Cummins Engine Company, Inc.

Cummins Inc.

Cummins Intellectual Property, Inc.

Jeffrey J Sullivan

John D Crofts

George L Muntean

Harry L Wilson

Kevin L Vogt

Mustahsen Gull

Donald J Benson

Yul J Tarr

Bradlee J Stroia

Gary L Gant

Todd M Wieland

Edward Benjamin Manring

Daniel K Hickey

Deepak Sahini

Hisham K Mozaffar

W Joseph Satterfield

John L Long

Robert P Erickson

A fuel pressure relief valve is positioned along a fuel circuit of an internal combustion engine. The pressure relief valve includes a valve body, a first plunger positioned within the valve body, a second plunger positioned within the first plunger, and a valve plug securing the first and second plungers in the valve body. A spring is positioned between the valve plug and the second plunger. Fuel leakage into the pressure relief valve causes the pressure relief valve to lift undesirably in the absence of excessive fuel pressure. The undesirable lifting undesirably affects the operation of the fuel rail and causes wear and shortened life of the pressure relief valve. The first plunger has at least one relief passage or groove located on an exterior surface, relieving the undesirable pressure buildup from a chamber formed between the valve body and the first plunger, eliminating undesirable liftoff events.

Vented pressure relief valve for an internal combustion engine fuel system

A piezoelectric actuator assembly that is insensitive to wide variations in operating temperatures including a stack of piezoelectric devices and a surrounding housing assembly formed of an outer cylindrical housing portion formed of steel having a coefficient of thermal expansion above that of the piezoelectric material and an inner cylindrical housing portion formed of Si&mdash;Ni ceramic. By arranging the inner and outer housing portions in parallel and forming the housing portions with appropriate cross-sectional areas, the housing assembly will have an effective coefficient of thermal expansion &agr;,that is equivalent to that of the piezoelectric element &agr;,. In particular, if the material of the first housing portion has a modulus E,and an effective cross-sectional area A,, and the material of the second housing portion has a modulus E,and an effective cross-sectional area A,, the resultant effective coefficient of thermal expansion will be given by the following formula:

Piezoelectric actuator and valve assembly with thermal expansion compensation

A control valve comprising a valve housing including a valve cavity, an inlet means formed in the valve housing for directing fluid into the valve cavity, and an outlet means formed in the valve housing for directing fluid out of the valve cavity. The control valve further includes a valve element mounted for reciprocal movement in the valve cavity between open and closed positions and biased toward the closed position by fluid pressure forces. A valve seat is associated with the valve element which engages the valve seat when in the closed position and permits flow between the valve seat and the valve element when in the open position. A flow force inducing means is positioned adjacent the valve element for redirecting fluid from the inlet means through a predetermined flow path arranged relative to the valve element to cause fluid flow to impact the valve element and create flow induced forces of sufficient magnitude necessary to advantageously counteract the fluid pressure forces.

Flow balanced spill control valve

A fuel injector for effectively preventing excessive loading of a component mounted internal to the injector is provided which includes a one-piece retainer having first and second connector portions for permitting two independent loads to be applied to different internal components of the injector. The second connector portion includes threads for engaging a nozzle assembly to impart a compressive force on the nozzle assembly. The first connector portion also includes threads for engaging an outer barrel for placing a first compressive load on a load sensitive internal component, such as a center tube of an injection control valve. In this manner, the second compressive force can be set at a minimum level independent from the first compressive force to permit the size of the center tube to be minimized thereby reducing the overall size of the injector. Also, a locking device including a locking ring for engaging the outer barrel ensures a secure connection between the second connector portion and the outer barrel to prevent shifting at the connection during operation of the injector as the load at the connection transitions from a tension load to a compression load thereby ensuring only a minimum load on the center tube. A novel sealing assembly is also provided to permit effective sealing between the end of the center tube and the outer barrel regardless of tolerance variations while providing simplified valve stroke setting capability.

Fuel injector with internal component load protection

An electromagnetic fuel injection control valve positioned inside a fuel injector, i.e. a unit injector, for providing fast response and high pressure capability while minimizing the size and complexity of the injector. The control valve includes a valve housing having a supply inlet and fuel outlet, a center tube having a center passage and an annular valve seat, a control valve sleeve slidably mounted on the center tube and an actuator assembly having a coil spring, a stator and an armature. The control valve sleeve moves between an open position permitting fuel to flow between the supply inlet and the fuel outlet and a closed position which sealingly engages the annular valve seat for blocking the flow of fuel between the supply inlet and the fuel outlet. The coil spring biases the control valve sleeve in an open position and is positioned around the center tube. The stator is also axially positioned around the center tube and includes multiple poles. The armature connects to the control valve sleeve and reciprocates when solenoid is activated to allow for high pressure fuel injection into the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine.

Electromagnetic fuel injector control valve

Growing community of inventors

Columbus, IN, United States of America

Jeffrey J Sullivan