Diagnosing cylinder pressure sensor gain and offset

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11060939-B2
Application number	US-201916686044-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2019
Priority date	Dec 16, 2015
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus includes a sensor module, an offset diagnostic module, and a notification module. The sensor module is in operative communication with a cylinder pressure sensor and structured to acquire cylinder pressure data from the cylinder pressure sensor indicative of an actual in-cylinder pressure of a cylinder of an engine. The offset diagnostic module is structured to interpret the cylinder pressure data to determine an offset of the cylinder pressure sensor based on a reference in-cylinder pressure and the actual in-cylinder pressure. The notification module is structured to provide an offset error notification responsive to the offset being greater than a threshold offset.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a sensor module in operative communication with a cylinder pressure sensor and structured to acquire cylinder pressure data from the cylinder pressure sensor indicative of an actual in-cylinder pressure of a cylinder of an engine while the engine is keyed on and a crankshaft of the engine is not rotating;
an offset diagnostic module structured to interpret the cylinder pressure data to determine an offset of the cylinder pressure sensor based on a reference in-cylinder pressure and the actual in-cylinder pressure, wherein the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor is determined while the engine is keyed on and the crankshaft of the engine is not rotating;
a gain diagnostic module structured to determine a gain of the cylinder pressure sensor while the engine is keyed on, the crankshaft of the engine is rotating, and the engine is not firing; and
a notification module structured to provide an offset error notification based on at least one of the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor being greater than a threshold offset and the gain.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gain diagnostic module is structured to:
determine the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor responsive to the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor being less than the threshold offset and based on at least one of the actual in-cylinder pressure, the reference in-cylinder pressure, the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor, and a reference pressure profile; and
compare the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor to a target gain range.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the notification module is structured to provide a gain error notification responsive to the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor being outside of the target gain range.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor module is structured to acquire engine operation data indicative of at least one of a crank angle, an engine speed, an engine torque, an intake manifold temperature, an intake manifold pressure, a charge mass per cylinder, an exhaust pressure, and an exhaust temperature.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising an engine module structured to determine at least one of the reference in-cylinder pressure and the reference pressure profile based on the engine operation data.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor module is in operative communication with an ambient pressure sensor and structured to interpret ambient pressure data from the ambient pressure sensor indicative of an ambient pressure.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the sensor module is structured to determine the reference in-cylinder pressure based on at least one of an ambient pressure measured at a location external to the engine and an air intake system, a lookup table, and a dynamic model.

8. A method comprising:
measuring an actual in-cylinder pressure of a cylinder of an engine with a cylinder pressure sensor while the engine is keyed on and a crankshaft of the engine is not rotating;
determining an offset of the cylinder pressure sensor based on a reference in-cylinder pressure and the actual in-cylinder pressure;
comparing the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor to a threshold offset;
determining a gain of the cylinder pressure sensor while the engine is keyed on, the crankshaft of the engine is rotating, and the engine is not firing; and
providing an offset error notification based on at least one of the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor being greater than the threshold offset and the gain.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor is determined responsive to the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor being less than the threshold offset.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor is based on at least one of the actual in-cylinder pressure, the reference in-cylinder pressure, the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor, and a reference pressure profile.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining at least one of the reference in-cylinder pressure and the reference pressure profile based on at least one of an estimate and a measurement of engine operation data, wherein the engine operation data provides an indication of at least one of a crank angle, an engine speed, an engine torque, an intake manifold temperature, an intake manifold pressure, a charge mass per cylinder, an exhaust pressure, and an exhaust temperature.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
comparing the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor to a target gain range; and
providing a gain error notification responsive to the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor being outside of the target gain range.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising measuring an ambient pressure with an ambient pressure sensor.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising determining the reference in-cylinder pressure based on at least one of the ambient pressure measured at a location external to the engine and an air intake system, a lookup table, and a dynamic model.

15. A system comprising:
a cylinder pressure sensor structured to be communicably coupled to a cylinder of an engine and structured to measure an actual in-cylinder pressure of the cylinder while the engine is keyed on and the crankshaft of the engine is not rotating; and
a controller structured to be communicably coupled to the engine and the cylinder pressure sensor, the controller structured to:
determine an offset of the cylinder pressure sensor based on a reference in-cylinder pressure and the actual in-cylinder pressure, wherein the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor is determined while the engine is keyed on and a crankshaft of the engine is not rotating;
compare the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor to a threshold offset;
determine a gain of the cylinder pressure sensor based on the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor being less than the threshold offset, wherein the gain is determined while the engine is keyed on, the crankshaft of the engine is rotating, and the engine is not firing; and
provide an offset error notification based on at least one of the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor being greater than the threshold offset and the gain.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor is based on at least one of the actual in-cylinder pressure, the reference in-cylinder pressure, the offset of the cylinder pressure sensor, and a reference pressure profile.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the reference in-cylinder pressure and the reference pressure profile is based on at least one of an estimate and a measurement of engine operation data, wherein the engine operation data includes at least one of a crank angle, an engine speed, an engine torque, an intake manifold temperature, an intake manifold pressure, a charge mass per cylinder, an exhaust pressure, and an exhaust temperature.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is structured to compare the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor to a target gain range, wherein the controller is structured to provide a gain error notification responsive to the gain of the cylinder pressure sensor being outside of the target gain range.

19. The system of claim 15 , further comprising an ambient pressure sensor structured to measure ambient pressure.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the controller is structured to determine the reference in-cylinder pressure based on at

Assignees

• Cummins Inc

Inventors

• Joshi Alok A
• Booth Richard A
• Hodzen Edmond P

Classifications

• G01L23/24

  {specially adapted} for measuring pressure in inlet or exhaust ducts of internal-combustion engines · CPC title

• G01L27/007 Primary

  Malfunction diagnosis, i.e. diagnosing a sensor defect · CPC title

• F02D41/222

  relating to the failure of sensors or parameter detection devices · CPC title

• Y02T10/40

  Engine management systems · CPC title

• F02D2200/703

  Atmospheric pressure · CPC title