JP2007332895A - Misfire detecting device of internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve misfire detecting accuracy, by preventing noise by electrifying electric charge of a spark plug from being erroneously detected as a combustion ion, in a system for determining the existence of a misfire by comparing its ion current peak value (or such as an integral value) with a misfire determining value, by detecting an ion (the combustion ion) generated in response to combustion of an air-fuel mixture in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine via the spark plug. <P>SOLUTION: Every time when detecting the misfire in any cylinder, the misfire determining value of a misfire cylinder is respectively increasingly corrected by a predetermined quantity. When detecting ignition on the cylinder of increasingly correcting the misfire determining value by misfire detection, the misfire determining value is returned to a base misfire determining value VthO (a minimum misfire determining value) before detecting the misfire. In this case, the misfire determining value of the cylinder of continuously detecting the misfire, is processed for a guard by a predetermined upper limit guard value Vthmax, and an excessive correction of the misfire determining value is prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention detects an ionic current generated by combustion of an air-fuel mixture in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine through a spark plug, and determines the presence or absence of misfiring based on the detected ionic current value. It is an invention related to a device.

  In recent years, focusing on the characteristics that ions (combustion ions) are generated when the air-fuel mixture burns in the cylinder of the internal combustion engine, the ion current generated in the cylinder for each ignition is detected via the electrode of the ignition plug, A technique for detecting ignition / misfire based on the detected value of ion current has been developed. The conventional ignition / misfire determination method uses the property that the ion current increases at the time of ignition and decreases when the misfire occurs, and the integrated value or peak value of the ion current detection signal is compared with a predetermined misfire determination value. If the integral value or peak value of the ion current detection signal is greater than or equal to the misfire determination value, it is determined to be ignited; otherwise, it is determined to be misfire (see Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2505620). .

Furthermore, the misfire detection device described in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent No. 2552754) takes into account that the noise level of the ion current detection signal changes according to the operation state of the internal combustion engine, and thus the operation state of the internal combustion engine. By changing the misfire determination value according to the above, the misfire determination value is changed according to the change in the noise level due to the change in the operating state of the internal combustion engine, thereby improving the misfire detection accuracy.
Japanese Patent No. 2505620 (page 4 etc.) Japanese Patent No. 2552754 (3rd page, etc.)

  In general, noise superimposed on an ion current detection signal in a section where combustion ions are generated is generated by charges charged on the insulator portion of the spark plug, and there is a relationship that the noise level increases as the amount of charged charges increases. In addition, according to the research results of the present inventors, the characteristic of noise due to the charged charge of the spark plug is that the amount of charged charge decreases due to the action of neutralizing the charged charge by combustion ions (ionized gas) during combustion. Although it has almost no effect, it has been found that since no combustion ions are generated in the event of a misfire, the above-mentioned neutralization effect of charged charges by the combustion ions does not occur, and the amount of charged charges does not decrease, resulting in an increase in noise level. . In particular, when misfires occur continuously, it has been found that as the number of consecutive misfires increases, the amount of charged charges increases and a considerably large noise is generated.

  Accordingly, even if the misfire determination value is changed in accordance with the operating state of the internal combustion engine as in Patent Document 2, the noise level becomes considerably larger at the time of continuous misfire than at the time of ignition. In some cases, it was possible to overshoot, and there was a possibility that a continuous misfire was mistakenly determined to be ignition.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to prevent misdetection of noise caused by the charged charge of the spark plug as combustion ions in all cylinders of the internal combustion engine. An object of the present invention is to provide a misfire detection device for an internal combustion engine that can improve detection accuracy.

  By the way, since the combustion state is different for each cylinder of the internal combustion engine, the degree of occurrence of the neutralization effect of the charged charge by the combustion ions and the noise level due to the charged charge of the spark plug are also different for each cylinder. Therefore, when a misfire is detected using a single misfire determination value common to all cylinders of an internal combustion engine as in the prior art, noise due to the charged charge of the spark plug is erroneously detected as combustion ions in some cylinders. Is inevitable.

  In view of such circumstances, the invention according to claim 1 considers that the combustion state differs for each cylinder of the internal combustion engine, and sets the misfire determination value for each cylinder of the internal combustion engine (for example, misfire). , Ignition, incomplete combustion, etc.) are provided for each cylinder misfire determination value setting means. In this way, the combustion state is different for each cylinder, and the degree of occurrence of the neutralization effect of the charged charges by the combustion ions and the noise level due to the charged charges are different for each cylinder. The misfire determination value can be variably set according to the noise level caused by the charged charge, and it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of noise caused by the charged charge as combustion ions in all cylinders of the internal combustion engine, thereby improving the misfire detection accuracy. be able to.

  In this case, as in claim 2, the misfire determination value may be variably set for each cylinder of the internal combustion engine when misfire is detected and when ignition is detected. In this way, the misfire determination value can be easily variably set based on the misfire determination result for each cylinder. In addition to misfire / ignition as a combustion state of each cylinder, in a system equipped with a function for detecting incomplete combustion, pre-ignition, etc., misfire determination is also performed in consideration of determination results such as incomplete combustion, pre-ignition, etc. The value may be variably set.

  Further, in consideration of the characteristic that when the misfire occurs, the charged charge amount of the spark plug increases and the noise level increases, and when the misfire is detected in any one of the cylinders as in claim 3, the misfire cylinder The misfire determination value is corrected to increase, and when ignition is detected for the cylinder whose increase in misfire determination value is corrected by misfire detection, the misfire determination value is corrected to decrease or returned to the misfire determination value before the misfire detection. May be. In this way, it is possible to variably set the misfire determination value for each cylinder in accordance with the increase or decrease of the noise level due to the charged charge.

  In addition, when misfires occur continuously, as the number of consecutive misfires increases, the charge amount of the spark plug tends to increase and the noise level tends to increase, but the charge amount and noise level increase without limit. There is a certain limit to the increase.

  In consideration of this point, as in claim 4, the misfire determination value of the cylinder in which misfire is continuously detected is increased within a predetermined upper guard value or less in accordance with the number of consecutive misfire detections or the continuous misfire detection time. It is better to correct it. In this way, the misfire determination value of the cylinder in which misfires are continuously detected can be accurately increased and corrected in accordance with the amount of increase in noise level due to continuous misfire, and overcorrection of the misfire determination value can be prevented. it can.

Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.
First, the circuit configuration of the ignition control system will be described with reference to FIG.

  One end of the primary coil 22 of the ignition coil 21 is connected to the battery 23, and the other end of the primary coil 22 is connected to the collector of the power transistor 25 built in the igniter 24. One end of the secondary coil 26 is connected to a spark plug 27, and the other end of the secondary coil 26 is connected to the ground via two Zener diodes 28 and 29.

  The two Zener diodes 28 and 29 are connected in series in opposite directions, a capacitor 30 is connected in parallel to one Zener diode 28, and an ion current detection resistor 31 is connected in parallel to the other Zener diode 29. A potential Vin between the capacitor 30 and the ionic current detection resistor 31 is input to the inverting input terminal (−) of the inverting amplifier circuit 33 via the resistor 32 and is inverted and amplified. The output voltage V of the inverting amplifier circuit 33 is ionized. The current detection signal is input to the engine control circuit 34. The ion current detection circuit 35 includes Zener diodes 28 and 29, a capacitor 30, an ion current detection resistor 31, an inverting amplification circuit 33, and the like. The ion current detection circuit 35 and the engine control circuit 34 are used to detect an ion current detection device (ion ion). Current detection means).

  During engine operation, the power transistor 25 is turned on / off at the rise / fall of the ignition signal transmitted from the engine control circuit 34 to the igniter 24. When the power transistor 25 is turned on, a primary current flows from the battery 23 to the primary coil 22. After that, when the power transistor 25 is turned off, the primary current of the primary coil 22 is cut off and a high voltage is electromagnetically induced in the secondary coil 26. This high voltage causes spark discharge between the electrodes 36 and 37 of the spark plug 27. This spark discharge current flows from the ground electrode 37 of the spark plug 27 to the center electrode 36, is charged to the capacitor 30 via the secondary coil 26, and flows to the ground side via the Zener diodes 28 and 29. After the capacitor 30 is charged, the ion current detection circuit 35 is driven using the charging voltage of the capacitor 30 regulated by the Zener voltage of the Zener diode 28 as a power source, and the ion current is detected as described later.

  On the other hand, the ion current flows in the opposite direction to the spark discharge current. In other words, after ignition is finished, a voltage is applied between the electrodes 36 and 37 of the spark plug 27 by the charging voltage of the capacitor 30, so that ions generated when the air-fuel mixture burns in the cylinder are connected between the electrodes 36 and 37. Although an ionic current flows, the ionic current flows from the center electrode 36 to the ground electrode 37, and further flows from the ground side through the ion current detection resistor 31 to the capacitor 30. At this time, the input potential Vin of the inverting amplifier circuit 33 changes according to the change of the ionic current flowing through the ionic current detection resistor 31, and the voltage V corresponding to the ionic current is output to the engine control circuit 34 from the output terminal of the inverting amplifier circuit 33. Is output. An ion current is detected from the output voltage V of the inverting amplifier circuit 33.

  The engine control circuit 34 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and corresponds to an operating state detected by a rotation angle detection sensor 38 (crank angle sensor), a load detection sensor 39 (intake air amount detection sensor, intake pressure detection sensor) and the like. In addition to performing fuel injection control and ignition timing control, the output of the ion current detection circuit 35 is used to determine the peak value Ii, integral value Qi, and ion output time Ti of the ion current in a predetermined combustion ion detection section for each cylinder. At least one is detected, and the detected value is compared with a misfire determination value to determine the presence or absence of misfire.

  Next, how the ion current waveform detected by the ion current detection circuit 35 changes during normal combustion and noise generation will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (d), immediately after the start of energization of the primary winding 22 of the ignition coil 21 (immediately after the ignition signal is switched from OFF to ON), a pulse-like noise current having a short time width is induced. LC resonance is generated by the residual magnetic energy on the secondary side of the ignition coil 21 (immediately after the ignition signal is switched from ON to OFF), and thereafter, a current waveform of ions (hereinafter referred to as “combustion ions”) generated by combustion during normal combustion. Appears. In this embodiment, at least one of the peak value Ii, the integral value Qi, and the ion current output time Ti of the combustion ions appearing after LC resonance is detected for each cylinder, and the detected value is compared with the misfire determination value. The presence or absence of is determined.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (e), the noise generated by the electric charge charged in the insulator portion of the spark plug 27 includes spike noise that occurs intermittently after the in-cylinder pressure decreases, There is also a continuous corona discharge noise that occurs continuously when the cylinder pressure immediately after ignition is high. Such noise due to charged charges has a relationship that the noise level increases as the amount of charged charges increases.

  In addition, noise due to charged charge is characterized by the fact that the charged charge is reduced by the action of neutralizing the charged charge by combustion ions (ionized gas) during combustion and the effect of noise is almost eliminated. However, in the event of a misfire, combustion ions are generated. Therefore, the above-described neutralization effect of the charged charges by the combustion ions does not occur, and the amount of charged charges does not decrease, so that the noise level tends to increase. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, when misfires occur continuously, as the number of consecutive misfires increases, the amount of charged charge of the spark plug 27 tends to increase and the noise level tends to increase. The amount and noise level do not increase indefinitely, and the increase has certain limits.

  In view of these circumstances, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, every time a misfire is detected in any cylinder, the misfire determination value of the misfire cylinder is increased by a predetermined amount, and misfire is detected by misfire detection. When ignition is detected for the cylinder whose determination value is increased and corrected, the misfire determination value is returned to the base misfire determination value Vth0 (minimum misfire determination value) before the misfire is detected. At this time, the misfire determination value of the cylinder in which misfire is continuously detected is guarded so as not to exceed the upper limit guard value Vthmax, and overcorrection of the misfire determination value is prevented. In this way, it is possible to variably set the misfire determination value for each cylinder in accordance with the increase or decrease of the noise level due to the charged charge.

  The variable setting of the misfire determination value and the misfire determination of the present embodiment described above are executed by the engine control circuit 34 according to the routines of FIGS. The processing contents of these routines will be described below.

[Misfire detection routine]
The misfire detection routine of FIG. 4 is executed at a predetermined cycle for each cylinder during engine operation. When this routine is started, first, in step 101, the engine operating state such as the engine rotation speed Ne and the load factor is detected based on output signals from the rotation angle detection sensor 38, the load detection sensor 39, and the like. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 102 where a combustion ion detection section is set according to the current engine operating state. In the example of FIG. 2, the combustion ion detection section is set to the section from after ignition to ATDC 180 ° C. In addition, you may make it set this combustion ion detection area to the predetermined fixed area.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 103, where it is determined whether or not the current crank angle is within the combustion ion detection section, and if it is within the combustion ion detection section, the process proceeds to step 104 and the ions detected by the ion current detection circuit 35 are detected. The current detection value i is read at a predetermined sampling period (for example, 20 μs period), and at the next step 105, the ion current peak value Ii in the combustion ion detection section is detected. Instead of the ion current peak value Ii, the ion current integrated value Qi (detected charge amount) or the ion current output time Ti may be detected.

  Thereafter, when the combustion ion detection section end timing is reached, “No” is determined in Step 103, “Yes” is determined in Step 106, the process proceeds to Step 107, and the misfire determination value of FIG. A setting routine is executed to variably set the misfire determination value Vth (j) for each cylinder according to the presence or absence of misfire. Here, (j) indicates a cylinder number.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 108, where the ion current peak value Ii is compared with the misfire determination value Vth (j). If the ion current peak value Ii is larger than the misfire determination value Vth (j), the process proceeds to step 109, where ignition and Determination is made and the misfire detection flag Fmf (j) of the ignition cylinder (j) is set to “0”. On the other hand, if the ion current peak value Ii is equal to or less than the misfire determination value Vth (j), the process proceeds to step 110, where it is determined that misfire has occurred, and the misfire detection flag Fmf (j) of the misfire cylinder (j) is set to “1”. Set to "". Instead of the ionic current peak value Ii, the ionic current integrated value Qi or the ionic current output time Ti may be compared with the misfire determination value Vth (j) to determine misfire / ignition.

[Misfire determination value setting routine]
The misfire determination value setting routine of FIG. 5 is a subroutine executed in step 107 of the misfire detection routine of FIG. 4 and serves as cylinder misfire determination value setting means in the claims. When this routine is started, first, in step 201, the engine operating state such as the engine rotation speed Ne and the load factor is detected based on output signals from the rotation angle detection sensor 38, the load detection sensor 39, and the like. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 202, where the base misfire determination value Vth0 (minimum misfire determination value) and the upper guard value Vthmax (maximum misfire determination value) of the misfire determination value at the time of continuous misfire are mapped according to the current engine operating state. Etc. are calculated.

  The base misfire determination value Vth0 and the upper guard value Vthmax may be set to predetermined constant values, respectively. Further, the upper guard value Vthmax may be calculated by a map or the like according to the charge amount of the spark plug 27 estimated from the engine operating state.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 203, and it is determined whether or not a misfire determination value calculation condition is satisfied. For example, the misfire determination value calculation condition is not satisfied during the initial process or if the misfire detection is not necessary, and the process proceeds to step 204 where the misfire determination value Vth (j) is set to the base misfire determination value Vth0.

  On the other hand, if the current engine operating condition is an operating condition that requires misfire detection, the misfire determination value calculation condition is satisfied, and the routine proceeds to step 205 for each cylinder detected in the misfire detection routine of FIG. Count the number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j). This number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j) is reset to 0 when ignition is detected {when misfire detection flag Fmf (j) = 0}.

  Thereafter, the routine proceeds to step 206, where it is determined whether or not the number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j) for each cylinder is 2 or more, for example, and if the number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j) is not 2 or more (that is, at the time of ignition or If the number of misfires is only one), the routine proceeds to step 204, where the misfire determination value Vth (j) is set to the base misfire determination value Vth0.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 206 that the number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j) for each cylinder is 2 or more, the process proceeds to step 207, and the incremental correction amount Δ to be added to the base misfire determination value Vth0 is set to the continuous misfire. It is calculated by a map or the like according to the number of times Nmf (j) or the continuous misfire detection time. The increase correction amount Δ may be set by a map or the like for each engine operating condition according to the charged charge amount of the spark plug 27 estimated from the engine operating condition.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 208, and the misfire determination value Vth (j) corrected to increase in accordance with the number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j) or the continuous misfire detection time is obtained by adding the increase correction amount Δ to the base misfire determination value Vth0. Ask.

  In the next step 209, the misfire determination value Vth (j) after the increase correction is compared with the upper limit guard value Vthmax, and if the misfire determination value Vth (j) after the increase correction exceeds the upper limit guard value Vthmax, In step 210, the current misfire determination value Vth (j) is set as the upper guard value Vthmax (that is, the misfire determination value Vth (j) is guarded with the upper guard value Vthmax). On the other hand, if it is determined in step 209 that the misfire determination value Vth (j) after the increase correction is equal to or less than the upper limit guard value Vthmax, the misfire determination value Vth (j) after the increase correction is directly used as the current misfire determination value Vth ( j).

  An example of the variable setting of the misfire determination value Vth (j) described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a setting example of the misfire determination value Vth (j) when continuous misfire occurs for a certain cylinder. In this example, the first misfire occurs at a certain time t1, and the misfire determination value Vth (j) is increased from the base misfire determination value Vth0 by a predetermined amount at the time t2 when the second misfire occurs continuously. Thereafter, every time the number of consecutive misfire detections increases, the base misfire determination value Vth0 is increased by a predetermined amount. As a result, at time t3 when the misfire determination value Vth (j) reaches the upper guard value Vthmax, the misfire determination value Vth (j) is guarded with the upper guard value Vthmax. Thereafter, even if the number of consecutive misfire detections increases, the misfire determination value Vth (j) is maintained at the upper guard value Vthmax. Thereafter, at time t4 when the ionic current peak value Ii exceeds the misfire determination value Vth (j) and ignition is detected, the misfire determination value Vth (j) is restored to the base misfire determination value Vth0 from the ignition timing t5 of the next cycle. Let

  In the misfire determination value setting routine of FIG. 5, the increase correction amount Δ to be added to the base misfire determination value Vth0 is calculated according to the number of consecutive misfires Nmf (j) or the continuous misfire detection time. An increase correction amount δ per misfire to be added to the misfire determination value Vth (j) may be calculated, and the misfire determination value Vth (j) may be increased and corrected by the increase correction amount δ every time a misfire is detected. In this case, the increase correction amount δ may be calculated by a map or the like for each engine operating condition according to the charged charge amount of the spark plug 27 estimated from the engine operating condition, or set to a predetermined constant value. May be.

  In the misfire determination value setting routine of FIG. 5, the increase correction amount Δ is an addition amount that is added to the base misfire determination value Vth0. However, the increase is multiplied by the base misfire determination value Vth0 or the previous misfire determination value Vth (j). The magnification may be used as an increase correction amount.

  In the misfire determination value setting routine of FIG. 5, the misfire determination value Vth (j) is increased from the base misfire determination value Vth0 when the number of consecutive misfires is 2 or more. However, the misfire determination value Vth (j) The number of consecutive misfires for increasing the correction is not limited to two or more, and may be more than that. Further, even when misfire occurs only once, the misfire determination value Vth (j) may be increased and corrected each time a misfire is detected.

  Further, in the misfire determination value setting routine of FIG. 5, when the misfire determination value Vth (j) is immediately returned to the base misfire determination value Vth0 when returning from continuous misfire to ignition, the misfire determination value Vth0 is restored from continuous misfire. Sometimes, the misfire determination value Vth (j) may be gradually decreased and corrected according to the number of subsequent ignition detections, and may be gradually returned to the base misfire determination value Vth0.

  Since the misfire determination value Vth (j) described above is variably set for each cylinder, the combustion state is different for each cylinder, and the degree of occurrence of the neutralization effect of the charged charge of the spark plug 27 by the combustion ions, as a result. Corresponding to the fact that the noise level due to the charged electric charge is different for each cylinder, the misfire determination value Vth (j) can be variably set according to the noise level due to the charged electric charge for each cylinder. It is possible to prevent erroneous detection of noise due to charged charges as combustion ions, and to improve misfire detection accuracy.

  In addition, in this embodiment, the misfire determination value Vth (j) of the cylinder in which misfire is continuously detected is increased and corrected within a predetermined upper guard value Vthmax or less in accordance with the number of consecutive misfire detections or the continuous misfire detection time. Thus, for each cylinder, the misfire determination value Vth (j) can be increased and corrected accurately in accordance with the increase in the noise level due to the charged charge, and overcorrection of the misfire determination value Vth (j) can be prevented. .

It is a circuit diagram which shows the structure of the ignition control system and ion current detection circuit in one Example of this invention. It is a time chart explaining the relationship with an ignition signal, a cylinder pressure, a combustion ion detection area, a detection current waveform at the time of normal combustion, and a detection current waveform at the time of noise occurrence. It is a time chart which shows the example of a setting of misfire determination value Vth (j) when continuous misfire occurs about a certain cylinder. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a misfire detection routine. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a misfire determination value setting routine.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Ignition coil, 22 ... Primary coil, 23 ... Battery, 24 ... Igniter, 25 ... Power transistor, 26 ... Secondary coil, 27 ... Spark plug, 31 ... Ion current detection resistor, 33 ... Inversion amplification circuit, 34 ... Engine Control circuit (cylinder misfire determination value setting means), 35 ... ion current detection circuit (ion current detection means), 36 ... center electrode, 37 ... ground electrode

Claims (4)

Ion current detection means for detecting ion current generated by combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine through the electrode of the spark plug, and comparing the ion current detection value of the ion current detection means with the misfire determination value In the misfire detection device for an internal combustion engine that determines the presence or absence of misfire,
A misfire detection apparatus for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a misfire determination value setting unit for each cylinder that variably sets the misfire determination value for each cylinder of the internal combustion engine according to a combustion state.   2. The misfire detection of the internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder misfire determination value setting means variably sets the misfire determination value for each cylinder of the internal combustion engine depending on whether misfire is detected or when ignition is detected. apparatus.   The cylinder-specific misfire determination value setting means includes means for increasing and correcting the misfire determination value of the misfire cylinder when a misfire is detected in any cylinder, and a cylinder in which the misfire determination value is increased and corrected by misfire detection. 3. The misfire detection apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to claim 2, further comprising means for reducing and correcting the misfire determination value or returning to the misfire determination value before the misfire detection when the ignition is detected.   The cylinder misfire determination value setting means corrects an increase in the misfire determination value of a cylinder in which misfire is continuously detected within a range equal to or less than a predetermined upper limit guard value according to the number of consecutive misfire detections or the continuous misfire detection time. The misfire detection apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to claim 3,

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