SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLABLY DISABLING CYLINDERS IN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
First Claim
1. A method of controllably disabling cylinders in an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
- computing a minimum number of a total number of cylinders required to achieve a desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value;
computing a maximum throttle position of an air intake throttle controlling air flow into an intake manifold of the engine;
enabling operation of the minimum number of cylinders while disabling operation of remaining ones of the total number of cylinders;
opening the air intake throttle to the maximum throttle position;
determining a current value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter; and
controlling ignition timing sufficiently to drive the current value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter to the desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system (10) for controllably disabling cylinders in an internal combustion engine (12) includes a throttle (18) controlling air flow to an intake manifold (14), a number of cylinder deactivation devices (1001-100K) and an engine controller (28) controlling fueling (90), ignition timing (94) and throttle position (86). The controller (28) is operable to activate only the minimum number of cylinders required to achieve a desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value, open the throttle (18) to a computed throttle position, control ignition timing sufficiently to drive the current value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter to the desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value, and to then control the flow area of the throttle (18) while also controlling ignition timing to maintain the current value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter near the desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value. The engine/vehicle operating parameter may be engine output torque, engine speed or vehicle speed.
144 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of controllably disabling cylinders in an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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computing a minimum number of a total number of cylinders required to achieve a desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value;
computing a maximum throttle position of an air intake throttle controlling air flow into an intake manifold of the engine;
enabling operation of the minimum number of cylinders while disabling operation of remaining ones of the total number of cylinders;
opening the air intake throttle to the maximum throttle position;
determining a current value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter; and
controlling ignition timing sufficiently to drive the current value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter to the desired engine/vehicle operating parameter value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of controllably disabling cylinders in an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining air pressure within an intake manifold of the engine;
determining rotational speed of the engine;
determining road speed of a vehicle carrying the engine; and
disabling operation of a number of cylinders of the engine while maintaining an engine/vehicle operating parameter near a desired value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter if the air pressure is below a pressure threshold, the rotational speed of the engine is greater than an engine speed threshold and the road speed of the vehicle is greater than a vehicle speed threshold. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of controllably disabling cylinders in an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining air pressure within an intake manifold of the engine; and
disabling operation of a number of cylinders of the engine while maintaining a current value of an engine/vehicle operating parameter near a desired value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter if the air pressure is below a first pressure threshold and one of the desired value of the engine/vehicle operating parameter is below an operating parameter threshold and the air pressure is below a second pressure threshold. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification