Apparatus for controlling a timing of turning on electricity to a heater
AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKoichi Shimamura, Koji Kano, Mitsuo Kusa
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Abstract
An apparatus for controlling operation of a heater has an internal resistance detector for detecting an internal resistance value of an oxygen sensor, and a control unit for estimating a surface temperature of the oxygen sensor based on the internal resistance value detected by the internal resistance detector, then estimating a temperature of the exhaust pipe based on the estimated surface temperature of the oxygen sensor and controlling the operation of the heater, which is combined with the oxygen sensor in a single unit, when the estimated temperature of the exhaust pipe has reached a predetermined temperature.
Claims12
An apparatus for controlling the timing of initiating a heater by controlling a temperature of an oxygen sensor, which is mountable on an exhaust pipe to control an air/fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- internal resistance detecting means for detecting an internal resistance value of the oxygen sensor;
- and
- controlling means for estimating a surface temperature of the oxygen sensor based on the internal resistance value detected by said internal resistance detecting means, then estimating a temperature of the exhaust pipe based on the estimated surface temperature of the oxygen sensor and controlling an initiation of electricity to a heater, which is combined with the oxygen sensor in a single unit, when the estimated temperature of the exhaust pipe has reached a predetermined temperature.
A heater control apparatus, comprising:
- an oxygen sensor for detecting an exhaust gas and an oxygen concentration level;
- a heater being in contact with said oxygen sensor, said heater for supplying heat to said oxygen sensor;
- and
- controlling means for controlling operation of said heater based on data including at least an oxygen surface temperature and an exhaust pipe temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.