Idle operation control for internal combustion engines
First Claim
1. A method for controlling the idle operation of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
- detecting at successive times a rotational speed of said engine and determining a variation characteristic thereof;
determining a torque variation characteristic of said engine as a function of said rotational speed variation characteristic of said engine;
determining a phase difference between said rotational speed variation and torque variation characteristics as a function of said engine rotational speed;
determining a present value of engine torque variation as a function of said torque variation characteristic; and
controlling at least one engine operation parameter in a direction to minimize said engine torque variation.
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Abstract
Idling speed of the internal combustion engine is controlled to a predetermined engine speed by correcting an engine operating parameter, such as, an ignition timing, the quantity of fuel injection, etc., to suppress a variation rate of the engine torque. Instead of detecting the torque variation rate directly, an engine speed variation rate is detected, and a correction value of the engine parameter is determined as a function of the engine speed variation rate based on the finding that the torque variation rate can be approximated as the engine speed variation rate with a fixed phase difference therebetween. Since the phase difference is determined by the engine speed, a correction value at the present moment is obtained from the previously obtained correction value which is preceding by the phase difference.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method for controlling the idle operation of an internal combustion engine comprising the steps of:
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detecting at successive times a rotational speed of said engine and determining a variation characteristic thereof; determining a torque variation characteristic of said engine as a function of said rotational speed variation characteristic of said engine; determining a phase difference between said rotational speed variation and torque variation characteristics as a function of said engine rotational speed; determining a present value of engine torque variation as a function of said torque variation characteristic; and controlling at least one engine operation parameter in a direction to minimize said engine torque variation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An apparatus for controlling the idle operation of an internal combustion engine by controlling engine rotational speed to a predetermined idling speed by correcting at least one engine operation parameter, said apparatus comprising:
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sensor means for detecting a rotational angle of said engine; a rotational speed counter, connected to receive a signal from said sensor means, for determining an engine rotational speed successively at predetermined angular position intervals of said engine; means, responsive to engine rotational speed as determined by said rotational speed counter, for calculating successively a variation in said engine rotational speed between the present rotational speed and the previously determined one; means for determining successively a correction value of said engine operation parameter corresponding to said variation in said engine rotational speed, said speed variation substantially representing a variation in engine torque but offset therefrom by a phase difference lagging from said speed variation; means for storing said determined correction value of said engine operation parameter successively for predetermined times; means for determining said phase difference between said variation in said engine rotational speed and said variation in said engine torque as a function of engine rotational speed as determined by said rotational speed counter; means for calculating a correction value from said stored correction values and said phase difference determined by said engine rotational speed, said calculated correction value corresponding to a correction value at an angular position of said engine preceding by said phase difference; and means for correcting said engine operation parameter with said correction value. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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Specification