Patent ID: 6047593
Filing Date: 2000-04-11
Classification: F01L,F02D,Y02T

Abstract:
A process for monitoring a belt or chain drive of an internal combustion engine that passes over at least two wheels, one of which drives a cam which is associated with a fuel metering device for the engine and another of which is associated with a crankshaft for the engine, comprising:providing a sensor for each wheel to produce signals from which a phase relation of the wheels relative to each other can be determined;generating a signal indicating an elongation of the belt or chain drive if the phase relation of the wheels deviates from a nominal value;determining in a control computer associated with the internal combustion engine and from an engine performance characteristic diagram, data values for the fuel metering device based on factors including signals from the sensors which have a performance characteristic-dependent nominal relationship to intake and exhaust valves of the internal combustion engine in such a manner that, at a performance characteristic-dependent operating point of the internal combustion engine, the fuel metering device is actuated in accordance with the data values to deliver a nominal fuel quantity;determining a correction signal for the data values as a function of the sensor signals; andgenerating a corrected data value so that a hypothetical fuel quantity which would result from an elongation of the belt or chain drive and which deviates from the nominal fuel quantity is corrected to the value of the nominal fuel quantity.