Vehicle control method and vehicle control apparatus
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorHiroshi Abe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle control apparatus and methodology relate to an exhaust gas sensor and sensor heater associated with an exhaust passage of a vehicle engine. The exhaust gas sensor is selectively heated to an applicable activation temperature by the heater so that the sensor may output a normal and accurate sensing signal. The heating must take place, however, without causing damage to the sensor such as that resulting from condensation that may occur within the exhaust passage as a result of engine operation and environmental conditions.
Claims19
A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle, which includes an engine having at least one exhaust gas sensor associated with an exhaust passage of the engine for sensing a property of an exhaust gas, and a heater for heating the exhaust gas sensor, wherein the engine is selectively controlled to stop automatically when a predetermined operation condition is satisfied, the vehicle control apparatus comprising:
- an environmental condition sensing mechanism that senses, when an engine is automatically stopped, at least one environmental condition, the at least one environmental condition including at least one of an atmospheric temperature and an atmospheric pressure;
- and
- a controller, wherein the controller includes:
- a condensation occurrence temperature estimation mechanism that estimates a condensation occurrence temperature based on the at least one environmental condition and based on a parameter related to a gas that is selectively exhausted to an exhaust passage until the engine stops rotation after a fuel supply of the engine is cut off;
- and
- a heating control mechanism that selectively heats an exhaust gas sensor to a desired activation temperature with a heater if a temperature of the exhaust passage is higher than or equal to the condensation occurrence temperature when the engine is automatically stopped, and selectively performs, if the exhaust passage temperature is lower than the condensation occurrence temperature when the engine is automatically stopped, one of lowering heating performance of the heater and stopping the heating performed by the heater.
A vehicle control method for a vehicle, which includes an engine including an exhaust gas sensor associated with an exhaust passage of the engine for sensing a property of exhaust gas, and a heating device for heating the exhaust gas sensor, which when a predetermined operating condition is satisfied, automatically stops the engine, and which when another predetermined operating condition is satisfied, automatically restarts the engine, the vehicle control method comprising:
- detecting at least one environmental condition when an engine is automatically stopped;
- estimating a condensation occurrence temperature based on the at least one environmental condition and based on a parameter related to a gas that is selectively exhausted to an exhaust passage until the engine stops rotation after a fuel supply of the engine is cut off;
- and
- selectively heating the exhaust gas sensor to an activation temperature by an heating device if a temperature of an exhaust passage of the engine is higher than or equal to the condensation occurrence temperature when the engine is automatically stopped, and selectively performing, if the exhaust passage temperature is lower than the condensation occurrence temperature when the engine is automatically stopped, one of lowering heating performance of the heating device and stopping the heating performed by the heating device.
A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle, which includes an engine having at least one exhaust gas sensor associated with an exhaust passage of the engine for sensing a property of an exhaust gas, and a heater for heating the exhaust gas sensor, the engine is selectively controlled to stop automatically when a predetermined operation condition is satisfied, the vehicle control apparatus comprising:
- an environmental condition sensing section that senses at least one environmental condition when an engine is automatically stopped, the at least one environmental condition including at least one of an atmospheric temperature and an atmospheric pressure;
- and
- a condensation occurrence temperature estimation section that estimates a condensation occurrence temperature based on the at least one environmental condition and based on a parameter related to a gas that is selectively exhausted to an exhaust passage until the engine stops rotation after a fuel supply of the engine is cut off;
- and
- a heating control section that selectively heats an exhaust gas sensor with a heater when the engine is automatically stopped, in which the heater is selectively controlled to heat the exhaust gas sensor to a desired activation temperature if a temperature of the exhaust passage is higher than or equal to the condensation occurrence temperature, and the heater is selectively controlled to lower or stop a heating performance thereof if the exhaust passage temperature is lower than the condensation occurrence temperature.
A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle, which includes an engine, wherein the engine is selectively controlled to stop automatically when a predetermined condition is satisfied, having at least one exhaust gas sensor associated with an exhaust passage of the engine for sensing a property of an exhaust gas, and a heating device for heating the exhaust gas sensor, the vehicle control apparatus comprising:
- an environmental condition sensing means for sensing, when the engine is automatically stopped, at least one environmental condition, the at least one environmental condition including at least one of the atmospheric temperature and the atmospheric pressure;
- and
- a controller means, wherein the controller means includes:
- a condensation occurrence temperature estimation means for estimating a condensation occurrence temperature based both on a parameter related to a gas that is selectively exhausted to the exhaust passage and also based on the at least one environmental condition;
- and
- a heating control means for selectively heating the exhaust gas sensor to a desired activation temperature using the heating device if a temperature of the exhaust passage is higher than or equal to the condensation occurrence temperature, and selectively performs, if the exhaust passage temperature is lower than the condensation occurrence temperature when the engine is automatically stopped, one of lowering heating performance of the heating device and stopping the heating performed by the heating device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.