System and method of cylinder deactivation for optimal engine torque-speed map operation

• US 8,886,422 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2012
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cummins Intellectual Property, Inc. (Cummins Incorporated), Eaton Corp. (Wisconsin) (Eaton Corporation PLC.), PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cummins Intellectual Property, Inc. (Cummins Incorporated), Eaton Corp. (Wisconsin) (Eaton Corporation PLC.), PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Sujan, Vivek A., Frazier, Timothy R., Follen, Kenneth, Moon, Suk-Min
• Primary Examiner(s): Jen, Ian
• Application Number:
  US13/407,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20120221217A1
• Time in Patent Office: 987 Days
• Field of Search: 700/54
• US Class Current: 701/54
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/00 Input parameters relating to infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/1882 characterised by the working point of the engine, e.g. by using engine output chart
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2300/435 Control of engine cylinder cut-off
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/0087 Selective cylinder activation, i.e. partial cylinder operation deceleration cut-off F02D41/123
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/021 Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine conjoint control of vehicle sub-units for propelling the vehicle B60W30/18
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/0225 in relation with the gear ratio or shift lever position
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2063/426 with means for advising the driver for proper shift action, e.g. prompting the driver with allowable selection range of ratios
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/76 Number of cylinders operating
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/0213 characterised by the method for generating shift signals
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time

Abstract

This disclosure provides a system and method for determining cylinder deactivation in a vehicle engine to optimize fuel consumption while providing the desired or demanded power. In one aspect, data indicative of terrain variation is utilized in determining a vehicle target operating state. An optimal active cylinder distribution and corresponding fueling is determined from a recommendation from a supervisory agent monitoring the operating state of the vehicle of a subset of the total number of cylinders, and a determination as to which number of cylinders provides the optimal fuel consumption. Once the optimal cylinder number is determined, a transmission gear shift recommendation is provided in view of the determined active cylinder distribution and target operating state.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing fuel consumption in a vehicle when changing from a current operating state to a target operating state, the method comprising:

receiving data indicative of a vehicle current operating state based on at least two of power demand, engine speed, engine torque, gear number, and vehicle speed;

receiving terrain variation data;

determining vehicle target operating state including desired torque based on said terrain variation data;

determining an active cylinder distribution to minimize fuel consumption based on said determined vehicle target operating state; and

providing a transmission gear shift recommendation in view of the determined active cylinder distribution and the vehicle target operating state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining said active cylinder distribution comprises receiving a candidate minimum cylinder number corresponding to said determined vehicle target operating state and determining the optimal fueling from among cylinder numbers ranging from the minimum cylinder number to a number of total cylinders in the engine of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the terrain variation data is based on current vehicle location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terrain variation data is based on upcoming vehicle location.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering the determined active cylinder distribution using a low pass filter.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating cylinders not in the active cylinder distribution one at a time.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving positioning related data; and

determining a position coordinate of a vehicle within said terrain variation.

8. A system adapted to optimize fuel consumption in a vehicle when changing from a current operating state to a target operating state, comprising:

a current operating state module including data indicative of a vehicle current operating state based on at least two of power demand, engine speed, engine torque, gear number, and vehicle speed;

a terrain variation module including data indicative of terrain variation data;

a target operating state module containing a vehicle target operating state based on factors including desired torque based on said terrain variation data;

an active cylinder module containing a determination of an active cylinder distribution to minimize fuel consumption based on said determined vehicle target operating state; and

a transmission gear recommendation module containing a transmission gear shift recommendation in view of the determined active cylinder distribution and the vehicle target operating state.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the target operating state module is configured to determine said active cylinder distribution by receiving a candidate minimum cylinder number corresponding to determined target operating state and determining the optimal fueling from among cylinder numbers ranging from the minimum cylinder number to a number of total cylinders of in the engine of the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the terrain variation data is based on current vehicle location.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the terrain variation data is based on upcoming vehicle location.

12. The system of claim 8, further comprising a filter configured to low pass filter the determined active.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein said active cylinder module is configured to deactivate cylinders not in the active cylinder distribution one at a time.

14. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a position determining unit configured to receive positioning related data and determining a position coordinate of a vehicle within said terrain variation.