Method and control system for controlling a marine internal combustion engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10018136-B1
Application number	US-201715597798-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 17, 2017
Priority date	May 17, 2017
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

A method for controlling a marine engine for propelling a marine vessel includes receiving user input as a user input device to control acceleration of a marine vessel, detecting a rapid acceleration command based on the user input, and determining an advanced spark timing based on at least one of engine speed and engine load, wherein the advanced spark timing adjusts a base spark time by a spark advance offset. A fuel increase is then determined based on the spark advance offset, and then an increased fuel injection amount is determined by increasing a base fuel injection amount by the fuel increase. Spark and fuel delivery are then controlled for one or more cylinders of the marine engine based on the advanced spark timing and the increased fuel injection amount.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a marine engine for propelling a marine vessel, the method comprising:
receiving user input at a user input device to control acceleration of a marine vessel;
detecting a rapid acceleration command based on the user input;
determining an advanced spark timing based on at least one of engine speed and engine load, wherein the advanced spark timing adjusts a base spark time by a spark advance offset;
determining a fuel increase based on the spark advance offset;
determining an increased fuel injection amount by increasing a base fuel injection amount by the fuel increase; and
controlling a spark for one or more cylinders of the marine engine based on the advanced spark timing and controlling fuel delivery for the one or more cylinders of the marine engine based on the increased fuel injection amount.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the advanced spark timing and the increased fuel injection amount for a predetermined maximum period following the detection of the rapid acceleration command.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
starting a timer upon detecting the rapid acceleration command;
if the spark advance is non-zero once the timer reaches the predetermined maximum period, gradually reducing the spark advance offset to zero over a period of time.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the fuel increase increases as the spark advance offset increases.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the fuel increase is zero when the spark advance offset is zero and the fuel increase is nonzero when the spark advance offset is nonzero.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the spark advance increases for high load conditions where the base spark time is retarded due to knock margin limitations.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user input device is a throttle lever, and wherein the rapid acceleration command is detected based on position of the throttle lever over time.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein detecting the rapid acceleration command includes detecting that the throttle lever position has changed from below a lower threshold position to above an upper threshold position within a predetermined time.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the lower threshold is 10% of a maximum lever position and the upper threshold is 90% of a maximum lever position and the predetermined time is less than three seconds.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the spark advance offset based on at least one of the engine speed and the engine load;
wherein the advanced spark timing is the base spark time adjusted by the spark advance offset, and wherein determining the spark advance offset includes accessing a lookup table containing spark advance offsets in crank angle degrees based on engine speed and engine load values.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the fuel increase includes accessing a lookup table containing multipliers based on spark advance offsets, and wherein determining the increased fuel injection amount includes multiplying the base fuel injection amount by the fuel increase.

12. A marine propulsion system comprising:
a marine internal combustion engine having a plurality of pistons that move within cylinders to cause rotation of a crankshaft;
a user input device for controlling acceleration of a marine vessel;
a control module configured to:
detect a rapid acceleration command provided at the user input device;
determine a spark advance offset based on at least one of engine speed and engine load;
determine an advanced spark timing based on at least one of engine speed and engine load, wherein the advanced spark timing adjusts a base spark time by a spark advance offset;
determine a fuel increase based on the spark advance offset;
determine an increased fuel injection amount by increasing a base fuel injection amount by the fuel increase; and
control a spark for one or more cylinders of the marine engine based on the advanced spark timing and controlling fuel delivery for the one or more cylinders of the marine engine based on the increased fuel injection amount.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control module is further configured to determine the advanced spark timing and the increased fuel injection amount for a predetermined maximum period following the detection of the rapid acceleration command.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control module is further configured to:
start a timer upon detecting the rapid acceleration command; and
if the spark advance is non-zero once the timer reaches the predetermined maximum period, gradually reducing the spark advance offset to zero over a period of time.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the fuel increase is zero when the spark advance offset is zero, and wherein the fuel increase increases as the spark advance offset increases.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control module is further configured to access a lookup table containing fuel increases based on spark advance offsets, wherein the fuel increases are percentage increase values or multipliers that are applied to the base fuel injection amount to determine the increased fuel injection amount.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the control module is further configured to:
determine the spark advance offset based on at least one of the engine speed and the engine load;
access a lookup table containing spark advance offsets in crank angle degrees based on engine speed and engine load values; and
wherein the advanced spark timing is the base spark time adjusted by the spark advance offset.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the spark advance offsets in the table increase for high load conditions where the base spark time is retarded due to knock margin limitations.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the rapid acceleration command is detected based on position of a throttle lever over time.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the rapid acceleration command is detected when the throttle lever has moved from below a lower threshold position to above an upper threshold position within a predetermined time.

Assignees

• Brunswick Corp

Inventors

• Anschuetz Steven M
• Purdy Michael A
• Osthelder Robert Raymond
• Hilbert David J

Classifications

• F02D11/02

  characterised by hand, foot, or like operator controlled initiation means · CPC title

• F02D35/0092

  by means of fuel injection · CPC title

• F02D2200/101

  Engine speed · CPC title

• F02D41/10 Primary

  for acceleration · CPC title

• F02D2200/1002

  Output torque · CPC title