Method, system and apparatus for detecting injector closing time

1. An apparatus for a vehicle system having at least one injector and a least one sensor therefor, comprising:

a controller connected to the at least one sensor, the controller being operable to receive a profile of the current draw of the injector, the controller being operable to process the profile using a slope discriminator and to determine a stuck status and a closing time of the injector based on an output of the slope discriminator,

wherein the controller is further operable to determine the output of the slope discriminator based on the valve current profile, and wherein the controller is further operable to compare the output to a predetermined closing time detection threshold,

wherein the controller is further operable to determine whether a maximum output value of the slope discriminator is below the predetermined closing detection time detection threshold; and if the maximum output value is below the predetermined closing time detection threshold, the controller is operable to determine that the stuck status is stuck; and if the maximum output value is above the predetermined closing time detection threshold, the controller is operable to determine that the stuck status is not stuck, and

wherein the controller is further operable to determine the closing time of the injector valve based on a location of the maximum output value, if the stuck status is that the injector valve is not stuck.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller being further operable to start a delay timer at an end of an injector current clamp, to cause delay for a predetermined period of time starting at the end of the injector current clamp prior to receiving the valve current profile of the injector valve, and to collect valve current data.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller being further operable to filter the valve current data to remove high frequency noise, to report the injector status and closing time, and to process the valve current profile using a nonlinear digital filtering technique.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller being further operable to determine median values within a median window and mean values within a mean window, and to calculate a series of mean output data points and a series of median output data points,

wherein each median output data point in the median window is a median value of data points within the median window at a corresponding time;

wherein the data points within the median window are sorted in increasing value;

wherein each mean output data point in the mean window is a mean value of data points within the mean window at a corresponding time;

wherein the mean window encompasses fewer data points than the median window; and

wherein the mean window begins at a predefined offset from the median window start point.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate a slope discriminator output according the relationship Output=median term times gain factor for median term minus (mean term times gain factor for mean term minus offset term), where Output is the slope discriminator output at a given time, median term is the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time, mean term is the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time, and the gain factors are variable amplification factors, wherein

the gain factor for the median term is one plus the absolute value of the difference between the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time and the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time; and

the gain factor for the mean term is one minus the absolute value of the difference between the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time and the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the injector is one of a selective catalytic reduction injector and a fuel injector.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further operable to report the closing time and/or the stuck status to an on-board diagnostic system.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a control unit for a vehicle having an injector valve, cause the control unit to perform operations comprising:

receiving a valve current profile of the injector valve;

processing the valve current profile using at least a slope discriminator;

determining a stuck status of the injector valve based on an output of the slope discriminator; and

if the injector valve is not stuck, determining the closing time of the injector valve based on the output of the slope discriminator,

wherein processing the valve current profile includes determining an output of the slope discriminator based on the valve current profile, and determining the stuck status and the closing time of the injector valve includes comparing the output to a predetermined closing time detection threshold, wherein

processing the valve current profile comprises determining median values within a median window and mean values within a mean window,

processing the valve current profile comprises calculating a series of mean output data points and a series of median output data points,

each median output data point in the median window is a median value of data points within the median window at a corresponding time,

the data points within the median window are sorted in increasing value,

each mean output data point in the mean window is a mean value of data points within the mean window at a corresponding time,

the mean window encompasses fewer data points than the median window, and

the mean window begins at a predefined offset from the median window start point.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , further comprising instructions which, when executed by the control unit, causes the control unit to perform operations comprising:

determining whether a maximum output value of the slope discriminator is below the predetermined closing detection time detection threshold;

if the maximum output value is below the predetermined closing time detection threshold, determining that the stuck status is stuck; and

if the maximum output value is above the predetermined closing time detection threshold, determining that the stuck status is not stuck.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein

processing the valve current profile comprises generating a slope discriminator output according the relationship Output=median term times gain factor for median term minus (mean term times gain factor for mean term minus offset term), where Output is the slope discriminator output at a given time, median term is the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time, mean term is the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time, and the gain factors are variable amplification factors,

the gain factor for the median term is one plus the absolute value of the difference between the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time and the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time, and

the gain factor for the mean term is one minus the absolute value of the difference between the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time and the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the control unit, cause the control unit to report the closing time and/or the stuck status to an on-board diagnostic system of the vehicle.

12. An apparatus for a vehicle system, the vehicle system having at least one injector and a least one sensor therefor, comprising:

a controller connected to the at least one sensor, the controller being operable to receive a profile of the current draw of the injector, the controller being operable to process the profile using a slope discriminator and to determine a stuck status and a closing time of the injector based on an output of the slope discriminator,

wherein the controller is further operable to determine the output of the slope discriminator based on the valve current profile, and wherein the controller is further operable to compare the output to a predetermined closing time detection threshold,

the controller being further operable to determine median values within a median window and mean values within a mean window, and to calculate a series of mean output data points and a series of median output data points,

wherein each median output data point in the median window is a median value of data points within the median window at a corresponding time;

wherein the data points within the median window are sorted in increasing value;

wherein each mean output data point in the mean window is a mean value of data points within the mean window at a corresponding time;

wherein the mean window encompasses fewer data points than the median window; and

wherein the mean window begins at a predefined offset from the median window start point.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate a slope discriminator output according the relationship Output=median term times gain factor for median term minus (mean term times gain factor for mean term minus offset term), where Output is the slope discriminator output at a given time, median term is the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time, mean term is the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time, and the gain factors are variable amplification factors, wherein

the gain factor for the median term is one plus the absolute value of the difference between the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time and the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time; and

the gain factor for the mean term is one minus the absolute value of the difference between the median value of the sorted data points in the median window at the given time and the mean value of the data points in the mean window at the given time.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a control unit for a vehicle having an injector valve, cause the control unit to perform operations comprising:

receiving a valve current profile of the injector valve;

processing the valve current profile using at least a slope discriminator;

determining a stuck status of the injector valve based on an output of the slope discriminator;

if the injector valve is not stuck, determining the closing time of the injector valve based on the output of the slope discriminator,

wherein processing the valve current profile includes determining an output of the slope discriminator based on the valve current profile, and determining the stuck status and the closing time of the injector valve includes comparing the output to a predetermined closing time detection threshold,

determining whether a maximum output value of the slope discriminator is below the predetermined closing detection time detection threshold; and if the maximum output value is below the predetermined closing time detection threshold, the controller is operable to determine that the stuck status is stuck; and if the maximum output value is above the predetermined closing time detection threshold, the controller is operable to determine that the stuck status is not stuck, and

determining the closing time of the injector valve based on a location of the maximum output value, if the stuck status is that the injector valve is not stuck.