Combustion pressure detection for a hybrid opposed piston engine
AssigneePinnacle Engines, Inc.
InventorClayton Naber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An engine unit controller (EUC) in connection with a hybrid opposed piston engine can receive real-time movement data of a crankshaft via a crank position sensor. It can simultaneously receive current data of an electric motor that partially controls the crankshaft. With the known engine constants, the EUC can determine instantaneous combustion pressure data based on the movement data and the current data. Such combustion pressure data can be used to optimize the engine's performance in real-time.
Claims20
A hybrid opposed piston engine, comprising:
- a controller unit;
- a combustion chamber;
- a first crankshaft coupled to a first piston slidably disposed in the combustion chamber;
- a second crankshaft coupled to a second piston slidably disposed in the combustion chamber,
- at least one electric motor configured to at least partially control, via a motor current, at least one of the first crankshaft and the second crankshaft, wherein the controller unit is configured to:
- receive, via a sensor, movement data associated with the at least one of the first crankshaft and the second crankshaft;
- receive current data associated with the motor current;
- and
- determine, based on the movement data and the current data, combustion pressure data in the combustion chamber.
A hybrid opposed piston engine, comprising:
- a controller unit;
- at least one combustion chamber;
- a first crankshaft coupled to a first piston slidably disposed in the at least one combustion chamber;
- a second crankshaft coupled to a second piston slidably disposed in the at least one combustion chamber,
- at least one electric motor configured to at least partially control, via a motor current, at least one of the first crankshaft and the second crankshaft, wherein the controller unit is configured to:
- receive, via a sensor, movement data associated with the at least one of the first crankshaft and the second crankshaft;
- receiving current data associated with the motor current;
- determine, based on the movement data and the current data, combustion pressure data in the at least one combustion chamber;
- determine a target crank angular acceleration that maximizes the efficiency of the hybrid opposed piston engine;
- determine a target motor current to achieve the target crank speed;
- and
- adjust the motor current to the target motor current to maximize the efficiency of the hybrid opposed piston engine.
A method of detecting combustion pressure data in a hybrid engine, comprising:
- receiving, at a sensor, movement data associated with a crankshaft;
- transmitting the movement data to a controller unit of the hybrid engine;
- receiving current data associated with an electric motor configured to at least partially control the crankshaft;
- transmitting the current data to the controller unit;
- retrieving one or more known engine constants stored in a memory of the controller unit;
- and
- determining, based on the movement data, current data and the known engine constants, combustion pressure data in a combustion chamber of the hybrid engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.