1. A pollution control system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
a microcontroller electrically connected to a power supply;
a plurality of sensors connected to the microcontroller, each of the plurality of sensors configured to measure operating parameters of the engine; and
a PCV valve electrically connected to the microcontroller and responsive to a control signal therefrom, for regulating a flow rate of blow-by gases in the engine.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the PCV valve is moveable between opened and closed positions so as to regulate vacuum pressure in the engine.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors include an engine temperature sensor, a spark plug sensor, a battery sensor, a PCV valve sensor, an engine RPM sensor, an accelerometer sensor, or an exhaust gas sensor.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller includes a signal wire, a PCV control wire, and power supply wires.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is powered only when an ignition for the engine is on.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller comprises solid state memory that is programmable and reprogrammable.
7. The system of any of claims 1-6, wherein the PCV valve is in fluid communication with a crankcase and an intake manifold on the engine.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the microcontroller operates a restrictor within the PCV valve, for regulating the flow rate of blow-by gases through the PCV valve.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the microcontroller regulates the flow rate of blow-by gases from the crankcase to the intake manifold based on the quantity of blow-by gases being produced.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller determines the quantity of blow-by gases being produced based upon the operating parameters of the engine measured by the sensors.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller comprises:
programmable flash memory connected to a control processor;
a power supply input connected to the memory and the control processor;
a sensor input connected to the control processor, wherein the sensor input is configured to receive data from an engine sensor; and
a signal output connected to the control processor, wherein the signal output transmits a signal from the control processor so as to control operation of a PCV valve that regulates a flow rate of blow-by gases in the engine.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the control processor is configured to send multiple operating signals through the signal output.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein a first operating signal is configured to close the PCV valve while the engine is in a cold start state.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein a second operating signal is configured to open the PCV valve within a window of engine RPMs while the engine is in a warm running state.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein a third operating signal is configured to periodically open the PCV valve for a predetermined time interval within a window of engine RPMs when the engine RPMs are within the window for longer than a predetermined duration.
16. The system of any of claims 11-15, wherein the engine sensor is configured to transmit data on engine RPMs, engine temperature, engine torque, or crankcase pressure.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
inputting into a computer or computer network an inventory statement which comprises at least one existing product configuration and at least one corresponding component of said at least one existing product configuration;
inputting into a computer or computer network product configuration rules; and
if there exists any excess of said at least one corresponding component of said at least one existing product configuration,
(i) applying the product configuration rules to said excess of said at least one corresponding component of said at least one existing product configuration of said inventory statement; and
(ii) generating at least one new product configuration which consumes at least one of said excess of said at least one corresponding component of said at least one existing product configuration from said inventory statement.
2. The method according to claim 1, including a step of applying and generating a build plan to include said at least one new product configuration which consumes at least one of said excess of said at least one corresponding component of said at least one existing product configuration.
3. The method according to claim 2, including a step of inputting a sales plan of said at least one of said existing product configuration and said at least one new product configuration.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of generating said build plan for said product configuration includes at least one of a criterion selected from a group comprising:
maximizing revenue of said build plan;
maximizing profitability of said build plan;
minimizing liability costs for under-utilizing said inventory statement;
minimizing penalty costs for violating desired customer services levels;
minimizing penalty costs for deviating from sales plan of said set of existing product configurations; and
maximizing a goodness value function of said product configurations.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said goodness value function utilizes at least one of:
profitability of said product configurations;
competitive advantage gain of said product configuration;
marketability of said product configurations;
compatibility of said product configurations with said set of existing product configurations; and
cannibalization of a new product configuration with said set of existing product configurations.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein generating a build plan includes a step of formulating additional constraints utilizing at least one of:
contractual agreements describing upside and downside volume flexibility of supply-committed component inventories;
product substitution rules defining one or more alternative products for an existing end product; and
upside demand potential relative to a top-level sales plan.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein said step of generating said at least one new product configuration comprises a relationship:
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wherein, a set of variables of said relationship includes:
I as the set of components, indexed by i,
S as the set of commodities, or component groups, indexed by s,
M as the set of existing product configurations indexed by m,
N as the set of recommended new configurations, indexed by n, wherein, the cardinality of this set will increase during the solution process,
ri,m is the usage rate of component i in configuration m,
gi,s is the relationship between component i and commodity s, wherein gi,s=1 if component i belongs to commodity s; 0 otherwise,
Chi is the liability cost per unit of excess supply of component i,
Cbm is the backorder cost per unit of product configuration m,
Com is the overproduction cost per unit of product configuration m,
Cpn is the product release cost per unit of new configuration n,
Csm, m\u2032 is the cost of substituting product m\u2032 to satisfy demand for product m,
dm is the demand forecast for product configuration m,
bm is the backorder quantity of product configuration m,
\u03b1 is the demand upside potential, or maximum percentage of overproduction,
wi is the supply-committed inventory of component i,
wUi, wLi are the upper and lower bounds of supply-committed inventory of component i,
qi is the on hand inventory of component i,
Tm,m\u2032 is the product substitution matrix; Tm,m\u2032=1 if product configuration m can be substituted by product configuration m\u2032; 0 otherwise,
xm,m\u2032 is the quantity of product m\u2032 produced to satisfy demand for product m,
zm is the amount of product m overproduced, i.e., the amount exceeding the demand forecast of product m,
rni, n is the usage rate of component i in new product configuration n; each column of this matrix represents a new configuration,
Xm is the build quantity of existing product configuration m, and
Yn is the build quantity of new product configuration n.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said relationship comprises:
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wherein, said set of variables of said relationship includes,
Ki: bill-of-materials of new product configuration; Ki=1 if the new product configuration uses component i; 0 otherwise.