Continental Automotive Systems Corporation

Continental Automotive Systems Us, Inc.

Siemens Vdo Automotive Corporation

Vitesco Technologies Usa, LLC

Continental Powertrain Usa, LLC

Stanadyne Corporation

Hornby, Michael

Cole, David

Graupner, Olaf

Wildeson, Ray

Imoehl, William

Van Vuuren, Willem Nicolaas

Bugos, Stephen

Stephen C Bugos

Michael Joseph Hornby

Willem Nicolaas Van Vuuren

Keith Aaron Shaw

Joshua Lee Hatfield

Douglas Edward Cosby

Perry Robert Czimmek

William James Imoehl

Robert Wayne McFarland

Hamid Sayar

Ray Wildeson

Olaf Graupner

Michael Hornby

Christopher Michael Caulkins

Mahesh Nagesh Hanjagi

Srinu Gunturu

James A Wynn

Willem Nicolaas VanVuuren

David Cole

Josh Lee Hatfield

Joseph Edward Scollard

Michael Kaput

David Stockmaster

William Nicolaas Van Vuuren

William Imoehl

There is disclosed a valve assembly for washing cameras or sensors of an autonomous vehicle. The valve assembly includes a single fluid injector having a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a fluid passage in fluid communication with the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet. A cup is disposed over an upstream portion of the fluid injector, relative to a direction of fluid flow through the fluid injector. A lower housing is disposed over and surrounds a downstream portion of the fluid injector, relative to the direction of fluid flow therethrough. A bracket member extends from the lower housing. The bracket member is configured for connecting to an anchor member for attachment within the autonomous vehicle. In this way, the valve assembly may be easily secured within a vehicle for providing a desired amount of fluid to the lens of the vehicle camera or sensor.

Vehicle camera and sensor wash valve assembly

A port fuel injection system includes a fuel pump configured to produce a flow of pressurized liquid fuel at a pressure between 10 and 50 bar. A fuel rail is connected to receive the flow of pressurized liquid fuel from the fuel pump, the fuel rail. A plurality of fuel injectors, including one fuel injector positioned in the intake port of each engine cylinder upstream of the intake valve for the engine cylinder are connected to receive pressurized fuel from the fuel rail. An engine control unit (ECU) receives signals from sensors on the internal combustion engine and is programmed to actuate the fuel injectors to deliver fuel to each engine cylinder over a full range of engine operating conditions. A port fuel injection system with high pressure and fast acting fuel injectors improves fuel delivery and performance over the full range of engine operating conditions.

High pressure port fuel injection system

A fluid injector includes a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a fluid path from the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet. An actuator unit is disposed within the fluid injector. A valve assembly operatively couples to the actuator unit. A spacer member is disposed between a downstream end portion of the actuator unit and a portion of the valve assembly, the spacer member constructed from a compressible, resilient material so as to compress due to expansion forces from fluid in the fluid injector freezing, and to expand when frozen fluid in the fluid injector melts. The spacer member occupies a space in the fluid path of the fluid injector.

Injector for reductant delivery unit having fluid volume reduction assembly

A fluid injector includes a calibration filter tube including a bore defined in an axial direction through the calibration filter tube, the bore defining at least a portion of a fluid path through the fluid injector, the calibration filter tube including a plurality of holes which extend from the bore to an outer surface of the calibration filter tube. A volume reduction member has a bore though which the calibration filter tube extends, the volume reduction member occupying a space between the outer surface of the calibration filter tube and an inner surface of the tube member, the volume reduction member being constructed from resilient, compressible material. Freezing or frozen fluid disposed in the calibration filter tube expands through the holes and at least partially compresses the volume reduction member, so as to reduce fluid expansion forces damaging other components of the fluid injector.

An RDU fluid injector includes a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet; a fluid path; an actuator unit including a pole piece, a movable armature and a coil; a valve assembly including a valve seat and a seal member connected to the armature and engageable with the valve seat; and a volume reduction member upstream of the actuator unit. The volume reduction member includes a throughbore partly defining the fluid path. The actuator unit, the valve assembly and the volume reduction member are disposed in one or more body portions of the injector, wherein each of the actuator unit, the valve assembly, the volume reduction member and the one or more body portions includes one or more components of the fluid injector. A ratio of a volume of the fluid path to a volume of the components of the fluid injector is between 0.08 and 0.30.

Injector for reductant delivery unit having reduced fluid volume

A fluid injector, including a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet and a fluid path from the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet; a tube having an end at the fluid inlet; a filter disposed in the tube proximal to the fluid inlet; and a volume reduction member disposed in the tube downstream of the filter, contacting an inner surface of the tube and including a through-bore defining at least a portion of the fluid path, the bore having a smaller diameter than an inner diameter of the tube and the volume reduction member occupying a volume in the tube such that the volume reduction member reduces an amount of space for fluid in the fluid injector. A cap member, in which the filter is disposed, engages with the volume reduction member such that the filter, the volume reduction member and the cap form a single assembly member.

A sealing device which is used as part of an injector in a reductant delivery unit (RDU), where the RDU is part of a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system for injecting diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) into an exhaust system, used for controlling exhaust emissions. This invention improves the purging efficiency of the RDU, in addition to improving the sealing performance of the unit by reducing the fluid volume to be evacuated from the injector, and provides an additional sealing barrier to reduce the sealing load of the existing sealing elements. An additional sealing device having a ring seal and a stopper element (also referred to as a 'plug') is pressed into the upper valve body of the injector, which results in a reduced fluid volume that is left behind after a purging event, due to the reduced initial volume at the beginning of the purge.

Purging and sealing-reductant delivery unit for selective catalytic reduction systems

A reductant delivery unit reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from a vehicle. The delivery unit includes a solenoid operated fluid injector having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. The inlet receives a source of reducing agent and the outlet communicates with an exhaust gas flow path of the vehicle so that the fluid injector controls injection of the reducing agent into the exhaust gas flow path. The fluid injector has an inlet tube for directing the reducing agent between the inlet and the outlet. A coil heater is integral with the fluid injector and is constructed and arranged, when energized, to inductively heat the inlet tube and thus at least a portion of the reducing agent so that an unheated volume, of the reducing agent in the inlet tube, which is adjacent to the fluid outlet, is less than about 100 mm.

Reductant delivery unit for automotive selective catalytic reduction with optimized fluid heating

A liquid cooled reduction unit includes a diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) injection valve. The valve includes an end portion extending to a distal end. The valve is configured to receive a DEF and force the DEF to exit at the distal end such that the DEF is then directed and applied to an exhaust stream of a vehicle engine. A coolant jacket is selectively filled with a coolant and has an outer side and an inner side. The inner side of the jacket faces a length of the end portion and is separated from the length of the end portion by an air gap.

Liquid cooled reductant dosing unit

A compact fuel pressure regulator () includes a housing () with an interior () communicating and inlet opening () and an outlet opening (). The housing defines a valve seat surface () in the interior. A cover () is provided at an end of the housing and is disposed in the interior. The cover includes a through-hole () therein that communicates the outlet opening with the interior. A valve structure () is movable within the interior to control fuel flow between the inlet opening and outlet opening. A spring () is engaged between the valve structure and the cover so that when pressure of fuel at the inlet opening is greater than a force of the spring, the fuel pushes the valve structure against the bias of the spring and away from the valve seat surface so that fuel flows around a periphery of the valve structure to the outlet opening.

Compact fuel pressure regulator

Dosing structure () supplies diesel fuel to an exhaust passage of a diesel system. The dosing structure includes an electrically operated control valve (). An inlet tube () is coupled with an inlet of the control valve. A first welded joint () is between the inlet tube and the control valve. The inlet tube is constructed and arranged to be coupled to a supply of diesel fuel for feeding fuel to the control valve. A dosing valve () is constructed and arranged to receive fuel from the control valve and deliver the fuel to the exhaust passage. An extension tube () is fluidly coupled between the control valve and the dosing valve to space the control valve from the dosing valve. A second welded joint () is between the extension tube and the control valve and a third welded joint () is between the extension tube and the dosing valve.

Laser welded automotive diesel exhaust HC dosing valve

A valve structure () is provided for insertion into a boss (). The boss includes a threaded bore () and at least one key slot () therein. The valve structure includes a valve () constructed and arranged to control fluid flow, a fitting () surrounding at least a portion of the valve with the fitting having external threads () for mating with the threaded bore, and anti-rotate structure () between the valve and the fitting. The anti-rotate structure is constructed arranged such that when the fitting is rotated into threaded engagement with the boss, at least a portion of the anti-rotate structure engages a surface defining the key slot in the boss, thereby preventing rotation of the valve, with the fitting clamping on the anti-rotate structure and thus the valve.

Anti-rotation structure for a valve installed in an exhaust boss of a reductant delivery system

A reductant delivery unit for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) after-treatment for vehicles includes a fluid injector having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. The fluid inlet receives a source of urea solution. An injector flange is coupled directly with an end of the fluid injector and has a flange outlet in fluid communication with the fluid outlet of the fluid injector. The flange outlet is associated with an exhaust gas flow path upstream of a SCR catalytic converter with the fluid injector controlling injection of urea solution into the exhaust gas flow path. Internal surface structure that defines the flange outlet includes a conical surface joined with at least one radius surface. The radius surface is constructed and arranged to resist formation of deposits on the internal surface structure due to break down of the urea solution.

Reductant delivery unit for SCR systems having improved deposit resistance

A reductant delivery unit () includes a fluid injector () and a flange () coupled with the fluid injector. An exhaust boss () has a surface () defining a through-hole () that communicates with a vehicle's exhaust flow path. The flange is coupled to a mounting surface such that the outlet of the fluid injector communicates with the exhaust flow path so as to control injection of urea solution into the exhaust gas flow path. A gasket () is sandwiched between the flange and the mounting surface. The gasket has a surface () defining a through-hole () therein that communicates with the through-hole in the exhaust boss to permit the urea solution to pass from the fluid outlet to the exhaust flow path. Gasket shielding structure () covers the surface defining the through-hole in the gasket to prevent the urea solution from contacting the gasket.

Reductant delivery unit for automotive selective catalytic reduction with gasket anti-deposit shielding structure

A reductant delivery unit for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) after-treatment for vehicles includes a solenoid operated fluid injector associated with an exhaust gas flow path upstream of a SCR catalytic converter. The fluid injector has a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. The fluid inlet receiving a source of reducing agent and the fluid outlet communicating with the exhaust gas flow path so that the fluid injector controls injection of urea solution into the exhaust gas flow path. The fluid injector has an inlet tube for directing the reducing agent between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet. A shield is fixed with respect to the fluid injector and surrounds at least portions of the fluid injector. A coil heater is integral with the fluid injector and is constructed and arranged, when energized, to inductively heat the inlet tube to thereby heat the reducing agent within the inlet tube.

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Poquoson, VA, United States of America

Stephen C Bugos