Abstract:
This invention described an air quality measuring device and vehicle performance predictor whereby normalized air quality conditions and vehicle performance factors are calculated based upon atmospheric and vehicle operational data inputs. The controller of air quality measuring device and vehicle performance predictor is connected to temperature, pressure, humidity, oxygen and light sensors. The sensor measure the ambient atmosphere and inputs the collected data into the controller. The controller calculates normalized air quality conditions such the oxygen content and moisture concentrations in the atmosphere. All stored and calculated normalized air quality conditions and vehicle performance factors are displayed on a visible screen on the controller, stored in memory of the controller and may be sent to a remote transceiver, printer or computer.

Description:
[0001]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to an apparatus that collects air quality conditions and calculates an atmospheric performance factor that relates the performance of an internal combustion engine to a particular atmospheric condition at a particular moment in time. The atmospheric performance formula predicts vehicle performance for the collected conditions with out the use of a personal computer. Specifically, the controller of the present invention provides an interface that displays collected air quality conditions, atmospheric performance factor, and stored vehicle operational data previously inputted and stored in the controller. The controller also provides an optional remote receiver with a display to allow the user to read the stored and calculated information at a remote location.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Internal combustion engines utilize air and fuel such as gasoline, diesel fuel, alcohol, or alcohol-gasoline. This combination of fuel and air, often referred to as the “charge”, enters the combustion chamber and explodes as the piston compresses the charge and along with a spark created by a spark plug, except in traditional diesel engines in which the charge explodes as the diesel and air mixture is compressed. For optimum performance and consistent running of the engine, the combination of air and fuel must be controlled to create a charge that burns efficiently. Various devices have been developed to control the amount of air and fuel in the charge. Most vehicles including passenger cars and motorcycles, utilize either a carburetor or fuel injection. Various forms of fuel injection have been developed such as single fuel injector which sits above a throttle body that intakes air, combines it with fuel and delivers the mixture to the cylinders. Fuel injectors may also be placed in the intake manifold to inject the fuel as the air travels through the intake and directs the mixture to the engine cylinders. Lastly, direct injection consists of one or more injectors that inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber or cylinder. These fuel injection systems typically utilize a computer, often referred to as the “ECU” (electronic control unit), along with sensors to measure the current operating conditions of the engine such as a manifold absolute pressure sensor, or “MAP” for short, to measure the pressure of air flowing through the intake manifold. The computer may also receive other operational conditions such as engine revolutions per minute, “R.P.M.”, or charge temperature. The ECU receives the engine operating conditions and utilizes either algorithms or a look-up table to determine the optimal amount of fuel to inject for the air inspired to increase efficiency of the engine, referred to as stoichiometric ratio (14.7:1 for gasoline engines).  
           [0004]    In performance applications such as racing, the driver or crew chief may attempt to control the delivery of fuel and air to the combustion chamber to find the optimum combination for a particular engine and racing application. All engines, including naturally aspirated engines and forced air engines, those that super or turbocharged, draw air from the atmosphere. Thus, the racer or crew chief must consider the current environmental conditions the vehicle will be operating in to formulate the proper engine set-up. Any change in temperature, barometric pressure, humidity or combination thereof will affect the performance characteristics of the engine due to the content of oxygen in the air. For example, on a day of low humidity, a standard volume of air will contain a certain percentage of oxygen, water vapor and other gas molecules. As the humidity increases, the amount of water vapor molecules increase and displace the molecules of oxygen and other gases. Therefore, the standard volume of air will contain less oxygen and more water vapor.  
           [0005]    To compensate for the changing amount of oxygen available in the air, the racer or crew chief may increase the amount of fuel that is delivered to the combustion chamber. This may be done by changing the sizes of jets in a carburetor or increasing the amount of time a fuel injector is open which, in turn, increases the amount of fuel injected into the combustion chamber.  
           [0006]    Temperature also may affect the amount of oxygen in the air. At high temperatures, the spaces between the oxygen, water vapor, and gas molecules in the same standard volume of air will be greater than the same volume of air on a cooler day. These temperature changes will typically affect the performance of an engine. Engines that are computer-controlled will often use a MAP sensor to monitor changes in the intake air and adjust the fuel accordingly. However, carbureted engines typically do not measure MAP and some fuel injection systems may not compensate for changes in MAP. Turbocharged and supercharged engines are less affected by changes in temperature due to the fact that both chargers compress the air or air-exhaust mixture to increase the density of the charge (minimizes the gaps between the molecules thereby increasing the amount of oxygen molecules in the charge) entering the combustion chamber.  
           [0007]    The engines used in motorized racing applications such as drag racing, circle-track, road course racing and even motorized, 2-cycle kart racing are affected by the current and changing atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, most racing vehicles are also affected by wind. It is well known in the art of racing that wind can either slow down or increase the speed of the car. Racecar chassis builders attempt to create the most aerodynamically efficient body that creates maximum down-force. Various spoilers, wings and faring are often added to the body of the car to minimize drag and increase down-force. However, these spoilers and wings may hinder car maneuverability and stability. Thus, the crew chief or mechanic often uses average wind and gust speeds along with the direction of the wind to determine the physical set-up of the car such as wing angle. In drag racing application it is common for the racer to adjust the elapsed time the car may run in a quarter or eight-mile due to the drag of the wind or push of a tail wind. Therefore, there is a need to provide a system, which is capable of collecting and calculating accurate and repeatable atmospheric and weather conditions.  
           [0008]    Hand-held weather stations have been developed that measure atmospheric conditions. However, the accuracy of these systems depends upon the position of the sensors, such as whether the unit is placed in the sunlight, shade or wind. Furthermore, for the most accurate weather information, the unit should be kept in one place. Due to the portability of these hand-held units, there is a tendency for the driver or crew chief to take the unit to the starting line to determine the weather conditions before making last minute changes on the car. Albeit convenient, the hand-held unit has lost its reference when moved. For example, if the unit was placed in the shade at the racer&#39;s pit spot, any reading taken in the direct sun light at the starting line may be inaccurate. This may cause the racer to under or over compensate for a changing weather condition, which will affect the ultimate performance of the engine. This is especially important to drag racers where a race may be won or lost by a thousandth of a second.  
           [0009]    Sportsman racers often utilize these smaller hand-held weather stations or standard humidity, barometric and temperature gauges and a calculator to calculated correct air density, which references the air to sea level. For repeatability, the gauges must be placed in a reference position at each race. However, this may be impractical due the pit area and the gauges must be calibrated to ensure accurate readings. These calculations can also be performed on a personal or laptop computer. However, most sportsman racers do not have the extra funds to buy a computer for the race trailer.  
           [0010]    Professional race teams often utilize data collections systems that monitor engine functions and other conditions such as shock travel on the racecar during the race. Likewise, they often record weather conditions in an “electronic” logbook that contains race or lap information. Sportsman teams without room for a computer or fund for one to carry in the race trailer may input these weather and race data in a database on a computer after the event at home. Laptops are ideal for these applications because they can be used at the home and then on the road with the racer for the weekend. However, during the rush of packing, the racer may forget to take the laptop and place it in the race trailer or tow vehicle. Furthermore, to utilize the computer to record weather information requires a power supply. Although most laptops batteries can hold a charge for a few hours, some racing events are three to four days for qualifying and racing. Thus, the racer must have the electrical power available to keep the batteries charged.  
           [0011]    Drag racing applications often require the racer to “dial” the car. That is, the racer must estimate the elapsed time the car will run in a quarter mile and write that information on the window of the car. The racetrack uses this “dialed” number to determine when to start the starting line lights. For example, if a car that dialed 10.00 seconds races a car that is dialed 9.50seconds, the starting line light will turn on for the slower car 0.5 seconds before the faster car&#39;s light. In a class of drag racing commonly called “super class racing” the racer must “set-up” the car to run a particular elapsed time in a quarter-mile such as 8.90 seconds, 9.90 seconds or 10.90 second. These drag racers will utilize past run and weather data to either predict what the car will run. In the super class races, the racer may use a timer called a throttle stop which acts to restrict the fuel and air to the engine or will control the throttle position, to slow the car down for a particular amount of time to make the car run the 9.90, 9.90 or 10.90 seconds. Sportsman racers typically record all runs and weather information in a paper logbook for reference at later races to predict how the car will run.  
           [0012]    Therefore, there is a need in the racing community for a weather station that provides accurate and repeatable weather data. Likewise, there is a need for a system that is capable of collecting and displaying atmospheric air quality conditions, predicting the performance of the vehicle under the current atmospheric air quality conditions, and store past race information such as elapsed time, speed, electronic timer values, shock set and other conditions. Furthermore, there is a need for a system that can provide the racer accurate race information at the starting and one that can predict vehicle performance factors such as throttle-stop timing and transmit that information to the racer at any time.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0013]    The present invention provides a unique approach to collecting accurate weather information and display the atmospheric conditions to a racer as well as calculating the atmospheric performance factor which related the performance of an internal combustion engine to a particular set of atmospheric conditions. Moreover, the present invention determines vehicle performance factors such as throttle-stop timing or predicted elapsed time without the use of a laptop or personal computer.  
           [0014]    In racing applications such as drag racing, races are often won or lost, by ten thousandths of a second. Therefore, the racer must be able to tune the racecar for particular atmospheric conditions at the time of the run. Also, the racer must do so in a race where the atmospheric conditions may change over the one to four days of a race. One method of recording this information is to write vehicle performance and weather conditions in a logbook. The racer can then compare weather conditions from race to race and use the information to predict how a racecar will run under those or similar conditions. Often the racer will attempt to find a relationship between to a particular weather condition and its effect on elapsed time. To determine this mathematical relationship, the racer must have a larger number of runs or lapse in various weather conditions. Moreover, the racer must compensate for the altitude of the track and its affect on the weather and the engine.  
           [0015]    To simplify the process of determining the mathematical relationship, racer often calculate a normalized weather reading to sea level, which compensates for the altitude of the track. With the elapsed time information and normalized air conditions (also referred to as “sea-level air”, “density altitude” or “corrected density altitude”), the racer can plot the information on a graph of normalized air versus elapsed time. Using a statistical regression analysis, the racer can predict the performance of the racecar at a particular normalized air value. This corrected density altitude uses weather information such as barometric pressure, temperature and humidity. However, this method may provide inaccurate results due to the fact that weather information must be consistently and accurately collected and the calculated formulas or graphs must be followed. Often, gauges may be hard to read or out of calibration, or the graph used may not display the effects of a small change in air conditions. Another disadvantages of this method are that a person must read the gauges and determine the readings, plotting and calculations. Also, one crew member may place the gauges in the sunlight or wind for a race and then at the next race place the gauges is the shade, where it is shielded by the wind.  
           [0016]    The present invention provides a method and stand-alone system for calculating the atmospheric performance factor for a vehicle at a particular time. Furthermore, the present invention allows the user to input run and past weather data into the controller for later review without the need for a laptop or personal computer. The controller utilizes the past run and collected air quality conditions, and an atmospheric performance formula to determine and predict the atmospheric performance factor and vehicle operational performance factors such as elapsed time and throttle-stop setting.  
           [0017]    Moreover, the present invention provides a method for collecting accurate and repeatable atmospheric weather information. The system provides remote mounted air-collecting sensors that are always placed in the same reference location when used such as on top of a racecar trailer, transporter or tow vehicle. Theses sensors collect atmospheric weather information and send the data to a controller. Multiple wind sensors may also be utilized which are positioned to be in the same direction as the run of the racetrack to determine head, cross and tail wind conditions. The direction and velocity reading are also recorded for each run of the racecar and the controller may be used to calculate the loss or gain of elapsed time for the current wind conditions.  
           [0018]    The controller also contains a user interface to interact with the user. The user can input past run data into the controller using a keypad, mouse or similar input device. A display is provided on the controller to display current air quality conditions and corresponding calculated atmospheric performance vehicle performance factors. The controller may be used to collect, display and store air quality conditions, calculated performance factor and vehicle performance factors with out the need for a computer or laptop. The controller is powered by any 12 Volt power source such as a trailer battery or small motorcycle battery. The controller may also utilize a transmitter to transmit the calculated collected air quality conditions and calculated atmospheric performance and vehicle performance factors to a remote receiver. This allows the racer to leave the air-collecting sensors at a single location at every racer and receive the data via a remote receive such a display screen on a pager.  
           [0019]    The controller utilizes a non-volatile memory to store the user inputted run data. Thus, once the air-collecting sensors are removed from the controller, run data, air quality conditions and the calculated atmospheric performance factor, and vehicle performance factors are stored in the non-volatile memory in the controller. These values may be displayed at a later time using the controller. Alternatively, the user may download the information from the controller to printer, laptop or personal computer for plotting or later reference.  
           [0020]    The details of the invention, together with further objects and advantages of the invention, are set forth in the detailed description which follows. The precise scope of the invention is defined by the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    A better understanding of the present invention is obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings as described below:  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a controller, remote mounted air-collection sensors, and transmitter antenna and remote receiver with a display;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the remote mounted air-collection sensors, and the back of the controller;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the controller according to the invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4A and 4B is a circuit diagram of the controller;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the microprocessor operations of the controller;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 is a listing of the menus of the controller;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 7is a top plan view of the controller and displayed screens;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the remote receiver and associated displayed screen; and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 9 is a front plan view of a computer screen and screens when connected to the controller. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0031]    Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is an illustration of the weather and prediction system  10  for collecting air quality conditions, calculating atmospheric performance factor, and predicting vehicle performance. Weather center and prediction system  10  consisting of a controller  12 , remote mounted air-collecting sensors  14  which contains a wind speed and gust sensor  16 , wind directional sensor  18  mounted on a pole  20 . Also positioned on pole  20  is an air-collecting housing  21 , which contains the temperature, humidity and pressure sensors (not shown). To ensure that the remote mounted air-collecting sensors  14  are positioned at the same location at every race, a mounting bracket  22  is fixed to a racecar trailer or transporter  23 . Controller  12  may also acts as a transmitter and sends a radio frequency signal via a remote mounted antenna  24  to a receiver  26  which displays the collected and calculated atmospheric performance factor at a remote location.  
         [0032]    Controller  12  and remote mounted air collecting sensors  14  are powered by a power source  28  as shown in FIG. 2. In one embodiment a 12 Volt battery was used; alternatively, a 12 Volt, 1 amp AC transformer may be connected to controller  12  at a point “a” to supply power to controller  12  and remote mounted air-collecting sensors  14 . Remote mounted antenna  24  is electrically coupled to controller  12  at a point “b” as shown in FIG. 2. Remote mounted air collecting sensors  14  are electrically connected to controller  12  at a point “c” and a connection to coupler controller  12  to a computer (not shown) is also provided at a point “d.” A circuit breaker  30  is also provided in controller  12  to prevent damage from power spikes.  
         [0033]    Referring to the schematic representation of controller  12  in FIG. 3, controller  12  utilizes a microprocessor  32  and EEPROM  34  to collect air quality conditions and calculate atmospheric performance factor and vehicle performance factors. Controller  12  receives inputs from remote mounted air collecting sensors  14  at input port  36 . Remote mounted air collecting sensors  14  collectively comprise wind speed and gust sensor  16 , wind direction sensor  18 , a pressure sensor  38 , temperature sensor  40 , humidity sensor  42  and oxygen sensor  43 . In one embodiment, a commercially available altimeter pressure sensor was used, a YSI 44004 Precision Thermistor made by YSI Incorporated of Yellow Springs, Ohio, a MiniCap 2 Relative Humidity Sensor from Panametrics, and commercially available speed and director sensor were used. Controller  12  also receives user inputs at input port  34  via a keypad  44  located on the counsel of controller  12 .  
         [0034]    Controller  12  also receives user inputted vehicle operational data via keypad  44  and stores such information in RAM memory  46 . As the user inputs such data using keypad  44 , the information is also displayed on an LCD display  48 . Stored run information such as elapsed time values, engine parameters, air quality conditions and calculated atmospheric performance factor can be recalled from memory  46  and read from display  48 . A computer (not shown) may be connected to controller  12  via computer link  47  and stored information may be transferred from memory  46  to the computer. However, a computer is not needed to operate weather center and prediction system  10 . Controller  12  also contains a radio frequency transmitter  45  for sending the air quality conditions and calculated atmospheric performance factor and vehicle performance factors at a distance of 1to 2 miles from controller  12  sent via remote mounted antenna  24  to receiver  26 .  
         [0035]    A schematic representation of weather center and prediction system  10  is shown in FIG. 5. Microprocessor  32  requires digital inputs such that the output of analog sensor must be converted to a voltage signal. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, humidity sensor  42  requires a pulse width generator and voltage reference to drive humidity sensor  42 . Humidity pulse width generator and voltage reference  50  sends the humidity sensor  42  input to a humidity signal conditioner  52 , which, in turns, sends the analog voltage to an analog/digital converter  54 . Pressure sensor  38  sends its input to a pressure sensor conditioner  56  and then to analog/digital converter  54 . Microprocessor  32  accepts digital inputs from analog/digital converter  54  and processes air quality conditions and calculate atmospheric performance and vehicle performance factors, which are shown on display  48 . Further, keypad  44  may also be used to input air quality conditions or vehicle information for later use in memory  46 . Microprocessor  32  uses an atmospheric performance formula to calculate the atmospheric performance factor that the user references to predict how the racecar will perform und those weather conditions. Microprocessor  32  also performance a statistical regression analysis to predict vehicle performance factors based upon collected, real-time data readings such as predicted elapsed time and throttle-stop timer settings.  
         [0036]    Turning to operational flow chart in FIG. 5, once controller  12  is powered  58 , microprocessor  32  initializes air quality conditions  60  which are needed to calculate the atmospheric performance factor and initializes display  48  at step  62 . The system greetings and other information such as time and date and menu choices are then shown on display  48  at step  64 . Microprocessor  32  reads the sensor information from remote mounted air collecting sensors  14  at step  66  and converts the readings into digital form at step  68 . Microprocessor  32  then determines whether there are enough samples to calculate an average value of each of the inputs. If the samples are less than fifty (step  70 ), then remote mounted air-collecting sensors  14  are read again. This operation of multiple polling of sensors is to minimize the effect of an aberrant reading from any of the remote mounted air collecting sensors  14 .  
         [0037]    If sufficient samples were taken, the quality conditions including air temperature  72 , humidity  74 , atmospheric pressure  76 , oxygen percentage  78  (if the sensor is present), wind speed  80  and wind direction  82 , are loaded by microprocessor  32 . Microprocessor  32  then calculates the atmospheric performance factor utilizing the absolute pressure, oxygen percentage, wind speed, wind gust speed, wind direction, dew point, vapor pressure, and oxygen percentage. Microprocessor  32  also predicts vehicle performance factors based upon the calculated atmospheric performance factor at step  84 . Lastly, the air quality conditions, atmospheric performance factor and vehicle performance factors in the form of elapsed time or timer length in seconds are displayed at step  86 .  
         [0038]    Microprocessor  32  calculates the atmospheric performance factor on scientific, proprietary equations. The atmospheric performance formula is derived from the ideal gas laws using temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure of the atmosphere at a given moment in time. For a complete example of using air quality conditions to determine “density altitude”, see U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 5,509,295, entitled WEATHER STATION DEVICE, assigned to applicant, which is hereby incorporated by reference as is necessary for a full and complete understanding of the present invention.  
         [0039]    Once controller  12  is connected to battery  28  and remote mounted air collecting sensors  14 , a main menu is shown on display  48 . From this menu, the user may customize controller  12  to his or her needs via keypad  44 . Each menu selection is identified with a numerical value as shown in FIG. 6. Multiple vehicle information may be stored in memory  46  and controller  12  is capable of displaying simultaneously vehicle performance factors for more than one vehicle.  
         [0040]    Turning to FIG. 7, controller  12  is shown with display  48 . To keep the size of controller  12  to a minimum, a four-line LCD display was used. To display the normalized air quality conditions, the text scrolls such that all information is displayed in 2 screens. As shown in screen “a”, the current date  88  and time  90  is displayed and for that time, temperature  92 , humidity  94 , absolute pressure  96 , percent oxygen  98 , calculated atmospheric performance factor  100  and vehicle performance factor-elapsed time  102  for those current air quality conditions. After displaying screen “a”, controller  12  then scrolls display  48  to list the information shown on screen “b.” Again, current time  88 , date  90  is displayed along with the average wind speed  104 , maximum wind gust speed  106 , and wind direction  108 . Also shown on screen “b” is the dew point temperature  110 , vapor pressure  112 , altitude density ratio  114  and vehicle performance factor, timer-setting  116 . Alternatively, oxygen atmospheric performance factor  118  (see FIG. 8) may be displayed by controller  12  in place of the calculated atmospheric performance factor  100 .  
         [0041]    The air quality conditions and calculated atmospheric performance vehicle performance factors may also be displayed on remote receiver  26  as shown in FIG. 8. In one embodiment a Motorola pager was used. Due to the limited size of receiver display  48 , the air quality conditions and calculated atmospheric performance and vehicle performance factors are also displayed on a scrolling screen. The same information as displayed on controller  12  is sent via transmitter  45  to receiver  26  and is shown in FIG. 8 b.    
         [0042]    As stated above, controller  12  may be connected to a computer (not shown) to recall stored data in memory  46  and store additional data regarding a run of the vehicle. Likewise, a computer may also be used to store the collected air quality conditions in real-time as controller  12  computers the values. Turning to FIG. 10, the user may input via a computer, vehicle run information  120  as shown in screen “a”. The user may input the air quality conditions and calculated atmospheric performance and vehicle performance factors for that run. This information is then stored in the memory of the computer for recall at a later date. The user may search the vehicle run information for similar air quality conditions, calculated atmospheric performance factor, run information, or racetrack location.  
         [0043]    The computer may also be used to download the vehicle performance factors and run information for a particular vehicle (i.e., database). As shown on screen “b” of FIG. 9, run information characterized by calculated atmospheric performance factor and elapsed time are plotted. This plot can assist the user in identifying a bad run which does not fit the pattern of the runs for that particular vehicle. This information can also be used to assist the user in predicting how a particular vehicle will run at the plotted atmospheric performance factors. Lastly, screen “c” shows real-time air quality conditions as they are collected by remote air quality sensors  14 , computed by controller  12  and then sent to the computer for plotting on the display. Shown at the top of screen “c” are the current air quality conditions at a particular time  90  and date  88 . The four plots represent temperature  92 , relative humidity  94 , absolute pressure  96  and calculated atmospheric performance factor  100  plotted as a function of time. This information can quickly alter the user of drastic weather changes.  
         [0044]    While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.