Engine Controller Cylinder Activation Timing for Gear Shifts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Variable displacement internal combustion engines face challenges in minimizing vibration and sound while maintaining fuel efficiency, as users often operate engines at partial power, requiring a control system that optimizes fuel efficiency without compromising performance transparency.
Innovation Solution
An engine controller communicatively coupled with the internal combustion engine, automatic transmission, and displacement adjusting mechanism, which determines operating conditions to activate or deactivate cylinders and shift gear configurations, ensuring positive torque production before gear shifts to minimize vibrations and enhance user experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If cylinders are deactivated to improve fuel efficiency, then fuel consumption decreases, but vibration and sound increase during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The controller activates cylinders before a gear shift is completed and before positive torque is required, preparing the engine to produce torque smoothly during the shift. This preliminary activation prevents sudden torque changes that would cause vibration and sound, while still allowing cylinders to be deactivated during normal operation for fuel efficiency.
2Use of energy by moving object
If cylinders are deactivated during gear shift, then fuel efficiency is maintained, but torque delivery becomes delayed and performance feels lagging
Solution Approach 1:
The controller predicts when a gear shift will occur and activates the necessary cylinders in advance, before the shift is completed and before torque is actually required. This ensures that when the shift finishes, the cylinders are already ready to deliver torque immediately, eliminating lagging performance while maintaining fuel efficiency during non-shift periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller continuously monitors engine operating conditions, transmission state, and torque requirements to dynamically adjust cylinder activation timing. This feedback mechanism ensures cylinders are activated at the optimal moment before gear shifts, coordinating engine output with transmission demands to prevent torque delivery delays.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If cylinders are activated before gear shift completion, then smooth torque delivery is achieved, but fuel consumption increases during the activation period
Solution Approach 1:
Cylinders are activated only temporarily and specifically before predicted gear shifts, not continuously. The controller maintains this preliminary activation state only for the brief period needed to ensure smooth torque delivery during the shift, then deactivates cylinders again to restore fuel efficiency. This minimizes the duration of increased fuel consumption while achieving vibration reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
An engine controller for controlling an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders is provided. The engine controller is in signal communication with the internal combustion engine, an automatic transmission, and a displacement adjusting mechanism. The engine controller is configured to determine an operating condition of the internal combustion engine and to communicate with the automatic transmission to shift to one of a plurality of gear configurations, and the displacement adjusting mechanism to one of activate and deactivate at least one cylinder. The engine controller determines that a shift from a first gear configuration to a second gear configuration requires a positive torque when the at least one cylinder is deactivated. The engine controller communicates with the displacement adjusting mechanism to activate the at least one deactivated cylinder such that the plurality of cylinders are activated before the shift between gear configurations and the positive torque are completed.