Patent ID: 8484946

Claim:
A method for determining a dynamic time duration of an exhaust probe of an internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder, an exhaust tract and the exhaust probe, comprising: oxygenating a first time the part of the catalytic converter upstream of the exhaust probe until it is saturated; setting a predefined first rich air/fuel ratio in the combustion chamber of the cylinder; determining a first oxygen storage capacity value based on a measurement signal of the exhaust probe and the predefined first rich air/fuel ratio; oxygenating a second time the part of the catalytic converter upstream of the exhaust probe until it is saturated; setting a predefined second rich air/fuel ratio in the combustion chamber of the cylinder; determining a second oxygen storage capacity value based on the measurement signal of the exhaust probe and the predefined first rich air/fuel ratio; determining a corrected oxygen storage capacity value based on the first and second oxygen storage capacity values; and determining a dynamic time duration based on the first and second oxygen storage capacity values.