A-i-l Corporation

United Technologies Diesel Systems, Inc.

Jacobs Vehicle Systems, Inc.

Diesel Engine Retarders, Inc.

Eric Day

John A Schwoerer

Neil E Fuchs

Brian L Ruggiero

Steven N Ernest

Joseph V Paturzo

Jeffrey E Mossberg

Jin Chang Xu

Jan Peyrot

Jean Paul Aubin

John H Field, Ii

Johnathan W Prusak

A system for actuating an engine valve to decompress an engine cylinder for engine start up and/or engine braking is disclosed. The system may include a first member, such as an outer piston, disposed above an engine valve, which receives an inner piston extending into a bore provided in the first member. One or more springs may bias the inner piston into a predefined position in the first member. The inner piston may include a lower surface that directly, or through an intervening sliding pin, actuates an engine valve in response to the application of fluid pressure on the inner piston. The inner piston may be used to decompress an engine cylinder for engine start up and/or to provide engine braking.

Method and system for engine cylinder decompression

An apparatus for limiting the travel of a slave piston (,) in a slave piston cylinder (,) in a compression release engine brake is disclosed. The apparatus provides stroke-limiting means and independent lash adjustment means which may be installed in a common rail, variable valve actuation system. The independent lash adjustment means comprises a sleeve (,) around the slave piston (,), threadably mounted in the brake housing (,). The stroke-limiting means comprises a slave piston (,) in a slave piston cylinder (,), a trigger valve (,) and a hydraulic circuit connected thereto. The slave piston stroke is limited when a lower flow port (,) in the slave piston cylinder (,) is opened to drain (,) slightly before high-pressure flow is cut off through an upper flow port (,) in the slave piston cylinder (,).

Hydraulically-actuated fail-safe stroke-limiting piston

An actuator for moving a solenoid armature to control fuel in response to a control current is built into a fuel pump, with trapped air in and around the actuator preventing contamination of the actuator by ferromagnetic particles in the liquid fuel from the fuel pump.

Proportional solenoid actuator and pump system including same

An inexpensive type of linear solenoid actuator for moving a plunger along a straight line, while providing a force on the plunger due to the actuator which does not vary greatly over the length of stroke of the plunger; a spring opposes the force exerted on the plunger by the solenoid, so that the plunger will assume any of a range of positions in response to different currents through the solenoid. The plunger has a first larger portion of magnetic material sliding in a first bearing; a tapered second magnetic portion extending forwardly from the first portion; a magnetic third portion of substantially cylindrical form extending forwardly from the tapered portion; and a front non-magnetic portion sliding in a second bearing and supporting the front end of the plunger. The second bearing is in a magnetic end piece having substantial axial width. The stroke of the plunger is preferably such that the forward end of the magnetic third portion moves from a first position near the adjacent end of a magnetic end piece in which the second bearing is mounted, to a second position well within or outside the other end of the magnetic end piece.

Proportional solenoid actuator

First and a second rotating members are driven in syntony with each other but at variable advance angles with respect to each other. A sensor (32) provides a position signal indicative of a predetermined rotational position of the first rotating member. A toothed wheel (40) is fixed to the second rotating member and a sensor (44) adjacent to the wheel provides a pulse indicative of each occurrence of tooth (42)/sensor (44) juxtaposition. The speed of the rotating members is determined by the pulse frequency or the time interval between the pulses. The advance angle is determined by measuring the time interval between the position signal and a particular pulse, such as the one immediately after the position signal, and multiplying the result by the determined speed.

Timing and speed sensor for fuel injection pump

A stepper motor (40) is used to position the pump rack (32A) via a preloaded compliant linkage (52,54,56) in a fuel injection pump (18), thereby exercising control over the end of injection event in response to various engine operating parameters. One part (52) of the compliant linkage (52,54,56) is engaged with the output shaft (46) of the stepper motor (40). The stop (96) is provided at the zero throttle position of the engaged part (52) of the linkage (52,54,56), at the exteme distal end of its positional range. A position sensor (100) is located at a predetermined reference position away from the stop (96) to provide a signal indicative of the engaged part (52) being at that position. When the stepper motor (40) is advanced to move the engaged part (52) away from the stop (96), the pulse count to the stepper motor is rereferenced when the reference position is reached.

Stepper motor control for fuel injection

Information relating to relative fuel pump camshaft advance angle is compared with a SOC signal indicative of the start of combustion in a reference cylinder to generate an adaptive trim table which is used, in a first control scheme to calculate an actual combustion angle for closed loop control over combustion timing only in the event of a loss of the SOC signal. In an alternate control scheme, the values from the adaptive trim table are always used to calculate the actual combustion angle for closed loop control.

Fuel injection control

According to the invention, the time for start of combustion in an engine cylinder is provided by disposing a sensor in the combustion chamber of the cylinder, said sensor providing a signal indicative of the amplitude/time of the combustion event within the cylinder. Two signal levels are measured, a first level which is above the noise in the signal and a second level which is below the maximum amplitude of the signal which may be attenuated by carbon buildup on the sensor. By extrapolating backwards from these two sensed levels, a reference time for start of combustion is calculated.

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Longmeadow, MA, United States of America

Eric Day