Claims:We Claim:

1. A method (100) to calculate the real-time injection count of a fuel injector; said method (100) comprising:
sensing (101) the pressure drop after every injection by a sensor;
defining (102) a threshold value by a controller based on at least one pre-determined characteristic;
calculating (103) the injection count by said controller based on the said defined threshold value.

2. The method (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pressure drop occurs with every injection of said fuel injector.

3. The method (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said threshold value is defined (102) based on said pressure drop by the fuel injector.

4. The method (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pre-determined characteristics is an average of said pressure drop after every injection.
, Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
Field of the invention
[0001] The invention relates to a method to calculate the injection count of a fuel injector.

Background of the invention
[0002] The performance of diesel engines is heavily influenced by their injection system design. The way the fuel is delivered makes a difference in engine performance, emissions and noise characteristics. The diesel fuel injection system delivers fuel under extremely high injection pressures. This implies that the system component designs and materials are selected to withstand higher stresses in order to perform for extended durations that match the engine’s durability targets.

[0003] A patent application US20160215708 A1 discloses a method of determining the timing and quantity of fuel injection to operate an internal combustion engine. The fuel injector to perform an injection, a signal of a fuel pressure within the fuel rail during the fuel injection is sampled. The signal is used to determine the fuel rail pressure drop caused by the fuel injection and the timing parameter. Values of the first and second functions are used to calculate a value of the fuel rail pressure drop caused by the fuel injection and a value of the timing parameter.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings:
[0004] Different modes of the invention are disclosed in detail in the description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing:
[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates a method to calculate the injection count of a fuel injector according to one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments
[0006] Figure 1 illustrates a method 100 to calculate the rea time injection count of a fuel injector according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The method 100 is to calculate the injection count of a fuel injector. The method 100 comprises at least of following steps: in step S1, the sensor adapted to sense 101 the pressure drop after every injection. In step S2, a controller defines 102 a threshold value based on a pre-determined characteristic and in step S3, the controller calculates 103 the injection count based on the defined threshold value.

[0007] In the step S1, for every injection in the fuel injector the pressure drops. The sensor as disclosed above is a pressure sensor. The pressure drop depends upon the rate of feeding in the fuel injection. For example, a feed rate of the fuel into the injector is increased at a particular interval so that the pressure sensor captures the exact pressure drop.

[0008] In the step S2, a controller that is an electronic control unit defines 102 the threshold value based on the predetermined characteristic. According to one embodiment of the invention, the predetermined characteristic is the average of the pressure drop after every injection by a fuel injector. For example, the pressure drop forms a profile and based on that the average is considered. This average is considered by the control unit to define 102 the threshold value.

[0009] In this method 100 , in step S3, the injection count is calculated by a control unit based on the threshold value. For example, the threshold value is represented as a straight line in a graphical representation. Whenever the pressure drops, these straight line intersects the pressure drop signal and from these intersections, the injection count is calculated 103. The average of number of intersects is the number of injection count, which is calculated by controller. Additionally these intersections can determine the type of injections for example, pilot, main or post based on the duration of the intersection.

[0010] Based on the disclosure disclosed above, the working of the method 100 is described below. For example, when the injection occurs, the drop in pressure is sensed 101. The threshold value is defined 102 based on this drop in pressure. The number of injection count is calculated 103 by controller based on the average of the pressure drops upon the threshold value.

[0011] This method 100 is used to calculate the injection count without using any external clamp meter, especially designed to calculate the injection, so eliminating the use of external physical sensor. This method 100 can be used to calculate the real time injection counts of vehicle through any connectivity tool in future to determine the real age or usage of the injector.

[0012] ‘Adapted’ or ‘arranged’, in the context of the instant disclosure, refers to the technical capability or the technical capacity of a component, in relation to which the term ‘adapted’ or ‘arranged’ is used, to carry out or executed a specified action or actions, upon the requirement of the specified action or actions to be carried out or executed. Moreover, the usage of the term ‘adapted’ or ‘arranged’ here, is in reference with the normal technical capability or technical capacity of the component, imparted by the design or the structure or the composition of the component, and not in reference with any special or extraneous capability or capacity, beyond the scope of the normal technical capability or technical capacity. Therefore, there is a need to address this problem

[0013] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.