Method of determining soak-related time intervals of an internal combustion engine
First Claim
1. A method of determining soak-related time intervals of a motor vehicle control system including an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
- defining control system states, including an engine run state, an engine stall state and a power-off-delay state;
continuously measuring a time interval beginning at a transition from the engine run state to the engine stall or power-off-delay states;
capturing the measured time interval at every transition to the run state;
determining an engine run time interval based on an elapsed time in said run state; and
determining a soak-related time interval based on the captured time interval and the determined engine run time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved method of determining and preserving soak-related time intervals of an internal combustion engine resets a continuous timer at the end of each engine run period, and reads the value of the continuous timer at specified events during an ignition key cycle. The method measures and preserves the engine soak time preceding the current and previous ignition key cycle, and determines an extended soak time that includes intervals of engine operation that are too short to significantly affect the engine thermal and fuel vapor purge conditions. The determined soak-related times are then utilized by various engine control and/or diagnostic algorithms, such as a hot re-start fuel control algorithm.
2 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A method of determining soak-related time intervals of a motor vehicle control system including an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining control system states, including an engine run state, an engine stall state and a power-off-delay state;
continuously measuring a time interval beginning at a transition from the engine run state to the engine stall or power-off-delay states;
capturing the measured time interval at every transition to the run state;
determining an engine run time interval based on an elapsed time in said run state; and
determining a soak-related time interval based on the captured time interval and the determined engine run time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification