Abstrict Improvements in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion engines
are disclosed which comprise structure for improving the flow dynamics
of the air flow through the sampling path including expansion of
the dynamic range and increase of the signal to noise ratio resulting
in improved engine performance, fuel efficiency, and emission control.
Such structure includes a sample tube being tapered in decreasing
area in the direction of air flow therethrough and a pneumatic equivalent
of a low pass R C filter which decouples the high turbulence in
the main flow through the venturi, averages same and provides a
scaled down profiled flow through the sample tube for measurement
by a transducer in the sample tube, the measurements having an accuracy
of .+-.2% of reading.
Claims What I claim is:
1. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines having a hollow elongated body having a venturi therein,
a sample tube associated with said body for receiving a flow of
sample air therethrough, the entire air source for an engine being
split into a main flow path through the venturi and into a sampling
path through the sample tube, an air flow transducer disposed in
said sample tube, the flow through the sample tube downstream from
said transducer being recombined with the main flow of air through
said venturi, said improvement comprising the following structure
for improving the flow dynamics of the air flow through the sampling
path including expansion of the dynamic range and increase of the
signal to noise ratio resulting in improved engine performance,
fuel efficiency, and emission control:
(a) said sample tube being tapered in decreasing area in the direction
of air flow through the sample tube;
(b) the transducer being disposed near the minimum area of said
sample tube;
(c) said sample tube having a length equal to more than 6 times
the maximum cross sectional dimension thereof near the transducer;
(d) a collecting chamber downstream from the sample tube for receiving
the output flow therefrom;
(e) flow restriction means opening to the minimum throat diameter
of said venturi and serving as the outlet of said collecting chamber;
(f) said collecting chamber serving as an accumulator for the outlet
flow from said sample tube and having a volume more than twice the
volume of the sample tube above said transducer;
(g) the total cross sectional area of said flow restriction means
being about half that of the minimum cross sectional area of said
sample tube near the transducer so that the pressure drop across
said flow restriction means is at least 1.5 times that across the
length of the sample tube above said transducer; and
(h) said collecting chamber and said flow restriction means providing
a pneumatic equivalent of a low pass R C filter which decouples
the high turbulence in the main flow through the venturi, averages
same and provides a scaled down profiled flow through the sample
tube for measurement by said transducer, said measurements having
an accuracy of .+-.2% of reading error.
2. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the taper of the sample tube
is uniform over the length thereof.
3. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the ratio of the length of
said sample tube to the minimum diameter thereof is between 8 to
1 and 12 to 1.
4. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the taper of the sample tube
is within a range of 0.5 to 2.0 degrees included angle.
5. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 4 in which said taper of the sample
is 0.9 degrees included angle.
6. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which said collecting chamber is
an annular chamber disposed about the minimum throat diameter of
the venturi and in which said flow restriction means comprises equally
circumferentially spaced-apart apertures through the venturi wall.
7. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a transverse conduit
disposed downstream of the sample tube and upstream from the collection
chamber, the volume of said transverse conduit being added to that
of said collecting chamber in providing the C equivalent of said
R C time constant.
8. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 7 further comprising a manually adjustable
air flow trimmer at the intersection of the downstream end of the
sample tube and the inlet end of the transverse conduit, said flow
trimmer being used to fine tune the R of the low pass R C filter.
9. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the inlet to the sample tube
has a trumpet shaped mouth inlet to enhance the capture of sample
air and to enhance the signal to noise ratio.
10. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which said body has an entrance
plane coincident with the upstream end of said venturi and the sample
tube has such length that it extends above said entrance plane such
a distance that the inlet end thereof is disposed above a 50% cross-flow
line in respect to the total cross flow of air entering the venturi
from said air source.
11. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the sample tube has such
length that the inlet end thereof extends above the transducer by
a distance of between 6 and 12 diameters (minimum diameter of the
sample tube near the transducer).
12. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which said transducer is located
above the outlet end of the sample tube by a distance of at least
1 diameter (minimum diameter of sample tube near the transducer).
13. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means at the outer
cirumferential wall of said body below said entrance plane for holding
an air filter in place thereon, said holding means including a radial
wall and a cylindrical wall for forming, with the air cleaner, a
static pressure gap whereby to enhance attachment of the incoming
air to said bell shaped entrance.
14. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a recovery cone
downstream from said venturi expanding in diameter in the direction
of flow by an amount so as to provide an included conical angle
of between 8 and 20 degrees.
15. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 14 in which said expanding diameter
has an included conical angle of 14 degrees.
16. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 14 in which the minimum throat diameter
of the venturi is sized to give at maximum expected airflow a maximum
of 28 in. H2O pressure drop from (atmosphere to the minimum throat
diameter) and a maximum pressure drop of 13 in. H2O (from atmosphere
to the outlet end of the recovery cone).
17. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the pressure drop over the
length of the sample tube above said transducer is less than 10
inches of H2O, whereby, the flow of sample air in said sample tube
remains profiled in the laminar regime.
18. Improvement in a mass air flow meter for internal combustion
engines as claimed in claim 1 in which the volume of said sample
path downstream of the flow transducer including that of the collecting
chamber in relation to the volume of the sample tube upstream of
the transducer is in the ratio of 2.5 to 1 and 15 to 1 depending
upon the time delay required for the intake characteristics of the
target engine, said time delay being between 12 and 90 milliseconds.
Description My invention relates to a mass air flow meter with Air Cleaner
for measuring the flow of air mass inducted into an internal combustion
engine for controlling the air/fuel ratio thereof. The principal
object of my invention is to provide an improved mass air flow meter
which is characterized by very low pressure drop, improved transduction
accuracy, low transduction noise; and high efficiency (reducing
the work the engine must do to breathe).
The foregoing object of my invention and the advantages thereof
will become apparent during the course of the following description,
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a prior art mass airflow
meter (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4393697);
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of my air flow meter (with filter)
viewed so that the mounting surface thereof (for a sensing element
shown detached in this FIG. can be seen;
FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively, top plan of my air flow meter (with
the air cleaner detached) and bottom plan view of my air flow meter;
FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of my air flow meter showing
some of the construction details thereof;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the split of air flow
through the sample system and the main venturi;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the expected pressure drops
for my family of mass air flow meters from 1" to 5" throat
diameters;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional showing the interface
construction with the air cleaner;
FIG. 9 is a schematic view with parts in section of the sampling
system;
FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic views illustrating respectively
the pneumatic circuit and the electrical equivalent of the sampling
system used in my air flow meter;
FIGS. 11A through 11D are a series of graphs illustrating averaging
effect of my sampling system on the pulsating flow through the main
venturi;
FIG. 12 is visualized flow diagrams showing air flow through my
sampling system;
FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 but showing such air flow
in the sample system of a prior art mass air flow meter.
BACKGROUND
The need for this invention is to fill anticipated needs of the
1994 emission requirements for better and more accurate control
of air/fuel ratio in internal combustion engines.
The major problems with the present meters available are:
1. Present meters always have a high pressure drop across the meter
that causes the horsepower to be reduced (at sea level 8 to 14%
at 5000 ft. this loss goes to 11 to 20%). My meter has a very low
pressure drop because of pressure recovery system designed in. (13
in. H2O drop vs. 3 in. H2O)
2. Low dynamic range of the Present meter will read from 13 to
850 Kg./Hr. with 4% accuracy and 12% noise. My meter has a range
of 17 to 2000 Kg./Hr. with 3% accuracy and less than 3% noise.
3. High noise above idle to mid throttle makes the present meter
unsure of the actual air intake. System as measured have as high
as 12% noise from 30 to 90 Kg./Hr. My meter the same area has less
than 1% noise making open loop air fuel calculations in the emission
control system at least 8 to 12 times better. Increasing accuracy
in air fuel ratio makes the emissions better and reduces air pollution.
4. The present intake system introduces further restriction by
an air cleaner that has a very high pressure drop and routes the
incoming air through a tortuous path which restricts the maximum
horsepower by another 5 to 12% and increases the work that the engine
has to do without any benefit. My system close couples a very low
restriction air cleaner that reduces the work the engine has to
do to breathe.
5. The present air meters are such that changes in throttle angle
(demand for power) and upstream and downstream tubes and components
have a large effect on the transducer calibration curve. Simple
moving of tubes or changing to another type of air cleaner may change
air meter transduction characteristics by 4 to 7%. My system is
not affected by these conditions because of my design of the intake
for the main flow and the sample system including the tapered sample
tube and distribution ring.
6. Present air meters have fast transduction response times and
the output(electrical transduced signal) is averaged over the input
cycle to allow the computer to find the intake air mass. This practice
generally runs the engine rich because the flow curve is a function
of the volts plus a constant raised to the 3.3 power. When this
is done the average volts calculated through the function is always
less than the average of flow. This can be fixed if the engine control
computer is able to calculate many times over the intake stroke,
sum the flows and then divide by the number of observations. This
takes large amounts of computer time and is not possible without
a very fast and sophisticated computer. My system has a filtering
network built into the sample system that filters the pulsating
main flow to provide a sample flow that is representative of the
average flow through the main venturi. The flow through the sample
system is at a very low differential pressure and is in the laminar
flow regime. The flow signal is the representative of the averaged
flow through the main venturi over 24 to 65 ms.
DESCRIPTION
By way of a tradename or trademark for my mass air flow meter I
prefer to describe it as the "Pro (M)" meter (or "Pro-M-Dot"
meter)
My mass air flow meter has size specifications as follows (see
FIG. 5):
Overall Height (H) of meter is 2.5 times the throat diameter (TD)
The Height (Hep) of the bell entrance plane (EP) upstream from
the throat dia. (TD) shall be 1.3 times the throat diameter (TD)
The height of the recovery system Hrc shall be a minimum of 1.25
times the throat dia (TD)
Overall diameter at upstream end (Dmax) is 2 times throat diameter
(TD)
Diameter at the downstream end (Dout) is 1.3 times throat diameter
(TD)
The height (ACh) and diameter (ACd) of the air cleaner shall be
each a minimum of 1.9 throat diameters (TD)
For the family of flow meters sizes 0.5" to 5" throat
diameter of venturi (TD), both the flow through the sample path
and the main flow through the venturi throat are variable with engine
requirement (see FIG. 6). The flow through the sample path will
vary from zero to maximum value of about 0.7 poundals (W/g) per
minute.
My mass air flow meter has a fluidically correct shaping of venturi
(10) and tapered sample tube (12) for the most correct reading of
air flow rates.
a. The bell inlet (14) of the venturi (10) has a minimum radius
(R1) equal to at least 1/2 of the throat diameter (TD) of said venturi
and the form thereof is determined by a cubic equation. A tangent
line from the outermost edge of the bell inlet forms a minimum angle
(A1) of at least 70 degrees to the axis of the venturi. (see FIG.
5.)
b. The Recovery system (11) is tapered to increasing diameter preferably
about 14 degrees included angle for best possible air flow pressure
recovery. 96.6% of pressure is recovered at the exit plane of said
exit cone. (see FIG. 5.)
In tests performed on a stock 1990 Mustang engine (5.0 liter High
Output) an increase of at lease 25 horse power was achieved by simply
removing the production mass air flow meter and replacing same with
my mass air flow meter.
My mass air flow meter has a unique air cleaner mount which (see
FIG. 8) consists of means radially outward of the bell inlet (4)
for receiving an end of the air cleaner (7) and disposing it below
the entrance plane (EP) of said bell mouth (14). Such means include
a circumferential shoulder (3) and a radial shoulder (4) which provide
a static pressure gap (6) disposed between the inside circumference
of the air cleaner and the circumferential shoulder (3). Said filter
mount forces incoming air to attach to the bell mouth surface so
as to increase the intake efficiency. The closely attached air cleaner
provides both air filtration and radial direction to the intake
flow. This isolates the intake of the meter from under-hood air
currents that are induced by rotating accessories, engine fan, and
vehicular movement that otherwise would increase transduction noise.
See FIG. 5.
The main inlet is stepped up to capture the air flow over the approaching
inlet lip to allow for the inlet air to attach to the inlet immediately
after crossing the air filter. This keeps the air attached to the
inlet horn and allows for much better intake efficiency. See FIG.
8.
In my mass air flow meter the height of the tapered sample tube
(Hst) above the bell entrance plane (EP) shall be a minimum of 0.5
times the throat diameter (TD) (see FIG. 5). In any case at least
above the 50% cross flow line (50% C.F.L.; see FIG. 6) By 50% cross
C.F.L. I mean that 50% of the cross flow of air through the air
cleaner is below this line.
The inlet of the tapered sample tube (12) shall have a trumpet
bell (5) shape, be unguarded and be disposed radially inside the
air cleaner a predetermined minimum distance (Sr) and a predetermined
minimum distance (Hst) axially upstream from the entrance plane
(EP) of the bell inlet equal to at least 0.5 of the throat diameter
(TD).
Sr is the radial distance inward from said circumferential shoulder
(3) to the axis of the sample tube (12). Hst is the height of the
sample tube above the entrance plane (EP)
In my mass air flow meter the bypass tapered sample tube (12) is
tapered to decreasing diameter (preferably about 0.7 to 2.0 degrees)
in the direction of air flow to eliminate cyclonic effects of the
flow which otherwise would become high noise. (see FIG. 12)
In my mass air flow meter the air sensing element (13) is positioned
at the end of the tapered sample tube (12) such that the tube is
still tapering for at least 1 diameter beyond the element. (see
FIG. 5)
In my mass air flow meter a transverse conduit (15) with a flow
trimming device (16) receives the flow from the sample tube (12)
and delivers same to the sample collection chamber (8)
In my mass air flow meter the sample collecting chamber (8) downstream
from the tapered sample tube at the minimum throat diameter of the
venturi receives the flow from the transverse conduit (15) and collects
same and has a flow restriction outlet (9) to the main air flow
flowing through the minimum diameter (TD) of the venturi. The ratio
of volume of the collecting chamber to the volume of sample tube
being between 3 to 1 and 14 to 1 depending upon the filter time
constant (see FIGS. 9 10A and 10B). The filter time constant varies
depending upon the intake characteristics of the target engine.
______________________________________ R C time constant engine
cylinders MS. (milliseconds) ratios of volume ______________________________________
8 and 6 12 to 44 4:1 to 9:1 5 and less 44 to 90 8:1 to 14:1 ______________________________________
In my mass air flow meter the maximum flow through the tapered
sample tube (12) is made to be a constant at maximum flow for a
given family of flow meter sizes.
The actual flow through the tapered sample tube is close to 0.7
poundals/Min at design flow rate. This flow rate limits the flow
regime that the sample tube will see.
The following are two typical mass air flow meters form my family
of mass air flow meters;
a. The ATZ-1000 3.0 in. dia. venturi is 1000 C.F.M. (S.T.P.) The
flow rate through the tapered sample tube is approximately 8.7 C.F.M.
(S.T.P.) while through the venturi is 991.3 C.F.M. (S.T.P.) the
pressure signal at the minimum venturi diameter is approximately
28.0 inches of H2O.
PFT 1 2.75 in. dia. venturi is 800 C.F.M. (S.T.P.) The flow rate
through the tapered sample tube is approximately 8.7 C.F.M. (S.T.P.)
while through the venturi is 791.3 C.F.M. (S.T.P)
Description of advantages of my mass air flow meter.
All internal combustion engines operate in at least 3 specific
phases of air intake into the engine.
I. Air intake condition idle to 40% throttle.
Characterized by near constant flow through the intake system.
High intake manifold vacuum and throttling valve being at low angles.
II. Air intake condition rapid change in throttle demand.
Changing throttle angle means the operator is demanding the engine
to either accelerate or decelerate and the engine must respond very
quickly.
III. Air intake condition Above 40% to Wide Open Throttle.
Characterized by high pulsations of flow and even flow reversals.
Intake manifold is pulsating from 2 in. Hg. gage vacuum to 1 in.
Hg. gage pressure
My invention handles all of the above 3 operating phases (I, II
and III).
In respect to Phase I Air intake condition (Idle to 40% throttle):
A. Prior art bypass units have always had high noise (3 to 20%
of signal). As shown is FIG. 13 the noise in the bypass system
is mainly due to cyclonic type flow in the nontapered tube which
rambles about the sample tube, produces eddies, random wall attachment
and results in inaccurate sensing. High noise adversely affects
the measuring accuracy of the prior art unit which in turn, adversely
affects emissions control, engine efficiency, and fuel economy.
B. In my air flow meter the tapered sample tube is continuously
tapered to focus the center flow on the sensing device as a consequence
a of the profiled velocity front through the sampling tube my Air
flow meter has low noise (0.5 to 3% of signal)
(i). cross flows, perpendicular surfaces, or close objects have
no affect upon capture of sample air
(ii). the taper constantly accelerates the flow to insure attachment
thereof to the tapered wall while maximizing the acceleration at
the center of the flow stream to produce a parabolic velocity front
(P.V.F.) as shown in FIG. 12 whereby eddies cannot form and the
sensing element always sees a non-fluctuating maximum accelerated
center flow stream. Therefore because the element always sees the
same P.V.F. flow transduction noise is minimized while accuracy
and repeatability are maximized, the result is that the control
computer has a stronger more accurate signal; engine emissions are
minimized, while engine efficiency, and fuel economy are both maximized.
In respect to Phase II and III air intake conditions: transient
acceleration/deceleration and Wide Open Throttle operating areas.
A. Prior art systems do not have a flow averaging system for air
intake conditions II and III . Instead they follow the air flow
response poorly and give false readings of flow in the high pulsation
flow areas. This makes the control system even more confused and
makes poor performance and even worse emissions.
B. My air flow meter uses the sample flow system as an air flow
equivalent to an electrical low pass filter having an R C time constant.
The mechanical sampling system is illustrated in FIG. 10A while
the analogous electronic circuit is shown in FIG. 10B where the
collecting chamber providing the equivalent electrical capacitance
said flow restriction means providing the equivalent electrical
resistance in series circuit with said capacitance and said sample
tube, hot wire transducer ,flow trimmer and transverse conduit providing
the equivalent electrical coupling resistance whereby the flow through
the sample path read by the hotwire transducer represents the average
value of the main flow through the venturi throat.
The graphs in FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate the flow response to
a quiet signal such as idle to 1/3 total throttle opening when the
flow is stabile. The average flow is identical to the actual flow
and no differences are seen.
The graphs in FIGS. 11C and 11D illustrates what the element sees
when the flow is pulsing. The main venturi sees the entire pulsing
flow and the flow restriction means lets the flow in the collection
chamber lag slightly behind the main flow. This lag allows the sample
flow to only vary slightly from the air flow average and becomes
a filter that will block fluctuations that are cyclic and above
a frequency of 15 to 30 hertz. Large throttle angle changes are
averaged and the flow output lags the actual transient by 0.03 to
0.09 seconds however the transfer function of the intake manifold
is closer to the flow outputted by the device and the engine is
less prone to over react to these changes and produce air fuel spiking.
The volume of the collection chamber changes for various applications;
The ratio of volume of the collecting chamber to the volume of
sample tube being between 3 to 1 and 14 to 1 depending upon the
filter time constant. The filter time constant varies depending
upon the intake characteristics of the target engine
______________________________________ target engine time delay
engine cylinders MS. (milliseconds) ratio of volumes ______________________________________
8 and 6 12 to 44 4:1 to 8:1 5 and less 44 to 90 8:1 to 14:1 ______________________________________
The following is a description of how a typical one of my mass
air flow meters functions:
A 3 inch device divides the air flow in the approximate ratio of
114 to 1 (air through the throat to air through the tapered sample
tube)
The tapered sample tube is brought above the entrance plane (EP)
of the device to allow for better capture of the sample air. The
sample air resembles an infinite source because
a. The tapered sample tube entrance is disposed above the 50% air
flow line not allowing cross currents to affect the sample air stream.
b. the incoming air velocity is at a maximum of 40 degrees from
the axis of the sample tube assuring a clean capture of the air.
c. A sharp edged trumpet cone is used for better capture efficiency
of the sample air.
The sample flow is drawn through the sample path and is collected
at the minor diameter by a specially made distribution ring and
collection chamber which has a volume of 4 to 14 times that of the
tapered sample tube in front of the sensing element. The flow is
formed into a parabolic velocity front by the tapered sample tube
and is focused on the element (see FIG. 12)
This flow measured is the average main venturi flow and enables
the engine controller to read the average air charge much more accurately
with out synchronous sampling techniques from the engine computer.
advantages of the tapered sample tube
a. maximize the signal to noise ratio at the hotwire because of
tapering of sample tube and disposition of inlet mouth thereof
b. the pressure drop is controlled across the sample tube making
the flow always stay in the laminar regime.
c. profiled flow means that the element that is used to sense the
flow may be of any size or shape because the flow profile is doesn't
have any random movements in it.
advantages of sample collection system and flow restriction ring
a. minimize the downstream effects of the air flow through the
meter prior art the signal from the meter was affected by downstream
bends and devices in the air flow. i.e. Throttle plate angle affects
transduction curve. Different air cleaner elements affect the transducer
curve.
b. Venturi flow is averaged by the restriction and the volume of
the ring design, which is unique in obtaining an averaged flow signal.
c. minimize the effect of reverse flow when the engine is pulsing
during wide open throttle operation. |