System for determining piston pin bore wear

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9989004-B2
Application number	US-201615223813-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2016
Priority date	Jul 29, 2016
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A machine may comprise a piston; a memory; and an electronic control module. The electronic control module may be configured to obtain information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore and information identifying a wear limit; determine a base piston pin bore wear rate; calculate an effective piston pin bore wear rate based on the base piston pin bore wear rate; determine an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore was calculated; and calculate a current amount of wear of the piston pin bore based on the previous amount of wear, the amount of time, and the effective piston pin bore wear rate. The electronic control module may further be configured to calculate an amount of damage to the piston pin bore based on the current amount of wear and the wear limit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system for monitoring an amount of wear of a piston pin bore of a piston of an engine, the control system comprising:
a memory configured to store piston pin bore wear information; and
an electronic control module configured to:
obtain, from the piston pin bore wear information stored in the memory, information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore and information identifying a wear limit;
determine a base piston pin bore wear rate;
calculate an effective piston pin bore wear rate based on the base piston pin bore wear rate;
determine an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore was calculated;
calculate a current amount of wear of the piston pin bore based on the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore, the amount of time, and the effective piston pin bore wear rate;
calculate an amount of damage to the piston pin bore based on the current amount of wear of the piston pin bore and the wear limit; and

take a remedial action based on the amount of damage to the piston pin bore.

2. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic control module is further configured to determine whether the amount of damage to the piston pin bore exceeds a piston pin bore damage threshold.

3. The control system of claim 2 , wherein the electronic control module is configured to take the remedial action when the amount of damage to the piston pin bore exceeds the piston pin bore damage threshold.

4. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic control module is configured to calculate the effective piston pin bore wear rate based on the base piston pin bore wear rate and a wear rate modifier.

5. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic control module is configured to determine the base piston pin bore wear rate based on a piston pin bore unit load.

6. The control system of claim 5 , wherein the electronic control module is configured to determine the piston pin bore unit load based on a cylinder pressure of the engine, a speed of the engine, and a mass of the engine.

7. The control system of claim 1 , further comprising a display,
wherein, when taking the remedial action, the electronic control module is configured to cause information to be displayed via the display, and
wherein the information, displayed to a user, includes:
information indicating that the amount of damage to the piston pin bore has exceeded piston pin bore damage threshold and that the piston is to be damaged or is to fail if the piston continues to be used.

8. The control system of claim 1 , further comprising a display,
wherein, when taking the remedial action, the electronic control module is configured to cause information to be displayed via the display,
wherein the information, displayed to a user, includes at least one of:
information indicating that the engine is to be shut down or derated to prevent additional wear of the piston pin bore,
information indicating that the engine is to be serviced, or
information indicating that the piston is to be serviced or replaced.

9. The control system of claim 1 , wherein, when taking the remedial action, the electronic control module is configured to modify an operation of the engine,
wherein, when taking the remedial action, wherein, when modifying the operation of the engine, the electronic control module is configured to at least one of:
cause the engine to decelerate, or
cause the engine to shut down.

10. A method for monitoring an amount of wear of a piston pin bore of a piston of an engine, the method comprising:
obtaining, by an electronic control module and from piston pin bore wear information stored in a memory, information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore and information identifying a wear limit;
determining, by the electronic control module, a base piston pin bore wear rate;
calculating, by the electronic control module, an effective piston pin bore wear rate based on the base piston pin bore wear rate;
determining, by the electronic control module, an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore was calculated;
calculating, by the electronic control module, a current amount of wear of the piston pin bore based on the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore, the amount of time, and the effective piston pin bore wear rate;
calculating, by the electronic control module, an amount of damage to the piston pin bore based on the current amount of wear of the piston pin bore and the wear limit; and
taking, by the electronic control module, a remedial action based on the amount of damage to the piston pin bore.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining whether the amount of damage to the piston pin bore exceeds a piston pin bore damage threshold.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising taking the remedial action when the amount of damage to the piston pin bore exceeds the piston pin bore damage threshold.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising calculating the effective piston pin bore wear rate based on the base piston pin bore wear rate and a wear rate modifier.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining the base piston pin bore wear rate based on a piston pin bore unit load.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining the piston pin bore unit load based on a cylinder pressure of the engine, a speed of the engine, and a mass of the engine.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein taking the remedial action includes causing information to be displayed to a user,
wherein the information, displayed to the user, includes at least one of:
information indicating that the amount of damage to the piston pin bore has exceeded a piston pin bore damage threshold and that the piston is to fail if the piston continues to be used,
information indicating that the engine is to be shut down or derated to prevent additional damage to the piston pin bore,
information indicating that the engine is to be serviced, or
information indicating that the piston is to be serviced or replaced.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein taking the remedial action includes modifying an operation of the engine, and
wherein modifying the operation of the engine includes at least one of:
causing the engine to decelerate, or
causing the engine to shut down.

18. A machine comprising:
a piston;
a memory configured to store piston pin bore wear information,
the piston pin bore wear information including information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore; and

an electronic control module configured to:
obtain, from the piston pin bore wear information stored in the memory, information identifying a previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore and information identifying a wear limit;
determine a base piston pin bore wear rate;
calculate an effective piston pin bore wear rate based on the base piston pin bore wear rate;
determine an amount of time between a current time and a time when the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore was calculated;
calculate a current amount of wear of the piston pin bore based on the previous amount of wear of the piston pin bore, the amount of time, and the effective piston pin bore wear rate;
calculate an amount of damage to the piston pin bore based on the current amount of wear of the piston pin bore and the wear limit; and

take a remedial action based

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Roe Austin P
• Thompson Scott A
• Petrou Anthony T
• Campagna Michael J

Classifications

• F02D41/22 Primary

  Safety or indicating devices for abnormal conditions {(in air/fuel ratio feedback systems F02D41/1495, in electric control linkage F02D11/107, in purge control systems F02M25/0809)} · CPC title

• F02B77/083

  relating to maintenance, e.g. diagnostic device (relating to lubrication F01M11/10) · CPC title

• F16J1/16

  with gudgeon-pin; Gudgeon-pins · CPC title

• Y02T10/12

  Improving ICE efficiencies · CPC title

• Y02T10/40

  Engine management systems · CPC title