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:
Sep. 05, 1995
Filed:
Jun. 16, 1994
Kenichi Harada, Susono, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
An electrically heated catalytic converter system of the present invention includes a plurality of heater-converters, each heater-converter being disposed on one of a plurality of exhaust passages of an engine. Each heater-converter includes a catalyst bed which carries particles of a three-way reducing and oxidizing catalyst, an electric heater which is turned on during the start up of the engine to rapidly heat at least a portion of the catalyst bed, and a temperature detector disposed in the catalyst bed. The system also includes an electronic control unit (ECU) that detects the failure of the converter system. When the engine is started, the ECU calculates the difference in the temperatures of the catalyst beds, and if this difference in the temperatures becomes larger than a predetermined value, the ECU determines that one of the heater-converters has failed, i.e., the electrically heated catalytic converter system has failed. The failure of the converter system can also be determined by comparing the rate of temperature rise of the converters, or by determining a temperature or rate of temperature rise difference between a catalytic converter and the exhaust gas entering the catalytic converter.