Patent · US Expired

Misfire detection in automobile engine

US5369989A · kind A · utility

10Cited by
5References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignees

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 7, 1993
Grant dateDec 6, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 7, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01M15/09
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A simple, reliable, compact and inexpensive automobile engine misfiring detection system includes a basic capacitive pressure transducer, attached to a bleeder pipeline equidistantly from each point where the exhaust manifold is attached to the engine, and made of two closely spaced insulating plates whose opposed faces contain conductive layers, and one of which plates is a flexible diaphragm of low mechanical hysteresis. The transducer is thus coupled to a variable exhaust gas pressure source which under normal operating conditions remains at a substantially constant pressure level. The output signal from the transducer has its high-frequency AC component attenuated by a low-pass filter, whose output in turn has its DC component substantially removed by capacitive blocking, after which the remaining AC output is then amplified by a circuit including an operational amplifier. This AC-amplified signal is then compared with a "reduced-magnitude average" reference signal (produced by an AC-to-DC conversion side-circuit followed by magnitude-level adjustment). The comparator output triggers a one-shot monostable multivibrator used to produce an on-off switching signal which operates a…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.