Engine control apparatus designed to ensure accuracy in determining engine position
First Claim
1. An engine control apparatus comprising:
- a crankshaft position determining circuit working to determine a crankshaft position that is a position of a crankshaft of an engine within one operating cycle of the engine in one of a first and a second mode of operation, in the first mode, the crankshaft position being determined using both a crank angle signal outputted from a crankshaft position sensor as a function of an angular position of the crankshaft and a cam angle signal outputted from a camshaft position sensor as a function of an angular position of a camshaft of the engine, in the second mode, the crankshaft position being determined only using the crank angle signal;
a stop position estimating circuit working to determine a stop position estimate that is an estimate of a position at which the crankshaft is expected to stop when the engine stops using at least one of the crank angle signal and the cam angle signal; and
an engine controller working to launch a given engine control task at a start of the engine based on the stop position estimate of the crankshaft, as determined by said stop position estimating circuit, when one of a first condition that indicates a possibility of performing the engine control task based on an erroneous value of the stop position estimate and a second condition that results in initiation of the engine control task based on an erroneous value of the stop position estimate is encountered, said engine controller inhibiting the engine control task from being launched based on the stop position estimate.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An engine control system is provided which is designed to estimate an angular position at which a crankshaft of an engine is expected to stop at a stop of the engine for use in determining the position of the crankshaft at a start of the engine which is to be employed in initiating given engine control tasks. When a preselected condition which indicates the possibility of performing the engine control tasks or will result in initiation of the engine control tasks based on an erroneous value of the estimate of the stop position of the crankshaft, the engine control system inhibits the engine control tasks from being initiated using the estimate of the stop postion, thereby ensuring the stability of control of the engine.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An engine control apparatus comprising:
-
a crankshaft position determining circuit working to determine a crankshaft position that is a position of a crankshaft of an engine within one operating cycle of the engine in one of a first and a second mode of operation, in the first mode, the crankshaft position being determined using both a crank angle signal outputted from a crankshaft position sensor as a function of an angular position of the crankshaft and a cam angle signal outputted from a camshaft position sensor as a function of an angular position of a camshaft of the engine, in the second mode, the crankshaft position being determined only using the crank angle signal; a stop position estimating circuit working to determine a stop position estimate that is an estimate of a position at which the crankshaft is expected to stop when the engine stops using at least one of the crank angle signal and the cam angle signal; and an engine controller working to launch a given engine control task at a start of the engine based on the stop position estimate of the crankshaft, as determined by said stop position estimating circuit, when one of a first condition that indicates a possibility of performing the engine control task based on an erroneous value of the stop position estimate and a second condition that results in initiation of the engine control task based on an erroneous value of the stop position estimate is encountered, said engine controller inhibiting the engine control task from being launched based on the stop position estimate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification