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. 06, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 11, 2003
Chao F. Daniels, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
Guoming G. Zhu, Novi, MI (US);
Mathew Breton, Westland, MI (US);
Michael T. Nation, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
Chao F. Daniels, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
Guoming G. Zhu, Novi, MI (US);
Mathew Breton, Westland, MI (US);
Michael T. Nation, Ypsilanti, MI (US);
Visteon Global Technologies, Inc., Van Buren, MI (US);
Abstract
The present feature of the invention comprises a method and apparatus for determining cylinder ID. When a cylinder is compressed, the resistance increases across the spark plug gap. Thus, if a spark coil is only partially charged before activation of the spark, the air gap is not broken down and no ignition occurs in the cylinder in compression. The failure of a spark plug to spark is reflected in the ionization signal. In a preferred embodiment, the dwell time is selected so that the spark plug located in a cylinder that is not in compression will spark, while a spark plug in a cylinder that is in compression will not. The cylinder in compression will output an ionization signal with a shorter duration than a cylinder not in compression. In a preferred embodiment, two methods are used to calculate the duration of the spark, edge detection and integration.