Control apparatus for internal combustion engines
First Claim
1. A lean-burn control apparatus, having a digital arithmetic unit to which signals are inputted from a plurality of detectors for detecting an operational state of an internal combustion engine and an air fuel ratio detector, and controlling a fuel air ratio and ignition timing according to output signals from said arithmetic unit, characterized bymisfire detecting means for detecting a misfiring state of said engine;
- means for detecting NOx concentration information of said engine; and
means for controlling said fuel air ratio and said ignition timing so as to fall within a tolerable stable combustion range which is defined based on signals from misfire detector and said NOx concentration information detector, and in which combustion is stable and produces NOx of a tolerable concentration.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An internal combustion engine control apparatus has a digital arithmetic unit to which signals are inputted from a plurality of detectors such as detectors for detecting an operational state of the engine and air fuel ratio detector and controls a fuel air ratio and ignition timing according to output signals from the arithmetic unit. The apparatus comprises by a misfire detector for detecting a misfiring state of the engine, NOx concentration detector and a controller for controlling the fuel air ratio and the ignition timing so as to fall within a tolerable stable combustion range defined by a detected misfire boundary and a detected NOx limit. The misfiring state and/or NOx concentration can be detected through detection of temperature change in the combustion chamber by a detector. The detector comprises a black body disposed in the combustion chamber and a fused silica cable mounting the black body.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A lean-burn control apparatus, having a digital arithmetic unit to which signals are inputted from a plurality of detectors for detecting an operational state of an internal combustion engine and an air fuel ratio detector, and controlling a fuel air ratio and ignition timing according to output signals from said arithmetic unit, characterized by
misfire detecting means for detecting a misfiring state of said engine; -
means for detecting NOx concentration information of said engine; and means for controlling said fuel air ratio and said ignition timing so as to fall within a tolerable stable combustion range which is defined based on signals from misfire detector and said NOx concentration information detector, and in which combustion is stable and produces NOx of a tolerable concentration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A combustion control apparatus for an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders and means for generating a timing signal relating to the timing of firing of combustion in said cylinders, comprising:
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a plurality of combustion flame optical sensors, each associated with a respective cylinder, for detecting firing of combustion in said cylinders; a plurality of optical fiber cables, each connected to a respective one of said combustion flame optical sensors; an optical signal processing circuit connected to all of said optical fiber cables to produce an output signal having a series of pulses each corresponding to an optical signal of a respective optical sensor; detecting means responsive to said timing signal and said output signal of said optical signal processing unit for detecting a condition of combustion in said cylinders on the basis of said series of pulses; and means for controlling at least one of fuel air ratio and ignition timing in said internal combustion engine using detected conditions of combustion in said cylinders. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A combustion control apparatus for an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, comprising:
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a combustion flame optical sensor, associated with a cylinder for detecting firing combustion in said cylinder, said optical sensor having a non-linear characteristic; optical signal processing means connected to said optical sensor for converting an optical output thereof to an electrical signal output; linear processing means connected to said optical signal processing means for linearizing said electrical signal output thereof; and means for controlling at least one of fuel air ratio and ignition timing in said internal combustion engine using an output of said linear processing means. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of controlling fuel air ratio and ignition timing in an internal combustion engine so as to maintain values of fuel air ratio and ignition timing within a target range in which combustion is stable and NOx concentration is tolerable, comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting a misfiring state of said engine; (b) detecting NOx concentration information of said engine; and (c) adjusting the value of at least one of fuel air ratio and ignition timing so that both fuel air ratio and ignition timing fall within a target range defined by a misfire boundary and a predetermined NOx concentration boundary. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification