# US 11,028,797 B2 · Engine control method and engine control device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,028,797 B2 - Document ID: US11028797B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/964,508 - Filed: 2019-01-23 - Published: 2021-02-04 - Granted: 2021-06-08 - Earliest claimed: 2018-01-30 - Assignees: Mazda Motor Corporation - Applicants: Mazda Motor Corporation - Inventors: Mitsuo Hitomi; Eiji Nakai; Naohiro Yamaguchi; Hiroki Morimoto - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11028797B2 ## CPC - F02D 41/3041: {with means for triggering compression ignition, e.g. spark plug} - F02D 41/3047: {said means being a secondary injection of fuel} - F02D 41/401: {Controlling injection timing (F02D41/402 takes precedence)} - F02M 26/06: Low pressure loops, i.e. wherein recirculated exhaust gas is taken out from the exhaust downstream of the turbocharger turbine and reintroduced into the intake system upstream of the compressor - F02P 5/1502: {using one central computing unit} - F02D 37/02: one of the functions being ignition - F02D 41/402: {Multiple injections} - F02D 2041/0015: {for engines with means for controlling swirl or tumble flow, e.g. by using swirl valves} - F02D 2041/389: {for injecting directly into the cylinder} - F02D 2200/101: Engine speed - F02M 26/03: with a single mechanically or electrically driven intake charge compressor - Y02T 10/12: Improving ICE efficiencies - F02D: CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES (vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed B60K31/00; conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function, road vehicle drive control systems for purposes other than the control of a single sub-unit B60W) - F02M: SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF - F02P: IGNITION, OTHER THAN COMPRESSION IGNITION, FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES; TESTING OF IGNITION TIMING IN COMPRESSION-IGNITION ENGINES ({anti-pollution means for internal-combustion engines F02B17/00}; specially adapted for rotary-piston or oscillating-piston engines F02B53/12; {ignition of gas turbine plants F02C7/26; ignition of jet propulsion plants F02K9/95; starting of combustion engines F02N9/00}; ignition of combustion apparatus in general, glowing plugs F23Q; measuring of physical variables in general G01; controlling in general G05; data processing in general G06; electrical components in general see Section H; {ignition coils H01F38/12}; sparking plugs H01T13/00) - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract The engine control method includes a fuel supply step and an ignition step. In the fuel supply step, the injector supplies fuel into a combustion chamber. In the ignition step, an spark plug arranged in the combustion chamber makes a flame after the supply of the fuel into the combustion chamber and at a timing when a flow strength in the combustion chamber is greater than a predetermined value in a compression stroke during or before a post-mid stage where the compression stroke is divided into four stages of a pre-stage, a pre-mid stage, a post-mid stage, and a post-stage. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An engine control method of executing a cycle including an intake stroke, a compression stroke, an expansion stroke, and an exhaust stroke in a combustion chamber of an engine, the method comprising: a fuel supply step in which an injector supplies fuel into the combustion chamber; and an ignition step in which a spark plug arranged in the combustion chamber makes a flame after the supply of the fuel to the combustion chamber and at a timing when a flow strength in the combustion chamber is greater than a predetermined value in the compression stroke during or before a post-mid stage where the compression stroke is divided into four stages of a pre-stage, a pre-mid stage, the post-mid stage, and a post-stage. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The engine control method of claim 1, wherein the spark plug makes the flame in the combustion chamber at a timing when a tumble ratio in the combustion chamber is equal to or higher than a predetermined value in the compression stroke. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The engine control method of claim 1, wherein the spark plug makes the flame in the combustion chamber in the compression stroke with the engine having a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined value. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The engine control method of claim 1, wherein the injector supplies the fuel in the combustion chamber at a timing when the flame in the combustion chamber is made by the spark plug so that an air-fuel mixture is generated at least around the spark plug, the air-fuel mixture having an air-fuel mass ratio A/F or a gas-fuel mass ratio G/F, in which gas includes air, higher than a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The engine control method of claim 4, further comprising: after the ignition step, a second fuel supply step in which the injector supplies the fuel into the combustion chamber to increase a fuel concentration of an air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The engine control method of claim 1, wherein the engine has a geometric compression ratio of 14 or more. ### Claim 7 An engine control device, comprising: a combustion chamber of an engine that executes a cycle including an intake stroke, a compression stroke, an expansion stroke, and an exhaust stroke; a spark plug arranged in the combustion chamber; and an injector configured to supply fuel into the combustion chamber, the spark plug making a flame after the supply of the fuel into the combustion chamber by the injector and at a timing when a flow strength in the combustion chamber is greater than a predetermined value in the compression stroke during or before a post-mid stage where the compression stroke is divided into four stages of a pre-stage, a pre-mid stage, the post-mid stage, and a post-stage. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The engine control device of claim 7, wherein the spark plug makes flame in the combustion chamber at a timing when a tumble ratio in the combustion chamber is equal to or higher than a predetermined value in the compression stroke. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The engine control device of claim 7, wherein the spark plug makes the flame in the combustion chamber in the compression stroke with the engine having a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The engine control device of claim 7, wherein the injector supplies the fuel in the combustion chamber at a timing when the spark plug makes the flame in the combustion chamber so that an air-fuel mixture is generated at least around the spark plug, the air-fuel mixture having an air-fuel mass ratio A/F or a gas-fuel mass ratio G/F, in which gas includes air, higher than a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The engine control device of claim 10, wherein the injector is configured to supply, after the spark plug has made the flame, the fuel into the combustion chamber to increase a fuel concentration of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The engine control device of claim 7, wherein the engine has a geometric compression ratio of 14 or more.