CA1070580A - Method and apparatus for processing fuel into an internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING
FUEL INTO AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

ABSTRACT

This invention is-directed to an apparatus and method for forming an air-fuel mixture vapor for introduction and burning in an internal combustion engine. With this invention, it is pos-sible to realize a more complete vaporization of the fuel and a more complete mixing of the air and fuel to form said air-fuel mixture vapor. The result is that in an automotive vehicle using an internal combustion engine, it is possible to realize more mileage from a given volume of fuel than can be realized from an engine not using this invention.

Description

~070580 THE GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Today, people are becoming more cognizant of the needs to conserve gasoline. The gasoline is increasing in price and people are interested in securing more miles per gallon of gaso-line. In fact, in many instances, it is necessary that better mileage be realized from gasoline in order for people to continue driving their automobiles.
One of the components in processing fuel for burning in an internal combustion engine is the carburetion system. With an improvement in the carburetion system and the vaporization of the fuel, it is possible to realize better gasoline mileage or more miles per gallon of gasoline from a given volume of fuel.
With this in mind, I have designed and made units to be used with the carburetion system to increase the vaporization of the fuel and to form a more homogenous air-fuel mixture vapor to realize more miles from a given volume of gasoline.
With this invention, installed on my own automobile for experimental purposes, I have increased the mileage from a given volume of gasoline.
THE GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is a means for heating the fuel prior to introducing the fuel into the carburetor.
This means is referred to as a fuel expander. The temperature of the fuel is adjusted to a predetermined desirable temperature.
The fuel expander makes it possible to heat the fuel, when necessary, to the desired predetermined temperature. Further, the fuel expander makes it possible, when necessary, to cool the fuel to the desired predetermined temperature. With the fuel expander, it is possible to control the temperature of the fuel to the desired predetermined temperature.

-2-10'~0580 In a broad aspect the invention resides in a fuel expander comprising a housing for housing a liguid; a cold water inlet connecting with said housing; a hot water inlet connecting with said housing; a heat sensitive means inside said housing;
a valve means functioning with said cold water inlet, and with said hot water inlet for controlling the flow of cold water and for controlling the flow of hot water into said housing to achieve a heating water of a desired temperature and also connecting with said heat sensitive means; a fuel line positioned in said hous-ing for flowing fuel through said housing and to heat said fuel to a temperature approximately that of said heating water of a desired temperature; and said heat sensitive means in reacting to the temperature in the housing moving said valve means to regu-late the flow of hot water through said hot water inlet and to regulate the flow of cold water through said cold water inlet.
Another facet of the fuel expander is that the fuel in the carburetor can be circulated through the fuel expander so as to maintain the fuel in the carburetor at the desired predeter-mined temperature.
In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a humidifier for humidifying the air prior to the air passing to the carburetor. It is possible to increase the moisture content or the relative humidity of the air prior to flowing to the carburetor. Generally, moisture in the air-fuel mixture vapor which is introduced into and burned in the internal combustion engine provides a more uniform burning of the fuel and a more desLrable burning of the fuel. This, in itself, re-sults in an increase in the gas mileage realized from a given volume of fuel.
In a still further embodiment, there is provided an air-fuel mixture varpoizer which is positioned between the ~ _3_ ''~ 1!3 ~070580 carburetor and the internal combustion engine. The air-fuel mix-ture vaporizer heats and mixes, by turbulence, the air-fuel mixture vapor from the carburetor. This results in a more uni-form mixture of fuel and air for introduction into the internal combustion engine to realize a more uniform burning of the fuel and to realiæe a more complete burning of the fuel in the internal combustion engine, and, as a consequence, better mileage from a given volume of gasoline for a motor vehicle using an internal combustion engine.

:

10'70S80 1 The fuel expander may be used by itself or may be used 2 in conjunction wlth either the humidifier or the vaporizer or may

3 be used in conjunction with the humidifier and the vaporizer.

4 Further, the humidifier may be used by itself or in conjunction with the vaporizer. And, finally, the vaporizer may be used by itself.

I consider that there are a number of objects and advan-11 tages of this invention of which the following are a few. An im-12 portant object and advantage of this invention is to provide a 13 means and method for increasing the gasoline mileage, from a given i4 volume of fuel, for an automotive vehicle using an internal com-bustion engine; another important object is to provide a means and 16 a method whereby an internal combustion engine uses less fuel for 17 sub8tantially the same performance; a further important object and 18 advantage is to provide such a means and a method which is compati-1~ ble with the existing internal combustion engine and with existing internal combustion engines as used in automobiles; an additional 21 object and advantage is to provide a fuel expander for regulating 22 the temperature of fuel to a desired predetermined temperature a3 and, which fuel expander is simple in operation and maintenance;
a4 a further advantage is a fuel expander of a straightforward de-sign and application; an additional object is to provide a means 26 and method for lessening the pollutants in the exhaust of an a7 internal combustion engine; a side benefit and advantge of this 28 invention is an increase in the life of an internal combustion 29 en~ine; and, a most important object and advantage of this inven-tion is the maintenance of the fuel at the desired predetermined 31 temperature to prevent vaporization of the fuel.

- 10~580 1 These, and other and important objects and advantages 2 of the invention will be more particularly brought forth upon ref-3 erence to the detailed description of the invention, the appended 4 claims, and the accompanying drawings.

O Figure l is a schematic illustration of a means and a method for processing fuel prior to introduction into an internal 11 combustion engine and illustrates a fuel expander, a humidifier, 12 and an air-fuel mixture vaporizer;

i4 FIG. 2 is a longitudinal, vertica~ cross-sectional view of the fuel expander and illustrates the valve for control-16 ling the flow of hot water and cold water into the fuel expander 17 to realize a desired predetermined temperature;

1~ FIG 3 , taken on line 3-3 of FIG, 2, is an end eleva-tional view of said fuel expander;

a2 F~G, 4 is a lateral, vertical, cross-sectional view of 23 a humidifier for humidifying air prior to introduction into a 24 carburetori 26 FIG. 5 is a plan view of the humidifier of FIG. 4;

28 FIG. 6 is a top, plan view of the air-fuel mixture vapori-29 zer;
31 FIG. 7, taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 6, is a vertical, longi-32 tudinal, cross-sectional view illustrating the details ~f construction 107`05~0 1 of said air-fuel mixture vaporizer; and, 3 FIG 8, taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 6, is a lateral, 4 vertical, cross-sectional view of said air-fuel mixture vaporizer and illustrates the details of construction.

la ao aa a4 a6 as 1~70~80 THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE IN~ENTION
2 -_ 3 In FIG. 1, there is schematically illustrated the inter-4 nal combustion engine 10, the fuel expander 12, the air-fuel mix-tuer vaporizer 14, and the humidifier 16 as used and associated 3 together for decreasing the consumption ~f fuel without any sub-7 stantial change in the performsnce of the internal combustion 8 engine 10.

In FIG. 1, it is seen that there is a radiator 18. The 11 radiator 18 has a cold water outlet 20 which branches into a line 12 22 which connects with the water jacket of the internal combustion 13 engine 10. The internal combustion engine 19 has a hot water exit 14 line 24 which connects with the air-fuel vaporizer. 14 to supply heat energy to the vaporizer 14. The air-fuel vaporizer 14 has 16 an exit line 26 which returns to the radiator 18 so that the hot 17 water from the internal combustion engine 10 can be cooled for re-lB cycling purposes.

ao The cold water line 20 from the car radiator 18 also al branches into a line 28 which connects with the heater 30.
aa 23 The line 28 branches int~ a line 32 which connects with 24 the fuel expander 12.

26 The hot water line 26 branches into a hot water line 34.
27 The hot water line 34 in turn branches into a line 36 and into a 28 line 38, The line 36 connects with the heater 30. Further, the 29 line 36 branches into a line 4~ which feeds into the valve control means 42 associated with the fuel expander 12.

1~7V580 1 The line 38 from the hot water line 34 leads into an auxil-2 iary radiator 44. The auxiliary radiator has an exit cold water 3 line 46 which feeds into the valve control means 42. Naturally, 4 the purpose of the auxiliary radiator 44 is to cool the hot water from the wster jacket of the internal combustlon engine 10.
B

7 The line 32 from the fuel expander 12 and the line 28 are, 8 essentially, cold water return lines for introducin~ the cold water ~ into the water jacket for the internal combustion engine.
Il The lines 36 and 40 are feeder lines for the heater 30 12 and the valve control means 42 and the fuel expander 12.

14 Also, the cold water line 46 is a feeder line for the valve control ~eans 42 and the fuel expander 12.

17 There i6 a fuel tank 50 which has an exit line or fuel 18 line 52. In the fuel line 52 is a fuel pump 54. The fuel pump 54 19 connects with the line 58 which runs into the fuel expander 12 and ao out of the fuel expander 12 and connects with the carburetor 60.

22 Another l~ne 62 connects with the bottom of the bowl of 23 the carburetor and runs into the fuel expander 12 and then runs 24 out of the fuel expander 12 an~ connects with the top of the b~wl of the carburetor 60. At times, it may be desirable to use the 26 line 62 to maintain the temperature of the fuel in the carburetor 27 at the desired predetermined temperature.

29 A humidifier 16 connects with and leads into the carbu-retor 60 by means of a line 64 10~0580 I The air-fuel mixture v~porizer 14 connects with the car-2 buretor 60 by means of a line 66 and leads into the internal com-3 bustion engine 10 by means ~f a line 68.

There is an exhaust line 70 leading fro~ the internal B combustion engine 10 to the exhaust system for the internal com-7 bustion engine 10, 9 With reference to FIG. 2 and ~he fuel expander 12 and associated valve 42, it is seen that the fuel expander 12 comprises Il a tubular or right circular cylindrical housing 80 which is tapped 12 on its right end at 82 so as to receive the heater end plate 84 13 which is externally threaded at 86. The end plate 84 is screwed 14 onto the housing 80.

16 At the left end of the housing B0, there is a valve end 17 plate 88 which is threaded at 90. The housing 80 is internally 18 tapped at 92 so as to receive the valve end plate 88.
1~
ao In the valve end plate 88, there is a tapped central open-21 ing 94 for receiving the housing 96 of the mixing valve 42. The a2 housing 96 has an externally threaded nipple 98 for screwing into 23 the tapped central opening 94. Also, the housing 96 has a central 24 paSsageway 100.

a~ In the wall of the housing 96 is a hot water tapped 27 passageway 102 and in the housing 96 is a cold water tapped passage-28 way 104.

At the nipple end of the central passageway 100, there 31 is a tapped passageway 106 ~or receiving a tubular support housing 32 108 which is externally threaded at 110.

10705~0 1 The outer end of the support housing 108 is externally 2 threaded at 112 and receives an end plate 114 which is internally 3 tapped at 116.
S In the end plate 114, there is a tapped.central opening 6 118.
8 There is screwed into the tapped central opening 118, a ~ thermostat cartridge 120 have external threads 122 on one end.
The thermostat cartridge 12- has a rod 122 which projects, in FIG.
11 2, left from the cartridge 120. The rod 122 has an external la threaded end 124 which is screwed into a valve head 126. The 13 externally threaded rod 124 is screwed into central tapped passage-i4 way 128 in the valve head 126.
16 Between the end of the valve head 126 and the end of the 17 housing 96, there is positioned a spr~ng 130, The cpring 130 urges 18 the valve head 126 toward the thermostat cartridge 120.
1~
In the support housing 108 there are openings 132 to al allow hot water and cold water to flow from the central passageway aa lOO and through the support housing 108 and through the passageways 23 132 into the housing 80.

In the valve head 126 are a number of longitudinal 26 passageways 134 connecting the spring end of the central passage-27 way 100 with the nipple end of the central passageway 100 so that 28 hot water can flow through the hot water tapped passageway 102, a9 into the spring end of the central passageway 100, through the longitudinal passageways 134 in the valve head 126, and into the 31 support hous ing 108 and through the opening 132 and into the 32 housing ~0.

1 In FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, lt is seen that there are lines 58 2 and 62 in the housin~ 80. More particularly, the lines 62 connect 3 with the lower part of the bowl of the carburetor 60 and also with 4 the upper part of the bowl of the carburetor 60 so as to flow fuel from the carburetor 60 through the housing 8~ and.back to the car-6 buretor 60. Also, the line 52 connects with the fuel tank 50 and 7 the fuel pump 54. The fuel pu~p 54 connects with the fuel line S8 8 which enters the housing 80 through the heater end plate 84. As 9 previously stated, the line 58 leRves the housing 80, or the fuel expander 12, and connects with the carburetor 60 to introduce fuel 11 into the carburetor 60.

13 For ease of illustration, the entrance of a fuel line 58 i4 into the housing 80 will be identified by reference numeral 140 and the exit of the fuel line 58 from the housing 80 will be identified 16 by reference number 142. Also, for ease of ~llustration, the en-17 trance of the line 62 into the housing 80 will be ident~fied by 18 reference numeral 144 and the exit of the line 62 fro~ the housing 19 80 will ~e identified by reference numeral 146.

21 In FIG 2, it is seen that in the heater end 84 that there a2 iS a tapped passageway 148 in the lower part of the end plate 84.
23 In this tapped passageway 148, there is positioned a bushing 150 24 which positions an auxiliary electric heater 152.
2~
a6 In the heater end plate 84, near the upper part, there is 27 a tapped passa~eway 156. There is screwed into the tapped passa~e-28 way 156 a threaded pipe 32 which returns water from the ~uel expander 29 12 to cold water line 28, see FIG. 1.
3~
31 In operation, the fuel expander 12 and the valve 42 func-32 tion to maintain the liquid in the fuel expander 12 at a desired 107058~t 1 temperature so as to maintain the gasoline in the carburetor at 2 said desired temperature. The desired temperature is in the range 3 of about 130F to,approximately, 140F.
The thermostat cartridge 120 is designed to operate in 6 the range of about 125F to, approximately, 135F.
8 Assume that the internal combustion engine has not been 9 operated for a number of hours so that the internal combustion engine is cold. This means that the water in the auxiliary radia-11 tor 44 and also in the car radiator 18 is cold and tha~ the water 12 in the fuel expander 12 is cold. The thermostat cartridge 120 is 13 retracted so that the valve head 126 covers the cold water passage-i4 way 104 and prevents water entering into the central passageway 100 and into the housing 80. Also, the valve head 126 is away from 1~ the hot water pas5ageway 102 so that hot water can flow freely into 17 the central passageway 100 and into the housing 80, Upon, initially, 18 startin~ the internal c~mbustion engine, it may be desirable to 1~ use the auxiliary electric heater 152 to heat the liquid in the housing 80. Further, with the heating of the water in the radia-21 tors 18 and 44, a warmer water will enter through hot wat2r passage-22 way 102 and into the central passageway 100 and flow into the a3 housing 80. The temperature of the liquid in the housing 80 in-24 creases and the thermostatic cartridge 120 expands so as to move the valve head 126 toward the end of the central passageway 100 a6 and to compress the spring 130. When the temperature of the 27 liquid in the housing 80 reaches, approximately, 135F, the thermo-23 stat cartridge 120 has expanded sufficiently to move the valve 29 head 126 over the hot water passageway 102 so as to prevent hot water flowing into the central passageway 100. To repeat, this occurs 31 when the t~perature of the liquid in the housing 80 is about 1350F, 32 viz., in the desired temperature range of about 130F to, approxi-10>7~580 1 mately, 140~F. The fuel 156 flowing in the fuel line 58 is heated 2 to, appro~imately, 135F. If there is the line 62 connecting with 3 the car~uretor 60 and the fuel expander 12, the fuel in the line 4 62 is heated to, approximately, 135F. Cold water port is closed at all times except when the temperature exceeds the desired tem-perat~re and cold water is needed to cool the fuel to a temperature 7 in the desired range.
8 If the temperature of the liquid in the housing 80 falls 9 below about 130F, the cold water passageway 104 is covered by the valve head 126 so as to prevent the flow of cold water into the 11 passageway 100 and the hot water passageway 102 is opened so that 12 not water can fl~w into the central passageway 100 and into the 13 housing 80. In this manne~ the temperatu~e of the water in the 14 housing 80 can ~e increased to a temperature in the range of about ~ 130F to, approximately, 140F.
i6 If the temperature of the water in the housing 80 is 17 greater than about 140F, the thermostat cartridge 120 expands so 18 as to move the valve head 126 over the hot water passageway 102 to 19 prevent the flow of hot water into the central passageway 100 and ao also the valve head 126 does not cover the cold water passageway 21 104 so as to allow cold water to flow into the central passageway a2 lOO to allow cold water to flow through the passageway 104 and into 23 the housing 80 so as to cool the water in the housing 80 to be in 24 a range of about 130 F to, approxim~tely, 140F
An auxiliary electric heater brings the expander to 100F
26 then shuts off when the hot incoming water reaches that temperature 27 or a greater temperature.
28 Naturally, after the water in the housing 80 h~s reached 29 the temperature in the range of about 130F to, approximately, 140F, there is no need for the auxiliary electric heater 152. The aux~-31 liary electric heater 152 can connect with a source of electricity, 32 such as a battery, ~y means of wires 160 and 162.

~?70580 1 When the expander reaches its desired temperature, both 2 parts are closed, placing the mixing valve in a parked position.
3 Then the valve can move to allow the flow of cold water or hot 4 water as required.
From the foregoing, it is seen that the.fuel expander 12, in conjunction with the valve control means 42, controls the tem-7 perature of the fuel 56, when the internal combustion engine 10 is 8 fully operational and up to the desired temperature, so as to 9 introduce fuel at a predetermined temperature in the range of about 130F to, approximately, 140F into the carburetor 60.
11 I have constructed a fuel expander 12 and have placed 12 it on my automobile, a 1972 El Camino, with the 307 cu. in. V-8 13 engine and automatic engine. The mileage on the automobile was li about 24,000 miles. It is to be realized by the reader that the fuel expander 12 and valve control means 42 I made and used on 16 my automobile was made and used by itself. There was not used the 17 humidifier 16 and there was not used the air-fuel mixture vapori-18 zer 1~. There was used only the fuel expander 12 and valve control 1~ means 42.
In Table No. 1, Relative Mileage, there is indicated the 21 mileage on said automobile for a speed of 50 miles an hour and 22 with no heat to the fuel expander 12 or a heat of about 60F. The 23 mileage was 15.2 miles per gallon. With the te~'>erature of the 24 fuel expander 12 at 100F, the mileage increased to 17.2 miles per gallon. With the temperature of the fuel expander 12 at 130F, 26 the mileage increased to 1~.~ miles per gallon. From this data 27 for 50 mph, it is seen that by operating the fuel expander at 28 130 F, there is an increased mileage of approximately 23% as com-29 pared with the fuel expander being at a temperature of 60F.
A test was run on said engine at 30 mph and no heat in 31 the fuel expander or a temperature of about 60F. The mileage was 32 1~.5 miles per gallon. With the fuel expander at a temperature - 1~7~580 1 of 130F, the mileage increased to 28 miles per gallon, or a per-2 centage increase of about 41%.

4 .~ELATrVE MILEAGE
Temperature of Mileage fluid expander Miles/~allon 50 mi les per hour 7no heat 60F 15.2 100F 17.2 30 miles per hour no heat 60F 1~.5 11From these figures, it is seen that by heatlng the gaso-12 line or fuel 56 to a temperature of about 130F, there is an in-13 crease in the mileage received from a given volume of fuel. To 14 repeat, one of the advantages of this fuel expander 12 is to main-tain the temperature of the fuel 56 in a desired range of about 16 130F to, approximately, 140F. The fuel expander 12 has the cap-17 ability of heating fuel 56 at a temperature less than 130F and 18 also has the im~ortant capability of cooling fuel at a temperature 1~ greater than about 140F The result is a fuel maintained in the desired temperature range of about 130F to about 140F. The tem-21 perature i8 held to within 3F of the desired temperature. For 22 example, the 140F sensor operates between 138F and 141F.
23In FIGS 4 and 5, there is illustrated ~ humidifier 16 24 having a housing 170 with a top member 172 and bottom member 174, a5 a side wall 176 connecting ~he 0embers 172 and 174 and another 26 side wall 178 connecting the members 172 and 174.
27In FIG. 5, it is seen that there i* a left end wall 1~0 28 having an opening 1~2. A housing 184 connects with the opening 29 182 and the housing 1~4 leads to the carburetor 60.

10705~0 I In FIG. 4, it is seen that in the right wall there is an 2 opening 186 which connects with an inlet housing 188. The inlet 3 housing 188 connects with an air filter 190 which in turn connects 4 with an air inlet 192.
6 In the housing 170, there is a support plate 194, posi-7 tioned below the outlet 182. There is supported on the support 8 plate 194 a plurality of alternating baffles 196 and 198. In FI~.
~ 5, it is seen that these baffles 196 and 198 alternate with each other so as to cause turbulence in the air flowing through the 11 humidifier 16.

13 A pipe 200 connects with the lower part of the housing li 170. The pipe 200 also connects with the pump 202 which in turn connects with the pipe 204 and which pipe 204 re-enters the hous-16 ing 170, above the baffles 196 and 19~, and drips water from open-17 in~s 206 in between the baffles 196 and 198 so as to add moisture 18 to the incoming air. The addition of moisture t~ the incoming air 19 has the beneficial effect of the gasoline burning more evenly ao instead of tendin~ to explode unevenly in the internal combustion 21 en~ine.
2a a3 Further, there may be a circulation fan 20~ in the 24 entrance into the unit 170 so as to force air a~ainst the baffles 196 and l9~. A fan is used to drive the pump, to pump water up 26 onto the baffles.
27 In the h~usin~ 170, it is seen that there is a reservoir 28 of water 21U which lies at the bott~m of the housing so that the 29 pump 202 can pump the water into the upper part of the housing and over the baff les 1~6 and 19~ and also to allow the water to 31 drip in between the baffles 196 and l9~.

1 In this manner, the air enterin~ into the humidifier 162 passin~, throuy,h the humidifier 16 can pick up moisture so as to 3 raise the relative humidity.
6 The air-fuel mixture vaporizer is illustrated in FIGS.
~ 6, 7, and 8. The vaporizer 14 comprises a top plate 220 and a 7 bottom plate 222. There is a side wall 224 connecting the plates 8 220 and 222 and also there is a side wall 226 connecting the plates ~ 220 and 222.
11 There is spaced inwardly and apart from the wall 224, a 12 wall 228 which has a central openin~, 230. Also, there is spaced 13 inwardly from the wall 226 a wall 232 and which wall has a central 14 openin~, 234.
16 A central deflection tube 236 connects with the wall 228 17 and also connects with the wall 232.

1~ In FIG. 8, it is seen that the deflecti~n tube 236 is in the confi~,uration of an inverted T wherein there i8 a cross member 21 238 and a ley, 240.

23 In the upper plate 220,there are ~wo spaced apart holes 24 ~r passaC~eways 242. In the l~wer plate 222, there are two spaced apart holes or passageways 244.

27 In FIG. 8, it is seen that there are outside walls 246 28 and 248. Spaced inwardly of the wall 246 is a wall 250. Spaced 29 inwardly of the wall 248 is a wall 252.
31 In FIG. 6, it is seen that there is a baffle 256 which 32 extends between the corner of the inner walls 232 and 252 and the 1 corner of the outer walls 226 and 24~
a 3 Also, it is seen, in FIG. 6, that there is a baffle 258 4 which extends between the corner of the inner walls 228 and 250 and the corner of the outer waLls 224 and 246.

7 There is a water inlet pipe 260 which projects through 8 an opening in the walls 248 so as to allow water to enter the vapor-~ izer 14. Further, there is a water outlet pipe 260 which projects through a passageway in the wall 246 so as to allow water to leave 11 the vaporizer 14.

13 In practice, water enters the water inlet pipe 260 and 14 flows between the walls 24~ and 252 and then flows between the walls 228 and 224 so as to enter the center deflection tube 236, The 16 center def~ection tube 236 is positloned below the inlet opening 17 242 and positioned above the outlet opening 244. The water flows 18 through the center deflection tube 246 and between the wall 232 19 and the wall 226 and then flows between the wall 246 and the inner wall 250. Then, the water flows out of the water outlet tube 260.
21 Naturally, warm water from the water jacket of the internal com-22 vustion en~ine 10 flows through the hot water line 24 and to the 23 hot water inlet Line 260. The water flows from the vaporizer 14 24 and thro~h the water outlet tube 260 to the line 26 which leads to the car radiator 18.

27 In the baffle 256, there is a hole or passageway 260.
23 In the baffle 25~,there is a hole or passageway 262. The holes 29 260 and 262 allow some circulation of hot water in the vaporizer 14 other than throu~h the center deflection tube 236.

1(~70580 1 In effect, the air-fuel mixture flows from the carbure-a tor 60 and into the air-fuel mixture vaporizer 14. The center 3 deflection tube 236 is hot, approximately, the temperature of the 4 water leavin~ the water jacket of the internal combustion engine.
The air-fuel mixture from the carburetor 14 comes.in contact with 6 the hot center deflection tuber, at a temperature in the range of 7 about 170F to, approximately, 180F, and if there are drops of 8 fuel in this air-fuel mixture, the hot center deflection tube 236 ~ vaporizes these drops of fuel so as to have a vapor of fuel and air. Further, the shape of the center deflection tube 236 is such 11 aR to lend turbulence to the air-fuel mi~ture from the carburetor 12 60 and such tur~ulence assists in vaporizing the drops of fuel.

i4 I consider that the air-fuel mixture vaporizer 14 assist in forming a homoOonous air-fuel mixture and is of value in the 16 formation of this homogonous air-fuel mixture.

18 From the foregoin~, it iB seen that I have provided a 19 combination of individual components, such as a fuel expander 12, the air-fuel mixture vaporizer 14,and the humidlfier 16. It is 21 possible to use these components in combination with each other 22 or to use the components separately.
a3 24 The fuel expander 12 can readily be used alone in combi-nation with the internal combustion engine 10 to increase the gas 26 milesge as indicated earlier in this speci~ication. Or, the vapor-27 izer 14 can be used alone in combination with the carburetor 60 28 and the internal combustion engine 1~. For maximum efficiency in 29 the burning of fuel, it is advi able to use the expander 12, the vaporizer 14, and the humidifier 16 in combinati~n. The humidifi-31 cation of air for burning in an internal combl1stion engine as, 32 previously, explained is beneficial giving a more even burning of ~070580 the fuel in the internal combustion engine and a more complete burning of the fuel in the internal combustion engine.

Claims (15)

1. A fuel expander comprising:
a. a housing for housing a liquid;
b. a cold water inlet connecting with said housing;
c. a hot water inlet connecting with said housing;
d. a heat sensitive means inside said housing;
e. a valve means functioning with said cold water inlet, and with said hot water inlet for controlling the flow of cold water and for controlling the flow of hot water into said housing to achieve a heating water of a desired temper-ature and also connecting with said heat sensitive means;
f. a fuel line positioned in said housing for flowing fuel through said housing and to heat said fuel to a tempera-ture approximately that of said heating water of a desired temperature; and, g. said heat sensitive means in reacting to the temperature in the housing moving said valve means to regulate the flow of hot water through said hot water inlet and to regulate the flow of cold water through said cold water inlet.

2. A fuel expander according to claim 1, and comprising:
a. an auxiliary heating means connecting with said housing to assist in heating said heating water to realize said desired temperature.

3. A fuel expander according to claim 1, and comprising:
a. a second fuel line positioned in said housing and connect-ing with a carburetor and for flowing fuel from the carbu-retor through the housing and back to the carburetor.

4. A fuel expander according to claim 3, and comprising:
a. an auxiliary heating means connecting with said housing to assist in heating said heating water to realize said desired temperature.

5. A combination of an internal combustion engine and fuel processing apparatus for said internal combustion engineer, said combination comprising:
a. said internal combustion engine;
b. a carburetor;
c. a fuel expander comprising a housing for housing a liquid;
d. a cold water inlet connecting with said housing;
e. a hot water inlet connecting with said housing;
f. a heat sensitive means inside said housing;
g. a valve means functioning with said cold water inlet, and with said hot water inlet for controlling the flow of cold water and for controlling the flow of hot water into said

5. g. (Cont'd) housing to achieve a heating water of a desired tempera-ture and also connecting with said heat sensitive means;
h. a fuel line positioned in said housing for flowing fuel through said housing and to heat said fuel to a tempera-ture approximately that of said heating water of a desired temperature;
i. said heat sensitive means in reacting to the temperature in the housing moving said valve means to regulate the flow of hot water through said hot water inlet and to regulate the flow of cold water through said cold water inlet;
j. said fuel connecting with said carburetor for introducing fuel to said carburetor; and, k. said carburetor being positioned in relation to said internal combustion engine to introduce an air-fuel mix-ture vapor into said internal combustion engine.

6. A combination according to claim 5, and comprising:
a. an auxiliary heating means connecting with said housing to assist in heating said heating water to realize said desired temperature.

7. A combination according to claim 5, and comprising:
a. a second fuel line positioned in said housing and connect-ing with a carburetor and for flowing fuel from the car-buretor through the housing and back to the carburetor.

8. A combination according to claim 7, and comprising:
a. an auxiliary heating means connecting with said housing to assist in heating said heating water to realize said desired temperature.

9. A combination according to claim 5, and comprising:
a. a humidifier for humidifying air flowing to the carburetor to produce humidified air;
b. said humidifier comprising a humidifier housing;
c. said humidifier housing having an inlet and outlet;
d. said humidifier housing outlet being positioned in rela-tion to said carburetor to introduce said humidifying air into said carburetor;
e. said humidifier housing having a lower reservoir for water and providing a region of contact for air and water; and, f. said humidifier housing having a baffle for agitation of the air flowing in the humidifier housing,

10. A combination according to claim 9, and comprising:
a. said humidifier housing having a means for forming drops of water to increase the surface area of the water to in-crease the humidification of the air flowing in said humidifier housing.

11. A combination according to claim 5, and comprising:
a. an air-fueld mixture vaporizer comprising an air-fuel mixture vaporizer housing;
b. said housing having an air-fuel mixture vapor inlet and having an air-fuel mixture vapor outlet;
c. said air-fuel mixture vaporizer inlet being positioned with respect to said carburetor to receive said air-fuel mixture vapor;
d. said air-fuel mixture vaporizer outlet being positioned with respect to said internal combustion enginer to intro-duce an air-fuel mixture vapor into said internal combus-tion engine;
e. said air-fuel mixture vaporizer housing having a liquid

11. e. (Cont'd) circulation line for a heating liquid;
f. said liquid circulation line having an inlet and having an outlet for connecting with a source of fuel in the car-buretor for allowing fuel to flow from the carburetor, through the air-fuel mixture vaporizer housing and to said internal combustion engine.

12. A combination according to claim 11, and comprising:
a. said air-fuel mixture vaporizer housing having an outer wall and an inner wall defining an outer circulation cham-ber;
b. said liquid circulation line connecting with said outer circulation chamber so that liquid can flow in said outer circulation chamber and said liquid circulation line; and, c. said liquid circulation line being in the path of flow of said air-fuel mixture vapor to assist in the transfer of heat energy from said liquid circulation line to said air-fuel mixture vapor.

13. A combination according to claim 12, and comprising:
a. said liquid circulation line, in a cross-sectional view, presenting the appearance of an inverted T with the leg of the T being directed into the incoming flow of the air-fuel mixture vapor.

14. A combination according to claim 11, and comprising:
a. a humidifier for humidifying air flowing to the carburetor to produce humidified air;
b. said humidifier comprising a humidifier housing;
c. said humidifier housing having an inlet and outlet;
d. said humidifier housing outlet being positioned in relation

14. d. (Cont'd) to said carburetor to introduce said humidifying air into said carburetor;
e. said humidifier housing having a lower reservoir for water and providing a region of contact for air and water; and, f. said humidifier housing having a baffle for agita-tion of the air flowing in the humidifier housing.

15. A combination according to claim 14, and comprising:
a. said humidifier housing having a means for forming drops of water to increase the surface area of the water to increase the humidification of the air flowing in said humid-ifier housing.