US 12,146,430 B2
Computer for diagnosing clogging of a probe for a vehicle
Nicolas Soulas, Toulouse (FR); Antoine Delbos, Toulouse (FR); and Nicolas Oberti, Toulouse (FR)
Assigned to Vitesco Technologies GmbH, Regensburg (DE)
Appl. No. 18/017,147
Filed by Vitesco Technologies GmbH, Regensburg (DE)
PCT Filed Oct. 8, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/077850
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 20, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/084067, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 28, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2010907 (FR), filed on Oct. 23, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0296042 A1, Sep. 21, 2023
Int. Cl. F01N 11/00 (2006.01); F01N 9/00 (2006.01); F02D 41/14 (2006.01); F02D 41/22 (2006.01); F02D 41/24 (2006.01)
CPC F01N 11/007 (2013.01) [F01N 9/005 (2013.01); F01N 9/007 (2013.01); F01N 2550/02 (2013.01); F01N 2550/04 (2013.01); F01N 2550/20 (2013.01); F01N 2900/0418 (2013.01); F01N 2900/0421 (2013.01); F01N 2900/1402 (2013.01); F01N 2900/1624 (2013.01); F02D 41/1454 (2013.01); F02D 41/222 (2013.01); F02D 41/2403 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer for a vehicle, said vehicle comprising:
a heat engine;
a depollution system fluidly connected to the engine and configured to depollute the exhaust gases originating from said engine;
a first probe placed between the outlet of the engine and the inlet of the depollution system and configured to measure a first parameter relating to the oxygen level in the exhaust gases exiting the engine;
a second probe placed at the outlet of the depollution system and configured to measure a second parameter relating to the oxygen level in the exhaust gases exiting the depollution system,
said computer being configured to communicate with the first probe and the second probe, said computer comprising a memory zone, in which a predetermined value of a counter is recorded, said computer being configured to:
a) receive the values measured by the first probe and by the second probe over a predefined measurement time interval;
b) determine the variation of a first air coefficient from the values received from the first probe and the variation of a second air coefficient from the values received from the second probe over the predefined measurement time interval, with the first air coefficient and the second air coefficient being defined by the ratio between the air mass admitted into the heat engine and the admitted air mass corresponding to the theoretical air mass requirement for the total combustion of a predefined amount of fuel injected into the heat engine;
c) compute the integral between the variation of the first coefficient and the variation of the second coefficient over a computation time interval included in the predefined measurement time interval;
d) determine that the computed integral is within a predefined reference mean value range or is outside said predefined reference mean value range;
e) decrement the counter when the computed integral is within the predefined reference mean value range;
f) increment the counter when the computed integral is outside the predefined reference mean value range; and
g) diagnose clogging of the first probe when the value of the counter is equal to a predefined counter threshold.