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:
Oct. 12, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 18, 1997
Yukihiro Yamashita, Kariya, JP;
Jun Hasegawa, Kariya, JP;
Hisashi Iida, Kariya, JP;
Wakichi Kondo, Kariya, JP;
Yasuo Sagisaka, Komaki, JP;
Masahiko Yamaguchi, Obu, JP;
Denso Corporation, Kariya, JP;
Abstract
An air/fuel ratio control system controls the supply of fuel to an internal combustion engine to achieve a target air/fuel ratio, based on the output of an air/fuel ratio sensor. The system may determine whether there is an abnormality in the air/fuel ratio sensor based on a comparison between a change of an air/fuel ratio correction coefficient, used to drive the air/fuel ratio to the target value, and a change of the target air/fuel ratio if the target air/fuel ratio has sharply changed. Alternatively, the diagnosis operation may be performed based on a comparison between a total air/fuel ratio correction amount and a change of the air/fuel ratio detected by the air/fuel ratio sensor, a phase difference calculation between peaks of the air/fuel ratio or the air/fuel ratio correction coefficient, or by accumulating the differences between the air/fuel ratio and the target air/fuel ratio, and the differences between the air/fuel ratio correction coefficient and a reference value, and comparing the accumulated values. In addition, the system may detect a sensor abnormality based on the deviation in phase of the air/fuel ratio from the air/fuel ratio correction coefficient. These diagnosis operations can precisely and easily detect the occurrence of an abnormality in the air/fuel ratio sensor. As a result, the air/fuel ratio control system will not use an imprecise output from the sensor for air/fuel ratio control, thus achieving highly precise and highly reliable air/fuel ratio control.