Siemens Automotive Corporation

Siemens Canada Limited

Other

Debora E Nally

David P Wieczorek

Bryan C Hall

Gordon H Wyant

William A Peterson, Jr

John F Nally, Jr

Ross W Wood

Jingming Jim Shen

Stephen C Bugos

Henry C Dozier

Michael J Frick

Lisa Johnenne Egizi

John A Boylan

Christine C Worrel

Karl Robert Schwarzpech

Ramond T Wildeson

A top feed fuel injector for an internal combustion engine includes a housing; a fuel passage within the housing; an electrically controlled valve mechanism for controlling fuel flow through the fuel passage; and a radially extending protrusion on the housing, the radially extending protrusion configured to mate with a void in a manifold or head in which the fuel injector is inserted such that the fuel injector maintains its orientation with respect to the manifold or head. Another aspect of the invention is a top feed fuel injector for an internal combustion engine including a housing; a fuel passage within the housing; and an electrically controlled valve mechanism for controlling fuel flow through the fuel passage; wherein the housing defines a radially inwardly extending opening, the radially inwardly extending opening configured to mate with a protrusion on a manifold or head in which the fuel injector is inserted such that the fuel injector maintains its orientation with respect to the manifold or head. The invention results in a more precise alignment of the injector fuel spray with respect to the intake valves.

Fuel injector with orientation feature for orienting injector with respect to the manifold or head

A manifold for a fuel injected engine has several fuel injectors that are connected to a common air assist passageway for each bank of cylinders. This passageway is preferably supplied with assist air from a central location, between two of the fuel injector pockets that intersect the air assist passageway in each bank of cylinders. This air assist passageway may be formed integral with a manifold, or may be separately formed together with the injector pockets as an air assist rail. The air assist passageway preferably intersects the center line of the fuel injector pockets and is formed by inserting pins that define the interior surface of the passageway into a mold cavity to intersect and pass through bosses that define the fuel injector pockets.

Center feed of air for air assist fuel injector

A fuel rail for a non-return fuel injection system and a method of breaking-up pressure pulsations in the fuel rail. The fuel rail comprises an inlet, at least one first outlet, and a first tube providing fluid communication between the inlet and the at least one outlet. The inlet is adapted for fluid communication with a source of pressurized fuel. Each at least one first outlet is adapted for fluid communication with a respective fuel injector. The first tube extends along a first axis and includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion extends a first length along the first axis and has a first cross-sectional shape transverse to the first axis. The second portion extends a second length along the first axis and has a second cross-sectional shape transverse to the first axis. The second cross-sectional shape has a first indentation toward the first axis, and the first indentation disrupts pressure pulsations propagating through the first tube.

Rail geometry for minimization of fluid pressure pulsations

A method of air metering is provided for obtaining a desired air flow through a fuel injector. The fuel injector comprises an air assist injector valve body and an air assist backup washer, having two or more flow channels, contained within the backup washer. The fuel injector further comprises a shroud member having a flat surface, abutting up against the backup washer so the flat surface of the shroud member combined with the flow channels in the backup washer meter and/or direct the air flow.

Air assist metering apparatus and method

A method of making air assist passageways and injector pockets in a manifold or air assist rail includes providing a mold that can open and close with several bosses extending from an inside surface. These bosses are arranged in a row and define the inside of the injector pockets when the mold is filled. The air assist passageway that couples the fuel injector pockets is provided by inserting a long pin that passes through the row of injector pocket bosses inside the mold cavity. When the cavity is filled with molten material and solidifies, the pin is withdrawn, leaving a long air assist passageway extending between the injector pockets. The mold is then opened, pulling the injector pocket bosses out of the now-formed injector pockets. The resulting structure is a row of injector pockets in a manifold or air assist rail into which injectors can be inserted, that are connected by a long air assist passageway. Since the pins were inserted through the mold and into the injector pocket bosses, when the pin is withdrawn, holes will be left at the end of the air assist passageways. These holes in the part can be later plugged or capped to prevent air from leaking out of the air assist passageways. The air assist passageway pin preferably intersects the injector pocket bosses in the middle, thereby being supported on all sides by each boss it passes through.

Method for manufacturing air assist passageways for fuel insector

An air assist top feed fuel injector having a nozzle end for delivering fuel to an engine induction passage includes a retainer shroud on the injector nozzle end for directing air adjacent the nozzle end for atomizing the fuel. In a preferred embodiment, the retainer shroud is an integral member including an interconnected end cap, a central seal retainer and a connecting sleeve between the cap and retainer. The member directs assist air around the nozzle to atomize the fuel and retains lower and central seal rings that prevent leakage from or into the air passages. Alternative embodiments include separate end cap, upper ring retainer and lower ring retainer members or integral upper and lower retainer members that coact to similarly direct and prevent leakage of assist air.

Air assist injector and retainer shroud therefor

An air assist fuel injector wherein a shroud member is snapped on the outside of the valve body to provide a path for assist air to atomize the fuel exiting the injector. Located on the bottom surface of the shroud is a belleville washer to preload air deflection disks against the bottom of the valve body. Snap-on connectors cooperate with the valve body to locate and retain the shroud to the valve body.

Air assist fuel injector

A shroud member for converting an extending tip fuel injector into an air assist fuel injector wherein the air metering is performed at a distance remote from the O-ring seals holding the injector into the engine manifold.

Extended tip air assist fuel injector

An engine fuel injection system includes a conventional fuel rail with a top feed fuel injector connected thereto. The overall length of the injector is able to be shortened by the application of compact fuel inlet filter mountings in which a well (deep cup) shaped filter element is positioned to overlap one or both of (1) an adjusting tube within the injector body and (2) a space between the end of the injector fuel inlet tube and the interior of the associated fuel rail. The filter may be fixed within the injector to the adjusting tube or the inlet tube or may be fixed externally of the injector to the fuel rail. Various exemplary embodiments are shown and described.

Fuel injection systems with compact filter mountings

A bottom feed engine fuel injector is provided with a valve spring calibration adjuster such as an adjusting tube, which permits fuel flow from the top of the injector during manufacturing calibration and run in. The upper end of the injector is capped in the last manufacturing step after calibration to prevent fuel passage through this opening in normal engine use where bottom fuel feed is used in conventional fashion. Several exemplary adjusters and top feed closing embodiments are illustrated and described. The modified injector structure and manufacturing process reduces costs by allowing both top and bottom feed injectors to be assembled and calibrated on the same manufacturing equipment.

Bottom feed injector with top calibration feed

A ferromagnetic housing that encloses the electromagnetic coil to form part of the stator is fabricated from uniform thickness sheet metal to have a cylindrical neck that fits onto the ferromagnetic fuel inlet tube of a top feed fuel injector, a shoulder extending outwardly from the neck and a cylindrical body extending from the shoulder to circumferentially bound the electromagnetic coil. A single through-hole is provided in the housing to provide for passage of both electrical terminals from the electromagnetic coil.

Housing for coil of solenoid-operated fuel injector

A non-ferromagnetic member is disposed between, and joined to, a ferromagnetic fuel inlet tube and a ferromagnetic valve body structure. The valve body structure is fitted to the non-ferromagnetic member by telescoping the upper axial end of the valve body structure over the O.D. of the lower end of the non-ferromagnetic member and by guiding the armature on a cylindrical guide surface in a bore of the valve body structure at a location that is axially below the axial location where the upper end of the valve body structure and the lower end of the non-ferromagnetic member telescopically engage. For given part tolerances and given tolerances in tooling that is used to assemble the parts, closer tolerance in parallelism of the impacting armature end surface to the impacted fuel inlet tube end surface is obtained.

Fuel injector having improved parallelism of impacting armature surface

A non-metallic cylindrical shell is fitted to the exterior of a metallic valve body portion of a solenoid-operated fuel injector to cover otherwise exposed metal that exists between a lower O-ring seal proximate the nozzle and a non-metallic overmold that covers the solenoid and an adjoining portion of the valve body. The shell and the cover come together at a joint where they mutually axially overlap in such a manner that assures both coverage of the exposed metal and retention of the shell on the valve body for the full tolerance stack-up range of the various parts when assembled.

Shell component to protect injector from corrosion

Multiple stacked orifice disk members cooperatively form a chamber space through which fuel is constrained to pass as it flows from the valve seat to the nozzle. Orifices in one member that communicate the chamber space to the fuel flow are larger and perform primarily a turbulent flow creating function while orifices in another member that communicate the chamber space to the fuel flow are smaller and perform primarily a metering and targeting function. Thus, turbulence and metering functions are segregated from each other. In certain embodiments at least one more orifice disk member is sandwiched between the first two to divide the chamber space in one or more smaller chamber portions while still providing fluid communication between such portions, such added disk member(s) contributing either one or both functions of turbulence or better metering and targeting. In certain embodiments, all orifices are equal so that each contributes to turbulence, metering, and targeting.

Growing community of inventors

Williamsburg, VA, United States of America

Debora E Nally