Abstract:
Experiment shows that a diesel engine discharges more smoke at a lower rate of increase of an engine rotation speed. Reducing an amount of fuel to inject into the engine when the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed is slow can prevent smoke generation. To be more specific, a controller ( 1 ) computes the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed by using signals from sensors that detect a vehicle condition. The controller ( 1 ) contains maps that indicate a correction coefficient corresponding to the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed. The controller ( 1 ) calculates the amount of fuel to inject based on the correction coefficient. Using the calculated amount of fuel, the smoke discharge from the diesel engine is suppressed.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to fuel injection control of a diesel engine. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Tokkai Hei 11-36962 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 1999 discloses a diesel engine control device which suppresses smoke generation in a diesel engine. This diesel engine control device controls a fuel injection to keep the excess air ratio lower than 1 at a low engine rotation speed and a low engine load. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     When a vehicle is accelerated from a low engine rotation speed by depressing an accelerator pedal, an engine emits more smoke when the engine slowly increases its rotation speed than when the engine quickly increase its rotation speed. 
     However, in the prior art, the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed is not taken into consideration. Hence, when the vehicle is accelerated from the low rotation speed by depressing the accelerator pedal, the amount of smoke increases if the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed is low. 
     Therefore, the object of this invention is to control the excess air ratio in response to the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed. 
     To achieve the above objects, this invention provides a fuel injection control device for use with a diesel engine mounted on a vehicle, the diesel engine comprising a fuel injector that injects fuel into a combustion chamber. 
     The device comprises a sensor which detects a running state of the vehicle, a sensor which detects a state of increase of an engine rotation speed, and a programmable controller. The programmable controller is programmed to calculate a required amount of fuel injection based on the running state of the vehicle, set an upper limit of an amount of fuel injection based on the state of increase of the engine rotation speed, calculate a corrected amount of fuel injection by limiting the required amount of fuel injection by the upper limit, and control the amount of fuel injection of the fuel injector to the corrected amount of fuel injection. 
     The details as well as other features and advantages of this invention are set forth in the remainder of the specification and are shown in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an engine with a fuel injection control device according to this invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart describing a routine for computing the amount of the injection fuel performed by a controller according to this invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a required amount of fuel injection relative to accelerator pedal depression, stored by the controller. 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart describing a routine for computing a corrected amount of fuel injection for suppressing smoke generation, performed by the controller. 
     FIG. 5 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a reference amount of fuel injection for suppressing smoke generation, stored by the controller. 
     FIGS. 6A-6C are diagrams describing the characteristics of a map of a correction coefficient according to a speed ratio, stored by the controller. 
     FIGS. 7A-7B are diagrams of other possible characteristics relating to the map of the correction coefficient according to the speed ratio. 
     FIG. 8 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a correction coefficient according to a vehicle acceleration, stored by the controller according to a second embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a correction coefficient according to a rate of the increase of the engine rotation speed, stored by the controller according to a third embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 10 is a flowchart describing another computation routine relating to a corrected amount of fuel injection for the purpose of suppressing smoke generation, performed by the controller according to a fourth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 11 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a correction amount according to the speed ratio, stored by the controller according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 12 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a correction amount according to the vehicle acceleration, stored by the controller according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 13 is a diagram describing the characteristics of a map of a correction amount according to the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed, stored by the controller according to a fourth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 14 is a flowchart describing a routine for computing a corrected amount of fuel injection for the purpose of suppressing smoke generation by a region determination, performed by the controller according to a fifth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIGS. 15A-15C are diagrams describing the characteristics of a map of the corrected amount of fuel injection for the purpose of suppressing smoke generation, stored by the controller according to the fifth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 16 is a timing chart for describing a corrected amount of fuel injection for the purpose of suppressing smoke generation when a map is changed over by the controller according to the fifth embodiment of this invention. 
     FIGS. 17A-17E are timing charts showing research results of the inventors with respect to acceleration and smoke generation in a vehicle driven by a diesel engine. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 17, the research results of the inventors relating to acceleration and smoke generation in a vehicle which is equipped with a diesel engine, will be described. 
     When an accelerator is depressed from when the engine is in a low rotation speed region, a fuel injection amount gradually increases. This fuel injection amount curve is drawn based on the values determined by conventional fuel control techniques. 
     When a low speed gear is used, the engine rotation speed rises quickly. Therefore, as shown by the bold line in FIG. 17E, the amount of generated smoke is small. Also, the time for which smoke is generated is short. 
     Conversely, when a high speed gear is used, the engine rotation speed rises gradually. Therefore, as shown by the thin line in FIG. 17E, the amount of generated smoke increases. Also, as the engine rotation speed does not easily leave the speed at which smoke is generated, the time period during which smoke generation occurs is large. 
     This invention is based on the above analysis. 
     Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a diesel engine comprises a cylinder head  4  and plural cylinders  5  covered by the cylinder head  4 . In each cylinder  5 , a piston  6  reciprocates due to combustion of fuel injected from a fuel injection valve  3 . A fuel injection pump  2  compresses fuel to a predetermined pressure and supplies pressurized fuel to a common rail  10  via a high pressure pipe  9 . The common rail  10  supplies fuel to the fuel injection valves  3  at a constant pressure. Thus, by opening any of the fuel injection valves  3 , fuel is directly injected into a combustion chamber  8  in the corresponding cylinder  5 . 
     In order to control the amount and pressure of fuel injection, the control device according to this invention comprises a controller  1 . The controller  1  comprises a microcomputer having a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and an input/output interface (I/O interface). The controller  1  controls the injection amount by controlling the fuel injection period of a fuel injection valve  3  by an injection signal. Also, based on a running condition of the vehicle, the controller  1  determines the fuel pressure, and the controller  1  feedback controls the discharge pressure of the fuel injection pump  2  to maintain the fuel pressure at a predetermined value. To determine the fuel injection period by the fuel injection valve  3 , a crank angle sensor  12  which detects an engine rotation speed NE, an accelerator pedal depression sensor  11  which detects an accelerator pedal depression ACCEL, an air flow meter  15  which detects an intake fresh air amount QAIR, and a vehicle speed sensor  13  which detects a vehicle speed VSP are connected to the controller  1 . 
     To perform the above control, the controller  1  determines the amount of fuel injection by executing a routine shown in FIG.  2  and FIG.  4 . 
     Referring to FIG. 2, in a step S 1 , the engine rotation speed NE and accelerator pedal depression ACCEL are read. In a step S 2 , a required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE corresponding to the engine rotation speed NE and accelerator pedal depression ACCEL is computed by looking up a map having the characteristics shown in FIG.  3 . This map is stored beforehand in the memory of the controller  1 . The required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE is the amount of fuel injection required to realize the engine torque required by the driver, and it is a value prior to correction for suppressing smoke generation. 
     In a step S 3 , the required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE is compared with a corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for suppressing smoke. The routine for computing the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA will be described later. When the required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE is larger than the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA, smoke will be generated if the required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE is applied to an amount of fuel injection QSOL. Hence, the controller  1  limits the amount of fuel injection QSOL to the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA in a step S 4 . The control of the fuel injection valve  3  is performed based on the amount of fuel injection QSOL. 
     On the other hand, if the required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE does not reach the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA, the controller  1  sets the required amount of fuel injection QDRIVE to the amount of fuel injection QSOL without modification in a step S 5 . 
     Next, referring to FIG. 4, a routine for computing the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for suppressing smoke will be described. In a step S 11 , the controller  1  reads the engine rotation speed NE, the intake fresh air amount QAIR, and the vehicle speed VSP. In a step S 12 , a reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO for suppressing smoke generation corresponding to the engine rotation speed NE and the intake fresh air amount QAIR is computed from a map having the characteristics shown in FIG.  5 . The reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO is the maximum fuel amount to be injected without generating smoke in the steady state, and the reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO increases as the intake fresh air amount QAIR increases. 
     In a step S 13 , a ratio of the vehicle speed VSP to the engine rotation speed NE is computed by the following equation: 
     
       
         
           VN=VSP/NE  
         
       
     
     This ratio VN corresponds to the inverse of the speed ratio of the vehicle transmission. 
     In a step S 14 , a correction coefficient KVN 1  based on the ratio VN found above, is looked up from a map having the characteristics shown in FIG. 6A, and the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA is computed. 
     FIG. 6A is a curve of the correction coefficient KVN 1  relative to the ratio VN. KVN 1  takes the maximum value of 1.0 when the ratio VN takes a minimum value. The correction coefficient KVN 1  decreases as the ratio VN increases. When the ratio VN has a large value, it represents the fact that the vehicle is running under a high speed gear. When the ratio VN has a small value, it represents the fact that the vehicle is running under a low speed gear. In general, at the same vehicle speed, when the vehicle is running under a high speed gear, acceleration performance is poorer and the rate of increase of engine rotation speed is slower compared to the rate of increase of engine rotation speed when the vehicle is running under a low speed gear. Thus, the time spent in the engine rotation speed region where smoke is easily generated is longer. Hence, by setting the correction coefficient KVN 1  to a value less than 1.0 when the vehicle is running under a high speed gear, the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA becomes smaller than the reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO and smoke generation is suppressed. 
     In a step S 15 , a value obtained by multiplying the correction coefficient KVN 1  by the reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO is computed as the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA. The corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA is used for determining the amount of fuel injection in the step S 3  of the flowchart of FIG.  2 . 
     On the other hand, under the low speed gear, the time spent in the region where the engine easily discharges smoke is short, so there is little need to suppress the injection amount in order to suppress smoke. In this case, the suppressing value is not reduced by making the correction coefficient KVN 1  1.0 to obtain a good vehicle acceleration performance. Thus, by setting the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for suppressing smoke according to the ratio VN of the vehicle speed VSP to the engine rotation speed NE, smoke generation when the vehicle is running under a high speed gear is suppressed, while good vehicle acceleration performance is maintained when the vehicle is running under a low speed gear. 
     According to this embodiment, the correction coefficient KVN 1  is set to 1.0 when the ratio VN is the minimum value, but a value other than 1.0 may also be applied as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C. The characteristics of the variation of the correction coefficient KVN 1  may also be represented by a straight line having a horizontal portion as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, instead of the curve shown in FIGS. 6A-6C. 
     Next, referring to FIG. 8, a second embodiment of this invention will be described. According to this embodiment, the controller  1  determines the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA using the vehicle acceleration instead of the ratio VN. FIG. 8 shows the characteristics of a correction coefficient KDV 1  relative to the vehicle acceleration. The correction coefficient KDV 1  decreases as the vehicle acceleration decreases. If the vehicle acceleration is small, the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed is smaller than the rate of increase for a large vehicle acceleration. The engine spends a long time in the region where smoke is easily generated, so the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA needs to be suppressed low. 
     Next, referring to FIG. 9, a third embodiment of this invention will be described. According to this embodiment, the controller  1  determines the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for suppressing smoke using the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed instead of the ratio VN. FIG. 9 shows the characteristics of a correction coefficient KDNE 1  relative to the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed. In the first and second embodiments, the ratio VN or the vehicle acceleration was used to set the correction coefficient. On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the engine rotation speed is directly used to set the correction coefficient. When the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed is slow, the engine spends a long time in the region where smoke is easily generated. Therefore, the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA is limited by making the correction coefficient KDNE 1  smaller as the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed becomes smaller. 
     Next, referring to FIG. 10, a fourth embodiment of this invention will be described. According to this embodiment, the controller  1  applies a routine shown in FIG. 10 instead of the routine shown in FIG. 4 for calculating the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for suppressing smoke. In this routine, the processing of the steps S 21 -S 23  is identical to the processing of the steps S 11 -S 13  in FIG.  4 . 
     In a step S 24 , a correction amount KVN 2  is computed from the ratio VN by looking up a map having the characteristics shown in FIG.  11 . Herein, the correction amount KVN 2  is set to have a negative value. Referring to FIG. 11, the correction amount KVN 2  takes a value of zero when the ratio takes the minimum value, and it increases in absolute value as the ratio VN increases. 
     In a step S 25 , a vehicle acceleration DV is calculated by the following equation: 
     
       
         
           DV=VSP−VSPz  
         
       
     
     where VSPz is the value of VSP that is calculated in the previous iteration. 
     In a step S 26 , a correction amount KDV 2  based on the vehicle acceleration is computed from the value of the vehicle acceleration DV by looking up a map having the characteristics shown in FIG.  12 . As the vehicle acceleration increases, the correction amount KDV 2  also increases. The reason is that the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed is larger as the vehicle acceleration is larger. 
     In steps S 27  and S 28 , the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed DNE is calculated by the following equation based on the engine rotation speed NE: 
     
       
         
           DNE=NE−NEz  
         
       
     
     where NEz is the value of NE calculated in the previous iteration. 
     Next, a correction coefficient KDNE 2  corresponding to the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed DNE is computed by looking up a map having the characteristics shown in FIG.  13 . As the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed increases, the correction amount KDNE 2  also increases. 
     In a step S 29 , the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA to suppress smoke generation is computed by adding the correction amount KVN 2  based on the ratio VN, the correction amount KDV 2  based on the vehicle acceleration, and the correction amount KDNE 2  based on the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed to the reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO. 
     In the first embodiment, the controller  1  computed the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA by multiplying the reference amount of fuel injection BMQAO by the correction coefficient KVN 1  based on the ratio VN. In this embodiment, an addition is performed instead of a multiplication to calculate the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA. Also, whereas the first embodiment introduced only the correction coefficient KVN 1  based on the ratio VN, this embodiment improves the control precision by introducing three correction amounts: the correction amount KDV 2  based on the vehicle acceleration and the correction amount KDNE 3  based on the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed in addition to the correction amount KVN 1  based on the ratio VN. 
     Next, referring to FIG. 14, a fifth embodiment of this invention will be described. According to this embodiment, the controller  1  performs a routine shown in FIG. 14 instead of the routine shown in FIG. 4 to calculate the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for suppressing smoke. In this routine, the processing of the steps S 31  and S 32  is respectively identical to the processing of the steps S 21  and S 23  of FIG.  10 . 
     In the step S 33 , the region determination is performed by comparing the computed value of the ratio VN with predetermined values VN1 and VN2. VN1 and VN2 have the following relation: 
     
       
         VN1&lt;VN2  
       
     
     VN1 and VN2 are values for dividing the speed ratio region into three parts. If the ratio VN is less than VN1, ratio VN is in the low speed region, if the ratio VN is between VN1 and VN2, the ratio VN is in the medium speed region, and if the ratio VN is larger than VNT2, the ratio VN is in the high speed region. In the step S 33 , it is determined in which of these three regions the ratio VN is situated. 
     The controller  1  stores maps of the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA for each of these three regions. In a step S 34 , a map is selected according to the result of the region determination of the step S 33 . The corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA is then computed by looking up the selected map in a step S 35 . 
     FIGS. 15A-15C shows the maps of the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA provided for each of the three regions. In all of the maps, the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA is computed using the engine rotation speed NE and intake fresh air amount QAIR as parameters which are representative values of the running condition. However, even if the values of the parameters are identical, the computed corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA is different depending on the map. Specifically, the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA when the ratio VN is large is less than BMQA when the ratio VN is small. For example, comparing the three maps at a point “A” where the engine rotation speed NE and the intake fresh air amount QAIR are identical, the value of the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA takes a smaller value when the map for the higher speed region is applied. According to this processing, the difference in the rate of increase of the engine rotation speed based on the ratio VN is reflected in the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA. 
     When individual maps are selected for each region of the ratio VN as in this embodiment, it is necessary to change over the maps, for example, from the low speed region to the medium speed region, or from the medium speed region to the high speed region, due to the variation of the ratio VN. Thus, an abrupt change may occur in the corrected amount of fuel injection BMQA before and after the map changeover as shown by the solid line in FIG.  16 . When there is a map change-over, it is preferable to perform processing so that the values before and after the change-over are smoothly joined together as shown by the broken line or dotted line in FIG.  16 . This processing may be a ramp process shown by the dotted line, or other process shown by the broken line, in FIG.  16 . 
     The number of regions and number of maps corresponding to these regions is not limited to three. It can be two, four or more. The separation caused by the map change-over is small if the number of maps increases, but the memory capacity required to store the maps in the controller  1  also increases. 
     The entire contents of Japanese Patent Application P2001-056358 (filed on Mar. 1, 2001) are incorporated herein by reference. 
     Although the invention has been described above by reference to certain embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Modifications and variations of the embodiments described above will occur to those skilled in the art, in light of the above teachings. The scope of the invention is defined with reference to the following claims.