EP1426596A1 - Architektur einer elektronischen Vorrichtung zum Ermitteln der Betriebsphase einer Brennkraftmaschine - Google Patents

Architektur einer elektronischen Vorrichtung zum Ermitteln der Betriebsphase einer Brennkraftmaschine Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1426596A1
EP1426596A1 EP02425726A EP02425726A EP1426596A1 EP 1426596 A1 EP1426596 A1 EP 1426596A1 EP 02425726 A EP02425726 A EP 02425726A EP 02425726 A EP02425726 A EP 02425726A EP 1426596 A1 EP1426596 A1 EP 1426596A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cam
signal
indicates
module
driving shaft
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP02425726A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP1426596B1 (de
Inventor
Eusebio Di Cola
Lucio Ticli
Rosario Martorana
Mario Barone
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STMicroelectronics SRL
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STMicroelectronics SRL
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Priority to DE2002611922 priority Critical patent/DE60211922T2/de
Priority to EP20020425726 priority patent/EP1426596B1/de
Priority to US10/722,375 priority patent/US7310574B2/en
Publication of EP1426596A1 publication Critical patent/EP1426596A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1426596B1 publication Critical patent/EP1426596B1/de
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Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/009—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents using means for generating position or synchronisation signals
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/22—Safety or indicating devices for abnormal conditions
    • F02D41/222—Safety or indicating devices for abnormal conditions relating to the failure of sensors or parameter detection devices
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/009—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents using means for generating position or synchronisation signals
    • F02D2041/0092—Synchronisation of the cylinders at engine start
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
    • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
    • F02D41/24—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents characterised by the use of digital means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an electronic device architecture for automatically determining the operating phase of an internal combustion motor or engine.
  • the invention relates to a device of the above-referred type applied on a direct injection four-stroke motor with automatic determination of the driving shaft angular position and od the motor operating phase, but the following description covering this field of application is for convenience of explanation only.
  • ECUs Electronic Control Units
  • both these units have to manage a large number of signals having different priority levels.
  • these signals have to be managed by software routine activated by interrupt signals, as regards the ECU, and by the occurrence of certain events, as regards the TPU.
  • the underlying technical problem of this invention is to provide an electronic device for automatically determining the operating phase of an motor, which device should have appropriate structural and functional features so as to enable automatic computation of such operating phase by directly analysing the signal from the camshaft phonic wheel.
  • the solution idea on which the invention is based is one of providing a hardware module which can be used as a peripheral unit to the ECU, so that the computing load can be reduced.
  • This hardware module has the task of calculating the operating phase of the motor, by analysing the signal from a phonic wheel sensor of a motor camshaft.
  • the solution idea of the invention is that of releasing the ECU from continually monitoring the signal from the phonic wheel of the camshaft, so as to lighten the computing load on the ECU and enable the processing of signals that issue from a plurality of phonic wheels most commonly employed in the automotive field. This allows the ECU to serve a number of different motors.
  • an electronic device embodying the invention is globally shown with 1 in schematic form.
  • This electronic device is useful to determine the operating phase of an engine or motor 2, specifically but not limited to, a direct-injection four-stroke cycle motor with automatic determination of the driving shaft angular position and of the operating phase.
  • the motor 2 comprises a driving shaft 3 in combination with a phonic wheel 9, and a camshaft 4 combined with a phonic wheel 7.
  • the device 1 is associated with an ECU, not shown because of the same kind as ECUs that are conventionally used in automotive applications for controlling this type of motor ignition and/or injection.
  • the device 1 is represented in Figure 1 by the block "Camshaft Manager".
  • the device 1 is primarily aimed at releasing the ECU from monitoring the motor operating phase.
  • the device 1 has the task of processing electric signals indicating the motor operating phases.
  • the device 1 is input a signal from a sensor 8 of a phonic wheel 7 made rotatively rigid with a camshaft 1 of the motor 2.
  • the operating phases of a four-stroke are characterized by the movement of the piston in the cylinder, which is managed by the driving shaft 3, and by the position of the valves, which are managed by the camshaft 4.
  • the piston moves toward the motor both with all the valves closed (compression phase or stroke) and with the exhaust valve open (exhaust phase).
  • the opposite movement of the piston takes place either with all the valves closed (combustion/expansion phase or power stroke) or with the intake valve open (intake phase).
  • the piston completes both one movement toward the head both the opposite, because its connection to the driving shaft is established by a connecting rod.
  • the camshaft completes a half turn to manage the valves as appropriate.
  • the rotation ratio between the camshaft and the driving shaft is 1:2.
  • the timing period for the injection to be actuated is between the compression and combustion/expansion phases, and corresponds to one driving shaft revolution.
  • the camshaft 4 is provided with a phonic wheel 7 having a predetermined number of teeth allocated on the circumference of the wheel 7. Since the teeth have no standard distribution, the device 1 can be programmed by storing the particular profile of the camshaft phonic wheel 4.
  • This signal is input to the device 1 along with a signal indicating the driving shaft angular position. From the elaboration of this signal, the "Camshaft Manager” device 1 generates a phase signal suitable for each phonic wheel 7 rotation.
  • the invention provides a hardware module which is input both a signal from a sensor 8 of the phonic wheel 7 of the camshaft 4 and a signal indicating the driving shaft angular position, and outputs a series of signals from which the operating phase of the motor can be obtained, given a reference point.
  • the device 1 may also be located next to controllers of units arranged on variable timing motors, since the modules inside the device can be programmed by inserting the desired timing variation between the camshaft signal and the driving shaft angular position signal.
  • FIG. 1 A basic diagram in Figure 1 illustrates how the invention is applied.
  • Figure 3 shows the signal generated by the sensor of the driving shaft phonic wheel compared with the signal from the camshaft phonic wheel. It can be seen in Figure 3 how the profile of the cam signal changes for two successive rotations of the driving shaft.
  • the main function of the "Camshaft Manager” device 1 is to recognize the motor operating phase by analysing the phonic wheel signal relating to the driving shaft angular rotation.
  • the “Camshaft Manager” device 1 comprises three modules 5, 6 and 10, also called “dec_camma”, “cams_shaft” and “pend_camma”, whose interconnections are shown in Figure 2.
  • the "dec_camma” module 5 performs the task of providing a standard interface toward the controller of the ECU such that the controller itself can manage the "Camshaft Manager” device 1. Such a management is actuated by properly forcing the value of a set of internal registers of the "dec_camma” module 5.
  • the values of said registers represent the configuration parameters of the second "cams_shaft” module 6, forming the heart of the whole system. While normal operating phase, this module 6 forces the values of a second set of registers inside the first "dec_cam” module 5, from which the internal state and the results of the second "cams_shaft” module 6 can be found.
  • FIG. 1 A general diagram of the hardware architecture of the device 1 is shown in Figure 2.
  • Table 1 below shows the I/O input and output signals of the device 1. Signals Description Input Control_bus Standard communication interface. Address_bus Data_bus (I/O) Data_bus is bidirectional. cam_signalSignal generated by the circuit of the camshaft sensor. lock_f Indicates that the driving shaft phonic wheel reference is found. n_tooth_holes Total number of teeth and holes of the driving shaft phonic wheel. tooth_num Tooth counter for the crankshaft phonic wheel. Output lock_cam Indicates that the motor operating phase is found. cam_phase Indicates the motor operating phase. rec_out Desired camshaft profile. teeth_cnt Indicates the driving shaft angular position after one rotation of the camshaft. interrupt_cam Interrupt signal.
  • the set of signals lock_cam, cam_phase and rec_out allows, whenever the motor operating phase to be found in connection with the driving shaft position, denoted tooth_num.
  • the signal teeth_cnt is generated to indicate the driving shaft angular position in connection with one complete rotation of the camshaft; like tooth_num, it is a counter of the teeth of the driving shaft phonic wheel, except that it is reset every two driving shaft rotations.
  • the third "pend_camma” module 10 functions to generate an interrupt toward the controller of the injection unit of the motor, once the error signals generated by "cams-shaft” are input. Concurrently with the interrupt being generated, the relevant internal register of "dec_camma” is set, and from this the type of error generated by "cams_shaft” can be found.
  • the whole architecture 1 is structurally independent, and can be formed as an integrated circuit on a supporting board and standard bus interconnection.
  • the motor ECU may also find place on this board.
  • Table 2 below shows the registers provided in the first "dec_camma” module 5, which can be read and/or written by means of the standard interface: Register Description Output to “cams_shaft” start Starts the state machine implemented in “cams_shaft” stop Stops the state machine implemented in “cams_shaft” and brings it back to its initial state ready to start again.
  • mem_cam_changes1 Table of size1 items containing the number-of-tooth values of the driving shaft phonic wheel where transitions occur on the cam signal during the driving shaft rotation relevant to phase zero.
  • profile 1 Indicates the expected value of the cam profile stored in mem_cam_changes1 .
  • size 1 Indicates the number of items stored in the mem_cam_changes1 and profile1 tables.
  • mem_cam_changes2 Table of size1 items, containing the number-of-tooth values of the driving shaft phonic wheel where transitions occur on the cam signal during the driving shaft rotation relevant to phase one.
  • profile2 Indicates the expected value of the cam profile stored in mem_cam_changes2 .
  • size2 Indicates the number of items stored in the mem_cam_changes2 and profile2 tables.
  • mem_cam_r Table of sizer items containing the number-of-tooth values of the driving shaft phonic wheel where transitions occur for the reconstructed cam signal.
  • profiler Indicates the expected value of the cam profile stored in mem_cam_r .
  • sizer Indicates the number of elements stored in the mem_cam_r and profilerl tables.
  • delta Indicates the width of the interval around the timing moment when the system is expecting a tooth of the camshaft phonic wheel.
  • offset_out Indicates the extent that the cam signal has to be shifted with respect to the driving shaft phonic wheel signal.
  • a_ns Indicates whether the shift has to occur in the forward or the backward direction.
  • cfg_phase Indicates if the teeth counter of the driving shaft phonic wheel is to be shifted.
  • Input from "cams_shaft” error_at Indicates the number of the tooth where the last error occurred.
  • teeth_cnt Indicates the driving shaft angular position as phonic wheel teeth counter from 1 to 2* (n_tooth_holes).
  • cam_phase Indicates the motor phase.
  • lock_cam Indicates that the motor operating phase is found.
  • stato_out Indicates the current state of the "cams_shaft” state machine. rec_out Desired camshaft profile. Input from "pend_cams” pending Indicates the type of error ocurred.
  • the second "cams_shaft” module 6 functions to find the motor operating phase, and to signal it properly in connection with the driving shaft 3 angular position.
  • the phase is found by monitoring the signal from the camshaft sensor 8 ( cam_signal ) and the signal indicating the driving shaft angular position ( tooth_num ).
  • the camshaft signal linked to the driving shaft signal is given in Figure 3.
  • the signal fonica_signal is the signal generated by the sensor of the driving shaft phonic wheel.
  • the driving shaft phonic wheel 9 has ten teeth and two holes. The distribution of the teeth of the phonic wheel 7 of the camshaft 4 generates a different number of pulses for the two driving shaft rotations relating to the rotation of the camshaft.
  • the third "pend_camma” module 10 functions to generate an interrupt signal toward the controller of the ECU.
  • the third "pend_inter” module 10 functions to generate an interrupt signal toward the controller of the ECU when a signal is input to the "dec_camma” module 5 which indicates the type of error ocurred.
  • the module 10 in turn generates a signal for module 5 to set properly the "pending" register, from whose reading the ECU controller then identifies the type of error so as to decide the action to be taken accordingly.
  • the input "cams_shaft” signals are those shown in Table 2 under 'Output toward “cams_shaft”' section, plus camsignal, lock_f signals, and tooth_num signals among the input signals to the "Camshaft Manager” device 1.
  • the output signals are those shown in Table 2 under 'Input from "cams_shaft”' section, plus the alert signal indicating the type of error likely to occur.
  • the initial state of the state machine 11 is called “idle”, and is attained when starting and/or resetting the system.
  • the state machine By activating the start signal, the state machine enters the "waiting x lock” state (transition T_1), and awaits the activation of the lock_f signal, indicating that the tooth_num signal is supplying the right driving shaft angular position values.
  • the state machine enters the "check_cm" state (transition T_2), where the motor operating phase is found.
  • the table for Phase 0 will contain the transitions of the cam_signal signal during the first driving shaft rotation, and the table for Phase 1 will contain the transitions of the cam_signal signal during the second driving shaft rotation.
  • the values of the columns indicated as mem_cam_changes1 and mem_cam_changes2 should be entered in ascending order.
  • the phonic wheel of the driving shaft 3 considered in the example of Figure 1 has twelve teeth (two of which are missing to mark the reference). As is known, for each revolution of the camshaft 4 this wheel makes two, so that twelve should be subtracted from the number indicated in mem_cam_change2 in order to identify the correct tooth, given that the tooth_num signal will indicate numbers from one to twelve.
  • Two pointers always indicates the item that must be examined in each table according to the current value of the tooth_num signal. From the transition to the "check_cm" state, the two pointers, indicating the first item in each table, are updated in such a way that they point to the first item that contains a tooth number larger than or equal to that being indicated by the tooth_num signal.
  • tooth_num the value indicated by tooth_num. If it does, it is further checked that the item pointed to by the other pointer does not contain the same tooth number value (added to the total number of teeth and holes), or, if so, that it does not contain the same transition value.
  • the state machine 11 enters the "locked” state (transition T_3), otherwise the "check_cm” state is maintained until the condition is met.
  • the "locked” state it is continually checked that the transitions of the cam_signal signal follow one another correctly and at the time points stored in the tables. The process is continued from the table that has caused the transition toward the "locked” state from the "check_cm” state, alternately between the two tables to track the stored profile.
  • a filtering process of sort may also be carried out on the cam_signal signal, by using the delta signal, which indicates the width of an interval around the tooth number where the transition is expected.
  • the transition toward the "diff" state occurs when, inside the time window being examined, the cam_signal signal does not track the profile stored in the tables.
  • tooth_num at which the error has occurred is indicated.
  • the motor phase is indicated by the cam_phase signal, as shown in Figure 5.
  • camshaft signal can be obtained from the rec_out output signal, with the arbitrary profile stored in the profiler and the mem_cams_r tables, in relation to the tooth_num signal.
  • An example is given in the following Table 4, where the signal denoted rec_out has the herebelow profile: mem_cam_r profiler 6 1 7 0 9 1 10 0 13 1 14 0 19 1 20 0
  • the device 1 can be applied to any motor type equipped with a camshaft phonic wheel, and can be adapted for any type of phonic wheels employed in the automotive industry.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Combined Controls Of Internal Combustion Engines (AREA)
  • Valve-Gear Or Valve Arrangements (AREA)
EP20020425726 2002-11-28 2002-11-28 Architektur einer elektronischen Vorrichtung zum Ermitteln der Betriebsphase einer Brennkraftmaschine Expired - Fee Related EP1426596B1 (de)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE2002611922 DE60211922T2 (de) 2002-11-28 2002-11-28 Architektur einer elektronischen Vorrichtung zum Ermitteln der Betriebsphase einer Brennkraftmaschine
EP20020425726 EP1426596B1 (de) 2002-11-28 2002-11-28 Architektur einer elektronischen Vorrichtung zum Ermitteln der Betriebsphase einer Brennkraftmaschine
US10/722,375 US7310574B2 (en) 2002-11-28 2003-11-25 Electronic architecture of an automatic system for driving an internal combustion engine

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP20020425726 EP1426596B1 (de) 2002-11-28 2002-11-28 Architektur einer elektronischen Vorrichtung zum Ermitteln der Betriebsphase einer Brennkraftmaschine

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EP1426596A1 true EP1426596A1 (de) 2004-06-09
EP1426596B1 EP1426596B1 (de) 2006-05-31

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8365691B2 (en) 2008-01-22 2013-02-05 Mechadyne Plc Variable valve actuating mechanism with lift deactivation

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS57101903A (en) * 1980-12-17 1982-06-24 Nissan Motor Co Ltd Fail safe system of electronic control device
DE4313331A1 (de) * 1993-04-23 1994-10-27 Bosch Gmbh Robert Verfahren zur Auslösung von zur Winkellage eines rotierenden Teils abhängigen Vorgängen
US5548995A (en) * 1993-11-22 1996-08-27 Ford Motor Company Method and apparatus for detecting the angular position of a variable position camshaft
US5794592A (en) * 1997-02-07 1998-08-18 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Internal combustion engine controller
DE19955513A1 (de) * 1999-11-18 2001-05-23 Bosch Gmbh Robert Konfigurierbare Auswerteschaltung für ein induktiv aufgenommenes Signal

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS57101903A (en) * 1980-12-17 1982-06-24 Nissan Motor Co Ltd Fail safe system of electronic control device
DE4313331A1 (de) * 1993-04-23 1994-10-27 Bosch Gmbh Robert Verfahren zur Auslösung von zur Winkellage eines rotierenden Teils abhängigen Vorgängen
US5548995A (en) * 1993-11-22 1996-08-27 Ford Motor Company Method and apparatus for detecting the angular position of a variable position camshaft
US5794592A (en) * 1997-02-07 1998-08-18 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Internal combustion engine controller
DE19955513A1 (de) * 1999-11-18 2001-05-23 Bosch Gmbh Robert Konfigurierbare Auswerteschaltung für ein induktiv aufgenommenes Signal

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 006, no. 192 (P - 145) 30 September 1982 (1982-09-30) *

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8365691B2 (en) 2008-01-22 2013-02-05 Mechadyne Plc Variable valve actuating mechanism with lift deactivation

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EP1426596B1 (de) 2006-05-31
DE60211922D1 (de) 2006-07-06
DE60211922T2 (de) 2007-02-01

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