor output stages T1, T2, T3, T4 for driving the current flow in the primary windings of ignition coils ZS1, ZS2, ZS3, ZS4. Each end of the secondary winding of each ignition coil is connected to a spark plug. In this embodiment of the present invention, the spark plugs which are fed by an ignition coil, are installed in various cylinders so that these cylinders are offset (staggered) from one another by a 360.degree. arc of crankshaft rotation in the compression stroke. Thus, in the basic design according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 1, the spark plugs 1 and 2 of the cylinder Z1 are fed, on the one hand, by the ignition coil ZS1 and, on t
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Gollin Walter
Langner Arnd-Matthias
Mezger Manfred
Ries-Mueller Klaus
Schmidt Peter-Jurgen
Nelli Raymond A.
Robert & Bosch GmbH
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