Method of identifying combustion engine firing sequence without firing spark plugs or combusting fuel
US6453733B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 11, 2000 |
| Grant date | Sep 24, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 11, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M15/06
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus for the precombustion identification of a cylinder undergoing compression in an internal combustion engine is disclosed. An electrode gap (e.g., preferably a spark plug) is disposed within a cylinder of an internal combustion engine. The electrode gap is provided with a voltage differential from a power supply through a circuit (preferably an RC circuit). The engine is cranked, and the voltage differential across the electrode gap is monitored during the cranking of the engine. With appropriate choices of the voltage differential across the electrode gap, the resistance R of the circuit, and the capacitance C of the circuit, voltage pulses are produced across the electrode gap during such time when the cylinder is not undergoing a compression stroke. Such voltage pulses are suppressed when the cylinder is in fact undergoing a compression stroke due to a rise in the breakdown voltage across the electrode gap, in accordance with Paschen's Law. The presence or absence of the voltage pulses is preferably converted into a binary output that is indicative of the occurrence of a compression stroke in the cylinder being monitored.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.