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. 11, 1996
Filed:
Dec. 27, 1994
Andrew A Adamczyk, Jr, Dearborn, MI (US);
Jeffrey S Hepburn, Dearborn, MI (US);
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for monitoring the performance of a hydrocarbon trapping device which removes hydrocarbons from an engine exhaust stream during cold startup conditions before the catalyst has reached its light-off temperature. The electronic engine controller which provides conventional fuel control functions is used to numerically integrate sensed values during a predetermined time interval in the engine's startup period. The sensed values indicate the rate at which hydrocarbons are being retained or purged by the trap, and the result of the integration indicates the total amount of hydrocarbon molecules trapped or purged. The integration result values may be retained for future readout during diagnostic procedures, and the result values may be compared with a threshold value to generate an alarm indication whenever the integration result value indicates that the trap is not performing satisfactorily.