Patent ID: 7234430

Claim:
A method for reheating a glow plug for a diesel engine to a set temperature, comprising the steps of: using a mathematical model during a certain cooling down time interval after termination of a glow process to determine values for the supply of power to the glow plug, said model including values of the actual thermal state of the glow plug, the time elapsed since the end of the terminated glow plug process and parameters of the diesel engine relevant for a glow process; and supplying power to the glow plug in a controlled fashion based upon said determined values; mathematical model is comprised of a set of variables and at least one equation that establishes relationships between the variables, the variables including the actual thermal state of the glow plug, the time elapsed since the end of the terminated glow plug process and parameters of the diesel engine relating to the glow process with the relationship of the variables defining the manner in which power is to be supplied to the glow plug.