Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Bruce David Bryant

Kenneth A Marko

Michiel Jacques Van Nieuwstadt

Suresh Sureshbabu

Vasanth Krishnaswami

Richard Joseph Hampo

John V James

Nathan R Soderborg

David Mansfield Mathias

Jimi Sauw-Yoeng Tjong

Kay (Dexter) Leong Ong

A method of cooling an engine control unit (ECU) coupled to an engine in a vehicle having a cabin climate control system, comprising operating the vehicle cabin climate control system according to a customer-based climate control setting during a first operating condition, and overriding said customer-based setting during a second operating condition including an ECU over-temperature condition.

Control unit heat management

A method of reducing heat generated in a fuel injector driver controlled by an engine control unit (ECU) of a vehicle engine, the injector coupled to the engine, the method comprising of varying a number of fuel injector injections in an engine cycle as a temperature of the ECU varies, where during a first ECU temperature condition said injector performs a first number of injections in an engine cycle, said first number being at least two injections, and during a second temperature condition higher than said first temperature condition said injector performs a second number of injections less than said first number of injection in an engine cycle, said second number being at least one injection.

Heat management for control unit

An automotive data recording device for collecting data from a vehicle and for storing the data for further analysis includes a first electrical interface adapted to interface with a vehicle data terminal capable of supplying raw data internally monitored by a vehicle computer having a memory for storing the raw data. A volatile memory temporarily stores substantially all the raw data stored in the vehicle computer's memory, and a non-volatile memory stores a desired portion of the raw data. The device also includes a microprocessor programmed to provide a first control signal to retrieve the desired portion of the raw data from the volatile memory for storage in the non-volatile memory and to provide a second control signal to retrieve the desired portion of the raw data from the non-volatile memory.

Automotive data recording device

A diagnostic envelope is used to analyze measurements from an internal combustion engine. Measurements may be from a partially assembled engine during a cold test to detect subtle mechanical anomalies, or from a fully assembled engine during a cold test or a hot test (with active fuel and spark). The measurements represent vibrational amplitudes corresponding to various crankshaft angular positions of the internal combustion engine. The first step in generating the diagnostic envelope includes filtering the measurements to enhance local variations. Filtered measurements representing a number of engine cycles are then combined to reduce random cycle-to-cycle variations. The diagnostic envelope is then generated by subtracting corresponding measurements obtained from engines with known operating characteristics. The diagnostic envelope is used in analyzing and/or classifying the engine. A fuzzy logic classifier is used to detect subtle mechanical anomalies while principal component analysis is utilized in analyzing engine performance, detecting less subtle mechanical defects, and in designing and validating engines.

Apparatus and method for processing engine measurements

A predictive model is derived for subsequent use in a misfire detector in an internal combustion engine. Data collected using a test engine is curve-fitted using NARMAX techniques to obtain a computational formula for the predictive model which relates deviant acceleration at the accessible crankshaft section to deviant acceleration at the inaccessible crankshaft section. Thus, the model can be used during actual misfire detection to reduce the effects of the torsional oscillations.

Process for deriving predictive model of crankshaft rotation of a

Irregularities in crankshaft velocity introduced when measuring crankshaft rotation at a section of a crankshaft in an internal combustion engine that is less damped to torsional oscillations than is another more accessible crankshaft section are corrected using a NARMAX-generated model to predict rotation measurements that would have been obtained at the inaccessible section based on data actually collected at the accessible crankshaft section. Thus, the effects of torsional oscillations in the crankshaft are substantially filtered away, resulting in crankshaft acceleration values that form the basis of a misfire detector having nearly maximum signal-to-noise performance.

Misfire detector with torsional oscillation filtering

A misfire detection assembly, used in conjunction with a motor vehicle having a fuel injector, an internal combustion engine and at least one output sensor, includes: a correlator which is electrically connected to the fuel injector and the output sensor wherein the correlator correlates firing events created by the fuel injector with an output signal created by the output sensor; a filter electrically connected to the correlator to receive the output signal and to compare the output signal against a variable threshold signal created by the filter; and a recorder, electrically connected to the filter, to record the firing events which exceed the variable threshold signal and those which do not exceed the variable threshold signal.

Misfire detection assembly

Misfiring of individual cylinders in an internal combustion engine 70 is detected based on simultaneous use of two or more different methods of misfire detection which examine different combustion-related parameters of engine operation, such as crankshaft acceleration and exhaust gas pressure. An analyzer 76 produces a final misfire determination M.sub.f (i) based on the simultaneously obtained misfire determinations in order to provide greater coverage of the speed-load range of engine 70 and to provide increased confidence and accuracy in calling misfires in the portion of the speed-load range where both misfire methods are presumed to function.

Fuzzy logic method for detecting misfiers in internal combustion engines

A system and method for processing test measurements collected from an internal combustion engine that is cold-tested for diagnostic purposes. Test measurements are collected from an engine. The test measurements are 'pre-processed' by filtering and subsampling techniques so that Principle Component Analysis can be applied to condense the quantity of test measurements while still retaining a statistically accurate indication of a majority of the original measurements. The pre-processed test measurements are then passed through one or more classifiers including: a Neural Network classifier, a Fuzzy Logic classifier, a cluster-based classifier (or 'Spherical' classifier) and a Genetic Program classifier. Results from these classifiers can be used to obtain a verdict about an engine (i.e., whether the engine is 'normal' or 'faulty').

System and method for processing test measurements collected from an

Misfiring of individual cylinders in an internal combustion engine is detected based on sensing exhaust pressure during each operating cycle of the engine. A pressure signal is sampled and digitized during each cycle to form an input vector for a pattern classifier. Predetermined internal coefficients of the trained classifier enable the classifier to discriminate between firing and misfiring cylinders in real time with a high degree of accuracy. Overall system cost is reduced by sharing a pressure transducer with an exhaust gas recirculation system on the internal combustion engine.

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Royal Oak, MI, United States of America

Bruce David Bryant