Appeal No. 97-0755 Page 12
Application No. 08/400,066
engine load and engine speed. At any particular operating
point, accelerator control position sensor 14 transmits to
controller 10 information which is transformed into an
accelerator control position signal indicating the position of
the accelerator control. The position of the accelerator
control is used as a reliable indicator of the driver's demand
with respect to engine torque or power output. Additionally,
as noted above, controller 10 receives information from engine
speed sensor 16, which allows controller 10 to operate the
engine according to the operation map illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 4 of Lipinski is a flow diagram illustrating the
operation of a variable displacement engine using inferred
engine load as a control variable. Lipinski teaches (column,
4 lines 24-55) that
[i]f vehicle speed is within the control limits of block
102, the routine passes to block 106. At block 106,
contemporaneous engine load is inferred from the
accelerator position and engine speed. As used herein,
the term "load" means volumetric efficiency, which can be
measured in terms of intake manifold pressure or inlet
air charge. Processor 10A within controller 10 contains
stored values for engine load as functions of engine
speed and accelerator control position. It has been
Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007