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Method for operating a fuel pump

  • US 7,886,720 B2
  • Filed: 09/07/2006
  • Issued: 02/15/2011
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2005
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for operating a fuel pump having a variable delivery rate in order to feed fuel from a fuel container to an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:

  • feeding electrical energy in the form of pulses periodically to the fuel pump,controlling a pulse width as a function of the fuel requirement of the internal combustion engine, andcontrolling the frequency of the pulses in such a way that an inaudible frequency is set when there is a low delivery rate of the fuel pump but not when there is a relatively high delivery rate,wherein controlling the pulse width and the frequency of the pulses includes transitioning between a plurality of integral operational states, each corresponding to a predefined range of fuel requirement values, including at least;

    a first state corresponding to a first range of fuel requirement values, wherein the pulses have a first frequency and a first pulse width;

    a second state corresponding to a second range of fuel requirement values, wherein the pulses have the same first frequency but a second pulse width different than the first pulse width; and

    a third state corresponding to a third range of fuel requirement values, wherein the pulses have a second frequency different than the first frequency, and a third pulse width different than both the first and second pulse widths.

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