Knock suppression apparatus for an internal combustion engine
AssigneeMitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorWataru Fukui
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A knock suppression apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a peak value sensor that senses a peak value of a knock signal indicating knocking of an engine. An analog-digital converter repeatedly converts the peak value into a digital value at prescribed intervals. The most recent digital peak value from the analog-digital converter is stored in a memory and used by a lag angle calculator to calculate a lag angle for suppressing knocking. The ignition timing of the engine is controlled according to a basic ignition timing and the lag angle. Because the analog-digital converter is constantly performing conversion, the ignition timing can be immediately adjusted to compensate for knocking.
Claims8
A knock suppression apparatus for a internal combustion engine comprising:
- knock sensing means for generating an electrical knock signal indicative of the occurrence of knocking in an engine;
- peak value sensor for sensing a peak value of the knock signal and generating an analog peak value signal indicative of the peak value;
- an analog to digital converter connected to the peak value sensor for converting the peak value signal into a digital signal at first intervals;
- lag angle calculating means for calculating at second intervals larger than the first intervals a lag angle based on the most recent digital signal generated by the converter;
- basic ignition timing calculating means for calculating a basic ignition timing based on an operating condition of the engine;
- and
- final ignition timing calculating means for calculating a final ignition timing based on the basic ignition timing and the lag angle.
An apparatus as claimed in claim I wherein the length of the first interval is such that the converter converts the peak value signal a plurality of times during each of the second intervals.
A knock suppression method for an internal combustion engine comprising:
- sensing knocking of an engine and generating a knock signal indicative of the level of knocking;
- determining a peak value of the knock signal and generating an analog peak value signal indicating the peak value;
- performing analog to digital conversion of the peak value signal at first intervals to generate a digital signal;
- calculating a basic ignition timing for the engine based on an operating condition of the engine;
- calculating a lag angle at second intervals larger than the first intervals based on the most recent digital signal;
- and
- calculating a final ignition timing for the engine based on the basic ignition timing and the lag angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.