The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 24, 1979
Filed:
Mar. 07, 1978
Dante S Giardini, Dearborn Heights, MI (US);
Douglas R Hamburg, Birmingham, MI (US);
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
An exhaust gas heat exchanger for vaporizing a liquid fuel is disclosed. The exhaust gas heat exchanger includes exhaust gas flow control valve means, responsive to a vapor temperature, to control the delivery of heated exhaust gases to a heat exchanger coil. A heat exchanger housing is communicated with the exhaust gas conduit of an otherwise conventional internal combustion engine and is provided with means defining a pair of generally parallel exhaust gas flow chambers. A fluid conducting heat exchanger assembly, in the form of one or more helical coils of fluid conducting tubing, is disposed within one of said at least two chambers in the housing. The tubing communicates on an upstream end with a source of liquid fuel and communicates on a downstream end with a vapor reservoir. The heat exchanger coil is arranged to have a maximum surface to volume ratio by including a plurality of individual fluid conduits arranged in side by side relationship. A diverter valve member is disposed within the housing body and is operative to modulate the portion of the total exhaust gas stream which passes through and over the heat exchanger coil assembly. A vacuum motor actuates the valve member between a pair of stops. The vacuum motor communicates through a vacuum valve with a source of vacuum as the internal combustion engine. The position of the vacuum valve, and hence the position of the diverter valve member, may be controlled by a temperature responsive unit which senses a vapor temperature at any desired vapor temperature location.