Patent ID: 6234010
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: G01M

Abstract:
A method for detecting torque of a reciprocating internal combustion engine, said internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder and a rotatable crankshaft, comprising the steps of:sensing rotational crankshaft speed for a plurality of designated crankshaft rotational positions over a predetermined number of cycles of rotation for each of said crankshaft positions;determining an average crankshaft speed for said predetermined number of cycles, and an average crankshaft speed fluctuation for each said crankshaft position;determining crankshaft kinetic energy variations using said average crankshaft speed fluctuations; anddetermining information representative of average crankshaft torque as a function of said crankshaft kinetic energy variations and said average crankshaft speed and responsively producing a representative crankshaft torque signal.