Robert Boschgmbh

Eckart Damson

Franz Rieger

Winfried Moser

Martin Klenk

Klaus D Muller

Ernst Linder

Werner Hess

Reinhard Latsch

Helmut Maurer

Uwe Kassner

Juergen Foerster

Heinz Moller

Burkhard Hiller

Horst Franke

Rainer Schussler

Stefan Miller

Rainer Schubler

A method and an arrangement for detecting the end of a start operation in an internal combustion engine () of a motor vehicle make it possible to distinguish the start operation from a steady-state condition of the engine () even for starters having a high starter rpm. At least one operating variable of the engine is determined which is different from the rpm thereof. The at least one operating variable is compared to a pregiven threshold value. The end of the start operation is detected when the at least one operating variable reaches or exceeds the threshold value.

Method and arrangement for detecting the end of a start operation in an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle

Method and arrangement for controlling an internal combustion engine

Disclosed is a method and device for regulating the preparation of fuel-and-air mixture in a carburetor, fuel injection system and the like of an internal combustion engine. The device includes an oxygen probe directly communicating with the combustion chamber of the engine. Periodically fluctuating output signal of the probe is applied to an averaging circuit which produces an average output signal over a predetermined number of engine cycles. The shape and length of the averaged output signal is indicative whether the mixture ratio is lean or rich. The averaging can be made by means of a lowpass filter, an integrator or at least one counter counting in response to the angular position of the crankshaft or the predetermined time intervals. When the probe output voltage has the form of a hump or bulge, its length or area is used for determining the actual .lambda. value in the rich range of ratios of the mixture.

Method of and device for regulating fuel-and-air mixture supplied to an

Engine knock sensor signals are amplified, band-pass filtered and rectified and then a sequence of integrated signal peak values are compared with reference signals relating to a typical engine knock signal. If the deviation of the integration values or peak values or their sum over a measurement period differs by less than a predetermined amount from the corresponding reference values, a knock indication is produced. The initial integration or peak value may be given less weight than those that follow. The knock sensor may be an engine block sound sensor, or a combustion chamber light, pressure or iron current sensor. Additional criteria, such as the interval between null transitions or signal maxima or the number of them in a measuring period may be used to inhibit a knock indication in case the main processing should occasionally provide an anomalous knock signal, but this precaution is not sufficiently needed to warrant its inclusion in simplified systems.

Method and apparatus for recognition of knocking in an internal

To permit adjustment of the combination sparkplug-optical sensor for heat transfer upon operation of the sensor-sparkplug combination as a sparkplug, in accordance with known sparkplug technology, the insulator of the sparkplug is formed with a central opening in which a material is included which is electrically conductive and providing for controlled heat transfer, for example a packing or a mixture of aluminum oxide with a conductive powder, such as graphite, aluminum, or copper; or, alternatively, sheet metal elements may be located therein providing controlled radial engagement around a central glass rod forming the optical sensor and the inner wall of the opening and the insulator (FIG. 2); or, alternatively, axially resilient elements, such as a bellows-like corrugated metal element (FIG. 3) or a stack of spring disks (FIG. 4) may be positioned in the opening, axially biased by screwing the connecting terminal (10) into a tapped opening of the insulator. Heat transfer or transmission control is effected by introducing between metallic components of the combination and the glass rod a heat conductive mass (2) which fills the space between the glass rod and the metallic components over a predetermined length, in accordance with desired heat transfer characteristics.

Combination sparkplug and combustion process sensor

To facilitate assembly of a central glass rod in an optical sensor-spark plug combination, electrical energy is conducted to the spark end of the combination by a high temperature resistant tube or sleeve 11 surrounding a central glass rod 2 for only a limited portion of the entire length; electrical energy is conducted to the high temperature resistant sleeve 11, which forms the sparking end of the spark plug, from a terminal connector 1 by a packing 10 of electrically conductive powder, which may include radio noise suppression resistance characteristics, held in place by a compression spring 8, in electrical connection with the terminal connector 1; or by a separate tube 12 surrounding the glass rod 1, and of non-heat resistant material, the glass rod 1 being separated from the other tube 12 by an adhesive which, at the connecting end of the spark plug, need not be high temperature resistant.

Spark plug and optical combustion sensor combination

To protect the light guide element of a combustion sensor, for example combined with a spark plug, and extending through a bore in the center electrode thereof against high temperatures and attach due to environmental conditions occurring within the combustion chamber, a protective element of a high temperature resistant, light transmitting ceramic, preferably alpha-crystalline aluminum oxide is located at the combustion end portion, for example in form of a disc 14, held in position by a turned-over flange of the end portion of the center electrode 13 of a spark plug-sensor combination.

Combustion condition sensor

Growing community of inventors

Stuttgart, Germany

Eckart Damson