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AssigneesScans Associates, Inc., Clayton Manufacturing Company
InventorsVernon G. Converse, III, Edwin L. Cline, Leland P. Tinkham
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for hot testing on a production basis, automobile engines as they come off the assembly line for performing a final check on such engines before they are installed in the automobile. The engines are tested for exhaust emissions at three points or KEY MODES of operation at which emission related engine malfunctions are most likely to appear. These points of operation are high cruise, low cruise, and idle. The engine, after it comes off the assembly line is placed in a production test stand wherein the connections for water, oil and exhaust are made, the engine is started, accelarated to the high cruise speed, and allowed to warm up for a predetermined time, after which time, measurements of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are taken and an appropriate indicator light lit to indicate that the engine either is within limits at this speed, or does not pass for some reason. The same procedure is followed in the low cruise and idle speeds. If one or more of the indicator lights show a reject condition, the engine is automatically removed from the production test stand and routed to a repair shop for further testing.
A method of production hot testing assembled internal combustion engines before installation in a motor vehicle to reveal malfunctions therein by an analysis of said engine's exhaust gas emissions, said method including the steps of providing a suitable testing apparatus in which said engines can be run, placing said engine in said testing apparatus, providing means to load the engine based on its cubic displacement which provides as closely as possible a torque load on the engine which is the same as the engine would experience if said engine were installed in a motor vehicle of a suitable weight class, connecting the engine to said loading means, starting the engine and withdrawing an exhaust sample from the exhaust system of the engine, operating the engine in more than one test mode at which malfunctions of the engine are likely to occur, with a test in the high cruise mode occurring first regardless of the number of other tests performed so that the effects of new engine tolerances and initial startup, as well as warm-up effects such as those presented by the choke will not affect said test modes, and measuring the value of CO and HC in the exhaust sample at each mode of operation, comparing the measured value of the CO and HC found in the exhaust at each mode of operation with permissable levels of CO and HC for each mode for the particular engine being tested, and indicating by any suitable means which, if any, test values exceed the prescribed permissable values.
The method of production hot testing of assembled internal combustion engines before installation to reveal malfunctions therein by means of an analysis of said engines exhaust gas emissions, said method including the steps of providing a suitable testing apparatus in which said engines can be run, placing said engine in said testing apparatus, providing means to load the engine based on its cubic displacement which would provide as closely as possible a torque load on the engine which would be the same as the engine would experience if said engine were installed in a motor vehicle of a suitable weight class, connecting the engine to said loading means, starting the engine and withdrawing an exhaust sample, operating the engine according to a first test made at a first predetermined speed and under a first predetermined load at which an emission related malfunction of the engine is likely to occur, with said first predetermined speed and load preferably being substantially that of high cruise so that the engine may quickly warm up, thus eliminating the engine's choke as a consideration in said tests, as well as eliminating from further consideration the effects of new engine tolerances and initial start up, measuring the value of HC and CO in the exhaust sample at said first predetermined speed and load, comparing the values of CO and HC measured while operating the engine at said first predetermined speed and load with acceptable values of CO and HC for said first speed and load, and indicating by any suitable means the results of such comparison, that is whether or not the engine passed the emission test at said first speed and load, operating the engine according to a second test made at a second predetermined but different speed and under a second predetermined but different load at which an emission related malfunction of the engine is likely to occur, measuring the values of the CO and HC in the exhaust sample at said different speed and load, comparing the measured values at said different speed and load with the permissable values at such speed and load and indicating whether the engine passed or failed the CO and HC emission tests at said different speed and load, operating the engine according to a third test made at the idle speed of the engine and measuring the value of the CO and HC in the exhaust sample at said idle speed, comparing the measured values of CO and HC at idle speed with permissable values of CO and HC at idle, and indicating by any suitable means whether said engine has passed said CO and HC test at said idle speed, observing the test indicators for the results of the CO and HC tests at each of the three modes of operation and passing the engine for installation in a motor vehicle if said indicators indicate that the engine has passed the HC and CO tests at all three modes of operation, and sending the engine for repair if any of the indicators indicate the engine has failed either a CO or HC test at any mode of operation.
A method of production hot testing of assembled engines to reveal malfunctions therein by way of an analysis of said engines exhaust gas emissions, said method including the steps of providing a suitable testing apparatus in which said engine can be run, placing said engine in said testing apparatus, providing means to load the engine based on its cubic displacement which provides as closely as possible a torque load on the engine which is the same as the engine would experience if said engine were installed in a motor vehicle of a suitable size for the particular engine being tested, connecting the engine to said loading means, starting the engine and running said engine to warm it up at the high cruise RPM until said engine's throttle plate can maintain said high cruise speed without any appreciable movement, and thereby eliminating new engine tolerance and start-up effects, as well as choke effects, from further test consideration, sampling the exhaust gas of the engine while running at the high cruise speed and simultaneously testing the HC and CO content of said sample to determine the content thereof, comparing the HC and CO content of the exhaust gas at the high cruise speed with permissable values at that speed, indicating by any suitable means the results of the HC and CO tests made at the high cruise speed, reducing the speed of said engine to an RPM corresponding to the low cruise speed of the particular engine being tested, sampling the exhaust gases of said engine while it is running at the low cruise speed, analyzing the exhaust gas to determine its HC and CO content, comparing the HC and CO content of the exhaust gas at the low cruise speed with permissable values, indicating the results of the HC and CO tests at the low cruise speed, completely releasing the engine's throttle and allowing said engine to assume its idle speed, analyzing the exhaust gas at the idle speed for its HC and CO content, comparing the CO and HC content at idle with permissable values, indicating the results of the HC and CO tests at the idle condition, observing the indications of the results of the HC and CO tests at the high cruise and low cruise and idle modes of operation and passing the engine for installation in a motor vehicle if all of said tests were passed, or sending said engine to a repair loop for more detailed tests and repair if one or more of said tests were failed.
An apparatus for production hot testing assembled engines to reveal defects therein by an analysis of said engines exhaust gas emissions, including means to provide a suitable testing apparatus in which said engines can be run, means to place said engine in said testing apparatus, means to load the engine based on its cubic displacement such that the load imposed on the engine follows as closely as possible the torque load the engine would experience if said engine were installed in a motor vehicle of a suitable weight class, for the particular engine being tested, means to connect the engine to said loading means, means to start the engine, means to withdraw an exhaust sample from the exhaust system of the engine, means to cause the engine to operate in more than one test mode at which malfunctions of the engine are likely to occur, and means to measure the value of CO and HC in the exhaust sample at each mode of operation and compare the measured value of the CO and HC found in the exhaust at each mode of operation with permissable levels of CO and HC for each mode for the particular engine being tested, and indicating means showing which if any test values exceed the prescribed permissable values.
An apparatus for production hot testing of newly assembled engines to reveal malfunctions in the engine itself, or in the carburetor, ignition, and/or combustion systems thereof, said apparatus including a suitable testing apparatus in which said engines can be run, means to place said engine in said testing apparatus, loading means to load the engine based on its cubic displacement which would provide as closely as possible a torque load on the engine which would be the same as the engine would experience if said engine were installed in a motor vehicle of a suitable weight class for the engine being tested, means to connect the engine to said loading means, means to start the engine, means to operate the engine according to a first test mode at a first predetermined speed and under a first predetermined load at which a malfunction of the engine is likely to occur, means to sample said engines exhaust and to measure the value of HC and CO in the exhaust at said first predetermined speed and load, means to compare the value of the CO and HC measured while operating the engine at first said predetermined speed and load with acceptable values of CO and HC for said first speed and load, indicating means showing the results of such comparison, means to operate the engine according to a second test made at a predetermined but different speed and under a second predetermined but different load at which a malfunction of the engine is likely to occur, means to sample and measure the amount of CO and HC in the exhaust sample at said different speed and load, means to compare the measured values at said different speed and load with the permissable values at such speed and load, indicating means showing whether the engine passed or failed the CO and HC emission tests at said different speed and load, means to operate the engine according to a third test made at the idle speed of the engine, means to sample and measure the value of the CO and HC in the exhaust sample at said idle speed, means to compare the measured values of CO and HC at the idle speed with permissable values of CO and HC at idle, indicating means showing whether said engine has passed said CO and HC test at said idle speed, and means to observe the test indicators for the results of the HC and CO test at each of the three modes of operation and pass the engines for installation if said indicators indicate that the engine has passed the HC and CO tests at all three modes of operation, and means to send the engines for further diagnostic tests and repair if any of the indicators show the engine has failed either a CO or HC test at any mode of operation.
In an engine testing system adapted to indicate engine malfunctions and their possible causes, a method of providing a loading device for the engine being tested which provides a known load on said engine substantially proportional to the cube of the engine's RPM at which it is desired to test, but is easily modifiable to provide any future substantially cubic loading characteristic at similar engine RPM which is needed, said method including the steps of providing said engine testing system with a power absorption unit having rotor and stator elements and having a capacity sufficient to meet any foreseeable engine testing need, and altering the loading characteristics of said power absorption unit by modifying the leading edge of the vanes of one of the rotor or stator elements beginning at substantially the minor diameter of said element and extending to the torus at a point beyond the minor diameter to define a new leading edge for the resultant vanes, the new leading edge being positioned inwardly from a line drawn between the minor and the major diameters, to alter said power absorption unit capacity to one suitable for testing a current size engine, thereby allowing said system to be easily altered to test different engine sizes without having to replace the entire power absorption unit each time a different size engine is to be tested, all of the above being accomplished without external regulation of the power absorption unit.
In an engine testing system adapted to indicate engine malfunctions and their possible causes, a method of providing a loading device for the engine being tested which provides a known load on said engine substantially proportional to the cube of the engine's RPM at which it is desired to test, but is easily modifiable to provide any future substantially cubic loading characteristic at similar RPM which is needed, said method including the steps of providing said engine testing system with a power absorption unit having rotor and stator elements and having a capacity sufficient to meet any foreseeable engine testing need, and altering the loading characteristics of said power absorption unit by modifying the leading edge of the vanes of the stator elements beginning at substantially the minor diameter of said element and extending to the torus at a point beyond the diameter to alter said power absorption unit capacity to one suitable for testing a current size engine, thereby allowing said system to be easily altered to test different engine sizes without having to replace the entire power absorption unit each time a different size engine is to be tested, all of the above being accomplished without external regulation of the power absorption unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.