Apparatus for controlling the energizing of a heater
First Claim
1. A heater energization control apparatus for controlling energization of a heater having a heating resistor which generates heat upon supply of electricity thereto, wherein the heater constitutes a heat generation section of a glow plug mounted to an internal combustion engine, the apparatus comprising:
- first resistance acquisition means, operable when the internal combustion engine to which the heater is mounted remains stopped, for supplying electricity to the heating resistor every time a predetermined wait time elapses and for acquiring, as a first resistance, an electricity supply resistance at that time; and
determination means for determining that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, when the first resistance is greater than a predetermined first reference value,whereinthe heating resistor is a heating resistor whose resistance changes with a temperature change thereof in accordance with a positive correlation between the temperature and the resistance;
the heater energization control apparatus is configured to control the supply of electricity to the heating resistor in accordance with a resistance control scheme in which the supply of electricity to the heating resistor is controlled such that the resistance of the heating resistor coincides with a target resistance; and
the heater energization control apparatus comprises;
second resistance acquisition means, operable in response to (i) the determination means determining that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, (ii) the internal combustion engine being operated for a first time after it is determined that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, and (iii) the internal combustion engine being stopped after being operated the first time once it has been determined that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, for supplying electricity to the heating resistor, and for acquiring, as a second resistance, the electricity supply resistance at that time;
first information acquisition means, operable when the second resistance is acquired, for acquiring information regarding a temperature of an environment in which the heater is used;
first computation means for computing the target resistance on the basis of the second resistance and the information regarding the environmental temperature; and
energization control means, operable when the internal combustion engine is operated, for controlling the supply of electricity to the heating resistor such that the electricity supply resistance at the time when electricity is supplied to the heating resistor coincides with the target resistance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A heater energization control apparatus. When an engine is stopped, a microcomputer of a GCU enters a power save mode. When the microcomputer returns to a normal mode in response to an interruption signal periodically generated from an interruption timer, the microcomputer supplies electricity to a heating resistor for a short time and obtains its resistance (S19). When the resistance is greater than a first reference value, the microcomputer determines that a glow plug is removed from the engine; that is, the glow plug is being exchanged (S29). The microcomputer sets an exchange flag to “1” (S30), and performs calibration for the heating resistor of a new glow plug after the engine is operated next time (S35). When the current resistance becomes smaller than the past resistance, the microcomputer determines that the glow plug has been exchanged.
36 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A heater energization control apparatus for controlling energization of a heater having a heating resistor which generates heat upon supply of electricity thereto, wherein the heater constitutes a heat generation section of a glow plug mounted to an internal combustion engine, the apparatus comprising:
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first resistance acquisition means, operable when the internal combustion engine to which the heater is mounted remains stopped, for supplying electricity to the heating resistor every time a predetermined wait time elapses and for acquiring, as a first resistance, an electricity supply resistance at that time; and determination means for determining that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, when the first resistance is greater than a predetermined first reference value, wherein the heating resistor is a heating resistor whose resistance changes with a temperature change thereof in accordance with a positive correlation between the temperature and the resistance; the heater energization control apparatus is configured to control the supply of electricity to the heating resistor in accordance with a resistance control scheme in which the supply of electricity to the heating resistor is controlled such that the resistance of the heating resistor coincides with a target resistance; and the heater energization control apparatus comprises; second resistance acquisition means, operable in response to (i) the determination means determining that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, (ii) the internal combustion engine being operated for a first time after it is determined that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, and (iii) the internal combustion engine being stopped after being operated the first time once it has been determined that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, for supplying electricity to the heating resistor, and for acquiring, as a second resistance, the electricity supply resistance at that time; first information acquisition means, operable when the second resistance is acquired, for acquiring information regarding a temperature of an environment in which the heater is used; first computation means for computing the target resistance on the basis of the second resistance and the information regarding the environmental temperature; and energization control means, operable when the internal combustion engine is operated, for controlling the supply of electricity to the heating resistor such that the electricity supply resistance at the time when electricity is supplied to the heating resistor coincides with the target resistance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A heater energization control apparatus for controlling energization of a heater having a heating resistor which generates heat upon supply of electricity thereto, wherein the heater constitutes a heat generation section of a glow plug mounted to an internal combustion engine, the apparatus comprising:
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first resistance acquisition means, operable when the internal combustion engine to which the heater is mounted remains stopped, for supplying electricity to the heating resistor and for acquiring, as a first resistance, an electricity supply resistance at that time; first information acquisition means, operable when the first resistance is acquired, for acquiring information regarding a temperature of an environment in which the heater is used; correction means for correcting the first resistance on the basis of the information regarding the environmental temperature to thereby obtain a current corrected resistance value; first computation means for computing a difference between the current corrected resistance value obtained by the correction means and a past corrected resistance value previously obtained by the correction means; determination means for determining that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, when the difference is greater than a predetermined first reference value; and storage means for storing, as the past corrected value, the current corrected value obtained by the correction means, wherein the heating resistor is a heating resistor whose resistance changes with a temperature change thereof in accordance with a positive correlation between the temperature and the resistance; the heater energization control apparatus is configured to control the supply of electricity to the heating resistor in accordance with a resistance control scheme in which the supply of electricity to the heating resistor is controlled such that the resistance of the heating resistor coincides with a target resistance; and the heater energization control apparatus comprises; second resistance acquisition means, operable in response to (i) the determination means determining that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, (ii) the internal combustion engine being operated for a first time after it is determined that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, and (iii) the internal combustion engine being stopped after being operated the first time once it has been determined that the glow plug has been exchanged for another same type of glow plug, for supplying electricity to the heating resistor, and for acquiring, as a second resistance, the electricity supply resistance at that time; second information acquisition means, operable when the second resistance is acquired, for acquiring information regarding a temperature of an environment in which the heater is used; second computation means for computing the target resistance on the basis of the second resistance and the information regarding the environmental temperature acquired by the second information acquisition means; and energization control means, operable when the internal combustion engine is operated, for controlling the supply of electricity to the heating resistor such that the electricity supply resistance at the time when electricity is supplied to the heating resistor coincides with the target resistance. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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Specification