Cummins Inc.

Cummins Intellectual Property, Inc.

Richard E Reisinger

Mert Geveci

Michael Robert Tidwell

Andrew W Osburn

Anthony A Shaull

Edward Benjamin Manring

William David Daniel

Shankar C Venkataraman

Jesus Carmona-Valdes

Douglas W Memering

Syed S Jalal

Martin T Books

Donald J Benson

David Michael Carey

Paul V Moonjelly

Sanjay Manglam

Albert E Sisson

Viktor K Walter

Lawrence C Melton

A system and method for is provided to determine a fuel flow cutout delay between transmitting a signal to stop a fuel flow to a fuel accumulator of a fuel system and the actual stop of fuel flow to the fuel accumulator. The fuel flow cutout delay is used to determine when pressure data from a sensor associated with the fuel accumulator is unaffected by fuel flow to the fuel accumulator.

System and method for adapting to a variable fuel delivery cutout delay in a fuel system of an internal combustion engine

A fuel injector includes a piezoelectric actuation mechanism and a sensor configuration to measure the condition of the actuation mechanism as well as an associated fuel rail. The sensor configuration includes a piezoelectric sensor with an output signal with significantly reduced distortion that accurately reflects control signals provided to the piezoelectric actuation mechanism.

Fuel injector having a piezoelectric actuator and a sensor assembly

This disclosure provides a fuel injector system and method in which the timing of events in during period of fuel injection of a piezoelectric-actuated fuel injector are estimated based on sensed forces within the injector. The force sensor is positioned between a piezoelectric actuator and a hydraulic link assembly mechanically coupled with the piezoelectric actuator, and the force sensor operable to output a signal corresponding to forces between the piezoelectric actuator and the hydraulic link assembly. From information contained in the sensor output signal, timing in the injection period of at least one fueling characteristic based can be estimated to allow for adjusting fuel injector characteristics to compensate for variations affecting fuel injection, such as manufacturing tolerances, environmental conditions, and deterioration/wear.

Piezoelectric fuel injector system, method for estimating timing characteristics of a fuel injection event

A system and method are provided for estimating an instantaneous EGR mass flow rate corresponding to a flow rate of exhaust gas through an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) conduit fluidly coupled between an exhaust manifold and an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine with an EGR cooler positioned in-line with the EGR conduit. An operating position of the engine is monitored, and the instantaneous EGR mass flow rate is estimated at each of a plurality of fixed increments of the engine position based on EGR cooler outlet temperature, intake manifold pressure and a pressure differential across a flow restriction disposed in-line with the exhaust gas conduit between the EGR cooler and the intake manifold.

System and method for estimating EGR mass flow rates

A fuel system has a fuel rail containing pressured fuel coupled to a plurality of fuel injectors. The system is operable in one embodiment to adjust fuel injector on-times by selecting one of the fuel injectors, determining a critical on-time for the selected injector corresponding to a minimum on-time duration to which the selected fuel injector is responsive to inject a discernable amount of fuel, generating an on-time for the selected fuel injector, determining an adjusted on-time for the selected fuel injector based on the generated on-time for the selected fuel injector, the critical on-time for the selected fuel injector and a reference critical on-time, and activating the selected fuel injector for the adjusted on-time to inject fuel into the engine. Alternatively or additionally, the adjusted on-time may be based on one or more estimated fuel injection quantities injected by the selected fuel injector.

System and method for adjusting fuel injector on-times

A fuel system has a source of fuel coupled to a plurality of fuel injectors via a fuel rail. The system is operable to estimate a quantity of fuel injected into an internal combustion engine by disabling fuel flow from the source of fuel to the fuel rail, and monitoring a fuel request corresponding to a request for delivery of fuel by the fuel system to the engine produced by the engine. If the fuel request is below a threshold fueling level a selected fuel injector is controlled to inject a selected quantity of fuel from the fuel rail into the engine while inhibiting fuel injection the remaining fuel injectors, fuel rail pressure is sampled, a drop in the fuel rail pressure, resulting from injection of the selected quantity of fuel, is determined from the fuel rail pressure samples, and the quantity of fuel injected by the selected injector is determined as a function of the drop in fuel rail pressure.

System for monitoring injected fuel quantities

A fuel system has a source of fuel coupled to a plurality of fuel injectors via a fuel rail. The system is operable to determining a critical on-time for a selected one of the injectors by disabling fuel flow from the source of fuel to the fuel rail, periodically sampling fuel rail pressure, activating the selected injector for an on-time duration while inhibiting injection by remaining ones of the injectors, determining from the fuel rail pressure samples a pressure drop resulting from activation of the selected injector for the on-time duration, processing the pressure drop to determine whether or not the selected injector injected fuel, and repeatedly modifying the on-time duration followed by executing the sampling, activating, determining and processing steps until a critical on-time is determined that corresponds to a minimum on-time duration to which the selected fuel injector is responsive to inject a discernable amount of fuel.

System for determining critical on-times for fuel injectors

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Columbus, IN, United States of America

Richard E Reisinger