Lean Limit A/F Control System by Using Engine Speed Variation

A closed loop lean limit control system by using engine roughness was studied. This system controls the air-fuel mixture close to optimum for fuel economy, which is a little richer mixture than lean misfire limit by measuring engine roughness using the information from engine speed signal.

A magneto resistance type engine speed sensor was utilized as a roughness sensor and the engine roughness was calculated from that signal by a 12 bit micro-computer. It was found that the engine roughness correlated well with the variation of combustion on the dynamometer test. Some correlation measures to eliminate irregular fluctuations caused by load variations on the rough road driving condition or engine torque variations on the acceleration and deceleration condition of a vehicle, were applied to the micro-computer program. It was confirmed that the closed loop lean limit control system functioned satisfactorily. About 7% higher fuel economy than conventional system was obtained.