Fuel Injector Opening Energy Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel injectors in internal-combustion engines face challenges in accurately determining the opening energy required for precise fuel injection due to production tolerances, aging effects, and varying environmental conditions, especially during small fuel injections or multiple minor injections.
Innovation Solution
A method involving operating the engine in a non-transient state with incremental electrical excitations to detect the transition to a second operating state, where the opening energy is determined by the energy required to achieve an additional partial injection, using a combination of engine management system adjustments and cross-correlation functions to identify the specific opening energy without additional hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If standard electrical excitation is used for fuel injection, then the fuel injector operates under normal conditions, but the opening energy varies due to production tolerances, aging effects, and environmental conditions leading to inaccurate small fuel injections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by systematically varying the electrical excitation energy across multiple working cycles to determine the opening energy. The method changes the energy parameter of the additional electrical excitation from a first energy level to a third energy level (greater than the first), allowing the system to identify the specific opening energy threshold that triggers needle lift and fuel injection. This dynamic parameter adjustment compensates for variations due to production tolerances, aging, and environmental conditions.
2Measurement precision
If additional sensors are added to measure opening energy directly, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by using the fuel injector's own response to varying electrical excitations to determine its opening energy. The system monitors whether an additional partial injection occurs in response to an additional electrical excitation, and uses this self-generated feedback to calculate the opening energy. This eliminates the need for external sensors or additional measurement hardware, as the fuel injector itself provides the necessary information through its injection behavior.
Solution Approach 2:
The method employs feedback by monitoring the engine's response to additional electrical excitations. The engine management system detects whether an additional partial injection has occurred based on changes in operating parameters, and uses this feedback information to determine the opening energy. The feedback loop allows the system to iteratively adjust and identify the precise opening energy threshold without requiring direct measurement sensors.
3Measurement precision
If incremental electrical excitations are applied over multiple working cycles, then opening energy determination accuracy improves, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by structuring the determination process as a sequence of periodic working cycles. The method alternates between applying additional electrical excitations at different energy levels and monitoring for additional partial injections. This periodic structure allows the system to efficiently search for the opening energy threshold by testing discrete energy levels across multiple cycles, rather than using continuous or exhaustive measurement approaches.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for accurate determination of the opening energy, improving quantitative accuracy in fuel injection, compensating for aging effects, and enabling precise control of fuel injectors, especially during small fuel injections without requiring separate sensors.
Implementation Method 1
Directly driven injection fuel injectors lift a needle out of its seat by electrical energization of a coil drive
Implementation Method 2
lift a needle out of its seat by electrical energization of a coil drive or of a piezoelectric transducer
Data Source
AI summary
A method for determining the opening energy of a fuel injector of an internal combustion engine includes (a) operating the engine in a steady-state operating state, wherein electrical excitation is applied to the fuel injector to cause a fuel injection in each working cycle of the engine, (b) applying additional electrical excitation to the fuel injector for subsequent working cycle(s) for a possible additional partial fuel injection, wherein the additional electrical excitation is initially insufficient to cause an additional partial fuel injection, (c) successively increasing the additional electrical excitation until an additional partial fuel injection occurs, which brings about a second operating state of the engine different from the steady-state operating state, (d) detection of the second operating state, and (e) determination of the opening energy for the fuel injector based on the energy of the additional electrical excitation needed to bring about the second operating state of the engine.