Patent ID: 11906502
Assignee: CFPH, LLC
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  F | IPC F  G

Claim 0:
1. A method for adjusting operation of a spark-ignition internal combustion engine having an electronic control unit (ECU) based on an octane measurement of fuel being delivered to the engine, the method comprising:
providing an analyzer of octane ratings of the fuel in electronic communication with the ECU, the analyzer having a processor, a memory and a receptacle for sampling the fuel;
periodically pumping a sample of the fuel from a source to the receptacle;
determining, by the analyzer, an octane rating of the sample by
(1) forming a representation of a spectra of the sample, and
(2) matching the spectra of the sample with a plurality of spectra having pre-assigned industry-accepted octane ratings, and
(3) assigning to the sample a nearest recognized octane rating of the matching of the plurality of spectra;

communicating, by the analyzer to the ECU, the octane rating assigned of the sample; and
adjusting, by the ECU, performance of the engine in accordance with the communicated octane rating, wherein the ECU (1) retards engine ignition timing when the communicated octane rating is lower than required for the engine, (2) advance engine ignition timing when the communicated octane rating is higher than required for the engine, and (3) do nothing when communicated octane rating are not determined.