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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6157888 | Input smoothing method and apparatus for an electronic throttle control system A method and apparatus for smoothing a throttle plate position command prior to being used by a closed loop throttle control unit. The method sequentially indexes through a lookup table storing a series of values of a smoothing function at routine time in... | 12/05/2000 |
| 6138642 | Method and system for compensating fuel rail temperature A method and system for fuel rail compensation in a returnless electronic fuel pump arrangement provides modification of fuel pulsewidth based on measured or inferred rail temperature. The present invention applies fuel pulsewidth control modifiers to enl... | 10/31/2000 |
| 6122588 | Vehicle speed control with continuously variable braking torque A system and method for reducing speed of a vehicle to maintain a target vehicle speed include determining an actual vehicle speed, comparing the target vehicle speed to the actual vehicle speed to generate a speed error, determining a continuously variab... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6119063 | System and method for smooth transitions between engine mode controllers A system and method for controlling an internal combustion engine using a controller to implement at least two control modes having corresponding first and second mode controllers with disparate control parameters include comparing output of the first and... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6092018 | Trained neural network engine idle speed control system A electronic engine control (EEC) module executes a neural network processing program to control the idle speed of an internal combustion engine by controlling the bypass air (throttle duty cycle) and the engine's ignition timing. The neural network is de... | 07/18/2000 |
| 6079204 | Torque control for direct injected engines using a supplemental torque apparatus A torque control system for a lean burn engine utilizing a supplemental torque apparatus that is operable during the engine mode transition from a lean air/fuel ratio to a rich air/fuel ratio. The supplemental torque apparatus 34, STA, operates to maintai... | 06/27/2000 |
| 6078861 | Onboard diagnostic monitoring for flexible fuel vehicles Onboard diagnostic monitors that are affected by a changing A/F activity resulting from fuel type mixture are disabled during such activity to avoid false malfunction diagnosis. A changing A/F is detected from the difference between a fast and a slow filt... | 06/20/2000 |
| 6078860 | Method and system for controlling the speed of a vehicle A method and system for controlling the speed of a vehicle senses a position of an accelerator pedal. In a first embodiment, the accelerator pedal has a mechanical predetermined natural position, wherein when the position of the accelerator pedal is held ... | 06/20/2000 |
| 6061623 | Method and system for pre-positioning wheel torque in a torque based vehicle speed control A method and system for controlling an internal combustion engine upon initial entry into a speed control mode and upon transitions between dynamic operating modes of a speed control system includes means for determining an actual vehicle acceleration and... | 05/09/2000 |
| 6018944 | System and method for monitoring a catalytic converter using adaptable indicator threshold A system and method for monitoring emissions by monitoring performance of a catalytic converter using a predetermined indicated threshold value include determining a current value for the indicator based on signals generated by at least one exhaust gas se... | 02/01/2000 |
| 5983627 | Closed loop control for desulfating a NOx trap A system and method for desulfating an NOx trap utilizes a closed loop control of the air-to-fuel (A/F) ratio to accurately maintain a precise A/F ratio during desulfation. An oxygen sensor is positioned in the middle of the trap to provide an ... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5974788 | Method and apparatus for desulfating a nox trap A method and apparatus for desulfating a NOx trap is proposed wherein the SOx purge temperature is achieved by modulating the amplitude of the A/F of the mixture supplied to the engine thereby storing oxygen in the trap during lean e... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5974786 | Adaptive time window to synchronize pre- and post-catalyst oxygen sensor switch counters A system and method for monitoring efficiency of a catalytic converter count switches of at least one upstream sensor interposed the engine and the converter and count switches of a downstream sensor, interposed the converter and atmosphere, during a defi... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5974785 | Closed loop bias air/fuel ratio offset to enhance catalytic converter efficiency A method and system for reducing time required for a catalyst to reach optimum operating temperature control an air/fuel ratio based on the catalyst temperature to supply excess air to the catalyst during closed loop lambda control. A lambda bias or offse... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5977738 | Method and system for contolling the position of a servo motor in vehicle speed control systems for various operation conditions A method and system for accurately controlling a position of a servo motor in a vehicle speed control system for various operation conditions includes predetermined parameters of a polynomial which define desired positions of a servo motor for various veh... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5953905 | System and method for monitoring a catalytic converter A system and method for monitoring catalytic converter efficiency monitor the switch ratio of upstream and downstream exhaust gas oxygen sensors based on an acceptable temperature range of the catalytic converter mid-bed for each of a number of mass air f... | 09/21/1999 |
| 5921221 | Method of controlling cyclic variation in engine combustion Cyclic variation in combustion of a lean burning engine is reduced by detecting an engine combustion event output such as torsional acceleration in a cylinder (i) at a combustion event (k), using the detected acceleration to predict a target acceleration ... | 07/13/1999 |
| 5915359 | Method and system for determining and controlling A/F ratio during cold start engine operation A method and system for determining and controlling air/fuel ratio during engine cold start operation relies on applying a monotonically decreasing fuel pulse width modulation to the engine and synchronously measuring the effect of the modulation on relat... | 06/29/1999 |
| 5901553 | Method and system for estimating temperature of a heated exhaust gas oxygen sensor in an exhaust system having a variable length pipe A method for estimating a temperature of a tip of an exhaust gas oxygen (EGO) sensor used with a heater in an electronic engine control for an engine having an exhaust system wherein the exhaust system includes a variable length exhaust pipe having a shor... | 05/11/1999 |
| 5899062 | Catalyst monitor using arc length ratio of pre- and post-catalyst sensor signals A method and system for monitoring the efficiency of a catalytic converter include determining a ratio of signal arc lengths from an upstream exhaust gas sensor and a downstream exhaust gas sensor which generate signals indicative of oxygen content in the... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5894725 | Method and apparatus for maintaining catalyst efficiency of a NOx trap An engine control computer estimates the cumulative NOx storage in a NOx trap based on engine operating conditions and enters a NOx purge mode of operation when a maximum storage capacity limit, based on trap temperature, ... | 04/20/1999 |
| 5894727 | Method and system for generating an inferred EGO signal in an asymmetrical Y-pipe exhaust system A method and system for generating an inferred EGO sensor signal for use in monitoring operation of a catalytic convertor in an asymmetrical Y-pipe vehicle exhaust system utilizes current engine airflow and engine speed readings as address inputs for a lo... | 04/20/1999 |
| 5893349 | Method and system for controlling air/fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine during cold start A method and system for controlling air/fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine during cold start operation utilizes control logic to determine a base fuel pulsewidth and a base spark timing according to corresponding cold-start look-up tables. A cran... | 04/13/1999 |
| 5865026 | System and method for monitoring a catalytic converter using adaptable indicator threshold A system and method for monitoring emissions by monitoring performance of a catalytic converter using a predetermined indicated threshold value include determining a current value for the indicator based on signals generated by at least one exhaust gas se... | 02/02/1999 |
| 5855113 | Method and system for controlling the temperature of an exhaust system having a variable length exhaust pipe A method and system for controlling the temperature of an exhaust system having a variable length exhaust pipe including a short path and a long path and an exhaust valve positioned in the exhaust pipe for regulating the flow of exhaust gas between the sh... | 01/05/1999 |
| 5850821 | Method and system for estimating air/fuel ratio of an engine having a non-heated fuel vaporizer A method and system for estimating air/fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine having a fuel vaporizer device calculates the rate of fuel evaporation based on temperature of the vaporizer device to estimate air/fuel ratio during a cold-start. In one e... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5832722 | Method and apparatus for maintaining catalyst efficiency of a NOx trap An engine control computer estimates the cumulative SOx stored in a NOx trap and enters a SOx purge mode of operation when a maximum storage capacity limit is exceeded. SOx accumulation is estimated based on fue... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5832721 | Method and system for estimating a midbed temperature of a catalytic converter in an exhaust system having a variable length exhaust pipe A method and system for estimating the midbed temperature of a catalytic converter in an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine utilizes a sensor for a rotational speed of the engine and generating a corresponding speed signal. A control logic de... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5808471 | Method and system for verifying solenoid operation A method and system for detecting degraded operation of a solenoid. A current through the solenoid is sampled at predetermined time intervals within a predetermined time period. A maximum value of the sampled current is first detected. Next, a minimum val... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5794596 | Method and system for predictably controlling air/fuel ratio A method and apparatus for controlling air/fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine at a desired level of richness or leanness utilizes an existing air flow sensor for sensing air flow into the engine and generating a corresponding air flow signal. A s... | 08/18/1998 |
| 5778666 | Method and apparatus for improving engine fuel economy A managed fuel air mode control system is provided which operates in an open loop lean mode of operation whenever open loop enable criteria is met. During the open loop lean mode of operation, a rich A/F purge mode of operation is dictated when a NOx... | 07/14/1998 |
| 5771685 | Method for monitoring the performance of a NOx trap A method and apparatus for on-board monitoring of NOx trap performance is proposed that uses two HEGO sensors, one positioned upstream of the NOx trap, and the other positioned downstream of the NOx trap. When the engine A... | 06/30/1998 |
| 5765121 | Fuel sloshing detection An onboard diagnostic mechanism for a sealed vehicle fuel delivery system. By controlling fuel system valves, the electronic engine controller (EEC) periodically subjects the sealed system to an initial vacuum level, then monitors the pressure increase du... | 06/09/1998 |
| 5758493 | Method and apparatus for desulfating a NOx trap A method and apparatus for desulfating a NOx trap is proposed wherein half of the engine cylinders are operated at a rich air/fuel ratio and half are operated at a lean A/F during the desulfation process. The two exhaust gas streams, the rich s... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5758494 | System and method for adaptive switch determination of exhaust gas sensors A system and method for compensating for variation in a signal generated by an exhaust gas sensor include determining local maxima and minima of the signal, determining an average difference between local maxima and adjacent local minima, determining an a... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5746049 | Method and apparatus for estimating and controlling no x trap temperature An engine control computer estimates NOx trap temperature based on an estimated midbed temperature of a three-way catalytic converter located upstream from the trap and the effect on NOx trap temperature of introducing air into the e... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5746183 | Method and system for controlling fuel delivery during transient engine conditions A method and system for determining and controlling the fuel mass to be delivered to an individual cylinder of an internal combustion engine during engine transients compensates for fuel transport dynamics and the actual fuel injected into the cylinder. A... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5743084 | Method for monitoring the performance of a nox trap A method and apparatus for on-board monitoring of NOx trap performance is proposed that uses two HEGO sensors, one positioned upstream of the NOx trap, and the other positioned downstream of the NOx trap. When the engine A... | 04/28/1998 |
| 5735249 | Method and system for controlling fuel delivery during engine cranking A method and system for controlling fuel delivery to an individual cylinder of an internal combustion engine during engine cranking compensates for fuel transport dynamics and the actual fuel injected into the cylinder. A plurality of engine parameters ar... | 04/07/1998 |
| 5727533 | Method and apparatus for monitoring EGR system flow A method and apparatus for monitoring an EGR system during normal vehicle operations is disclosed. An EGR valve located in an EGR passage controls the flow of exhaust gas to an intake manifold, and a sensor disposed in the air intake manifold downstream o... | 03/17/1998 |
