System for diagnosing operation of a cooling system for an internal combustion engine
First Claim
1. System for diagnosing operation of a cooling system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a coolant temperature sensor producing a coolant temperature signal corresponding to temperature of coolant fluid in said cooling system;
means for determining one of an engine load and a throttle percentage; and
a control computer diagnosing operation of said cooling system as a function of said coolant temperature signal, said one of an engine load and a throttle percentage and a fuel delivery command for controllably supplying fuel to said engine.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for diagnosing operation of a cooling system for an internal combustion engine includes a coolant temperature sensor producing a temperature signal corresponding to coolant fluid temperature, means for determining either an engine load or a throttle percentage, and a control computer configured to diagnose operation of the cooling system as a function of the temperature signal, either the engine load or throttle percentage, and a fuel delivery command for controllably supplying fuel to the engine. After expiration of a diagnostic period, the control computer diagnoses the cooling system as normally operating if the diagnostic period ended by the temperature signal meeting or exceeding a predefined temperature and if a total energy used by the engine during the diagnostic period is less than an estimated energy, and diagnoses the cooling system as failing if the total energy used during the diagnostic period otherwise meets or exceeds the estimated energy.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. System for diagnosing operation of a cooling system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
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a coolant temperature sensor producing a coolant temperature signal corresponding to temperature of coolant fluid in said cooling system;
means for determining one of an engine load and a throttle percentage; and
a control computer diagnosing operation of said cooling system as a function of said coolant temperature signal, said one of an engine load and a throttle percentage and a fuel delivery command for controllably supplying fuel to said engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. System for diagnosing operation of a cooling system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
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means for determining a temperature of coolant fluid in said cooling system;
means for determining an estimated energy as a function of an initial value of said temperature of said coolant fluid prior to a diagnostic period, said estimated energy corresponding to an estimated quantity of energy required to increase said temperature of said coolant fluid from said initial value to a predefined higher temperature value;
means for determining a total energy as a function of fuel quantity delivered to said engine during said diagnostic period, said total energy corresponding to a total quantity of energy used by said engine during said diagnostic period; and
means for diagnosing said cooling system as operating normally if, after expiration of said diagnostic period, said temperature of said coolant fluid meets or exceeds said predefined temperature value and said total energy is less than said estimated energy. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. System for diagnosing operation of an engine cooling system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
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means for determining a temperature of coolant fluid in said cooling system;
means for determining a minimum energy as a function of an initial value of said temperature of said coolant fluid prior to a diagnostic period, said minimum energy corresponding to a predicted quantity of energy that will be used by said engine if said engine runs at an idle speed for an extended portion of said diagnostic period;
means for determining a total energy as a function of fuel quantity delivered to said engine during said diagnostic period, said total energy corresponding to a total quantity of energy used by said engine during said diagnostic period; and
means for diagnosing said cooling system as a failing if, after expiration of said diagnostic period, said temperature of said coolant fluid is below a threshold temperature and said total energy meets or exceeds said minimum energy. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification