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US 12,486,822 B2Granted
Engine ignition systems and control methods therefor
AssigneeHamilton Sundstrand Corporation
InventorsGary McBrien, Thomas M. Donahue
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, a method can include controlling firing of an exciter of an engine with an electronic controller separate from the exciter as a function of at least one excitation command from the electronic controller and at least one feedback signal from the exciter operatively connected to the electronic controller.
Claims13
A method, comprising:
- controlling firing of an exciter of an engine with an electronic controller separate from the exciter as a function of at least one excitation command from the electronic controller and at least one feedback signal from the exciter operatively connected to the electronic controller, wherein the at least one excitation command includes a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal from the electronic controller provided to the exciter;
- charging the exciter energy storage with energy from electrical power in the exciter;
- and
- controlling a rate of exciter energy storage charging based at least in part on the feedback signal to modulate the pulse width of the excitation command until a predetermined charge threshold voltage is reached;
- monitoring a state of the engine including a minimum voltage level to light the engine with an ignitor;
- and
- adjusting the predetermined charge threshold voltage based at least in part on the minimum voltage level to light the engine and one or more environmental conditions.
4 more elements
A method, comprising:
- monitoring a charge voltage threshold of an energy storage of an exciter necessary to fire an igniter to light an engine over time;
- and
- determining a health status of one or more engine components based at least in part on the charge voltage threshold of the energy storage;
- monitoring and/or counting a number of successful discharges of the energy storage;
- storing data relating to the monitoring and/or counting of the successful discharges in a memory;
- and
- determining the health status of the one or more engine components based on a total number of successful discharges.
4 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions configured to cause a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
- controlling an exciter of an engine with an electronic controller separate from the exciter as a function of at least one excitation command from the electronic controller and a feedback signal from the exciter operatively connected to the electronic controller, wherein the at least one excitation command includes a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal from the electronic controller provided to the exciter;
- charging the exciter energy storage with energy from electrical power in the exciter;
- and
- controlling a rate of exciter energy storage charging based at least in part on the feedback signal to modulate the pulse width of the excitation command until a predetermined charge threshold voltage is reached;
- monitoring a state of the engine including a minimum voltage level to light the engine with an ignitor;
- and
- adjusting the predetermined charge threshold voltage based at least in part on the minimum voltage level to light the engine and one or more environmental conditions.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.