Diesel engine diagnostic system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for analyzing the operation of a diesel engine, said diesel engine defining a working cycle and having at least one internal chamber and means for passing a vapor through said internal chamber, said internal chamber including a prechamber and cylinder and said vapor having a temperature, said diesel engine further including a glow plug partially within said prechamber, said glow plug having a resistance dependent upon said temperature of said vapor within said prechamber, comprising, in combination:
- passive temperature sensor means, interconnected to said diesel engine, for sensing said temperature of said vapor within said prechamber of said internal chamber and for providing a temperature signal representative of said temperature, said passive temperature sensor means including impedance sensor means for sensing said resistance of said glow plug, said temperature signal being dependent upon said resistance throughout said working cycle; and
display means, interconnected to said passive temperature sensor means, for monitoring said temperature signal throughout said working cycle and responsively providing a display based upon said temperature and representative of a brake mean effective temperature.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for analyzing a diesel engine and transmitting data regarding faults within the diesel engine. Many diesel engines include glow plugs. The electrical characteristics of glow plugs are related to temperatures within the diesel engine which, in turn, are related to the operational characteristics of the diesel engine. The system measures the electrical characteristics of a glow plug, or other sensors, to determine attributes of the diesel engine and responsively provide a display representative of the operational characteristics.
43 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for analyzing the operation of a diesel engine, said diesel engine defining a working cycle and having at least one internal chamber and means for passing a vapor through said internal chamber, said internal chamber including a prechamber and cylinder and said vapor having a temperature, said diesel engine further including a glow plug partially within said prechamber, said glow plug having a resistance dependent upon said temperature of said vapor within said prechamber, comprising, in combination:
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passive temperature sensor means, interconnected to said diesel engine, for sensing said temperature of said vapor within said prechamber of said internal chamber and for providing a temperature signal representative of said temperature, said passive temperature sensor means including impedance sensor means for sensing said resistance of said glow plug, said temperature signal being dependent upon said resistance throughout said working cycle; and display means, interconnected to said passive temperature sensor means, for monitoring said temperature signal throughout said working cycle and responsively providing a display based upon said temperature and representative of a brake mean effective temperature. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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2. An apparatus for analyzing the operation of a diesel engine, said diesel engine defining a working cycle and having at least one internal chamber and means for passing a vapor through said internal chamber, said internal chamber including a prechamber and cylinder and said vapor having a temperature, said diesel engine further including a glow plug partially within said prechamber, said glow plug having two electrical contacts and a voltage between said electrical contacts dependent upon said temperature of said vapor within said prechamber, comprising, in combination:
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passive temperature sensor means, interconnected to said diesel engine, for sensing said temperature of said vapor within said prechamber of said internal chamber and for providing a temperature signal representative of said temperature, said passive temperature sensor means including glow plug voltage sensor means for sensing said voltage between said electrical contacts of said glow plug, said temperature signal being dependent upon said voltage throughout said engine cycle; and display means, interconnected to said passive temperature sensor means, for monitoring said temperature signal throughout said working cycle and responsively providing a display based upon said temperature and representative of a brake mean effective temperature.
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6. An apparatus for analyzing the operation of a diesel engine, said diesel engine defining a working cycle and having at least a first and second internal chamber and means for selectively passing a vapor through said first and second internal chambers, said vapors defining at least first and second temperatures, corresponding to said first and second internal chambers, comprising, in combination:
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passive temperature sensor means, interconnected to said diesel engine, for sensing said first and second temperatures of said vapors within said first and second internal chambers and for providing temperature signals representative of said first and second temperatures; and display means, interconnected to said temperature sensor means, for separately monitoring said temperature signals throughout said working cycle and for responsively providing a display for each of said internal chambers, based upon said temperatures of said vapors and representative of brake mean effective temperatures for said first and second internal chambers. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for analyzing the operation of a diesel engine, said diesel engine including an exhaust manifold having a temperature and said diesel engine also defining a work cycle and having at least one internal chamber and means for passing a vapor through said internal chamber, said vapor having a temperature, comprising, in combination:
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passive temperature sensor means, interconnected to said diesel engine, for sensing said temperature of said vapor within said internal chamber and for providing a temperature signal representative of said temperature; magnetically attached thermocouple sensor means, interconnected to said exhaust manifold of said diesel engine, for providing a manifold temperature signal representative of said temperature of said exhaust manifold; and display means, interconnected to said magnetically attached thermocouple sensor means and passive temperature sensor means, for receiving said temperature signal throughout said engine cycle and responsively providing a display based upon said temperature of said vapor within said internal chamber and representative of a brake mean effective temperature, and for receiving said exhaust manifold temperature signal and responsively providing a display based thereon. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification