JP4528821B2 - Fuel supply controller - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel supply device for a direct injection engine, and more particularly to a discharge flow rate control method.

  A conventional fuel supply device, as described in, for example, International Publication No. WO00 / 47888, performs a discharge flow rate control by giving a drive signal to an actuator for each discharge stroke and controlling the timing of the drive signal. There is.

International Publication Number WO00 / 47888

  However, in the above-described conventional high-pressure fuel pump, there is a response delay time from when the drive signal is given to when the actuator is driven. There is no problem.

  In an actual automobile, such a situation can occur at a high engine speed. Further, in a device that supplies fuel to an engine with a large displacement, the number of reciprocations of the plunger per cam rotation is increased in order to increase the discharge flow rate of the high-pressure fuel pump per cam rotation, that is, the number of cam ridges to be driven. It also occurs when increasing the number.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel supply device for a variable displacement high-pressure fuel pump that enables discharge flow rate control even when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is short without increasing the responsiveness of an actuator that is a variable displacement mechanism. It is in.

  The above object is a controller of a fuel supply device having a variable displacement mechanism and a single cylinder plunger type fuel pump that pressurizes and supplies fuel to a fuel injection valve, and controls the variable displacement mechanism to control the fuel supply pressure. In the controller of the fuel supply device to be adjusted, by controlling the variable displacement mechanism so as to be maintained in the state in the first discharge stroke from the previous discharge stroke through the suction stroke to the next discharge stroke, This is achieved by driving the variable displacement mechanism once every time the plunger of the high-pressure fuel pump reciprocates at least twice.

  At this time, every time the plunger reciprocates twice, it is preferable that the fuel of a volume that can be pushed by the plunger is discharged once.

  Further, when the fuel supply amount is approximately 50% or more of the maximum discharge flow rate of the fuel pump, the discharge flow rate is controlled in the first discharge stroke, and in the next discharge stroke, all of the fuel whose volume is pushed by the plunger is discharged. It is good to do.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a high-pressure fuel pump capable of controlling the discharge flow rate even when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is short without increasing the response of the variable displacement mechanism.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a fuel supply system using a high-pressure fuel pump provided with an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a fuel suction passage 10, a discharge passage 11, and a pressurizing chamber 12 are formed in the pump body 1. In the pressurizing chamber 12, a plunger 2 as a pressurizing member is slidably held. The intake passage 10 and the discharge passage 11 are provided with an intake valve 5 and a discharge valve 6, respectively, which are held in one direction by springs and serve as check valves that limit the flow direction of fuel. An actuator 8 is held by the pump main body 1, and the actuator 8 includes a solenoid 90, a rod 91, and a spring 92. When the drive signal is not given to the actuator 8, the rod 91 is biased by a spring 92 in a direction to open the intake valve 5. Since the urging force of the spring 92 is larger than the urging force of the spring of the intake valve 5, when the drive signal is not given to the actuator 8, the intake valve 5 is in an open state as shown in FIG. It has become.

  The fuel is led from the tank 50 to the fuel inlet of the pump body 1 by the low-pressure pump 51 while being regulated to a constant pressure by the pressure regulator 52. After that, the pump body 1 is pressurized and is pumped from the fuel discharge port to the common rail 53. An injector 54 and a pressure sensor 56 are attached to the common rail 53. The injectors 54 are installed according to the number of cylinders of the engine, and inject fuel according to a signal from the controller 57.

  The plunger 2 is reciprocated by a cam 100 rotated by an engine cam shaft or the like to change the volume in the pressurizing chamber 12.

  When the intake valve 5 is closed during the discharge stroke of the plunger 2, the pressure in the pressurizing chamber 12 rises, whereby the discharge valve 6 is automatically opened and the fuel is pumped to the common rail 53.

  The suction valve 5 automatically opens when the pressure in the pressurizing chamber 12 becomes lower than the fuel inlet, but the valve closing is determined by the operation of the actuator 8.

  When a drive signal is given to the actuator 8 and held, an electromagnetic force greater than the urging force of the spring 92 is generated in the solenoid 90 and the rod 91 is pulled toward the solenoid 90, so that the rod 91 and the intake valve 5 are separated. In this state, the intake valve 5 is an automatic valve that opens and closes in synchronization with the reciprocating motion of the plunger 2. Therefore, during the discharge stroke, the suction valve 5 is closed, and the fuel corresponding to the volume reduction of the pressurizing chamber 12 pushes the discharge valve 6 and is pumped to the common rail 53. Therefore, the pump discharge flow rate becomes maximum.

  On the other hand, when a drive signal is not given to the actuator 8, the rod 91 pushes up the suction valve 5 by the biasing force of the spring 92, and holds the suction valve 5 in the open state. Accordingly, the pressure in the pressurizing chamber 12 is maintained at a low pressure almost equal to that of the fuel introduction port even during the discharge stroke, so that the discharge valve 6 cannot be opened and the volume of the pressurizing chamber 12 is reduced. The fuel is returned to the fuel inlet side through the intake valve 5. Therefore, the pump discharge flow rate can be set to zero.

  If a drive signal is given to the actuator 8 during the discharge stroke, the fuel is pumped to the common rail 53 after a response delay of the actuator 8. Once the pressure feeding starts, the pressure in the pressurizing chamber 12 rises. Therefore, even after the actuator 8 is turned off, the suction valve 5 remains closed and automatically opens in synchronization with the start of the suction stroke. . Therefore, the discharge amount can be variably adjusted in the range from 0 to the maximum discharge amount in a certain discharge stroke according to the timing at which the drive signal is supplied to the actuator 8. Hereinafter, the time average of the ratio of the discharge amount to the maximum discharge amount is referred to as duty.

  Further, the pressure of the common rail 53 can be maintained at a substantially constant value by calculating an appropriate discharge timing by the controller 57 based on the signal from the pressure sensor 56 and controlling the rod 91.

  Next, an example in which the actuator 8 of the high-pressure fuel pump is driven by the control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of control timing when the high-pressure fuel pump is operated at a duty of 50% or less. Such an operating state is required in a situation where the engine load is small, for example, when the automobile is running at a constant speed, when decelerating, or when idling.

  That is, the engine output torque is not required and the engine consumes less fuel. In this case, the discharge flow rate control is performed by giving a drive signal to the actuator 8 once every time the plunger 2 reciprocates twice. Of the two discharge strokes, one discharge is not performed but the remaining one discharge is controlled to control the average discharge in the two compression strokes. In the discharge stroke in which the discharge amount is controlled, a drive signal is sent to the actuator 8 at a timing earlier than the target discharge start timing by the response delay time of the actuator 8. Then, the rod 91 is pulled up, the suction valve 5 is self-closed, and the fuel is compressed and discharged at the target discharge start timing. The discharge amount for two compression strokes is the discharge amount for this one time. The timing and length of sending the drive signal to the actuator 8 are calculated by the controller 57.

When a drive signal is given to the actuator 8, a voltage is applied to the solenoid 90, and the current rises with a first order delay due to the inductance of the solenoid 90. The time required for the electromagnetic force of the solenoid 90 to reach a current that can attract the rod 91 after the drive signal is given to the actuator and the rod 91 is pulled up is the response delay time when the actuator 8 is driven. This time is hereinafter referred to as a pull-up delay time t ₁ . When the drive signal is turned off, it takes time for the current to drop to the holding limit current of the rod 91 due to the inductance of the solenoid 90. Turn off the drive signal, since the time until the rod 91 is lowered, referred to as a pull-down delay time t _2.

For example, when the desired duty of the high-pressure fuel pump is 25%, one discharge stroke is 0% of the displacement of the plunger 2 (no discharge), and the other one is 50% of the displacement of the plunger 2 By discharging, a time-average duty of 25% is obtained. In the discharge stroke, the controller 57 sends a drive signal to the actuator 8 at a timing earlier than the timing at which the plunger finishes the 50% discharge stroke by the pull-up delay time t ₁ . Then, the drive signal is turned off so that the rod 91 returns before the next discharge stroke starts.

Thus, as an advantage of controlling the discharge flow rate, since the actuator is not driven every time the plunger 2 reciprocates, the interval between the drive signal and the drive signal becomes wide. In the conventional control method, the actuator cannot control the discharge flow rate unless the sum of the pull-up delay time t ₁ and the pull-down delay time t ₂ is at least shorter than the reciprocating cycle of the plunger. The discharge flow rate can be controlled even when the reciprocating cycle is shorter. Therefore, it is possible to supply the required amount of fuel to the engine that rotates at high speed without increasing the response speed of the actuator of the fuel supply device. In addition, power consumption and heat generation can be reduced by reducing the number of times the actuator 8 is energized.

  Furthermore, this control method can be used even when the number of leaves of the cam 100 that drives the plunger 2 is not the two leaves used in FIG. 1 but four leaves or five leaves having a larger number of leaves. Is possible. The cam with a large number of leaves is used when supplying a large amount of fuel to the engine, that is, when supplying fuel to an engine with a large displacement or a turbo engine.

  In the present embodiment described above, the discharge flow rate of the pump can be controlled within a range of 50% or less of the duty. When controlling the discharge flow rate of 50% or more of the duty, the following control method can be used.

  Before that, the operating state of the fuel pump in the automobile is required when the engine load is large, for example, when accelerating or climbing. That is, the engine consumes a large amount of fuel to obtain a high output torque.

In this case as well, while the plunger 2 reciprocates twice, a drive signal is given to the actuator once to control the discharge flow rate. However, in this case, of the two discharge strokes, the discharge amount is controlled by controlling the discharge timing once, and the average discharge flow rate of the two discharge strokes is controlled by discharging all the other one time. That is, in the process of controlling the discharge amount, the drive signal is given earlier by the pull-up delay time t ₁ from the timing at which discharge is desired to start. Then, the rod 91 is pulled up, the suction valve 5 is self-closed, and compressed and discharged at a timing when discharge is desired to start. Thereafter, the rod 91 is held so as not to be pulled down until the next discharge stroke starts . If the rod 91 is still pulled up at the start of the next discharge stroke, the suction valve 5 is self-closed by the liquid pressure and the spring force, and the fuel in the pressurizing chamber is pressurized. When the pressurizing chamber becomes high pressure, a high back pressure is applied to the suction valve, and even if the rod 91 is lowered, it is not pushed open. As a result, in the next discharge stroke, the suction valve is closed simultaneously with the start of the discharge stroke, and the fuel corresponding to the volume that the plunger 2 pushes away is discharged. The controller 57 calculates the timing for starting to send a drive signal to the actuator 8 and the signal width.

For example, when the desired duty of the high-pressure fuel pump is 75%, one discharge stroke is 50%, and the other discharge is 100%, thereby obtaining an average duty of 75% in the two discharge strokes. be able to. In the stroke of 50% discharge, the controller 57 sends a drive signal to the actuator 8 at a timing earlier than the timing at which the plunger finishes the compression stroke of 50% by the pulling delay time t ₁ until the next discharge stroke starts. The drive signal is continuously sent until the timing before the pull-down time t ₂ from the timing when the next discharge stroke starts so as not to decrease.

  By controlling the discharge flow rate in this way, the drive signal can be turned off before the entire discharge process starts, and therefore the interval until the next drive signal is issued becomes longer. As a result, even when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is short, it is possible to supply the required amount of fuel to the engine that rotates at high speed without increasing the response speed of the actuator. Further, as described above, fuel can be supplied to an engine having a large displacement by using a cam having a large number of leaves.

  Further, when the required duty is 50% or less, the control method shown in FIG. 2 is used. When the duty is 50% or less, the control method shown in FIG. 3 is used. In addition, the discharge flow rate can be controlled in a range from 0 to 100% duty.

  In the configuration of this embodiment, the suction valve 5 and the actuator 8 are separate, and the suction valve 5 has a structure that can be automatically opened, so that the control method of FIGS. 2 and 3 is possible. In the configuration in which the suction valve 5 and the actuator 8 always operate integrally, the suction valve 5 is closed while the actuator 8 is driven regardless of the suction stroke and the discharge stroke, so that the suction valve 5 is automatically opened and closed. Therefore, the control method shown in FIG. 3 aiming to discharge one plunger reciprocally cannot be implemented. Although it is possible to implement the control method of FIG. 2 even if the intake valve and the actuator are integrated, the configuration of the present embodiment is desirable for a wider range of flow rate control.

  In this embodiment, a pull-type actuator that pulls up the rod 91 when a drive signal is given as an actuator has been described, but conversely, even if a push-type actuator that pulls down the rod 91 by giving a drive signal is used, the drive The discharge flow rate control similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 to 3 can be applied by reversing the ON / OFF state of the signal.

  This control method can also be applied when the engine is running at low speed, but it is not necessary to apply it when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is sufficiently longer than the response delay time of the capacity control mechanism. The control method of the fuel supply device may be switched according to the above.

  Next, timing diagrams to which the control method of the present invention is applied in a high-pressure fuel pump having another structure shown in FIG. 4 are shown in FIGS.

  In FIG. 4, the pump passes a suction valve 22 to supply fuel to the pressurizing chamber, a passage for allowing fuel in the pressurizing chamber to escape to the low pressure channel (upstream of the suction valve 22), and a flow thereof. An electromagnetic valve 81 for opening and closing the path is provided. The suction valve 22 is automatically opened and closed, and the electromagnetic valve 81 is closed by giving a drive signal. The fuel is pressurized from the tank 50 by the low pressure pump 51, passes through the suction valve 22, and is supplied to the pressurizing chamber. In the discharge stroke, when no drive signal is given to the electromagnetic valve 81, the fuel is not pressurized and returned to the low pressure flow path. When a drive signal is given to the electromagnetic valve 81 during the discharge stroke, the passage returning to the low pressure flow path is closed, the pressure in the pressurizing chamber rises, and fuel is discharged from the pump. Also in the high-pressure fuel pump having such a configuration, the control method of the present invention can be applied similarly to the high-pressure fuel pump having the configuration shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of control timing when discharging with a duty of 50% or less.

In FIG. 5, the solenoid valve also has a delay time from when a drive signal is applied to when the solenoid valve operates, like the actuator of FIG. 1, and thereafter the time from when the drive signal is applied until the solenoid valve closes is closed. t ₁ will be referred to as a 'delay to open the time to turn off the drive signal to open the valve time t _2'. Of the two discharge strokes, the flow rate is controlled by controlling the remaining one discharge flow rate without discharging once. As a result, after the drive signal is cut to the electromagnetic valve 81 at a certain time, there is a margin between the time after the opening delay time t ₂ ′ required until the valve is opened and the time when the next drive signal is issued. By dividing a small discharge flow rate into two times and collecting them in one time, it is possible to provide a margin for the time between drive signals. Moreover, power consumption can be reduced and the amount of heat generated can be reduced by reducing the number of energizations of the solenoid valve 81.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of control timing when discharging with a duty of 50% or more.

In FIG. 6, a drive signal is given to the electromagnetic valve 81 once every two reciprocations of the plunger in the same manner as described above. Of the two discharge strokes, the discharge timing is controlled once, and the flow rate is controlled by discharging the other one time. A drive signal is given as early as the closing delay time t ₁ ′ from the timing at which discharge is desired to start, and the solenoid valve is held so as not to close until the next discharge stroke starts. The fuel passes through the suction valve 22 and is supplied to the pressurizing chamber. At the start of the next discharge stroke, the suction valve 22 is closed and discharged. In the second full discharge, the solenoid valve needs to be held in a closed state. However, when the valve body of the solenoid valve is an externally open type as shown in FIG. Back pressure is applied to the valve, and it will not open even if the drive signal is turned off. Therefore, as in the previous embodiment, it is sufficient that the drive signal is continued at least before the opening delay time t ₂ ′ from the time when the next discharge stroke starts. As in the example of FIG. 3, the time until the next drive signal is generated can be afforded, so that the discharge flow rate can be controlled even when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is short.

  The fuel supply apparatus configured as shown in FIG. 4 can also be applied when the engine is running at a low speed. However, the fuel supply apparatus is intentionally applied when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is sufficiently longer than the response delay time of the capacity control mechanism. There is no need, and the control method of the fuel supply device may be switched according to the engine speed.

  The timing charts of FIGS. 5 and 6 are timing diagrams of a configuration using a normally open type solenoid valve. However, when a normally closed type solenoid valve is used, ON and OFF of the drive signal are reversed. Thus, the control method of the present invention can be implemented.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a high-pressure fuel pump capable of controlling the discharge flow rate even when the reciprocating cycle of the plunger is short without increasing the responsiveness of the variable displacement mechanism. In addition, when the duty is small, the driving time of the variable capacity mechanism is short, so that the effects of power saving and low heat generation can be obtained.

  In an actual automobile, it is possible to supply a necessary amount of fuel even in a high engine speed range. Further, even when the number of cam leaves is increased to increase the number of reciprocations of the plunger in order to increase the maximum fuel supply amount, variable displacement control can be realized without increasing the response of the actuator. As a result, sufficient fuel can be supplied to a large displacement engine or a turbo engine with a large amount of fuel consumption.

  One type of high-pressure fuel pump can be shared from a small displacement engine to a large displacement engine by simply changing the number of leaves on the cam, so that the production cost can be reduced due to the mass production effect. In addition, procurement and management of parts are simplified.

It is a schematic block diagram of the high pressure fuel pump provided with this invention. It is a timing diagram which shows the example of control of the high pressure fuel pump of this invention. It is a timing diagram which shows the example of control of the high pressure fuel pump of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the high pressure fuel pump provided with the other Example. FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a control example in the system of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a control example in the system of FIG. 4.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pump main body, 2 ... Plunger, 5 ... Suction valve, 6 ... Discharge valve, 8 ... Actuator, 10 ... Suction flow path, 11 ... Discharge flow path, 57 ... Controller.

Claims (3)

A controller of the fuel supply apparatus provided with a single-cylinder plunger type high-pressure fuel pump that having a variable capacity mechanism which includes an electromagnetic control valve for controlling an amount of returning the inhaled into the pressurizing chamber fuel to the upstream of the intake valve In the controller of the fuel supply device for adjusting the fuel supply pressure by controlling the current supplied to the solenoid constituting the electromagnetic control valve of the variable capacity mechanism,
Each time the plunger of the high-pressure fuel pump reciprocates at least twice , the current is supplied once to the solenoid constituting the electromagnetic control valve of the variable displacement mechanism , so that the plunger is divided into two or more times. A first control region for discharging the fuel to be discharged at a time,
In the control region, the flow section including the rising and falling periods of the current flowing to the solenoid is longer than the reciprocating cycle of the plunger, and extends to the suction process before and after the specific discharge process of the plunger. ,
In addition to the first control region, the providing the second control region for discharging all the fuel volume displacing of said plunger once per said plunger reciprocates twice,
In the second control region, the solenoid is energized in the suction process preceding the one discharge process in which the discharge amount is controlled, and the solenoid is energized so that the suction valve is self-closing in the subsequent suction / discharge process. A controller for a fuel supply apparatus, characterized in that the controller is configured so that energization is terminated before the start of the subsequent suction process . 2. The discharge flow rate is controlled in one discharge stroke by controlling in the second control region when the fuel supply amount is approximately 50% or more of the maximum discharge flow rate of the fuel pump. and, a controller of the following times of fuel supply apparatus you characterized by discharging all the fuel volume plunger displaces the discharge stroke. The fuel supply amount according to claim 1, wherein when the fuel supply amount is 50% or less of the maximum discharge flow rate of the fuel pump, the discharge flow rate is set to zero in one discharge stroke by controlling in the first control region. controlled, the controller of the next fuel supply apparatus you characterized in that all discharging fuel required volume with the discharge stroke.

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