Hybrid Engine Stall Detection via Incremental Counting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hybrid electric vehicles struggle to distinguish between normal and abnormal engine stops, leading to potential breakdowns and over-discharge of batteries due to the vague boundary between these states, which can result in unnecessary towing and energy depletion.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize a control unit to determine abnormal engine stops by monitoring entry conditions such as engine speed, clutch engagement, and environmental factors, incrementing a stall count when the engine stalls, and decrementing it when it returns to a normal operation state, preventing restarts when the count exceeds a threshold to avoid over-discharge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a self-diagnostic algorithm is used to detect abnormal engine stops, then breakdown information can be provided, but it cannot identify occasional blockages in fuel lines or contact failures that cause abnormal stops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the engine stop detection into multiple specific conditions: fuel line blockage detection, contact failure detection, misfiring detection, and air supply issues. Each condition is monitored separately with specific parameters (fuel flow rate, electrical contact resistance, misfire count, air flow rate) to achieve precise identification of the specific abnormal condition causing the stop.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses thermal characteristics to detect abnormalities, specifically monitoring temperature changes in the engine and exhaust system to identify misfiring conditions and fuel delivery problems. Temperature sensors detect thermal anomalies that indicate abnormal engine stops before they occur.
2Productivity
If the engine is allowed to restart automatically after stopping, then operational continuity is maintained, but the battery may become over-discharged when the stop is abnormal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary detection of abnormal stop conditions before allowing engine restart. The control unit checks multiple parameters (fuel line integrity, contact resistance, misfire history, air supply status) to determine if the stop was abnormal. If an abnormal condition is detected, the system prevents automatic restart and alerts the driver, avoiding battery over-discharge from repeated failed restart attempts.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the boundary between normal and abnormal engine stops is made vague to accommodate various operating modes, then the system is more adaptable, but the ability to identify abnormal stops is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different detection criteria and parameter thresholds for different engine operating modes (idle stop mode, EV driving mode, passive run mode). Each mode has locally optimized detection parameters that account for its specific characteristics, allowing the system to maintain high precision in identifying abnormal stops while accommodating the versatility of multiple operating modes.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a system and method for determining when an engine of a hybrid electric vehicle has abnormally stalled. In particular, a control unit is configured to determine whether an entry condition has been satisfied before determining whether the engine stalled. Then once it is determined that the engine has stalled, the control unit increase a stall count and monitors whether the engine enters a normal operation state. If the engine enters a normal state, the control unit decreases the stall count. However, when the stall count is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value it is determined that the engine is out of order. Thus, it can be clearly identified when an engine has stalled abnormally and over-discharging of the battery may be avoided.