Patent ID: 7628007
Filing Date: 2009-12-08
Classification: F01N,F02D,G01N,Y02T

Abstract:
1. An onboard diagnostics system for monitoring engine emissions, the system comprising: at least one sensor; a data processor; each of the at least one sensors being structured and dimensioned for placement in an exhaust path of an engine; the data processor being adapted for extraction of information from the at least one sensor on a real-time basis; each of the at least one sensors being selected from a group consisting of an electric charge sensor and a sensor for detecting oxides of nitrogen; wherein, one of the sensors is an electric charge sensor, and, the information extracted from that sensor can be correlated with particulate matter concentrations from individual cylinders of the engine with the data processor comprising an engine control unit for detecting whether there is an anomaly in the information extracted from that sensor, and for identifying a cylinder to which the anomaly is attributable and which includes: receiving at least one signal representative of a cylinder input condition; using the cylinder input condition signal to detect whether the input condition of the identified cylinder to which the anomaly is attributable is different than the input condition of other cylinders; if the input condition of the identified cylinder is different than the input condition of the other cylinders, adjusting at least one engine parameter until the input condition of the identified cylinder is no longer different than the input condition of the other cylinders; and after adjusting the at least one engine parameter until the input condition of the identified cylinder is no longer different than the input condition of the other cylinders, detecting whether the anomaly is still occurring.