Method and control unit for controlling an internal combustion engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9347413-B2
Application number	US-201113810260-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2011
Priority date	Jul 15, 2010
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A method and a control unit are disclosed for controlling an internal combustion engine having fuel injector(s), a camshaft for actuating inlet and/or outlet valve(s), a valve-train adjusting device for controllably changing the actuating characteristic of at least one valve which is actuated by means of the camshaft, and optionally having a camshaft sensor which supplies a camshaft signal dependent on the camshaft angle, a crankshaft sensor which supplies a crankshaft signal representing the crankshaft angle, and a control unit for controlling the fuel injection and the valve-train adjusting device. In order to obtain information about the current setting of the valve-train adjusting device, at least one cylinder pressure signal supplied by a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in an associated cylinder is evaluated with regard to interference signals, and the evaluation result is taken into consideration in the control of the valve-train adjusting device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a single-cylinder or multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having 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, wherein a valve drive adjustment device is provided for controllable change of the actuation characteristic of at least one valve that is actuated by means of the camshaft, a crankshaft sensor which outputs a crankshaft signal which represents the crankshaft angle, and a control unit for controlling the fuel injection and the valve drive adjustment device, 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,
the control unit evaluating the at least one cylinder pressure signal with regard to interference signals, and
the control unit controlling the valve drive adjustment device based at least on the evaluation result of the at least one cylinder pressure signal,
wherein the control unit further receives a camshaft signal output by a camshaft sensor,
wherein the control unit further evaluates the at least one cylinder pressure signal and the camshaft signal to determine a present setting of the valve drive adjustment device by setting a certain event of a valve actuation process relative to a time or crank angle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve encompasses a valve lift adjustment and the evaluation result is taken into consideration as an input variable in the control of the valve lift adjustment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve encompasses a camshaft phase adjustment and the evaluation result is taken into consideration as an input variable in the control of the camshaft phase adjustment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve takes place in continuous manner.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluation result is further used for checking a plausibility of at least one of the crankshaft signal output by the crankshaft sensor and the camshaft signal output by the camshaft sensor.

6. 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 assigned to all of the cylinders are taken into consideration.

7. A control unit for controlling a single-cylinder or multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having 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, wherein a valve drive adjustment device is provided for controllable change of the actuation characteristic of at least one valve that is actuated by means of the camshaft, a crankshaft sensor which outputs a crankshaft signal which represents the crankshaft angle, and
wherein the control unit is configured to control the fuel injection and the valve drive adjustment device, wherein controlling the valve drive adjustment device comprises:
receiving at least one cylinder pressure signal from a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in an associated cylinder,
evaluating the at least one cylinder pressure signal with regard to interference signals, and
controlling the valve drive adjustment device based at least on the evaluation result of the at least one cylinder pressure signal,

wherein the control unit further receives a camshaft signal output by a camshaft sensor,
wherein the control unit further evaluates the at least one cylinder pressure signal and the camshaft signal to determine a present setting of the valve drive adjustment device by setting a certain event of a valve actuation process relative to a time or crank angle.

8. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve encompasses a valve lift adjustment and the evaluation result is taken into consideration as an input variable in the control of the valve lift adjustment.

9. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve encompasses a camshaft phase adjustment and the evaluation result is taken into consideration as an input variable in the control of the camshaft phase adjustment.

10. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve takes place in continuous manner.

11. The control unit of claim 7 , wherein the evaluation result is further used for checking a plausibility of at least one of the crankshaft signal output by the crankshaft sensor and the camshaft signal output by the camshaft sensor.

12. 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 assigned to all of the cylinders are taken into consideration.

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,
a valve drive adjustment device for controllable switching between at least two different actuation characteristics of at least one valve actuated by the camshaft, and
a crankshaft sensor which outputs a crankshaft signal which represents the crankshaft angle, and
a control unit configured to control the fuel injection and the valve drive adjustment device, wherein controlling the valve drive adjustment device comprises:
the control unit receiving at least one cylinder pressure signal from a cylinder pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in an associated cylinder,
the control unit evaluating the at least one cylinder pressure signal with regard to interference signals, and
the control unit controlling the valve drive adjustment device based at least on the result of the evaluation of the at least one cylinder pressure signal,

wherein the control unit further receives a camshaft signal output by a camshaft sensor,
wherein the control unit further evaluates the at least one cylinder pressure signal and the camshaft signal to determine a present setting of the valve drive adjustment device by setting a certain event of a valve actuation process relative to a time or crank angle.

14. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve encompasses a valve lift adjustment and the evaluation result is taken into consideration as an input variable in the control of the valve lift adjustment.

15. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve encompasses a camshaft phase adjustment and the evaluation result is taken into consideration as an input variable in the control of the camshaft phase adjustment.

16. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 , wherein the change of the actuation characteristic of the respective valve takes place in continuous manner.

17. The internal combustion engine of claim 13 , wherein the evaluation result is further used for checking a plausibility of at least one of the crankshaft signal output by the crankshaft sensor and the camshaft signal output by the camshaft sensor.

Assignees

• Schüle Harry
• Stutika Markus
• Continental Automotive Gmbh

Inventors

• Schüle Harry
• Stutika Markus

Classifications

• F02D13/0207

  changing valve lift or valve lift and timing · CPC title

• F02D41/0002

  Controlling intake air · CPC title

• F02M63/00 Primary

  Other fuel-injection apparatus having pertinent characteristics not provided for in groups F02M39/00 - F02M57/00 or F02M67/00; Details, component parts, or accessories of fuel-injection apparatus, not provided for in, or of interest apart from, the apparatus of groups F02M39/00 - F02M61/00 or F02M67/00; {Combination of fuel pump with other devices, e.g. lubricating oil pump} · CPC title

• F01L13/0015 Primary

  for optimising engine performances by modifying valve lift according to various working parameters, e.g. rotational speed, load, torque · CPC title

• F02D41/009

  using means for generating position or synchronisation signals · CPC title