EP1515377B1 - Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben - Google Patents

Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1515377B1
EP1515377B1 EP03103328A EP03103328A EP1515377B1 EP 1515377 B1 EP1515377 B1 EP 1515377B1 EP 03103328 A EP03103328 A EP 03103328A EP 03103328 A EP03103328 A EP 03103328A EP 1515377 B1 EP1515377 B1 EP 1515377B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
voltage
injector
piezoelectric
fuel injector
actuator
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.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP03103328A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP1515377A1 (de
Inventor
Jean-François Berlemont
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Delphi Technologies Inc
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Delphi Technologies Inc
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Publication date
Application filed by Delphi Technologies Inc filed Critical Delphi Technologies Inc
Priority to DE60309469T priority Critical patent/DE60309469T2/de
Priority to AT03103328T priority patent/ATE344537T1/de
Priority to EP03103328A priority patent/EP1515377B1/de
Publication of EP1515377A1 publication Critical patent/EP1515377A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1515377B1 publication Critical patent/EP1515377B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • F02D41/20—Output circuits, e.g. for controlling currents in command coils
    • F02D41/2096—Output circuits, e.g. for controlling currents in command coils for controlling piezoelectric injectors
    • 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
    • F02D41/20—Output circuits, e.g. for controlling currents in command coils
    • F02D2041/202—Output circuits, e.g. for controlling currents in command coils characterised by the control of the circuit
    • F02D2041/2051—Output circuits, e.g. for controlling currents in command coils characterised by the control of the circuit using voltage control
    • 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
    • F02D41/008—Controlling each cylinder individually
    • F02D41/0087—Selective cylinder activation, i.e. partial cylinder operation
    • 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
    • F02D41/02—Circuit arrangements for generating control signals
    • F02D41/04—Introducing corrections for particular operating conditions
    • F02D41/042—Introducing corrections for particular operating conditions for stopping the engine

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to fuel injectors actuated with a piezoelectric actuator or piezoelectric stack.
  • US Patent 6,464,149 describes an actuator arrangement comprising a piezoelectric element formed from a piezoelectric material, a first end of the piezoelectric element cooperating with an input piston member slidable within a bore surface associated with the input piston member defining, in part, a control chamber for fluid pressure within the control chamber acting on a surface associated with an output piston member, the fluid within the control chamber being substantially incompressible such that, in use, movement of the input piston member is transmitted to the output piston member, the piezoelectric element being arranged within a chamber for fluid such that fluid pressure within the chamber exerts a force on at least a part of the surface of the piezoelectric element which serves to oppose a load exerted on the piezoelectric element due to fluid pressure within the control chamber, thereby suppressing distortions in the piezoelectric material.
  • US Patent 5,779,149 shows a fuel injector for an internal combustion engine using a hydraulic amplifier to increase the stroke of a piezoelectric actuator for opening a normally closed drain valve associated with a hydraulic control chamber.
  • EP 1 209 351 A1 discloses a fuel injector for an internal combustion engine comprising a housing with an actuator chamber, a piezoelectric actuator arranged in the actuator chamber, an injector control valve and a hydraulic stroke amplifier module.
  • the hydraulic stroke amplifier module is located axially in-between the injector control valve and the piezoelectric actuator.
  • JP 63-88246 published on 19.04.1988 describes a method for controlling an electronically controlled fuel injection system using a piezoelectric element wherein a high voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element only when the engine is first started in order to polarize the piezoelectric element
  • the activity of the piezoelectric actuator and in particular of the piezoelectric material used in the actuator, can be defined as the relationship between the voltage applied to the actuator and the displacement of the actuator ends.
  • a technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide a method, which minimizes the loss of displacement/stroke in a piezoelectric multi layer actuator.
  • the object of the present invention is to provide an improved driving method for operating a fuel injector comprising a piezoelectric actuator that minimizes or even overcomes the above-cited ageing effect.
  • a method of operating an injector comprising a piezoelectric actuator for displacing an injector needle to open an injector port is proposed.
  • a voltage within a voltage operating range is applied to the piezoelectric actuator to cause the displacement of the needle.
  • the voltage operating range can be bipolar i.e. positive or negative voltage.
  • the piezoelectric stack of the piezoelectric actuator is able to receive several voltage values within the operating range. The maximum voltage value within the operating range is determined by the driving circuit possibility and by the piezoelectric stack itself.
  • a recovery voltage equal or superior to the reverse coercive field voltage value corresponding to the piezoelectric material used in the actuator is applied to the piezoelectric stack.
  • the coercive field voltage value is the voltage value where the ceramic material of the piezoelectric stack starts to depolarise.
  • the coercive field voltage value designated with the word "reverse" has the opposite sign of the voltage range where the piezoelectric actuator is operated.
  • the recovery voltage is applied when the fuel injector is not injecting fuel.
  • the present method is used at a moment in the fuel injector usage cycle when no fuel injection is needed. This allows time for the recovery effect to take place.
  • a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine which has a plurality of combustion chambers, can be operated with one combustion chamber producing no pressure raise.
  • This operation commonly known in the automotive industry as cylinder deactivation, allows running an internal combustion engine on fewer cylinders than it actually has. The engine is still producing power and allows in the same time to operate the non-energised cylinder in a different way.
  • the recovery voltage can thus be applied to the fuel injector of the deactivated cylinder.
  • This kind of strategy may also be applied if the actuator has reached its ageing limit and if the engine has not been shut off recently.
  • Each cylinder may be deactivated in turn so as to "reset" the piezoelectric actuators of each fuel injector at predetermined intervals. This situation can also occur with internal combustion engines used for continuous duty applications, for example in energy production.
  • the fuel injector is mounted on an internal combustion engine and the recovery voltage is applied after the internal combustion engine has been shut off. Once the engine has been shut off, there is time to perform the recovery procedure. Consequently, all the injectors of an internal combustion engine are prepared for optimum behaviour at the next engine start.
  • the fuel injector is a Diesel fuel injector.
  • the piezoelectric actuator can be used in other types of fuel injectors, the Diesel fuel injector is particularly suited for application of such piezoelectric actuators. Diesel fuel injectors need fast actuators to allow them the highest driving flexibility because improved injection timing strategies foresee a considerable number of injection events during one engine stroke.
  • the internal combustion engine is mounted in an automotive vehicle.
  • the automotive industry is the biggest consumer of internal combustion engines.
  • the market share of cars equipped with Diesel engine is increasing, as these engines are more value added for the final consumer as their gasoline counterparts.
  • FIG. 1 shows three curves of a piezoelectric stack displacement versus an applied voltage.
  • a first look at the curve called "New" (triangle-dotted line) reveals that when the applied voltage is raised from V1 to V2, the piezoelectric stack does not expand in the same manner as when the voltage is reduced from V2 to V1.
  • the piezoelectric stack thus shows a hysteresis type of behaviour.
  • both parts of the curve called “New” show a change in their inflexion.
  • V3 is a range where a change in the physical behaviour of the piezoelectric stack occurs.
  • the curve called “After 60 hours” shows the response of the same piezoelectric stack after about 60 hours of operation, e.g. about several million cycles of expansion and retraction in a highly pressurised environment.
  • the stack displacement is about 12.5% less after 60 hours of operation (see Fig. 1 - D3 compared to D2 on the curve called "after 60 hours”).
  • a major drawback of the ageing of the piezoelectric stack is cost related because the piezoelectric stack needs to be aged before being used in an injector.
  • This operation can be incorporated in the fuel system management device and done when the injector is not operating.
  • the recovery operation has to be done on a regular basis.
  • An electronic fuel management system device can easily provide a function that would count the total operating time or the total amount of injections an injector has done since its last recovery operation. Thus the time period when to perform another recovery operation can be determined easily.
  • the piezoelectric stack displacement versus applied voltage of the same aged piezoelectric stack was measured again after a recovery procedure was performed.
  • the curve called "After recovery” shows the stack displacement after the recovery procedure.
  • the maximum displacement of the piezoelectric stack D4 has gained about 15% as compared to the stack displacement before recovery (D3) and is again comparable to the stack displacement of a new piezoelectric stack (D2).
  • the curve called "After recovery” is indeed very close to the original curve called "New", showing that after the recovery procedure, the piezoelectric stack has again displacements which are very similar to those it had when it was new.
  • Fig. 2 shows a piezoelectric stack displacement versus an applied voltage where the voltage applied is either positive (right side of Fig. 2) or negative (left side of Fig. 2).
  • the curve called "Direct Operating Loop” (diamond-dotted line) is the equivalent of the curve called “New” of Fig. 1. It shows the piezoelectric stack displacement versus the applied voltage.
  • the hysteresis curve called "Direct Operating Loop” closes at V10 and D10 and at V20 and D20.
  • the curve called "Reverse Operating Loop” (square-dotted line) is more or less a vertical mirrored view of the curve called “Direct Operating Loop”. It shows that when a negative voltage is applied to the piezoelectric stack, the latter has substantially the same behaviour as with a corresponding positive voltage with regard to its displacement. This time closing points reach from V30 and D20 to V40 and D10.
  • the curve called "Reverse Operating Loop” has also a coercive field voltage value. This value corresponds substantially to the opposite of the coercive field voltage value (Vc) of curve called “Direct Operating Loop” and is called reverse coercive field voltage (Vrc).
  • the diagram formed hereby is typical for a piezoelectric stack and is called "Butterfly Curve".
  • Positive displacement of the piezoelectric stack e.g. expansion is achieved by applying a positive or a negative voltage to the piezoelectric stack.
  • a positive or a negative voltage to the piezoelectric stack.
  • the expansion of the piezoelectric stack is used in a fuel injector to control its opening and closing. The longer an injector is opened, the longer it will inject fuel.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Fuel-Injection Apparatus (AREA)
  • Electrical Control Of Air Or Fuel Supplied To Internal-Combustion Engine (AREA)

Claims (5)

  1. Verfahren zum Betreiben eines mehrzylindrigen Verbrennungsmotors mit mindestens einer Kraftstoffeinspritzvorrichtung, wobei die Kraftstoffeinspritzvorrichtung einen piezoelektrischen Aktor zum Verstellen einer Einspritznadel umfasst, um eine Einspritzöffnung der Kraftstoffeinspritzvorrichtung zu öffnen, wobei eine Spannung in einem Betriebsspannungsbereich an den piezoelektrischen Aktor angelegt wird, um die Verstellung der Nadel zu bewirken, und wobei, wenn der mehrzylindrige Verbrennungsmotor in laufendem Betrieb ist und wenn die Kraftstoffeinspritzvorrichtung keinen Kraftstoff während der Zylinderabschaltung einspritzt, eine Wiederkehrspannung an den Aktor angelegt wird, die dem umgekehrten Koerzitivfeldspannungswert des piezoelektrischen Aktors gleicht oder höher als der umgekehrte Koerzitivfeldspannungswert ist.
  2. Verfahren nach irgendeinem der vorangehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Kraftstoffeinspritzvorrichtung an einem Verbrennungsmotor angebracht ist und die Wiederkehrspannung angelegt wird, nachdem der Verbrennungsmotor ausgeschaltet wurde.
  3. Verfahren nach irgendeinem der vorangehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Kraftstoffeinspritzvorrichtung eine Dieseleinspritzvorrichtung ist.
  4. Mehrzylindriger Verbrennungsmotor, betrieben nach dem Verfahren nach einem der vorangehenden Ansprüche.
  5. Kraftfahrzeug, umfassend einen mehrzylindrigen Verbrennungsmotor, der nach dem Verfahren nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 3 betrieben wird.
EP03103328A 2003-09-09 2003-09-09 Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben Expired - Lifetime EP1515377B1 (de)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE60309469T DE60309469T2 (de) 2003-09-09 2003-09-09 Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben
AT03103328T ATE344537T1 (de) 2003-09-09 2003-09-09 Verfahren um ein einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen aktor zu betreiben
EP03103328A EP1515377B1 (de) 2003-09-09 2003-09-09 Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP03103328A EP1515377B1 (de) 2003-09-09 2003-09-09 Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1515377A1 EP1515377A1 (de) 2005-03-16
EP1515377B1 true EP1515377B1 (de) 2006-11-02

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EP03103328A Expired - Lifetime EP1515377B1 (de) 2003-09-09 2003-09-09 Verfahren um ein Einspritzventil mit einem piezoelektrischen Aktor zu betreiben

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EP (1) EP1515377B1 (de)
AT (1) ATE344537T1 (de)
DE (1) DE60309469T2 (de)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102005015257A1 (de) * 2005-04-04 2006-10-05 Robert Bosch Gmbh Brennstoffeinspritzsystem
DE102007059117A1 (de) * 2007-12-07 2009-06-10 Robert Bosch Gmbh Verfahren zum Betreiben eines Einspritzventils
DE102011081161A1 (de) * 2011-08-18 2013-02-21 Continental Automotive Gmbh Ansteuerung und Ansteuerverfahren für einen piezoelektrischen Aktor

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2559712B2 (ja) * 1986-09-30 1996-12-04 日本電装株式会社 燃料噴射装置
DE19756182C2 (de) * 1997-12-17 1999-10-14 Siemens Ag Monolithisches piezokeramisches Bauelement und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung
DE19905340C2 (de) * 1999-02-09 2001-09-13 Siemens Ag Verfahren und Anordnung zur Voreinstellung und dynamischen Nachführung piezoelektrischer Aktoren
DE10012607C2 (de) * 2000-03-15 2002-01-10 Siemens Ag Verfahren zur Ansteuerung eines kapazitiven Stellgliedes
DE10028335B4 (de) * 2000-06-08 2004-04-01 Epcos Ag Verfahren zum Polarisieren einer Piezokeramik, Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Piezo-Aktors und Verwendung des Piezo-Aktors

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Publication number Publication date
ATE344537T1 (de) 2006-11-15
DE60309469T2 (de) 2007-04-19
DE60309469D1 (de) 2006-12-14
EP1515377A1 (de) 2005-03-16

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