Patent ID: 6359435
Filing Date: 2002-03-19
Classification: F01L,F02D,G01N,G01R,H01F

Abstract:
A method of determining magnetic characteristics of an electrically controlled solenoid, the method including:providing an electronically controlled solenoid having an armature, a stator and a coil operatively associated with said stator, said armature, said stator and said coil defining a magnetic circuit, said armature being spaced from said stator to define an air gap between said armature and said stator; ramping current to said coil in a generally linear manner over a period of time to define a known current curve, and observing and recording a resulting rate of change of flux in said magnetic circuit at certain points along said current curve so as to determine magnetic characteristics of said solenoid from the resulting rate of change of said flux at said certain points.