Method and system for monitoring performance of electrically controlled silicone oil fan of engine of vehicle

Abstract

The method for monitoring the performance of the electrically-controlled silicone oil fan of the engine of the vehicle comprises the steps that when the engine of the vehicle is in the idle running state, whether control hardware and an execution circuit of the electrically-controlled silicone oil fan break down or not is checked. Triggering the following tests on the premise of no fault: respectively maintaining an engine of the vehicle at at least two rotating speeds, and respectively conveying the maximum amount of silicone oil into a working cavity of the electric control silicone oil fan at the at least two rotating speeds; the rotating speeds of the electric control silicone oil fan are recorded at the at least two rotating speeds of the engine respectively, and if the differences between the rotating speeds of the electric control silicone oil fan at the at least two rotating speeds of the engine and the corresponding rotating speed of the engine are smaller than a set threshold value, it is judged that the electric control silicone oil fan is not abnormal. The invention further provides a system for monitoring the performance of the electrically-controlled silicone oil fan of the engine of the vehicle, the system comprises the diagnostic instrument, and the diagnostic instrument is in communication connection with the engine of the vehicle and the electrically-controlled silicone oil fan and is configured to execute the method.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to performance monitoring of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of a vehicle engine, and in particular to a method and a system for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of a vehicle engine. Background Art

[0002] In the current heavy-duty commercial vehicle field, engine heat dissipation is mainly achieved through electronically controlled silicone oil fans. Conventionally, the vehicle's ECU monitors parameters such as engine water temperature, intake temperature, ambient temperature, air conditioning switch, and initial fan speed in real time, and outputs a PWM signal to the silicone oil control valve of the silicone oil fan in combination with the internal calculation logic of the ECU, thereby adjusting the amount of silicone oil in the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. Silicone oil transmits engine torque through viscosity, driving the silicone oil fan to rotate. Then, through the silicone oil fan speed sensor, the ECU obtains the actual fan speed in real time and adjusts the output PWM signal accordingly, thereby achieving closed-loop control of the fan speed, optimizing the power consumption of the silicone oil fan, and reducing fuel consumption.

[0003] As the vehicle is used for a longer time, the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan may gradually decline. In the current commercial vehicle aftermarket, silicone oil fans are prone to failure, and routine inspections focus on silicone oil fan control and execution circuits. However, such routine inspections may not be able to truly determine the performance of the silicone oil fan. For example, even if no obvious hardware failure is found in a routine inspection, the silicone oil fan may also experience performance degradation due to aging and other reasons. A poorly performing silicone oil fan may cause the engine water temperature to be too high, the intake air temperature to be too high, etc., affecting the normal operation of the engine, and may even cause engine cylinder damage and other conditions.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and system for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a method for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle, comprising:

[0006] When the engine is idling, check whether the control hardware and execution circuit of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan are faulty. If no fault exists, trigger the following test:

[0007] The engine is maintained at at least two rotational speeds, and the maximum amount of silicone oil is delivered to the working chamber of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan at the at least two rotational speeds;

[0008] The rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is recorded respectively at the at least two rotation speeds of the engine. If the difference between the rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and the corresponding engine rotation speed at the at least two rotation speeds of the engine is less than a set threshold, it is determined that there is no abnormality in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan.

[0009] The present invention also provides a system for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle. The system includes a diagnostic instrument that is communicatively connected to the engine and the electronically controlled silicone oil fan of the vehicle and is configured to execute the method according to the present invention.

[0010] The invention also proposes a machine-readable storage medium storing executable instructions, which implement the method according to the invention when executed by a processor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 A schematic flow chart showing a method for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] According to the method for monitoring the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan of the engine of a vehicle of the present invention, the first step performed is as follows: Figure 1 Step S101 shown: when the engine is in an idling state, check whether the control hardware of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and its execution circuit are faulty. This step S101 is a prerequisite for executing the subsequent steps of the method according to the present invention. Checking whether the control hardware of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and its execution circuit are faulty includes checking whether the speed sensor for sensing the speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan, the actuator for delivering silicone oil to the working chamber of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and the hardware and related circuits thereof are faulty.

[0014] If the control hardware and execution circuit of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan are faulty in step S101, it is obvious that the silicone oil fan cannot work properly, that is, its performance cannot meet the requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate such faults first, such as replacing the speed sensor used to sense the speed of the silicone oil fan, replacing the actuator and related circuits used to transport silicone oil to the fan working chamber, and other components.

[0015] On the premise that it is checked in step S101 that the control hardware and the execution circuit of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan are not faulty, the method according to the present invention further includes: Figure 1 Step S201 shown:

[0016] Perform the following test procedures with the vehicle's diagnostic tool:

[0017] The engine is maintained at at least two rotational speeds respectively, and the maximum amount of silicone oil is delivered to the working chamber of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan at the at least two rotational speeds respectively.

[0018] It should be noted that existing vehicles are usually equipped with a diagnostic instrument, but the existing diagnostic instrument is not configured to execute the test program executed in the present invention.

[0019] The maximum amount of silicone oil can be delivered to the working chamber of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan in the following manner: the vehicle's ECU (electronic control unit) outputs a 100% duty cycle PWM (pulse width modulation) signal, thereby controlling the silicone oil control valve to be fully open to deliver the maximum amount of silicone oil to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. At this time, the fan clutch is fully engaged, and the silicone oil fully transmits the engine torque to the silicone oil fan through viscosity to drive the rotation of the silicone oil fan, so that the speed of the silicone oil fan follows the corresponding engine speed. In other words, at this time, under the completely ideal performance of the silicone oil fan, the speed of the silicone oil fan will be equal to the corresponding engine speed.

[0020] Next, execute Figure 1 Step S301 shown:

[0021] The rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan at at least two engine speeds is recorded and compared with the corresponding engine speed. If the differences between the rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and the corresponding engine speed at the at least two engine speeds are both less than a set threshold, it is determined that there is no abnormality in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan.

[0022] As explained above, when the maximum amount of silicone oil is delivered to the working chamber of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan, if the silicone oil fan is under completely ideal performance, the speed of the silicone oil fan will be equal to the corresponding engine speed. However, if the silicone oil fan has aging and similar problems, the speed of the silicone oil fan recorded in step S301 may not be equal to the corresponding engine speed, but there may be a difference between the two. Of course, if the difference between the speed of the silicone oil fan recorded in step S301 and the corresponding engine speed is very small, it indicates that the performance of the silicone oil fan can generally meet the engine heat dissipation requirements without any problems. Therefore, in step S301, the set threshold is used as a standard for comparing the difference between the speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and the corresponding engine speed at at least two speeds of the engine. As long as the difference between the two is less than the set threshold, it can be judged that there is no abnormality in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan as a whole.

[0023] The applicant has found that when the difference between the speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and the corresponding engine speed at at least two speeds of the engine does not exceed 10% to 15% of the corresponding engine speed, the performance of the silicone oil fan can generally meet the engine heat dissipation requirements without problems. That is, the threshold value set in step S301 can be any value between 10% and 15% of the corresponding engine speed, but the present invention is not limited to this. The threshold value can be adjusted according to the actual demand for the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan. For example, if the actual demand for the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is very high, the threshold value can be set to a lower value, and if the actual demand for the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is not too high, the threshold value can be set to a higher value. The premise for setting the threshold value is to meet the actual demand for engine heat dissipation.

[0024] It should be noted that the speed of the silicone oil fan recorded in step S301 should be the speed of the silicone oil fan in a stable rotation state. Based on the speed regulation principle of the silicone oil fan, after the silicone oil is delivered to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan, the fan speed will gradually change from the initial speed to the final speed corresponding to the amount of silicone oil delivered to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan.

[0025] In the present invention, the silicone oil control valve is fully opened to deliver the maximum amount of silicone oil into the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. At this time, under ideal circumstances, the rotation speed of the silicone oil fan should be equal to the corresponding engine speed. If the fan speed is recorded before the silicone oil fan reaches a stable rotation state, even if the performance of the silicone oil fan itself is normal, it may be detected that there is a large deviation between the fan speed and the corresponding engine speed, that is, misjudgment of the performance of the silicone oil fan may occur.

[0026] Furthermore, if only the fan speed at a certain point in time is recorded, deviation may occur. However, calculating the average fan speed within a certain period of time as the fan speed to be recorded can reduce the deviation.

[0027] In order to avoid the above-mentioned misjudgment of the performance of the silicone oil fan, in the method of the present invention, the fan speed is recorded as the average fan speed in the second time period after the engine maintains a certain speed for the first time period, so as to more accurately reflect the fan speed corresponding to the engine speed when the silicone oil fan reaches a stable rotation state. Among them, the first time period is set to a time period sufficient for the silicone oil fan to achieve stable rotation. For example, the engine speed can be adjusted to a certain speed and maintained for 30 seconds, and the average fan speed within the next 10 seconds is recorded as the fan speed to be compared with the engine speed, thereby reducing the possibility of misjudgment. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned first time period of 30 seconds and the second time period of 10 seconds, but the above-mentioned first time period and second time period can be adjusted accordingly according to the actual operation of the silicone oil fan.

[0028] It is explained above that steps S201 and S301 are performed under at least two engine speeds, that is, the method according to the present invention may involve two different engine speeds, three different engine speeds, four different engine speeds, or even more different engine speeds.

[0029] If the corresponding silicone oil fan speed is recorded at only one engine speed for comparison to determine the performance of the silicone oil fan, it can only be determined whether the performance of the silicone oil fan at the engine speed is normal. However, during the actual driving of the vehicle, the engine speed cannot always maintain a fixed speed value. Therefore, in order to more accurately determine the performance of the silicone oil fan at different engine speeds, or different engine heat dissipation requirements, the method of the present invention selects at least two engine speeds and compares the recorded silicone oil fan speed with the corresponding engine speed.

[0030] At least two engine speeds are selected based on the minimum speed and maximum speed of the engine at idle speed. Taking the existing heavy-duty commercial vehicle engine as an example, its minimum speed at idle speed is usually 600rpm to 650rpm, and its maximum speed is, for example, 2000rpm to 2200rpm. In this case, the applicant found that selecting four engine speed values ​​can well test the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan at different engine speeds.

[0031] Preferably, at least two engine speeds are selected to be as evenly distributed as possible between the minimum speed of the engine idling and the maximum speed thereof, so as to test the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan at various engine speed levels within a wide range from the minimum speed to the maximum speed, thereby more comprehensively reflecting the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan under different engine cooling requirements. For example, four engine speed values ​​may be selected, namely 800 rpm, 1200 rpm, 1600 rpm and 2000 rpm.

[0032] If the engine speed is concentrated in a certain range during driving, or the heat dissipation demand for the engine speed in a certain range is high, at least two engine speeds can be selected to be within the above-mentioned specific range. For example, if the minimum idle speed of the vehicle engine is 600rpm to 650rpm and the maximum idle speed is 2000rpm to 2200rpm, but the performance of the silicone oil fan when the engine speed is in the range of 1200rpm to 2000rpm is particularly important, the engine speed values ​​corresponding to the recorded silicone oil fan speed values ​​can be selected to be in the range of 1200rpm to 2000rpm.

[0033] Next, taking the minimum idle speed of the vehicle engine as 600rpm to 650rpm, the maximum idle speed as 2000rpm to 2200rpm, and selecting four engine speed values ​​of 800rpm, 1200rpm, 1600rpm and 2000rpm as test points as an example, steps S201 and S301 according to the present invention are described in detail, that is, the subsequent steps performed by the diagnostic instrument under the premise that there is no fault in the control hardware of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and its execution circuit.

[0034] First, the engine speed is adjusted to the first engine speed of 800 rpm, and the ECU outputs a 100% duty cycle PWM signal, thereby controlling the silicone oil control valve to fully open to deliver the maximum amount of silicone oil to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. The engine maintains the first engine speed of 800 rpm for 40 seconds, and the average speed of the silicone oil fan in the last 10 seconds is calculated and recorded as the first fan speed.

[0035] Secondly, the engine speed is adjusted to the second engine speed of 1200rpm, and the ECU outputs a 100% duty cycle PWM signal, thereby controlling the silicone oil control valve to fully open to deliver the maximum amount of silicone oil to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. The engine maintains the second engine speed of 1200rpm for 40s, and the average speed of the silicone oil fan in the last 10s is calculated and recorded as the second fan speed.

[0036] Next, the engine speed is adjusted to the third engine speed of 1600 rpm, and the ECU outputs a 100% duty cycle PWM signal, thereby controlling the silicone oil control valve to fully open to deliver the maximum amount of silicone oil to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. The engine maintains the third engine speed of 1600 rpm for 40 seconds, and the average speed of the silicone oil fan in the last 10 seconds is calculated and recorded as the third fan speed.

[0037] Then, the engine speed is adjusted to the fourth engine speed of 2000 rpm, and the ECU outputs a 100% duty cycle PWM signal, thereby controlling the silicone oil control valve to fully open to deliver the maximum amount of silicone oil to the working chamber of the silicone oil fan. The engine maintains the fourth engine speed of 2000 rpm for 40 seconds, and the average speed of the silicone oil fan in the last 10 seconds is calculated and recorded as the fourth fan speed.

[0038] Finally, the recorded first to fourth fan speeds are compared with the corresponding first to fourth engine speeds, and it is determined whether the difference between the two is less than the set threshold. That is, the first fan speed is compared with the first engine speed, the second fan speed is compared with the second engine speed, the third fan speed is compared with the third engine speed, and the fourth fan speed is compared with the fourth engine speed. Only when the results of the four comparisons are all shown to be less than the set threshold (for example, any value between 10% and 15% of the corresponding engine speed), it is determined that there is no abnormality in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan.

[0039] As long as the difference between the fan speed recorded at a certain engine speed and the engine speed reaches or exceeds the set threshold, it means that the electronically controlled silicone oil fan will not be able to meet the expected performance when the engine is at this speed during the actual driving of the vehicle. Therefore, only when the difference between the fan speed recorded at each engine speed and the corresponding engine speed is less than the set threshold can it be determined that there is no abnormality in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan, thereby ensuring that the engine's heat dissipation needs can be met under various engine speed conditions of the vehicle.

[0040] The method according to the present invention may include performing further steps after determining that the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is abnormal, so as to more accurately locate the cause of the abnormal performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan.

[0041] Specifically, if the method of the present invention is used to determine that the electric-controlled silicone oil fan still has an abnormality when the control hardware and execution circuit of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan do not exist, the above-mentioned further steps include checking whether the components of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan itself are aged, for example, checking whether the blades of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan are aged / deformed, whether the fan rotor is aged, etc.

[0042] Additionally or alternatively, the further step includes checking whether an intercooler arranged in front of the silicone oil fan for adjusting the intake air temperature of the engine has an abnormality. The applicant has found that even if the silicone oil fan itself is not aged, if the intercooler arranged in front of the silicone oil fan has an abnormality, it may also cause the heat dissipation effect of the engine to be unsatisfactory.

[0043] Therefore, if the method of the present invention is used to determine that an abnormality exists in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan, maintenance personnel can conduct further inspections more purposefully, thereby more accurately locating the cause of the abnormality in the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan.

[0044] The present invention also provides a system for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle. The system includes a diagnostic instrument that is communicatively connected to the engine and the silicone oil fan of the vehicle and is configured to execute the method according to the present invention.

[0045] The present invention also provides a machine-readable storage medium storing executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the method according to the present invention to determine whether an electric-controlled silicone oil fan is abnormal. The above instructions are stored and executed by a diagnostic instrument, for example.

[0046] The above describes in detail with the aid of the accompanying drawings a feasible but non-limiting implementation of the method and system for monitoring the performance of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan of the engine of a vehicle according to the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, modifications and supplements to the technology and structure and the re-combination of the features in each embodiment should be deemed to be included within the scope of the present invention without departing from the scope and essence of the present disclosure as set forth in the following claims. Therefore, these modifications and supplements that can be conceived under the teachings of the present invention should be deemed to be part of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims appended hereto and includes equivalent technologies known at the filing date of the present disclosure and equivalent technologies that have not yet been foreseen.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle, comprising: When the engine is in an idling state, check whether the control hardware and execution circuit of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan are faulty, and trigger the following test if no fault exists: The engine is maintained at at least two rotational speeds respectively, and a maximum amount of silicone oil is delivered to the working chamber of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan at the at least two rotational speeds respectively; The rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is recorded respectively at the at least two rotation speeds of the engine. If the difference between the rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and the corresponding engine rotation speed at the at least two rotation speeds of the engine is less than a set threshold, it is determined that there is no abnormality in the electronically controlled silicone oil fan.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein checking whether the control hardware and execution circuit of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan have faults includes checking whether a speed sensor for sensing the rotational speed of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan, an actuator for delivering silicone oil to the working chamber of the electric-controlled silicone oil fan, and related circuits have faults. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the set threshold value is any value between 10% and 15% of the corresponding engine speed. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the rotation speed of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is recorded as an average fan rotation speed in a second time period after the corresponding engine rotation speed is maintained for a first time period. 5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the first time period is set to a time period during which the electronically controlled silicone oil fan reaches stable rotation.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the at least two rotational speeds of the engine are selected as rotational speed values ​​between a minimum rotational speed of the engine at idle speed and a maximum rotational speed of the engine. 7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein when it is determined that the electronically controlled silicone oil fan is abnormal, the method further comprises checking whether components of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan are aged.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein when it is determined that the electronically controlled silicone oil fan has an abnormality, the method further comprises detecting whether an intercooler arranged in front of the electronically controlled silicone oil fan and used to adjust the intake air temperature of the engine has an abnormality.

9. A system for monitoring the performance of an electronically controlled silicone oil fan of an engine of a vehicle, the system comprising a diagnostic instrument, the diagnostic instrument being communicatively connected to the engine and the electronically controlled silicone oil fan of the vehicle and configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A machine-readable storage medium storing executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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