Method for controlling the movement of a component that moves towards a position defined by a limit stop in an internal combustion engine

1. A method for determining movement of a component that moves towards a position defined by a limit stop in an internal-combustion engine ( 1 ), the said method comprising the steps of:

controlling the arrangement of at least one acoustic microphone ( 22 ) at different decreasing distances with respect to and orientation of the acoustic microphone ( 22 ) toward the component so that intensity (S) of a signal generated by impact of the component against the limit stop can be detected by the acoustic microphone ( 22 );

detecting, by the acoustic microphone ( 22 ), the intensity (S) of the signal generated by the impact of the component against the limit stop by sampling at high frequency, having a value in the order of size of 100 kHz, to acquire the intensity (S) of the signal generated by the impact of the component against the limit stop;

memorizing in a memory buffer, the intensity (S) of the signal generated by the impact of the component against the limit stop according to the engine angle detected by the acoustic microphone ( 22 ) during the operating cycle;

determining two detection windows (W, V) expressed in engine angle and having each a respective start engine angle (αw_start, αv_start) and a respective finish engine angle (αw_finish, αv_finish);

comparing the intensity (S) of the signal within the two detection windows (W, V);

determining the extension of an analysis window (Y) of the intensity (S) of the signal based on the comparison between the intensity (S) of the signal within the two detection windows (W, V), wherein start engine angle (αw_start) of the first detection window (W) corresponds to about a −15° engine angle with respect to an upper combustion top dead centre (TDC) of a respective cylinder ( 2 ) of the internal-combustion engine ( 1 ), wherein finish engine angle (αw_finish) of the first detection window (W) corresponds to about a +75° engine angle with respect to the top dead centre (TDC) such that the first detection window (W) is centered about the top dead centre (TDC), wherein start engine angle (αv_start) of the second detection window (V) corresponds to about a +75° engine angle with respect to the top dead centre (TDC) and substantially coincides with the finish engine angle (αw_finish) of the first detection window (W), and finish engine angle (αv_finish) of the second detection window (V) corresponds to about a +165° engine angle with respect to the top dead centre (TDC); wherein the second detection window (V) is a neutral detection window which covers an interval expressed in engine degrees remote from the impact of the component against the limit stop;

detecting, by the microphone ( 22 ), and memorizing the intensity (S) of the signal according to an engine angle and to the time within the analysis window (Y);

determining the at least one of the impact instant and impact intensity by analyzing the intensity (S) of the signal within the analysis window (Y);

determining a mean value of the at least one of the impact instant and impact intensity of the component against the limit stop; and

determining an error (E) from the comparison between the mean value of the at least one of the impact instant and impact intensity of the component against the limit stop and at least one of the impact instant and impact intensity of the component against the limit stop;

controlling the movement of the component that moves toward a position defined by a limit stop by using the impact of the component against the limit stop as feedback in a closed loop control;

filtering the intensity (S) of the signal within the analysis window (Y) by a band-pass filter;

detecting and memorizing the energy (E) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y) in a time interval around the instant of the impact;

establishing a number (N) of cycles and a correlation law of the energy (E) of the filtered signal (S) with the impact speed of the component detecting and memorizing in the memory buffer a number (N) of values of the impact speed of the component obtained from the correlation with the energy (E) of the filtered signal (S) within the analysis window (Y), equal to the number (N) of cycles; and

determining the impact speed of the component by using the mean of the values of impact speed obtained from the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y).

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

determining a distance (d) existing between the microphone ( 22 ) and the component the at least one of the impact instant and impact speed of which against the limit stop has to be determined;

calculating a transmission delay (Δt) expressed in engine angle according to a rotation speed (w) of a drive shaft ( 15 ) of the internal-combustion engine ( 1 ) and to the distance (d) existing between the microphone ( 22 ) and the component; and

determining the at least one of the impact instant and impact speed of the component against the limit stop also according to the transmission delay (Δt).

3. The method as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the transmission delay (Δt) expressed in engine angle is calculated by applying the equation

Δ t =[( d/V sound )* w]

and

Δt=transmission delay expressed in engine angle,

d=distance existing between the microphone ( 22 ) and the component,

w=rotation speed of the drive shaft ( 15 ), and

V sound =propagation speed of the sound in the air.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3 , wherein the angle corresponding to the instant of the impact of the component against the respective limit stop is calculated by applying the equation

α v — close =α medio −Δt

and

Δt=transmission delay expressed in engine angle,

α medio =mean value of the angle corresponding to the moment of the impact calculated by analyzing the signal generated by the impact, and

α v — close =angle corresponding to the impact of the component against the respective limit stop.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the step of:

carrying out a fast Fourier transform of the intensity (S) of the signal within the two detection windows (W, V), in order to determine the extension of the analysis window (Y).

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

filtering the intensity (S) of the signal within the analysis window (Y) by a band-pass filter; and

calculating the at least one of the impact instant and impact speed by using the filtered intensity (S) of the signal within the analysis window (Y).

7. The method as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the method further includes the step of:

emphasizing the signal filtered in the band of the band-pass filter by an emphasizing device.

8. The method as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

detecting and memorizing the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y); and

determining the instant of the impact based on the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y).

9. The method as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

detecting and memorizing the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y); and

determining the instant of the impact based on the derivative in time of the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y).

10. The method as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

determining an upper threshold value (UTV) of the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y);

identifying the instants in which the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y) is higher than the upper threshold value (UTV); and

determining the mean value of the instant of the impact of the component within the analysis window (Y) based on the power (P) values associated with the instants in which the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y) is higher than the upper threshold value (UTV).

11. The method as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

determining the median (M) of the power (P) values associated with the instants in which the power (P) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y) is higher than the upper threshold value (UTV);

identifying an interval of values centered on the median (M); and

calculating the mean value of the instant of the impact within the analysis window (Y) as mean of the power (P) values contained within the interval of values centered on the median (M).

12. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

detecting and memorizing the energy (E) of the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y) in a time interval around the instant of the impact; and

determining the impact speed of the component by using the energy (E) of the signal within the analysis window (Y).

13. The method as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

Establishing a number (N) of cycles and a correlation law of the energy (E) of the filtered signal (S) with the impact speed of the component;

detecting and memorizing in a memory buffer a number (N) of values of the impact speed of the component obtained from the correlation with the energy (E) of the filtered signal (S) within the analysis window (Y), equal to the number (N) of cycles; and

determining the impact speed of the component by using the mean of the values of impact speed obtained from the filtered signal within the analysis window (Y).

14. The method as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

determining the median (M) of the values of the impact speed of the component;

identifying an interval of values centered on the median (M); and

calculating the mean value of the impact speed within the analysis window (Y) as mean of the values of impact speed contained within the interval of values centered on the median (M).

15. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the component is a valve ( 10 , 13 ) of the internal-combustion engine ( 1 ) and the impact occurs in correspondence of the closing of said valve ( 10 , 13 ).

16. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the steps of:

detecting and memorizing at least one of sound power and sound pressure levels of the signal generated by the impact of the component against the limit stop;

establishing at least one threshold value (V SP ) for the sound power level of the signal and at least one threshold value (V SPr ) for the sound pressure level of the signal;

comparing the at least one of the sound power and sound pressure levels of the signal generated by the impact of the component against the limit stop with the respective threshold values (V SP , V SPr ); and

diagnosing the excessive noise of the internal-combustion engine ( 1 ), in case the calculated values of the at least one of the sound power and sound pressure of the signal generated by the impact of the component against the limit stop are higher than the respective predefined threshold values (V SP , V SPr ).