Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Other

Denso Corporation

Hiroki Ichinose

Shinji Sadakane

Susumu Kojima

Keiso Takeda

Yuuichi Katou

Nao Murase

Takayuki Otsuka

Takaaki Itou

Kazuhiro Wakao

Takahiko Fujiwara

Kazuhiro Sakurai

Rentaro Kuroki

Kunihiko Nakata

Rie Osaki

Masahiro Ozawa

Atsunori Hirata

Mamoru Yoshioka

Makoto Suzuki

Hiroshi Tanaka

Takashi Watanabe

Kenji Katoh

Yasuyuki Irisawa

Yukio Kinugasa

Kenji Sakurai

Atsushi Ito

Hideo Kobayashi

Hiroshi Nakamura

Yoshihiro Iwashita

Toshimi Kashiwagura

Kenji Harima

Masanobu Kanamaru

Satoru Watanabe

Yasuhiro Kuze

Hiroaki Mizoguchi

Haruyuki Obata

Motonobu Hasegawa

Hitoshi Noguchi

Yuuichi Kato

Masaaki Kawai

Hitoshi Uda

Yukihiro Tsukasaki

Hironori Okamizu

Ken Tanoue

Keiji Itou

A stop-start control apparatus for a port injection engine () including cylinders () stops the engine () by stopping fuel injection from each injector (), when a predetermined stop condition is fulfilled. An estimated position of a piston () in each cylinder () after the engine () is stopped is determined during a stop process period from when the predetermined stop condition is fulfilled until when the engine () is stopped, and a compression stroke cylinder in which the piston () is to be stopped in a compression stroke is identified. An amount of fuel to be injected from the injector () for the compression stroke cylinder during the stop process period is set based on the estimated position of the piston () in the compression stroke cylinder. The injector () injects the fuel in the set fuel amount so that the fuel is contained in the compression stroke cylinder when the engine is stopped.

Stop-start control apparatus and method for an internal combustion engine

The stop-start control apparatus () is applied to the spark ignition type internal combustion engine (), stops the internal combustion enginein a case that a prescribed stop condition is fulfilled, and restarts the internal combustion engine () in a case that a prescribed restart condition is fulfilled. The control apparatus cuts spark ignition for the internal combustion enginein response to the fulfillment of the stop condition, and carries on fuel supply to the internal combustion engine (). When a restart condition is fulfilled after the fulfillment of a stop condition and prior to a complete stop of the internal combustion engine (), the control apparatus restarts the internal combustion engine () by resuming spark ignition for the internal combustion engine () in order that fuel supplied after the fulfillment of the stop condition burns.

Stop-start control apparatus for internal combustion engine

A device for controlling an internal combustion engine which uses, as the fuel, a heavy fuel, a light fuel, an alcohol fuel and a mixture thereof, comprising a heavy fuel/light fuel ratio detectorcapable of detecting the ratio of the heavy fuel and the light fuel, and an air-fuel ratio detectorfor detecting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas, wherein the amount of fuel injection is calculated based on the heavy fuel/light fuel ratio detector so that the air-fuel ratio becomes a target air-fuel ratio. The heavy fuel/light fuel ratio detector is diagnosed if it is in an abnormal condition based on a difference between the target air-fuel ratio and the air-fuel ratio detected by the air-fuel ratio detector while the engine temperature is in a particular temperature region. The heavy fuel/light fuel ratio detector can be correctly diagnosed if it is in an abnormal condition even when an alcohol-mixed fuel is used.

Device for controlling internal combustion engines

A fuel property sensor is provided with three bypass passages and a measure passage. The measure passage is located inside of a closed loop which is comprised of common tangential lines of adjacent bypass passages and a part of profile line of each bypass passage in a cross section perpendicular to the measure passage. Even if the fuel property sensor is rotated around the axis of a fuel pipe in assembling the fuel property sensor to the fuel pipe, at least one of two bypass passages is always located above the measure passage in a vertical direction. Hence, bubbles included in the fuel are restricted from flowing into the measure passage. The fuel property sensor can detect the concentration of ethanol contained in the fuel with high accuracy.

Fuel property detector

The combustion air-fuel ratio is made leaner than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio at the time of engine startup and the combustion air-fuel ratio is made richer than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio and the exhaust downstream part of the three-way catalyst apparatus is raised in temperature when it is judged that just the exhaust upstream part of the three-way catalyst apparatus arranged in the engine exhaust system has been raised to the catalyst activation temperature.

Air-fuel ratio control device of internal combustion engine

In at least a first cycle at startup, an opening timing of an exhaust valve is controlled to 45 degrees before-bottom-dead-center of an exhaust stroke, or to a retard side of the normal closing timing that is set after warm-up is complete. Also, the closing timing of the exhaust valve is preferably controlled to an advance side of top-dead-center in a second cycle at startup and thereafter at the latest. Accordingly, the amount of unburned HC discharged during a cold start of an internal combustion engine is reduced.

Control apparatus and control method for internal combustion engine

When starting an internal combustion engine from cold, after-burning of unburned HC in the exhaust gas within an exhaust passage is promoted by supplying secondary air into the exhaust passage upstream of a catalyst. At this time, the pressure within the exhaust passage is controlled by controlling the opening timing of an exhaust valve. Desirably, when the exhaust temperature has been elevated to a temperature at which it is possible to promote after-burning of the unburned HC in the exhaust gas within the exhaust passage, the opening timing of the exhaust valve is retarded.

Control device and control method for internal combustion engine

The exhaust gas purifying catalysts sometimes generate HS which emits exhaust odor under reducing atmosphere. However, in the ordinary air-fuel ratio control, it takes much time to establish sufficient oxygen atmosphere for suppressing HS emission when the maximum oxygen storage amount which the exhaust gas purifying catalyst can store is large. Thus, the fuel cut control apparatus of an internal combustion engine executes fuel cut to bring oxygen in the exhaust gas into an excessive state when the maximum oxygen storage amount is a predetermined amount or more. As a result, sufficient oxygen can be stored in the exhaust gas purifying catalyst. Even when the maximum oxygen storage amount of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is smaller than the predetermined amount, if the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is lower than predetermined temperature, fuel cut is executed. In this case, influence which is given to deterioration of the catalysts is small even if the fuel cut is executed and the inside of the catalysts is under the oxygen atmosphere. On the other hand, if the temperature of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst is the predetermined temperature or higher, the fuel cut is not executed. Since the deterioration of the catalyst is promoted when the catalyst is under the oxygen atmosphere at high temperature, priority is given to prevention of deterioration of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst.

Fuel cut control apparatus of internal combustion engine

According to an apparatus and method for determining degradation of a reforming catalyst degradation which reforms a mixture of air and fuel, in a reformer that supplies a reformate gas to an engine of a vehicle, a temperature sensor detects a temperature of a reforming reaction portion in which is provided a reforming catalyst. An ECU then determines the extent of degradation of the reforming catalyst based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

Apparatus and method for determining reforming catalyst degradation

An intake port of an internal combustion engineis provided with a fuel injection valve. An intake adjustment mechanismfor varying the valve timing of an intake valveand an exhaust adjustment mechanismfor varying the valve timing of an exhaust valveare furnished. Immediately after internal combustion engine startup, fuel atomization is facilitated by exercising control so that the valve opening timing for the intake valvecoincides with a retarded valve opening timing after exhaust top dead center. In such an instance, the fuel introduced into a cylinder is inhibited from adhering to the exhaust valveand its neighborhood by exercising control in such a manner that the valve closing timing for the exhaust valvecoincides with a retarded vale closing timing, which is retarded from a normal valve closing timing.

Valve timing control device

An engine system with a thermal storage device is capable of efficiently supplying heat from a thermal storage device to an internal combustion engine. The engine system equipped with the thermal storage tank supplies the hot water stored in the thermal storage tank to a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine before the starting thereof. At this time, an electronic control unit sets a target value of the temperature of the internal combustion engine at the start of the hot water supply in such a manner that the lower the temperature of the internal combustion engine, the lower the target value becomes. As a result, a variation in combustion states between cylinders can be suppressed at the starting of the internal combustion engine.

Engine system with a thermal storage device, and engine temperature raising method

An internal combustion engine in accordance with one aspect of the invention is characterized by comprising a combustion chamber, a reformer, and a control portion. A predetermined fuel component is burnt in the combustion chamber. The reformer has a reforming catalyst, and that produces a reformed gas which contains the fuel component obtained by reforming a mixture of fuel and air and which supplied to the combustion chamber. The control portion sets an air-fuel ratio of the mixture in the reformer such that a reforming efficiency of the reformer is held within a predetermined range, and sets an amount of the mixture supplied to the reformer such that an actual output torque of the internal combustion engine coincides with a target torque.

Internal combustion engine and method of operating internal combustion engine

An ECU executes a determination process determining whether the rate of increase in the engine speed is above a prescribed rate immediately after the engine start, and if so, delays the ignition timing.

Internal combustion engine and ignition control method

In an internal combustion engine including a plurality of cylinders, a fuel injection system and method sets an amount of fuel injected into each cylinder sequentially in a first cycle of fuel injection during a normal engine start in which an engine speed increases, such that an amount of fuel to be injected into one of the cylinders where the last injection is to be performed within the first cycle is larger than an amount of fuel to be injected into another one of the cylinders in the first injection within the first cycle.

Fuel injection system and control method for internal combustion engine starting time

An intake apparatus and methods of an internal combustion engine that controls an intake air current to the combustion engine. An intake current control valve has an open portion for passing intake currents, and has an external shape that has at least four corner portions corresponding to a shape of an intake pipe. Precise control of the amount of intake air can be accomplished if the open portion is closed, and then the amount of air leaking via the periphery of the valve is measured.

Intake apparatus and methods of internal combustion engine

Growing community of inventors

Fujinomiya, Japan

Hiroki Ichinose