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US 11,448,144 B1Granted
Methods and system for controlling an engine with two throttles
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsConner Cecott, Rob Ciarrocchi, Rohit Bhat, Adam J. Richards
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for operating an engine that includes two throttles that are arranged in parallel to deliver air into a single intake manifold are described. In one example, a first throttle is opened before a second throttle during a first condition and the second throttle is opened before the first throttle during a second condition. The throttles may be operated in this way to ensure even operation of the throttles.
Claims18
An engine operating method, comprising:
- via a controller, operating a first of two throttles arranged in parallel in an engine intake system as a dominant throttle while operating a second of the two throttles arranged in parallel as a subordinate throttle;
- via the controller, changing the first of two throttles from the dominant throttle to the subordinate throttle, and changing the second of the two throttles from the subordinate throttle to the dominant throttle in response to a requested engine air flow amount being greater than a threshold air amount, where the dominant throttle adjusts engine air flow while the subordinate throttle is fully closed;
- and
- adjusting the engine air flow via the second of the two throttles when a requested engine air flow is less than a first threshold and the first of the two throttles is fully closed.
1 more element
An engine system, comprising:
- an engine including a first throttle and a second throttle arranged in parallel with the first throttle, the first throttle and the second throttle controlling air flow to a common intake manifold;
- and
- a controller including executable instructions stored in non-transitory memory that cause the controller to toggle from controlling air flow through the engine solely via the first throttle to controlling air flow through the engine solely via the second throttle in response to a requested engine air flow being less than a threshold air flow, where the requested engine air flow is based on an engine torque or air flow request.
An engine operating method, comprising:
- via a controller, opening a first of two throttles before opening a second of the two throttles in response to increasing an engine torque or air flow request;
- and
- via the controller, fully closing the first of the two throttles without fully closing the second of the two throttles in response to reducing the engine torque or air flow request.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.