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:
Feb. 07, 2017
Filed:
Apr. 30, 2015
Tula Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Matthew A. Younkins, San Jose, CA (US);
Shikui Kevin Chen, San Jose, CA (US);
Li-Chun Chien, Milpitas, CA (US);
Masaki Nagashima, Pacific Grove, CA (US);
John W. Parsels, San Jose, CA (US);
Geoff Routledge, Gilroy, CA (US);
Tula Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and systems are described for detecting valve actuation faults in internal combustion engines operating in a skip fire operational mode. In one aspect, a torque model is used to estimate an expected net torque during a selected operating window. The torque model considers an expected torque contribution from each of the cylinders and accounts for the effects of specific skip fire firing decisions that affect the expected torque contribution from each cylinder. A parameter indicative of the actual engine torque is also measured. Valve actuation faults can then be identified based at least in part on a comparison of the measured parameter to an expected parameter value that is based at least in part on the expected net torque. With the described approaches, the occurrence of the valve actuation fault can be made within one engine cycle of the initial occurrence of the fault.