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:
Apr. 30, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 12, 2000
Ronald Joseph Goubeaux, Lockport, NY (US);
Taylor R. Eckstein, Jr., N. Tonawanda, NY (US);
Timothy M. Gabel, Tonawanda, NY (US);
Thomas Martin Urbank, Lockport, NY (US);
Delphi Technologies, Inc., Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
An improved method and apparatus for diagnosing the condition of an automotive HVAC refrigerant compressor based on information contained within the signal produced by a high-side pressure sensor provided for system control purposes. The output signal of the pressure sensor is divided into its DC and AC components, with the DC component being used for system control purposes, and the AC component being used for diagnosing the condition of the compressor. Pulsations of the AC component (which conventionally are removed by filtering for control purposes) correspond to individual piston stroke cycles. The pulsations indicate compressor operation and are counted for purposes of determining the actual compressor speed. Since existing pressure sensor information is utilized to verify compressor operation and to determine compressor speed, the system cost impact due to the diagnostic evaluation is minimal. Moreover, the pulsations provide failure information that could not be detected by a speed sensor since the pulsations verify that work is actually being performed by the compressor.