System for controlling an internal combustion engine and method therefor
First Claim
1. A system for controlling a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, comprising:
- (a) first means associated with each cylinder of the engine for monitoring internal pressure variations therein;
(b) second means for determining whether said first means for any of the cylinders is malfunctioning on the basis of the pressures measured by said first means; and
(c) third means for controlling the ignition timing for each cylinder on the basis of the pressures measured by said first means and retarding the ignition timing for any one of cylinders or any cylinders in which the associated first means is determined by said second means to be malfunctioning.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for controlling a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine includes a plurality of pressure-responsive sensors, each detecting the internal pressure in a corresponding cylinder (or in a corresponding cylinder group), means for determining whether the pressure-responsive sensor for any one of the cylinders (cylinder groups) is malfunctioning on the basis of the readings from the sensors, and means for controlling the ignition timing for each cylinder (each cylinder group) on the basis of the readings from the respective pressure-responsive sensors and retarding by a predetermined retardation offset the ignition timing for any of the cylinders whose associated sensor has failed. The ignition timing of a malfunctioning cylinder is offset by the predetermined offset with respect to the ignition timing for one of the other cylinders (cylinder groups) whose corresponding sensor is operating normally and which has the most retarded ignition timing among such cylinders.
57 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for controlling a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, comprising:
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(a) first means associated with each cylinder of the engine for monitoring internal pressure variations therein; (b) second means for determining whether said first means for any of the cylinders is malfunctioning on the basis of the pressures measured by said first means; and (c) third means for controlling the ignition timing for each cylinder on the basis of the pressures measured by said first means and retarding the ignition timing for any one of cylinders or any cylinders in which the associated first means is determined by said second means to be malfunctioning. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for controlling a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine, comprising:
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(a) first means for monitoring internal pressure variations in each group of cylinders; (b) second means for determining whether said first means for any one group of cylinders is malfunctioning on the basis of the pressures measured by said first means; and (c) third means for controlling an ignition timing in each group of cylinders on the basis of the pressures measured by said first means and retarding the ignition timing for any cylinder groups associated with malfunctioning first means.
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18. A method for controlling a multi-cylinder engine, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a sensor on each engine cylinder or on each group of engine cylinders for monitoring internal pressure variations therein; (b) determining whether an engine knocking occurs in each cylinder or in each cylinder group on the basis of each corresponding result of monitoring in said step (a); (c) retarding an ignition timing in each cylinder or in each cylinder group when determining in said step (b) that the engine knocking occurs and advancing an ignition timing therein when determining in said step (b) that no engine knocking occurs; (d) determining whether any one of the sensors is malfunctioning on the basis of each corresponding result of monitoring in said step (a); and (e) retarding the ignition timing advanced in said step (c) of the corresponding cylinder or cylinder group associated with the sensor which is determined to be malfunctioning in said step (d).
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19. A method for controlling a multi-cylinder engine, comprising the steps of:
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(a) monitoring internal pressure variations in each cylinder of the engine by means of sensors; (b) determining whether any of the sensors are malfunctioning on the basis of the pressures measured in said step (a); (c) controlling the ignition timing in each cylinder on the basis of the pressures measured in said step (a); and (d) retarding the ignition timing in any one of the cylinders or any cylinders associated with a sensor determined to be malfunctioning in said step (b). - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification