Method and apparatus for disabling cylinders under light load conditions by comparison with variable reference
First Claim
1. A method for operating a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine on a varying number of its cylinders as a function of an operating parameter of said engine, comprising establishing a high reference variable as a function of the engine revolution per unit time and a low reference level variable as a function of the engine revolution per unit time, increasing the number of working cylinders when the engine load is above said higher reference level, decreasing the number of working cylinders when the engine load is below said lower reference level, and maintaining the number of said working cylinders when the engine load lies between said high and low reference levels.
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Abstract
In an internal combustion engine, the magnitude of the engine load is compared with a reference level which is variable as a function of engine speed to detect when the engine load under low speed operation is small in proportion to the engine speed. Under these circumstances, fuel supply to a portion of the cylinders is blocked to allow the engine to run on a lesser number of cylinders so that fuel economy is achieved.
39 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A method for operating a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine on a varying number of its cylinders as a function of an operating parameter of said engine, comprising establishing a high reference variable as a function of the engine revolution per unit time and a low reference level variable as a function of the engine revolution per unit time, increasing the number of working cylinders when the engine load is above said higher reference level, decreasing the number of working cylinders when the engine load is below said lower reference level, and maintaining the number of said working cylinders when the engine load lies between said high and low reference levels.
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2. Apparatus for operating a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine on a varying number of cylinders as a function of an operating parameter of the engine, comprising:
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means for detecting an operating parameter of said engine representative of the load on said engine; means for detecting the revolution per unit time of said engine; means for setting a high reference level variable as a function of the detected engine revolution; means for setting a lower reference level variable as a function of the detected engine revolution; and injection control circuit means including means for increasing the number of active cylinders when the detected engine load is above said higher reference level, means for decreasing the number of active cylinders when the detected engine load is below said lower reference level, and means for maintaining the number of active cylinders when the detected engine load lies between said high and low reference levels. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification