Patent Grant
9810172
This is a national phase application based on the PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2011/078468 filed on Dec. 8, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a control device for an internal combustion engine that is mounted, for example, in an FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) and uses alcohol fuel, and more particularly to a control device for an internal combustion engine that has a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system.
As a conventional technology, a control device for an internal combustion engine that has a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system is known as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-30573 (JP 2009-30573 A). A single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system has a pump-driving cam on which the number of convex parts equivalent to half the number of cylinders are formed. This pump-driving cam rotates once each time the crankshaft rotates twice (one cycle) to cause each convex part to drive a fuel pump. That is, a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system is configured in such a way that, while the fuel pump performs the fuel pressure-feed operation once, the two-cylinder fuel injection is performed. Such a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system may also be employed in an internal combustion engine that uses alcohol fuel.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-30573 (JP 2009-30573 A)
In the conventional technology, the following problems arise when a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system is applied to alcohol fuel. When alcohol fuel is used, the fuel injection amount tends to increase as the alcohol concentration in the fuel increases. However, in a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system, the fuel injection pressure (fuel pressure) for two cylinders is maintained by one fuel pressure-feed operation. Therefore, the problem with the conventional technology is that, when the fuel injection amount for the first cylinder is increased, the fuel pressure at the time of fuel injection for the second cylinder is decreased and therefore the fuel injection amount for the second cylinder is decreased.
A possible solution for this problem is the employment of a large fuel pump adaptable for high alcohol concentration fuel. However, this method makes it difficult to reserve space for installing a fuel pump and, in addition, involves an increase in the size and the weight of a fuel supply system.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems described above. More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a control device for an internal combustion engine capable of stabilizing the fuel injection amount for each cylinder for accurately performing fuel injection control in a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type alcohol fuel injection system.
A first invention comprises an intake passage injection valve provided in each of cylinders of the internal combustion engine for injecting fuel into an intake passage;
According to a second invention, the first and the second injection control means are each configured to operate only at a time of a startup operation when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the control device further comprising:
A third invention further comprises injection amount addition means for adding a wall fuel adhesion amount to a fuel injection amount of the intake passage injection valve in the second cylinder when the second injection control means is performed, the wall fuel adhesion amount being an amount of fuel adhered to a wall surface of the intake passage; and
According to the first invention, even if the fuel pressure is decreased due to a fuel injection in the first cylinder in a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel supply system, fuel injection can be performed in the second cylinder using the intake passage injection valve and the cylinder injection valve and, therefore, a required amount of fuel injection can be reserved. That is, even when the alcohol concentration in the fuel is high, the fuel injection amount of each cylinder can be stabilized. Therefore, fuel injection control for alcohol fuel can be performed accurately without having to use a large fuel pump of single-pressure-feed dual-injection type.
According to the second invention, even if the alcohol concentration in the fuel is high at a startup operation time when the fuel injection amount increases, the second injection control means can stabilize the fuel injection amount of each cylinder, reliably avoiding a decrease in the fuel injection amount. In addition, after the startup operation, the distributed injection control means can appropriately set a fuel injection ratio between the cylinders.
According to the third invention, when the second injection control means performs operation, the injection amount addition means can add a wall fuel adhesion amount to the fuel injection amount of the intake passage injection valve in the second cylinder. This allows an amount of fuel flowing into the cylinder to be adequately controlled even when a part of injected fuel adheres to the wall surface of the intake passage. In addition, when the distributed injection control means performs operation, the injection amount matching means can match the difference between the first cylinder and the second cylinder in the injection amount (that is, whether or not the wall fuel adhesion amount is added) that is generated by the second injection control means. This matching control equalizes the amount of fuel, adhered to the wall surface of the intake passage, among the cylinders, thus preventing a variation in the air-fuel ratio between the cylinders.
First Embodiment
[Configuration of First Embodiment]
A first embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to
On the other hand, the engine 10 includes an exhaust gas passage 22 through which exhaust gas in each cylinder is exhausted, and the exhaust gas passage 22 includes a catalyst 24 such as a three-way catalyst for purifying exhaust gas. Each cylinder of the engine includes an intake passage injection valve 26 via which fuel is injected into the intake passage 18 (intake port), a cylinder injection valve 28 via which fuel is injected into the combustion chamber 14 (cylinder), a spark plug 30 that ignites fuel-air mixture, an intake valve 32 that opens and closes the intake passage 18 to the cylinder, and an exhaust valve 34 that opens and closes the exhaust gas passage 22 to the cylinder. In the description below, fuel injection performed via the intake passage injection valve 26 is denoted as “intake passage injection”, and fuel injection via the cylinder injection valve 28 is denoted as “cylinder injection”.
The engine 10 further includes a fuel supply system 36 that supplies (pressure-feeds) alcohol fuel, stored in a fuel tank in a vehicle, to the injection valves 26 and 28. The fuel supply system 36, with a known configuration such as that described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-30573 (JP 2009-30573 A), includes a single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel pump (not shown). That is, the fuel supply system 36 is configured such that fuel is injected sequentially in two cylinders during the pressure-feed-interval period from the execution of a first fuel pressure-feed operation to the execution of the next fuel pressure-feed operation.
The system in this embodiment includes a sensor system, which includes various sensors required for controlling the engine, and an ECU (Engine Control Unit) 50 that controls the operation state of the engine. First, the sensor system is described. A crank angle sensor 40 outputs a signal that synchronizes with the rotation of the crankshaft 16, and an airflow sensor 42 detects the intake air amount of the engine. A water temperature sensor 44 detects the temperature of engine cooling water (engine water temperature) as an example of an engine temperature, and an intake air temperature sensor 46 detects the temperature of intake air, that is, the temperature of outside air (surrounding) around the engine. In addition, an alcohol concentration sensor 48, which detects an alcohol concentration in the fuel, configures alcohol concentration detection means in this embodiment. The sensor system includes other various sensors that are connected to the input side of the ECU 50. The actuators of the throttle valve 20, injection valves 26 and 28, and spark plug 30 are connected to the output side of the ECU 50.
The ECU 50 drives the actuators based on the engine operation information, detected by the sensor system, to perform operation control. More specifically, the ECU 50 detects the engine rotation rate (engine speed) and the crank angle based on the output of the crank angle sensor 40, and detects the intake air amount using the airflow sensor 42. The ECU 50 calculates the load rate (engine load) based on the engine rotation rate and the intake air amount, and calculates a fuel injection amount based on the intake air amount, load rate, and alcohol concentration in the fuel. In addition, the ECU 50 determines the fuel injection time and ignition time based on the crank angle and, when the fuel injection time arrives, drives the injection valves 26 and 28. After that, when the ignition time arrives, the ECU 50 performs the ignition operation to turn on the spark plug 30. This operation burns fuel-air mixture in each cylinder for operating the engine.
[Characteristics of First Embodiment]
In the fuel supply system 36 of single-pressure-feed dual-injection type, it becomes difficult to maintain the fuel pressure when the fuel injection amount increases due to an increase in the alcohol concentration in the fuel. That is, when a large amount of fuel is injected in a cylinder which is one of the two cylinders in which fuel is injected first (first cylinder) during the pressure-feed-interval period of the fuel pump, the pressure in the fuel pipe remains low until the next fuel pressure-feed operation is performed. As a result, in the second cylinder in which fuel is injected (second cylinder), the fuel is injected with an insufficient fuel pressure with the result that the fuel injection amount tends to decrease. This phenomenon becomes obvious at a startup operation time when the fuel injection amount greatly increases. To address this problem, the first and second startup injection control described below is performed in this embodiment when the startup operation is performed. The startup operation refers to an operation performed before the engine is warmed up. More specifically, the startup operation is performed when a predetermined condition is satisfied (the engine water temperature and the catalyst temperature are suitable for the state before warming-up) and is ended when the condition is not satisfied.
(First Startup Injection Control)
This control is performed when the alcohol concentration in the fuel is equal to or lower than the determination value γ. In this control, only cylinder injection is performed for the first cylinder and the second cylinder (that is, cylinder injection is performed in all cylinders). Alcohol fuel, when used, has the property that the fuel injection amount is increased and the fuel volatility is decreased. The object of the first startup injection control is to inject fuel, which has property described above, directly in a cylinder to increase combustibility.
(Second Startup Injection Control)
The second startup injection control is performed when the alcohol concentration in the fuel is higher than the predetermined determination value γ. In this control, only cylinder injection is performed for the first cylinder while both intake passage injection and cylinder injection are performed for the second cylinder.
The alcohol concentration determination value γ is set as an upper limit value of alcohol concentration at which a decrease in the fuel injection amount in the second cylinder remain within an allowable range. That is, when the alcohol concentration in the fuel is equal to or lower than the determination value γ, the fuel injection amount in the first cylinder does not increase to a degree at which the fuel pressure (fuel injection amount in the second cylinder) is affected. Therefore, fuel injection may be performed also in the second cylinder only by cylinder injection. On the other hand, when the alcohol concentration is higher than the determination value γ, the fuel injection amount in the first cylinder increases to such a degree that the fuel pressure is decreased. This decrease in the fuel pressure may lead to a possibility that the degree of a decrease in the fuel injection amount in the second cylinder will exceed the allowable limit Therefore, in this case, not only cylinder injection but also intake passage injection is used in the second cylinder. In contrast, in the first cylinder in which fuel is injected first, there is no need to consider a decrease in the fuel pressure and, therefore, only cylinder injection is performed regardless of the alcohol concentration.
According to the control described above, the fuel supply system 36 of single-pressure-feed dual-injection type allows fuel injection to be performed in the second cylinder using the two injection valves 26 and 28 even when the fuel pressure is decreased due to the fuel injection in the first cylinder, thus enabling a required fuel injection amount to be reserved. That is, even when the alcohol concentration in the fuel is high, the fuel supply system 36 stabilizes the fuel injection amount of each cylinder. In particular, at a startup operation time when the fuel injection amount is increased, the system can reliably avoid a decrease in the fuel injection amount. This means that the system can perform fuel injection control for alcohol fuel accurately without having to use a large single-pressure-feed dual-injection type fuel pump.
(Injection Amount Addition Control)
When the second startup injection control is performed, injection amount addition control is performed as shown in
(Distributed Injection Control)
In this embodiment, the first and second startup injection controls are performed only at a startup operation time. After the startup operation is ended, distributed injection control is performed instead of those injection controls. In the distributed injection control, the ratio (fuel injection ratio) between the intake passage injection amount and the cylinder injection amount in each cylinder is variably set according to the operation state of the engine. This control is known control disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-261364 (JP 2010-261364 A).
[Actual Processing for Implementing the First Embodiment]
Next, the actual processing for implementing the first embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to
Next, in step 108, the ECU determines whether the starter switch is ON. If the starter switch is ON, the ECU drives the starter motor in step 110 to perform cranking and, at the same time, performs cylinder determination based on the output of the crank angle sensor 40. Next, in step 112, the ECU determines whether the engine water temperature ethw is in a predetermined temperature range (α1<ethw<α2) suitable for starting cylinder injection. If this determination is satisfied, the ECU determines in step 114 whether the outside air temperature etha is in a predetermined temperature range (β1<etha<β2) suitable for starting cylinder injection. α1 and β1 correspond to the lower limit of each of the temperature ranges, and α2 and β2 correspond to the upper limit of each of the temperature ranges. These values are set in advance by experiments.
If the determinations in steps 112 and 114 is satisfied, the ECU determines in step 116 whether the alcohol concentration in the fuel ealch is higher than the determination value γ in order to start the operation using at least cylinder injection. If this determination is not satisfied, the processing proceeds to step 118 to perform cylinder injection in all cylinders under the first startup injection control. That is, in step 118, the ECU performs cylinder injection for each of the two cylinders (first and second cylinders) for which fuel injection is performed during the pressure-feed interval period of the fuel pump. If the determination in step 116 is satisfied, the ECU performs the second startup injection control in steps 120 and 122. That is, the ECU performs cylinder injection for the first cylinder in step 120, and cylinder injection and intake passage injection for the second cylinder in step 122.
On the other hand, if any of the determinations in steps 112 and 114 is not satisfied, the temperature environment is not suitable for cylinder injection. Therefore, the processing proceeds to step 124 to perform intake passage injection for all cylinders. The processing in steps 118, 122, and 124 is performed only during the startup operation and, after the startup operation is ended, distributed injection control is performed as in
In the first embodiment described above, step 118 in
Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
[Characteristics of Second Embodiment]
As described above, when the alcohol concentration in the fuel at a startup operation time is higher than the determination value γ, intake passage injection and cylinder injection are performed in the second cylinder (for example, cylinders #2, #4, #6) under second startup injection control. At this time, the injection amount addition control is performed to add the wall fuel adhesion amount to the intake passage injection amount. On the other hand, only cylinder injection is performed in the first cylinder (cylinders #1, #3, and #5). Therefore, if the fuel injection amount is set equal for all cylinders when the state transits from this state to the distributed injection control, the air-fuel ratio varies between the first cylinder and the second cylinder due to fuel vaporized from the wall surface of the intake passage in the second cylinder.
To solve this problem, after the state transits from the second startup injection control to the distributed injection control, control (injection amount matching control) is performed in this embodiment to reduce the intake passage injection amount of the second cylinder by the wall fuel adhesion amount as compared with the injection amount of the first cylinder.
According to the control described above, after the state transits to the distributed injection control, the injection amount matching control can match the difference between the first cylinder and the second cylinder in the intake passage injection amount (that is, whether or not the wall fuel adhesion amount is added) that is generated by the second startup injection control. This matching control equalizes the amount of fuel, adhered to the wall surface of the intake passage, among the cylinders, thus preventing a variation in the air-fuel ratio between the cylinders.
On the other hand,
[Actual Processing for Implementing the Second Embodiment]
Next, the actual processing for implementing the second embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to
On the other hand, if the determination in step 216 is satisfied, the alcohol concentration ealch is higher than the determination value and, therefore, the ECU performs the second startup injection control during the startup operation in steps 222 and 224. After the startup operation, the ECU performs the distributed injection control and the injection amount matching control in step 226. In addition, if the determination is not satisfied in any of steps 212 and 214, the processing proceeds to step 228. The ECU performs intake passage injection for all cylinders during the startup operation in step 228 and, after the startup operation, performs the distributed injection control in step 230.
In the second embodiment described above, step 218 in
10 Engine (internal combustion engine)
12 Piston
14 Combustion chamber
16 Crankshaft
18 Intake passage
20 Throttle valve
22 Exhaust gas passage
24 Catalyst
26 Intake passage injection valve
28 Cylinder injection valve
30 Spark plug
32 Intake valve
34 Exhaust valve
36 Fuel supply system
40 Crank angle sensor
42 Airflow sensor
44 Water temperature sensor
46 Intake air temperature sensor
48 alcohol concentration sensor (alcohol concentration detection means)
50 ECU
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/078468 | 12/8/2011 | WO | 00 | 6/5/2014 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013/084344 | 6/13/2013 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7213574 | Nishimura | May 2007 | B2 |
| 20060207565 | Nishimura | Sep 2006 | A1 |
| 20080288158 | Leone | Nov 2008 | A1 |
| 20090248275 | Ichihara | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20100049424 | Tashima et al. | Feb 2010 | A1 |
| 20100145596 | Nishimura | Jun 2010 | A1 |
| 20120150419 | Pursifull | Jun 2012 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 101142398 | Mar 2008 | CN |
| 2009-030573 | Feb 2009 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140318501 A1 | Oct 2014 | US |
