High-Pressure Fuel Pump Diagnostic via Electric Drive
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing high-pressure fuel supply systems for internal combustion engines face challenges in ensuring maximum loading and operational checks due to poor phasing, faulty electrical control, improper calibration, and abnormal fuel consumption, which can be difficult to detect and compensate for.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves driving the high-pressure fuel injection pump using an electric drive, synchronizing the engine, and comparing pressures in the common rail obtained through timing and angle-setting commands to diagnose operational issues, allowing for the differentiation of performance between the high-pressure fuel injection pump and DIV actuator system and the electrical control and regulator system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the high-pressure fuel injection pump is driven by the combustion engine, then the pump can be continuously driven in rotation, but it becomes difficult to perform operational checks and detect phasing errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the high-pressure fuel injection pump from its normal engine-driven operation and drives it independently using an electric drive means (such as an electric starter motor). This separation allows the pump to be tested in isolation from the engine, enabling operational checks and phasing error detection without requiring the engine to be running. The pump can be driven at controlled speeds and conditions to perform diagnostic tests.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary control system that includes a regulator and actuator to control the pump's operation during testing. This intermediary system mediates between the electric drive means and the pump, allowing precise control of pump speed and timing commands. The regulator compares actual pump speed with reference speed and adjusts timing commands accordingly, enabling accurate operational checks and phasing verification.
2Reliability
If the pump is tested under normal engine operation, then real operating conditions are simulated, but it is impossible to isolate and diagnose specific component failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the fuel supply system into distinct testable components by driving the high-pressure pump independently with an electric motor. This segmentation allows separate testing of the pump, regulator, actuator, and timing control systems without interference from other engine components. Each component can be diagnosed individually by observing system response to controlled timing commands and speed variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback control system where the regulator continuously monitors actual pump speed and compares it with reference speed. The system uses this feedback to adjust timing commands and detect anomalies. During testing, feedback from pressure sensors, speed sensors, and control unit responses provides diagnostic information about component performance and potential failures.
3Loss of time
If timing commands are used to activate the pump, then fuel can be transferred into the common rail before engine synchronization, but it becomes difficult to distinguish between pump performance issues and control system errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables preliminary action by allowing the high-pressure pump to be activated before engine synchronization using timing commands. The electric drive means can rotate the pump and build pressure in the common rail in advance, so that when the engine starts, fuel injection can begin immediately without waiting for engine synchronization. This reduces start-up time and enables cold cranking operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic control of the pump through variable timing commands and speed control. The regulator dynamically adjusts the pump's operation based on actual speed feedback and reference speed comparisons. This dynamic control allows the system to adapt to different operating conditions, distinguish between pump performance variations and control system errors, and optimize fuel transfer timing during engine start-up and operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for checking the operation of a high-pressure fuel supply unit for an internal combustion engine, consisting in driving a high-pressure fuel injection pump by a starter, and after the engine is synchronised and fuel injection into the cylinders is shut off, in defining an initial base pressure in a high-pressure rail, in activating the injection pump by issuing successive timing and angle-setting commands, on the basis of the initial pressure, and in comparing the first pressure and the second pressure obtained in the rail by these timing and angle-setting commands, and/or by comparing at least one of the pressures with a reference pressure in order to check the operation of the high-pressure fuel supply unit for the internal combustion engine.