Closed loop diesel engine control

In a diesel internal combustion engine comprising

• means defining a cylinder having a cylinder head,
• a piston disposed in said cylinder and adapted to slidably move toward and away from said cylinder,
• a crankshaft connected to said piston and driving a load,
• a fuel injection system connected to said cylinder and having a fuel injection pump having a means for advancing and retarding the injection of fuel,
• the improvement comprising
• an actuator for varying the timing of fuel injection into said cylinder connected to said fuel injection pump advance-retard means, said actuator comprising
• an hydraulic cylinder and piston connected to said advance-retard means and adapted to move said advance-retard means,
• an hydraulic pump having a high pressure side and a low pressure side, said high pressure side of said hydraulic pump in fluid communication with said hydraulic cylinder and piston,
• a spill valve having a high pressure side and a low pressure side, said high pressure side of said spill valve in fluid communication with said high pressure side of said hydraulic pump and said low pressure side of said spill valve in fluid communication with said low pressure side of said hydraulic pump, and
• means for actuating said spill valve comprising
• means for detecting peak cylinder pressure inside said cylinder and generating a peak cylinder pressure signal,
• means for measuring speed of said crankshaft and generating an output signal proportional to crankshaft speed,
• means for measuring said engine load and generating an output load signal proportional to engine load,
• means for measuring crankshaft position relative to peak cylinder pressure and generating an actual crankshaft position signal,
• means for generating a desired optimum crankshaft position signal for said crankshaft speed, engine load,
• means for comparing said optimum crankshaft position signal with said actual crankshaft position signal and generating a crankshaft position difference signal, and
• means for actuating said spill valve to reduce said crankshaft difference to zero in order to achieve optimized efficiency combustion.

In a diesel internal combustion engine comprising

• means defining a cylinder having a cylinder head,
• a piston disposed in said cylinder and adapted to slidably move toward and away from said cylinder,
• a crankshaft connected to said piston and driving a load,
• a fuel injection system connected to said cylinder and having a fuel injection pump,
• the improvement comprising,
• means for detecting peak cylinder pressure inside of said cylinder and generating a pressure signal proportional to said pressure,
• means for measuring the speed of said crankshaft and generating an output signal proportional to crankshaft speed,
• means for measuring said load on said engine and generating an output signal proportional to said engine load,
• a comparator having a first input side, a second input side, a third input side and an output side,
• the output side of said means for detecting peak pressure connected to said first input side of said comparator,
• the output side of said means for measuring crankshaft speed connected to said second input side of said comparator,
• the output side of said means for measuring engine load connected to said third input side of said comparator, and
• means connected to said output side of said comparator for adjusting the timing of said injection pump to achieve constant volume combustion.

In a diesel internal combustion engine comprising

• means defining a cylinder having a cylinder head,
• a piston disposed in said cylinder and adapted to slidably move toward and away from said cylinder,
• a crankshaft connected to said piston and connected to a load,
• a fuel injection system having a fuel injection pump in fluid communication with said cylinder,
• the improvement comprising,
• means for detecting peak pressure inside said cylinder and generating a cylinder pressure signal proportional to said pressure,
• means for measuring crankshaft timing relative to a reference position on said crankshaft when said peak pressure signal is detected and generating an actual crankshaft timing signal when said peak pressure signal is detected,
• means for measuring engine speed and producing an engine speed signal,
• means for measuring engine load and generating an engine load signal,
• means for comparing said engine speed signal and said engine load signal and producing an optimum crankshaft timing signal,
• means for comparing said actual crankshaft timing signal with said optimum crankshaft timing signal and generating a timing adjustment signal, and
• means for adjusting the timing position of said fuel injection pump in accordance with said timing adjustment signal to achieve optimized efficiency combustion.

A method of achieving optimized efficiency combustion in a diesel internal combustion engine comprising the steps of

• continuously sensing peak cylinder pressure to generate a peak pressure signal,
• comparing the peak pressure position with crankshaft position and generating an actual crankshaft timing position signal,
• continuously sensing engine speed and generating an engine speed signal,
• continuously sensing engine load and generating an engine load signal,
• comparing said engine speed signal with the engine speed parameter of an engine speed-load-timing map,
• comparing said engine load signal with the engine load parameter of said engine speed-load-timing map,
• generating an optimum crankshaft timing signal in accordance with the timing parameter at the intersection of the load signal coordinate and the speed signal coordinate of said speed-load-timing map,
• comparing said actual crankshaft timing signal with said optimum crankshaft timing signal to generate a crankshaft timing error signal, and
• adjusting the fuel injection timing to reduce the difference between actual crankshaft timing and optimum crankshaft timing signals.

A method of achieving optimized efficiency combustion in a diesel internal combustion engine comprising the steps of

• continuously sensing peak cylinder pressure to generate a peak pressure signal,
• differentiating said pressure signal to generate a control signal that changes from positive to negative polarity when peak pressure is reached,
• comparing the peak pressure position with crankshaft position and generating an actual crankshaft angle position signal,
• continuously sensing engine speed and generating an engine speed signal,
• continuously sensing engine load and generating an engine load signal,
• comparing said engine speed signal with the engine speed parameter of an engine speed-load-crankshaft angle map,
• comparing said engine load signal with the engine load parameter of said engine speed-load-crankshaft angle map,
• generating an optimum crankshaft angle signal in accordance with the angle parameter at the intersection of the load signal coordinate and the speed signal coordinate of said speed-load-crankshaft angle map,
• comparing said actual crankshaft angle position signal with said optimum crankshaft angle signal to generate a crankshaft angle error signal, and
• adjusting the fuel injection timing to reduce the difference between actual crankshaft angle and optimum crankshaft angle signals to zero.