Fuel injection device, fuel injection system, and method for determining malfunction of the same

A fuel injection device comprising:

• a fuel injection valve for injecting fuel supplied from a pressure-accumulation vessel;
• a pressure sensor mounted on the fuel injection valve for detecting pressure of fuel;
• an IC memory mounted on the fuel injection valve for storing individual difference information;
• and
• a control unit configured to receive the individual difference information transmitted from the IC memory to obtain an injection pattern in actual use of the fuel injection device, the control unit further configured to cause the fuel injection device to inject fuel into the combustion chamber of the engine in accordance with the injection pattern in the actual use where the fuel injection device is mounted to an internal combustion engine and caused to inject fuel into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine,
• wherein the individual difference information indicates an injection characteristic of the fuel injection valve, the injection characteristic being obtained in an examination using the pressure sensor and stored in the IC memory in a condition where both the pressure sensor and the IC memory are mounted on the fuel injection valve, the examination being conducted in advance of actual use, and
• the individual difference information includes information related to an injection response time delay between an injection start point, at which fuel injection through a nozzle hole of the fuel injection valve starts, and a time point, at which a fluctuation occurs in detected pressure of the pressure sensor due to the start of fuel injection,
• the pressure sensor and the IC memory, each used in the examination are, without being detached from the fuel injection valve, used in actual use in a condition where the fuel injection valve is mounted on the internal combustion engine,
• the injection start point is actually detected in the examination,
• information relating to the injection response time delay includes a plurality of information items, which is respectively obtained by conducting a plurality of examinations,
• the plurality of examinations respectively includes a plurality patterns of examination conditions, which are different from each other in pressure of fuel supplied to the fuel injection valve,
• each of the information items is correlated to each of the plurality of patterns and stored,
• the fuel injection valve has a control chamber having an fuel inlet hole and a leak hole,
• the fuel inlet hole is configured to be supplied with fuel distributed from the pressure-accumulation vessel, the fuel injection valve includes a control valve configured to open and close the leak hole so as to return fuel to a fuel tank,
• the fuel injection valve includes a needle valve for opening and closing the nozzle hole, the control valve is configured to control pressure of fuel in the control chamber so as to manipulate the needle valve,
• the individual difference information includes leak response delay information, which indicates at least one of a leak response time delay and a parameter,
• the leak response time delay is a time period from a time point, at which fuel leak through the leak hole starts, to a time point, at which a fluctuation occurs in detected pressure of the pressure sensor, the fluctuation being attributed to the start of fuel leak, and
• the parameter is required for calculating the leak response time delay.