Patent ID: 8527181

Claim:
A method for automatically controlling an internal combustion engine ( 1 ), comprising the steps of: detecting and storing an individual accumulator pressure (pE) of a common rail system in a measurement interval; determining an evaluation window (F(i)) for the stored individual accumulation pressure (pE), within which window an injection was brought about; determining, in a first step, both a representative injection start (SB) and a trial injection end (SEp) in the evaluation window (F(i)) as a function of the detected pressure values, and, in a second step, determining both a trial injection start (SBp) and a representative injection end (SE) in the evaluation window (F(i)) as a function of the detected pressure values; checking the representative injection start (SB) for plausibility against the trial injection start (SBp); and checking the representative injection end (SE) for plausibility against the trial injection end (SEp), including determining the evaluation window (F(i)) as follows: filtering the individual accumulator pressure (pE) with a first filer cutoff frequency (fG 1 ); computing a gradient variation (GRAD pE(F 1 )) from the filtered individual accumulator pressure (pE(F 1 )); the minimum (MIN(i)) in the gradient variation (GRAD pE(F 1 )) of the injection; and, starting from the minimum (MIN(i)), setting a first crank angle (W 1 ) before the minimum (MIN(i)) in a direction of smaller crank angles and a second crank angle (W 2 ) after the minimum (MIN(i)) in a direction of larger crank angles as limiting values for the evaluation window (F(i)).