Air/fuel ratio control apparatus
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsYutaka Kawamoto, Atsushi Iochi, Hiroshi Kuriki
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Abstract
Fuel vapor is produced in a fuel tank and absorbed in a canister. The absorbed fuel vapor is purged through a purge passage into an engine induction passage under predetermined engine operating conditions. A purge valve is provided in the purge passage to regulate the supply of gaseous mixture, including the absorbed fuel vapor, into the engine. A purge rate factor is determined corresponding to the concentration of evaporated fuel in the gaseous mixture. The concentration is determined utilizing the temperature of the fuel in the fuel tank.
Claims7
A system for controlling the ratio of air and fuel supplied to an internal combustion engine during purging of accumulated evaporated fuel from a fuel tank, comprising:
- a purge valve for regulating the supply of a gaseous mixture including evaporated fuel to said internal combustion engine;
- a processor for determining a purge rate factor corresponding to a concentration of evaporated fuel in said gaseous mixture;
- a controller for controlling said purge valve to regulate the rate of supply of said gaseous mixture to the internal combustion engine in accordance with said purge rate;
- a sensor for sensing the temperature of fuel in the fuel tank;
- the controller corresponding said concentration of evaporated fuel in said gaseous mixture to said sensed temperature.
A method for controlling the ratio of air and fuel supplied to an internal combustion engine during purging of accumulated evaporated fuel from a fuel tank, comprising the steps of:
- determining a purge rate factor corresponding to a concentration of evaporated fuel in said gaseous mixture;
- controlling a rate of supply of said gaseous mixture to the internal combustion engine in accordance with said purge rate factor;
- sensing the temperature of fuel in the fuel tank;
- and
- utilizing said sensed temperature to determine the concentration of evaporated fuel in said gaseous mixture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.