# US 12,760,691 B2 · Method for operating an internal combustion engine, computing unit, and computer program > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,760,691 B2 - Document ID: US12760691B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/248,150 - Filed: 2021-09-23 - Published: 2023-12-21 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2020-10-08 - Assignees: Robert Bosch GmbH - Applicants: Robert Bosch GmbH - Inventors: Bernd Kraewer; Christof Kirchmaier; Michael Fey - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12760691B2 ## CPC - F02D 41/1444: {characterised by the characteristics of the combustion gases} - F02D 41/28: Interface circuits - 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) ## Abstract The invention relates to a method (200) for operating an internal combustion engine (110), comprising providing and combusting an air-fuel mixture of a first composition, determining (210) a current composition of a combustion exhaust gas produced during the combustion, determining (220) an emission collective, which comprises a total amount emitted over a predefined interval for at least one component of the combustion exhaust gas, from multiple successively determined current compositions of the combustion exhaust gas, and setting (250) a second composition of the air-fuel mixture depending on the emission collective determined. The invention also relates to a computing unit and a computer program product for carrying out such a method. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method (200) for operating an internal combustion engine (110), the method comprising: providing and combusting an air-fuel mixture having a first composition, determining (210), via a computer, a current composition of a combustion exhaust gas produced during the combustion, determining (220), via a computer, an emission collective which comprises a total amount of a component of the combustion exhaust gas emitted over a predefined interval, from a plurality of successively determined current compositions of the combustion exhaust gas, and setting (250), via a computer, a second composition of the air-fuel mixture depending on the emission collective determined. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method (200) according to claim 1, wherein the emission collective refers to (a) work performed by the internal combustion engine (110), to (b) an operating time of the internal combustion engine (110), to (c) a distance traveled by a vehicle driven by the internal combustion engine (110), or a combination of (a), (b), and (c). ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method (200) according to claim 1, wherein the setting (250) of the second composition comprises lowering the fuel content in the air-fuel mixture when rich gas components predominate in the emission collective and increasing the fuel content when lean gas components predominate in the emission collective. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method (200) according to claim 3, wherein a predominance of a component is characterized in that a proportion of the predominant component in the emission collective has a smaller distance from a threshold value assigned to it than all proportions of other components from a threshold value respectively assigned to them. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method (200) according to claim 1, wherein the setting (250) of the second composition is performed depending on a need (230) for at least one of a plurality of measures (250). ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method (200) according to claim 5, wherein the measures (250) comprise diagnosing and/or maintaining at least one element of the internal combustion engine and/or an exhaust gas aftertreatment system (130) downstream of it. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method (200) according to claim 5, wherein the measures are carried out sequentially, and the method furthermore comprises establishing (240) a sequence for carrying out the plurality of measures (250) based on the predominant component. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method (200) according to claim 1, wherein the emission collective is determined by accumulating, averaging, and/or integrating a component of the combustion exhaust gas over the predefined interval based on the plurality of successively determined current compositions, such that the emission collective represents a total quantity of the component of the combustion exhaust gas emitted during the predefined interval, and wherein the emission collective is compared to a threshold value associated with the component of the combustion exhaust gas. ### Claim 9 A computer (140) configured to control operation of an internal combustion engine (110), by controlling delivering of an air-fuel mixture having a first composition for combustion in the internal combustion engine, determining (210) a current composition of a combustion exhaust gas produced during the combustion, determining (220) an emission collective which comprises a total amount of a component of the combustion exhaust gas emitted over a predefined interval, from a plurality of successively determined current compositions of the combustion exhaust gas, and setting (250) a second composition of the air-fuel mixture depending on the emission collective determined. ### Claim 10 A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to control operation of an internal combustion engine (110), by controlling delivering of an air-fuel mixture having a first composition for combustion in the internal combustion engine, determining (210) a current composition of a combustion exhaust gas produced during the combustion, determining (220) an emission collective which comprises a total amount of a component of the combustion exhaust gas emitted over a predefined interval, from a plurality of successively determined current compositions of the combustion exhaust gas, and setting (250) a second composition of the air-fuel mixture depending on the emission collective determined.