Snap acceleration method of diagnosing faults in internal combustion engines
US4398259A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 1, 1980 |
| Grant date | Aug 9, 1983 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 1, 2000 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M15/044
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for diagnosing faults in individual cylinders of an internal combustion engine. An engine (12) is accelerated, while an analyzer (10) provides measurements of the time intervals required for the engine to rotate for successive, equal angular increments as the engine is being accelerated, where each increment is a fraction of the rotation required for a single engine cylinder power contribution. The values of the resulting sequence of time interval measurements generally undulate with time about an average value due to the power contribution of each individual cylinder, with the average value of the time interval measurements and the magnitude of the undulations about this average value generally decreasing with time due to the acceleration of the engine. The analyzer (10) modifies the time interval measurements in the sequence so as to provide a modified sequence having a substantially constant average value and substantially constant magnitude of undulation. The analyzer (10) then compares the characteristics of the individual undulations in the modified sequence so as to diagnose faults in the individual cylinders in the engine.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.