The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 01, 1982
Filed:
Oct. 02, 1980
Francis G Cox, Grand Blanc, MI (US);
William J Ricketts, Anderson, IN (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
An internal combustion engine with a closed loop air/fuel ratio control utilizes a heated zirconia sensor, the sensor including a resistance heater element connected to receive electric current from the vehicle battery, the sensor having an internal parasitic capacitance and being characterized by a leakage current path between the heater element and the capacitance. The sensor output voltage is sampled by the closed loop control periodically and current is supplied to the heater element only during periods which end a predetermined time before each such sampling so that any charge on the capacitance may discharge before it affects the sampled voltage. Within each period, the current may be duty cycle modulated in response to vehicle battery voltage to maintain a constant average power to the heater element when heat is required.