Digital roughness sensor
AssigneeThe Bendix Corporation
InventorJohn R. Wilkinson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An engine roughness sensor for generating speed normalized digital roughness signals indicative of the variations in magnitude between successive torque impulses imparted to the engine's crankshaft by measuring the period or time it takes the crankshaft to rotate through the same angle for each torque impulse is disclosed herein. The digital roughness signal is normalized as a function of engine speed by dividing the measured magnitude of each torque impulse by a signal indicative of the engine speed to reduce the magnitude of operator induced variations in the generated roughness signals. In an alternate embodiment, the disclosed engine roughness sensor generates a second difference roughness signal which is the difference between the sequentially generated roughness signals.
Claims27
A roughness sensor for generating roughness signals indicative of the variation in the magnitude of the torque impulses imparted to a rotating element, the sensor comprising:
- means detecting the rotational position of the rotating element for generating first interval signals indicative of a first angular interval of the rotating element's rotation for each torque impulse, and for generating second interval signals indicative of a subsequent angular interval of the rotating element's rotation, wherein the rotating member has a maximum rotational velocity in response to each torque impulse in said subsequent angular interval;
- means response to said first and second interval signals for generating a normalized signal having a value proportional to the magnitude of the torque impulse determined by the time required by the rotating element to rotate through said subsequent angular interval and inversely proportional to engine speed determined by the time required for the rotating element to rotate through said first annular interval;
- and
- means for generating a roughness signal from at least two sequentially generated normalized signals, said roughness signal having a value equal to the difference between said sequentially generated normalized signals.
A method for converting the instantaneous rotational velocity of a rotating member receiving torque impulses, varying the rotational velocity of said rotating member into roughness signals indicative of the variations in the individual torque impules comprising the steps of:
- detecting predetermined angular positions of the rotating member to generate first interval signals indicative of a first angular interval of the rotating member for each torque impulse, and to generate second interval signals indicative of second angular intervals of the rotating member for each torque impulse in which the rotating member has a maximum change in rotational velocity in response to the associated torque impulse;
- measuring for each torque impulse the time duration of said first interval signals to generate a signal indicative of the rotational velocity of the rotating member and the time duration of said second interval signal to generate a signal indicative of the magnitude of the torque impulse;
- combining from the signal indicative of the rotational velocity of the rotating member and the magnitude of two torque impulses to generate a roughness signal having a value directly proportional to the difference between said two torque impulses and inversely proportional to the rotational velocity of the rotating member.
A method for generating roughness signals indicative of the variation in the magnitude of the torque impulses to the output shaft of an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the steps of:
- detecting the rotational position of the output shaft for generating first interval signals indicative of first angular interval of the output shaft's rotation for each torque impulse, and for generating second interval signals indicative of a subsequent angular interval of the output shaft's rotation, wherein the engine's output shaft has a maximum rotational velocity in response to each torque impulse in said subsequent angular interval;
- generating a normalized signal having a value proportional to the magnitude of the torque impulse determined by the time duration of said second interval signal and inversely proportional to engine speed determined by the time duration of said first interval signal;
- and
- generating a roughness signal from subsequently generated normalized signals, said roughness signal having a value equal to the difference between at least two subsequently generated normalized signals.
A roughness sensor for generating roughness signals indicative of the variation in the magnitude of the torque impulses imparted to a moving element of an internal combustion engine, the sensor comprising:
- means detecting the position of the moving element for generating first interval signals indicative of first interval of the moving element's motion for each torque impulse, and for generating second interval signals indicative of a subsequent interval of the moving element's motion, wherein the moving member has a maximum velocity in response to each torque impulse in said subsequent angular interval;
- means responsive to said first and second interval signals for generating a normalized signal having a value proportional to the magnitude of the torque impulse determined by the time required by the moving element to move through said subsequent interval and inversely proportional to engine speed determined by the time required for the moving element to move through said first interval;
- and
- means for generating a roughness signal from at least two sequentially generated normalized signals, said rougness signal having a value equal to the difference between said sequentially generated normalized signals.
A method for converting the instantaneous velocity of a moving member receiving torque impulses, said impulses varying the velocity of the moving member, into roughness signals indicative of the variations in the individual torque impulses comprising the steps of:
- detecting predetermined positions of the moving member to generate first interval signals indicative of a first interval of the moving member for each torque impulse, and to generate second interval signals indicative of second intervals of the moving member for each torque impulse in which the moving member has a maximum change in velocity in response to the associated torque impulse;
- measuring for each torque impulse during the time duration of said first interval signals to generate a signal indicative of the velocity of the moving member and the time duration of said second interval signal to generate a signal indicative of the magnitude of the torque impulse;
- and then
- combining from the signal indicative of the velocity of the moving member and the magnitude of two torque impulses to generate a roughness signal having a value directly proportional to the difference between said two torque impulses and inversely proportional to the velocity of the moving member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.