Scope analyzer for direct ignition engines
First Claim
1. In an analysis apparatus of the type for analyzing the operation of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having an ignition coil with primary and secondary windings, wherein the apparatus includes waveform acquisition circuitry including primary and secondary pickup leads for respectively acquiring primary and secondary analog input waveform signals from primary and secondary coil windings and generating waveform data representative of such analog waveform signals, a memory for storing the waveform data, a user input device for inputting cylinder identifications, a display device having a display screen for displaying the waveform data, and a control processor coupled to the waveform acquisition circuitry and the memory and the input device and the display device, the improvement comprising:
- a computer routine executed by the processor to permit use of a single pickup lead of the apparatus for analyzing ignition waveforms of direct ignition engines wherein each cylinder has its own ignition coil said computer routine comprising;
(a) a first portion, for establishing in the memory, cylinder buffers respectively dedicated to the cylinders of the engine under test;
(b) a second portion responsive to user input of an identification of a cylinder to which the pickup lead is connected for storing waveform data acquired from that cylinder by the single pickup lead in the cylinder buffer dedicated to that cylinder; and
(c) a third portion for displaying on the display screen waveform data from any cylinder buffers in which such data has been stored.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An engine analyzer stores acquired cylinder waveform data in circular buffers respectively associated with the cylinders in accordance with cylinder selection by the user, with each buffer including a plurality of storage cells respectively storing data for individual firing cycles of the associated cylinder, and simultaneously displays the waveform for a, single selected cylinder on one trace of a display screen and waveforms for all cylinders for which data is stored on a second trace, so that data can be acquired and displayed from direct ignition engines with the use of a single pickup lead connected to selected cylinders one cylinder at a time. Various display modes are possible, including a frozen mode in which all stored waveform data may be reviewed and displayed.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. In an analysis apparatus of the type for analyzing the operation of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having an ignition coil with primary and secondary windings, wherein the apparatus includes waveform acquisition circuitry including primary and secondary pickup leads for respectively acquiring primary and secondary analog input waveform signals from primary and secondary coil windings and generating waveform data representative of such analog waveform signals, a memory for storing the waveform data, a user input device for inputting cylinder identifications, a display device having a display screen for displaying the waveform data, and a control processor coupled to the waveform acquisition circuitry and the memory and the input device and the display device, the improvement comprising:
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a computer routine executed by the processor to permit use of a single pickup lead of the apparatus for analyzing ignition waveforms of direct ignition engines wherein each cylinder has its own ignition coil said computer routine comprising;
(a) a first portion, for establishing in the memory, cylinder buffers respectively dedicated to the cylinders of the engine under test;
(b) a second portion responsive to user input of an identification of a cylinder to which the pickup lead is connected for storing waveform data acquired from that cylinder by the single pickup lead in the cylinder buffer dedicated to that cylinder; and
(c) a third portion for displaying on the display screen waveform data from any cylinder buffers in which such data has been stored. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Apparatus for analyzing the operation of a multi-cylinder, direct ignition, internal combustion engine wherein each cylinder has its own ignition coil with primary and secondary windings, said apparatus comprising:
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a waveform acquisition circuit including an ignition pickup lead adapted to be coupled to a selected winding of each ignition coil one cylinder at a time for receiving primary or secondary analog input waveform signals from each cylinder and generation waveform data representative of such analog waveform signals, a user input device for inputting an identification of the cylinder to which the pickup lead is coupled, a storage memory, a display device having a display screen for displaying waveform data, and a processor coupled to said waveform acquisition circuit and said user input device and said memory and said display device and operating under stored program control, said processor executing a computer routine including a first portion, for establishing in the memory cylinder buffers respectively dedicated to the cylinders of the engine under test, and a second portion responsive to user input of an identification of a cylinder to which the pickup lead is connected for storing waveform data acquired from that cylinder in the cylinder buffer dedicated to that cylinder, and for displaying of the display screen waveform data for any cylinders for any cylinders for which such data has been stored. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of analyzing the operation of a multi-cylinder, direct ignition, internal combustion engine wherein each cylinder has its own ignition coil with primary and secondary windings, the method comprising the steps of:
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asynchronously acquiring analog waveform signals from a winding of each coil using a single pickup lead sequentially connected to the coils one cylinder at a time, generating digital waveform data from the acquired analog waveform signals and storing the data so that the data for each cylinder is stored in a memory buffer dedicated to that cylinder and therefore can be distinguished from the data for other cylinders, and displaying waveform data for any cylinders for which such data has been stored. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification