Valve Device Flow Rate Control via Sensor Output Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional valve devices, such as EGR valves, face challenges in precisely controlling flow rates due to production errors in valve components, leading to discrepancies between operation flow rates derived from sensor outputs and actual flow rates, which affects the accuracy of flow rate control during open-control operations.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a two-part process for manufacturing valve devices, where the first half process measures flow rates across multiple valves, calculates and corrects sensor outputs to account for flow rate errors, and the second half process writes these corrected sensor outputs into the memory of subsequent valves, ensuring accurate correspondence between operation and actual flow rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional valve devices use predetermined sensor outputs written in memory during production, then the manufacturing process is simple and fast, but the correspondence between operation flow rate (from sensor output) and actual flow rate deteriorates due to production errors in valve components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by measuring the actual flow rate of each valve device during production and calculating the flow rate error before final assembly. This pre-measurement and pre-calculation of correction values allows the sensor output to be adjusted in advance to compensate for production variations, ensuring accurate correspondence between operation flow rate and actual flow rate without slowing down the overall manufacturing process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the sensor output parameter by calculating a corrected sensor output that incorporates the measured flow rate error. Instead of using the predetermined sensor output directly, the system adjusts the sensor output parameter to account for individual valve variations, thereby maintaining both manufacturing efficiency and flow rate control precision
2Manufacturing precision
If flow rate measurement and correction is performed for each individual valve device, then the flow rate control precision is improved, but the number of production processes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the flow rate measurement, error calculation, and sensor output correction into a single integrated production process. By combining these steps that could otherwise be separate operations, the system achieves precise flow rate control without significantly increasing the number of production processes or device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies self-service by having each valve device automatically have its own flow rate measured and its own correction value calculated and stored in its memory. This self-contained approach eliminates the need for complex external correction systems or additional manual adjustment processes, maintaining simplicity while achieving high precision
Data Source
AI summary
An opening degree sensor produces a sensor output corresponding to a valve opening degree of a valve, and includes a memory into which the sensor output corresponding to the valve opening degree is written. When performing a first half process, flow rates of more than one valve device are measured, a flow rate error is calculated based on an average flow rate obtained by averaging the measured flow rates, and the sensor output corresponding to the valve opening degree into which the flow rate error is incorporated is obtained. When performing a second half process, the sensor output corresponding to the valve opening degree obtained in the first half process is written into the memory of the valve device whose flow rate is not measured.