US4991559A — Fuel injection control device of an engine

Claim 1

Independent Claim 310 words

A fuel injection control device of an engine having an intake passage and an exhaust passage, said device comprising: an oxygen concentration detector arranged in the exhaust passage and producing an output signal indicating whether an air-fuel mixture fed into the engine is lean or rich; feedback control means for controlling an amount of fuel fed into the engine in response to the output signal of said oxygen concentration detector, to bring an air-fuel ratio of the mixture to a desired air-fuel ratio; acceleration detecting means for detecting an accelerating operation of the engine; fuel increasing means for increasing the amount of fuel fed into the engine when the accelerating operation of the engine is carried out; time calculating means for calculating a lean time and a rich time of the air-fuel mixture on the basis of the output signal of said oxygen concentration detector during a predetermined lean-rich discriminating time when the accelerating operation of the engine is carried out, said lean-rich discriminating time being an integral number of times of a time of the occurrence of either one of said lean time and said rich time when the air-fuel ratio of mixture is maintained at the desired air-fuel ratio due to an increase in the amount of fuel by said fuel increasing means; difference calculating means for calculating a difference between said lean time and said rich time; and correction means for correcting an increase in the amount of fuel, which increase is caused by said fuel increasing means, to increase said increase in the amount of fuel when said lean time is longer than said rich time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value, and to reduce said increase in the amount of fuel when said rich time is longer than said lean time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 310 words

A fuel injection control device of an engine having an intake passage and an exhaust passage, said device comprising: an oxygen concentration detector arranged in the exhaust passage and producing an output signal indicating whether an air-fuel mixture fed into the engine is lean or rich; feedback control means for controlling an amount of fuel fed into the engine in response to the output signal of said oxygen concentration detector, to bring an air-fuel ratio of the mixture to a desired air-fuel ratio; acceleration detecting means for detecting an accelerating operation of the engine; fuel increasing means for increasing the amount of fuel fed into the engine when the accelerating operation of the engine is carried out; time calculating means for calculating a lean time and a rich time of the air-fuel mixture on the basis of the output signal of said oxygen concentration detector during a predetermined lean-rich discriminating time when the accelerating operation of the engine is carried out, said lean-rich discriminating time being an integral number of times of a time of the occurrence of either one of said lean time and said rich time when the air-fuel ratio of mixture is maintained at the desired air-fuel ratio due to an increase in the amount of fuel by said fuel increasing means; difference calculating means for calculating a difference between said lean time and said rich time; and correction means for correcting an increase in the amount of fuel, which increase is caused by said fuel increasing means, to increase said increase in the amount of fuel when said lean time is longer than said rich time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value, and to reduce said increase in the amount of fuel when said rich time is longer than said lean time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 24 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is a fixed value which is stored in a memory.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 47 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 2, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is determined on the basis of a time frequency of an occurrence of either one of said lean time and said rich time when a cruising operation of the engine is carried out.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 44 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 3, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is slightly shorter than a time of an occurrence of either one of said lean time and said rich time when the cruising operation of the engine is carried out.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 15 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, where said integral number is one.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 38 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein said time calculating means stops calculating said lean time and said rich time when the engine is decelerated immediately after the accelerating operation of the engine is started.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 39 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein said time calculating means begins to calculate said lean time and said rich time when a predetermined time has elapsed after the accelerating operation of the engine is started.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 68 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein said increase in the amount of fuel by said fuel increasing means is increased for a short time after the accelerating operation of the engine is started, and a reduction in said increase in the amount of fuel is begun after said short time has elapsed and continues even after the accelerating operation of the engine is completed.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 66 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 8, wherein said increase in the amount of fuel is controlled on the basis of a rate of change of an engine load, and said increase in the amount of fuel is increased when said rate of change is relatively high, said increase in the amount of fuel being reduced when said rate of change is relatively low.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 24 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 9, wherein said engine load is represented by an absolute pressure PM in the intake passage.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 34 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 9, wherein said engine load is represented by Q/N. Where, Q indicates an amount of air fed into the engine and N indicates an engine speed.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 56 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 9, wherein said increase in the amount of fuel is calculated from the following equation: TPAEW={C.sub.2 ·ΔL+C.sub.3 ·(ΔL+C.sub.1 ·ΣΔL)}·C.sub.4 where TPAEW: said increase in the amount of fuel ΔL: said rate of change the engine load C 1 , C 2 , C 3 , C 4 coefficients.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 16 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 12, wherein said correction means corrects said TPAEW.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 179 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, further comprising: deceleration detecting means for detecting a decelerating operation of the engine; fuel decreasing means for decreasing the amount of fuel fed into the engine when the decelerating operation of the engine is carried out; time calculating means used during a deceleration operation for calculating a lean time and a rich time of the air-fuel mixture on the basis of the output signal of said oxygen concentration detector during a predetermined lean-rich discriminating time when the decelerating operation of the engine is carried out; and correction means used during a deceleration operation for correcting an decrease in the amount of fuel, which decrease is caused by said fuel decreasing means, to increase said decrease in the amount of fuel when said rich time is longer than said lean time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value, and to reduce said decrease in the amount of fuel when said lean time is longer than said rich time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 43 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 14, wherein said time calculating means used during a deceleration operation stops calculating said lean time and said rich time when the engine is accelerated immediately after the decelerating operation of the engine is started.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 44 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 14, wherein said time calculating means used during a deceleration operation begins to calculate said lean time and said rich time when a predetermined time has elapsed after the decelerating operation of the engine is started.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 68 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 14, wherein said decrease in the amount of fuel by said fuel decreasing means is increased for a short time after the decelerating operation of the engine is started, and a reduction in said decrease in the amount of fuel is begun after said short time has elapsed and continues even after the decelerating operation of the engine is completed.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 66 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 17, wherein said decrease in the amount of fuel is controlled on the basis of a rate of change of an engine load, and said decrease in the amount of fuel is increased when said rate of change is relatively high, said decrease in the amount of fuel being reduced when said rate of change is relatively low.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 24 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 18, wherein said engine load is represented by an absolute pressure PM in the intake passage.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 34 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 18, wherein said engine load is represented by Q/N, where Q indicates an amount of air fed into the engine and N indicates an engine speed.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 54 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 18, wherein said decrease in the amount of fuel is calculated from the following equation: TPAEW={C.sub.2.ΔL+C.sub.3.(ΔL+C.sub.1.ΣΔL)}.C.sub.4 where TPAEW: said decrease in the amount of fuel ΔL: said rate of change of the engine load C 1 , C 2 , C 3 , C 4 coefficients.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 21 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 21, wherein said correction means used during a deceleration operation corrects said TPAEW.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 25 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is controlled by a velocity of air fed into the engine.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 24 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 23, wherein said velocity of air is represented by an absolute pressure in the intake passage.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 23 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 23, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is shortened as said velocity of air is increased.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 52 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 23, wherein said time calculating means begins to calculate said lean time and said rich time when a predetermined time has elapsed after the accelerating operation of the engine is started, and said predetermined time is shortened as said velocity of air is increased.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 73 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein a correction means used during a deceleration operation is provided for correcting a decrease in an amount of fuel fed into the engine when a decelerating operation of the engine is carried out, and an amount of a correction of said decrease in the amount of fuel is equal to an amount of a correction of said increase in the amount of fuel.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 56 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein time detecting means is provided for detecting a time frequency of an occurrence of either one of said lean time and said rich time in a predetermined operating state of the engine, and said lean-rich discriminating time is determined on the basis of said time frequency.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 32 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 28, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is determined by an average of a plurality of said time frequencies detected by said time detecting means.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 21 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 28, wherein said predetermined operating state of the engine is a cruising state.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 34 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 30, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is slightly shorter than a time of an occurrence of either one of said lean time and said rich time.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 40 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein a backfire detecting means is provided for detecting an occurrence of a backfire, and said correction means further increases said increase in the amount of fuel when a backfire occurs.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 201 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 32, further comprising: deceleration detecting means for detecting a decelerating operation of the engine; fuel decreasing means for decreasing the amount of fuel fed into the engine when the decelerating operation of the engine is carried out; time calculating means used during a deceleration operation for calculating a lean time and a rich time of the air-fuel mixture on the basis of the output signal of said oxygen concentration detector during a predetermined lean-rich discriminating time when the decelerating operation of the engine is carried out; and correction means used during a for deceleration operation for correcting an decrease in the amount of fuel, which decrease is caused by said fuel decreasing means, to increase said decrease in the amount of fuel when said rich time is longer than said lean time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value, and to reduce said decrease in the amount of fuel when said lean time is longer than said rich time and when said difference is larger than a predetermined value, said correction means used during a deceleration operation further increasing said decrease in the amount of fuel when a backfire occurs.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 51 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 32, wherein said backfire detecting means comprises a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in the intake passage, and determines that a backfire has occurred when said pressure in the intake passage exceeds a predetermined pressure which is higher than the atmospheric pressure.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 93 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 32, wherein said backfire detecting means comprises a throttle sensor for detecting a degree of opening of a throttle valve, and an air flow meter producing an output voltage proportional to an amount of air fed into the engine, and said backfire detecting means determines that a backfire has occurred when a change in the degree of opening of the throttle valve is within a predetermined range and when a change in the output voltage of the air flow meter is outside a predetermined range.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 36 words

A fuel injection control device according to claim 1, wherein said time calculating means determines whether the air-fuel mixture is lean or rich at a predetermined crankangle, to calculate said lean time and said rich time.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 28 words

A fuel injector control device according to claim 1, wherein said lean-rich discriminating time is a time in which the engine rotates by a predetermined number of revolutions.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1994-02-11	1994-08-13	1995-02-12	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1998-02-11	1998-08-13	1999-02-12	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2002-02-11	2002-08-13	2003-02-12	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Fuel injection control device of an engine

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