Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Terrance J Atkins

Martin J Field

Donald J Lamirande

Andrew J Makusij

Robert L Hogeman

Daniel Nolan

Richard K Judd

L Kirk Walters

James D Cronin

A compact central fuel rail supports injectors which deliver fuel to both banks of a V-engine. THe fuel rail is extruded with both fuel supply and fuel return passages, a single circular plug provides a closure for the associated ends of the passages, and a plug in the return passage limits interconnection of the passages.

Fuel rail

A fuel rail assembly supports injectors for delivering fuel to an engine and includes a pressure regulator to establish the pressure of the fuel supplied to the injectors. The fuel rail body and the pressure regulator base are fabricated from sheet metal, and the pressure regulator base is secured directly to the fuel rail body.

Fuel rail assembly and method of fabrication

A fuel rail supporting injectors for delivering fuel to an engine has fuel supply and fuel return passages interconnected through a recess in a plug at each end of the fuel rail. The recesses are calibrated to direct the proper proportion of the fuel past the injectors. The fuel supply passage is configured to allow separation of fuel vapor from the liquid fuel received by the injector and to conform to the shape of the plug and the fuel return passage.

A clip received in a groove about an engine fuel injector and rotated into grooves in a fuel rail body secures the injector in its socket in the fuel rail body.

Fuel rail assembly and clip

The fuel supplied to an injector is maintained at substantially constant pressure by a fuel pressure regulator which balances the fuel pressure with the bias of a coil spring. To establish the desired pressure, a spring housing is deformed to move a spring seat to the position which causes the spring to exert the required bias. The spring seat is connected to the diaphragm by a tie rod which simplifies assembly of the pressure regulator. Slits in the outer portion of the diaphragm allow separation of the diaphragm along an arcuate line while maintaining a continuous peripheral seal about the pressure regulator.

Fuel pressure regulator

In a vacuum motor for opening an internal combustion engine carburetor choke to a vacuum break position, a stop is engaged between the actuating diaphragm and a base member to establish the vacuum break position. The stop is formed of a malleable material which plastically deforms slightly upon engagement--and thus gradually changes the vacuum break position upon repeated engagement--to compensate for changes in engine operating characteristics over an extended period of engine operation.

Malleable stop for engine control element

A carburetor main metering rod is operated by a bracket carried on a vacuum motor or a solenoid armature to control fuel flow through a main fuel passage, and a bleed valve floats on and is operated by the bracket to control air flow to and thus fuel flow through an idle fuel passage. A gage measures the relative position of the bleed valve within an air bleed body to permit proper calibration of the carburetor.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

Terrance J Atkins