Method and apparatus for creating a profile of operating conditions of an engine
First Claim
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1. A method of operating an internal combustion engine, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a sensor for generating a signal corresponding to an engine operating condition;
providing an on-board data recording system having temporary and permanent memory for recording ranges of values of the signal;
periodically sampling the sensor generated signal to obtain the signal values;
quantifying the sampled signal values as being within one of several possible ranges of values;
maintaining short-term arithmetic totals of the ranges in the temporary memory in the on-board data recording system; and
periodically adding the short-term arithmetic totals of the ranges stored in the temporary memory to long-term arithmetic totals of the ranges of values stored in the permanent memory in the on-board data recording system.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for measuring and recording various conditions of engine performance and in particular provides a useful record of the speeds at which the engine has been operated over the life of the engine.
18 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of operating an internal combustion engine, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a sensor for generating a signal corresponding to an engine operating condition; providing an on-board data recording system having temporary and permanent memory for recording ranges of values of the signal; periodically sampling the sensor generated signal to obtain the signal values; quantifying the sampled signal values as being within one of several possible ranges of values; maintaining short-term arithmetic totals of the ranges in the temporary memory in the on-board data recording system; and periodically adding the short-term arithmetic totals of the ranges stored in the temporary memory to long-term arithmetic totals of the ranges of values stored in the permanent memory in the on-board data recording system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An engine assembly comprising:
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an internal combustion engine having an engine operating condition; a sensor for generating a data signal value corresponding to said condition over a selected time interval; a computer for quantifying the data signal value as being within one of several possible ranges of values, and for maintaining an arithmetic total of the intervals in which the signal value falls within each of the several possible ranges of values; and an on-board data storage device for permanently recording the arithmetic total of the intervals in which the signal value falls within each of the several possible ranges of values. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An outboard motor comprising:
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a rotatable crankshaft; a sensor for generating a data signal corresponding to rotation of said crankshaft; an on-board electronic control unit for receiving said data signal and storing counts for ranges of values of the data signal at sampling intervals, said electronic control unit including; an interval timer; random access memory and a non-volatile memory; and a microprocessor; said electronic control unit being configured to sample said data signal at a first predetermined interval, to classify said data signal values as being within one of the ranges of values, to maintain a running total in the random access memory of counts of intervals in which the data signal values fall within each of the ranges of values, and to transfer said counts of intervals from said random access memory into said non-volatile memory at a variable interval. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification