Method and control unit for controlling an internal combustion engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9273656-B2
Application number	US-201113810274-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 4, 2011
Priority date	Jul 15, 2010
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A method and a control unit are disclosed for controlling a single-cylinder or multiple-cylinder internal combustion engine having at least one fuel injector per cylinder, at least one camshaft for actuating inlet valves and/or outlet valves, and having a control unit which controls the fuel injectors in such a way that they inject in each case one fuel pre-injection per cylinder during a starting phase of the internal combustion engine. In order to make an improved pre-injection strategy possible during the starting phase, according to the invention at least one cylinder pressure signal which is supplied by a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in a cylinder is evaluated with regard to interference signals, and the evaluation result is taken into consideration at least during the starting phase in a determination of the camshaft angle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a single- or multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having at least one fuel injector per cylinder for injecting fuel, at least one camshaft for actuating inlet valves and/or outlet valves, which camshaft rotates at half the speed of a crankshaft, a crankshaft sensor that supplies a crankshaft signal having a synchronization pulse for each crankshaft revolution, said signal representing the crankshaft angle, and a control unit configured to control the fuel injectors during a starting phase and during a normal operating phase, the method comprising:
the control unit receiving at least one cylinder pressure signal from a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in an associated cylinder having multiple associated valves,
the control unit determining interference signals from the at least one cylinder pressure signal with regard to interference signals,
the control unit evaluating the interference signals by:
comparing a particular portion of the interference signals to multiple different pre-stored signal patterns corresponding to the multiple valves or to multiple different valve events,
based on the comparison, selecting from the multiple different pre-stored signal patterns a particular pre-stored signal pattern corresponding with the particular portion of the interference signals,
determining a particular one of the multiple valves or multiple valve events corresponding to the selected pre-stored signal pattern corresponding with the particular portion of the interference signals,

the control unit determining the camshaft angle based at least on an evaluation result of the evaluation, and
the control unit controlling the fuel injectors during the starting phase based on the determined camshaft angle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal combustion engine has a plurality of cylinders, and the cylinder pressure signals of cylinder pressure sensors respectively associated with all the cylinders are evaluated.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein preferential stoppage angles of the crankshaft are also considered in the determination of the camshaft angle during the starting phase.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the camshaft angle supplied by a camshaft sensor is also considered in the determination of the camshaft angle.

5. The method of claim 4 , comprising using the evaluation result during at least one of the starting phase and the normal operating phase to check a plausibility of at least one of the crankshaft signal supplied by the crankshaft sensor and the camshaft signal supplied by the camshaft sensor.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising performing a camshaft angle phase adjustment during the normal operating phase, and controlling the camshaft angle phase adjustment based at least one the evaluation result.

7. A control unit for controlling a single- or multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having at least one fuel injector per cylinder for injecting fuel, at least one camshaft for actuating inlet valves and/or outlet valves, which camshaft rotates at half the speed of a crankshaft, a crankshaft sensor that supplies a crankshaft signal having a synchronization pulse for each crankshaft revolution, said signal representing the crankshaft angle, and a control unit configured to control the fuel injectors during a starting phase and during a normal operating phase,
the control unit configured to:
receive at least one cylinder pressure signal from a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in an associated cylinder having multiple associated valves,
determine interference signals from the at least one cylinder pressure signal with regard to interference signals,
evaluate the interference signals by:
comparing a particular portion of the interference signals to multiple different pre-stored signal patterns corresponding to the multiple valves or to multiple different valve events,
based on the comparison, selecting from the multiple different pre-stored signal patterns a particular pre-stored signal pattern corresponding with the particular portion of the interference signals,
determining a particular one of the multiple valves or multiple valve events corresponding to the selected pre-stored signal pattern corresponding with the particular portion of the interference signals,

determine the camshaft angle based at least on an evaluation result of the evaluation,
determine the camshaft angle based at least on the identified valve event for the particular identified valve, and
control the fuel injectors during the starting phase based on the determined camshaft angle.

8. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein the internal combustion engine has a plurality of cylinders, and the cylinder pressure signals of cylinder pressure sensors respectively associated with all the cylinders are evaluated.

9. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein preferential stoppage angles of the crankshaft are also considered in the determination of the camshaft angle during the starting phase.

10. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein the camshaft angle supplied by a camshaft sensor is also considered in the determination of the camshaft angle.

11. The control unit of claim 10 , comprising using the evaluation result during at least one of the starting phase and the normal operating phase to check a plausibility of at least one of the crankshaft signal supplied by the crankshaft sensor and the camshaft signal supplied by the camshaft sensor.

12. The control unit of claim 7 , comprising performing a camshaft angle phase adjustment during the normal operating phase, and controlling the camshaft angle phase adjustment based at least one the evaluation result.

13. An internal combustion engine, comprising:
at least one fuel injector per cylinder for injecting fuel,
at least one camshaft for actuating at least one inlet valve and/or at least one outlet valve,
at least one camshaft for actuating inlet valves and/or outlet valves, which camshaft rotates at half the speed of a crankshaft,
a crankshaft sensor that supplies a crankshaft signal having a synchronization pulse for each crankshaft revolution, said signal representing the crankshaft angle, and
a control unit configured to control the fuel injectors during a starting phase and during a normal operating phase,
wherein the control unit is configured to:
receive at least one cylinder pressure signal from a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in an associated cylinder having multiple associated valves,
determine interference signals from the at least one cylinder pressure signal with regard to interference signals,
evaluate the interference signals by:
comparing a particular portion of the interference signals to multiple different pre-stored signal patterns corresponding to the multiple valves or to multiple different valve events,
based on the comparison, selecting from the multiple different pre-stored signal patterns a particular pre-stored signal pattern corresponding with the particular portion of the interference signals,
determining a particular one of the multiple valves or multiple valve events corresponding to the selected pre-stored signal pattern corresponding with the particular portion of the interference signals,

determine the camshaft angle based at least on an evaluation result of the evaluation, and
control the fuel injectors during the starting phase based on the determined camshaft angle.

14. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 , wherein the internal combustion engine has a plurality of cylinders, and the cylinder pressure signals of cylinder pr

Assignees

• Schule Harry
• Stutika Markus
• Continental Automotive Gmbh

Inventors

• Schule Harry
• Stutika Markus

Classifications

• F02D41/30

  Controlling fuel injection {(F02D41/182, F02D41/24 take precedence)} · CPC title

• F02D41/009 Primary

  using means for generating position or synchronisation signals · CPC title

• F02M69/04 Primary

  Injectors peculiar thereto · CPC title

• F02D13/0203

  Variable control of intake and exhaust valves · CPC title

• F02D35/023 Primary

  by determining the cylinder pressure · CPC title