EP0200063B1 - Système d'injection de carburant - Google Patents

Système d'injection de carburant Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0200063B1
EP0200063B1 EP19860105077 EP86105077A EP0200063B1 EP 0200063 B1 EP0200063 B1 EP 0200063B1 EP 19860105077 EP19860105077 EP 19860105077 EP 86105077 A EP86105077 A EP 86105077A EP 0200063 B1 EP0200063 B1 EP 0200063B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
fuel
injection system
fuel injection
engine
switch
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19860105077
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0200063A1 (fr
Inventor
Michael D. Leshner
Ernest W. Chesnutis, Jr.
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Bowles Fluidics Corp
Original Assignee
Bowles Fluidics Corp
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Bowles Fluidics Corp filed Critical Bowles Fluidics Corp
Publication of EP0200063A1 publication Critical patent/EP0200063A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0200063B1 publication Critical patent/EP0200063B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02M—SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF
    • F02M69/00—Low-pressure fuel-injection apparatus ; Apparatus with both continuous and intermittent injection; Apparatus injecting different types of fuel
    • F02M69/08—Low-pressure fuel-injection apparatus ; Apparatus with both continuous and intermittent injection; Apparatus injecting different types of fuel characterised by the fuel being carried by compressed air into main stream of combustion-air
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F15—FLUID-PRESSURE ACTUATORS; HYDRAULICS OR PNEUMATICS IN GENERAL
    • F15C—FLUID-CIRCUIT ELEMENTS PREDOMINANTLY USED FOR COMPUTING OR CONTROL PURPOSES
    • F15C1/00—Circuit elements having no moving parts
    • F15C1/02—Details, e.g. special constructional devices for circuits with fluid elements, such as resistances, capacitive circuit elements; devices preventing reaction coupling in composite elements ; Switch boards; Programme devices
    • F15C1/04—Means for controlling fluid streams to fluid devices, e.g. by electric signals or other signals, no mixing taking place between the signal and the flow to be controlled

Definitions

  • on-board computers are currently supplied with data from sensors monitoring various engine operating parameters, such as rpm, temperature, exhaust gas characteristics, mass air flow through the air intake manifold, accelerator pedal position, etc., to determine the proper fuel-air ratio for fuel economy.
  • the electrical control signals are supplied to a solenoid controlled fuel injection valve which typically is biased closed by a spring so that a large electrical current is required to open the valve.
  • a solenoid controlled fuel injection valve which typically is biased closed by a spring so that a large electrical current is required to open the valve.
  • the control devices per se have typically been a solenoid controlled mechanical valve which have difficulty in accurately tracking electrical signals and delivering short liquid pulses mainly because of their large pintle mass which is magnified in the case of springs biasing them closed.
  • the leading edge in particular of the liquid pulse delivered to the utilization system is not sharp.
  • the conventional system described earlier herein has no means for flushing out a vapor bubble once it has entered the inlet.
  • This feature allows the bistable fluidic switch system to use a lower system fuel pressure (on the high pressure rail).
  • Lower pressure systems require less complexity and less expensive pump.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide an improved fuel injection system of the type disclosed in the above-referenced Stouffer application.
  • a further object of the invention is to provide improvements in fuel injection systems generally, particularly with respect to method and apparatus for improving the engine performance thereof.
  • the invention is defined in the accompanying Claim 1 and incorporates a bistable fluidic switch in a fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine.
  • a flow control pin is projected into and out of an intrusion position in a flow path in a power nozzle of said fluidic switch in a region on one side of a centre line through said power nozzle and upstream of a throat thereof, to switch the state of said bistable switch and so change the flow of fuel from one to the other of the two output channels of the bistable fluidic switch.
  • the axis of said power nozzle is at an angle relative to the axis of a chamber of the bistable fluidic switch so that in the absence of the flow control pin, the switch is in one predetermined state and is switched from that state to the other state by pin intrusion and always returns to that predetermined state on removal of the intrusion pin.
  • a second major feature of the invention is that air is supplied to each injector at a point in the output flow passage leading to the engine so as to pre-air atomize the fuel before injection of same into the air intake manifold on the engine.
  • US-A-3 906 979 discloses a transducer having a fluidic amplifier in which a fluid beam is passed via a nozzle into a chamber. At the outlet end of the chamber are two outlet ports divided from each other by a pointed projection extending towards said chamber. In the chamber, close to the outlet ports, is a pin and this pin, in a central position, extends through an axis extending along said nozzle at one end of the chamber and said pointed projection at the other end of the chamber. The pin is adapted to swing to one side or the other of said axis in order to change said fluid beam from one outlet port to the other. To effect this the pin is mounted on a pivoted frame carrying a coil and connecting leads.
  • signals are sent to the coil via said connecting leads to produce a flux that reacts with a stationary permanent magnet to cause said frame to pivot and thus to cause the pin to move to one side of the other of said axis.
  • the pivoted frame, the coil carried by the frame and the connecting leads secured to the moving mass all contribute to the inertia of the device in response to the electrical signals.
  • a tristable fluidic device in which a movable deflector in the form of a pin can be moved from side-to-side across a flow path into which a central wall extends. In its non-displaced setting the pin is in a through-slot in the central wall thus leaving the flow paths on each side of the wall free.
  • the pin is mounted on an electromagnetic device having electrical connections in order to supply currents of opposite polarity to the armature of the electromagnet.
  • the pin can be moved into one or the other of the flow paths on each side of the central wall.
  • the mass of the moving parts of the electromagnetic device contribute to the inertia of the device in response to electric signals.
  • the bistable fluidic switch 10 includes a body member 11 with a power nozzle 12 issuing fluid into chamber 13 formed with sidewalls 14 and 15 which diverge relative to the power nozzle and converge relative to common outlet 16 leading to a first output passage 17 which conveys fuel to the engine and a second output passage 18 which conveys unused fuel to a return rail to the supply or tank.
  • the bistable fluidic switch 10 has the exemplary silhouette shown in Fig. 2 and the flow paths which will be described more fully hereafter.
  • Switch control pin or pintle 19 is moved through the transverse bore hole 20 by electromagnetic coil 21 which receives control signals from conventional on-board computer 22 which, in turn, receives a plurality of engine and performance data parameter signals on its input lines 23 from the various engine sensors and signal transducers (not shown).
  • a spring 24 biases the pintle or pin and its driving armature to a neutral or non-intruding position.
  • Passage 26 supplies air from the air intake to air atomized fuel in outlet passage 17 and isolates the fluidic from the vacuum thus making the flow calibration insensitive to changes in manifold vacuum thereby eliminating the need to compensate the supply pressure for changes in manifold vacuum. It also improves the quality of fuel spray which is of primary importance in fuel/ air mixture preparation.
  • air supplied to the injectors may be selectively preheated to improve early evaporation characteristics. Since this relatively low volume of air is supplied to each of the injectors, it can be heated using electric heater thermostatically controlled (not shown) in air rail line 98. This technique is more effective than heating 100 percent of the combustion air during the first few minutes after a cold start. It also results in improved warm-up exhaust emissions. That is, the emissions are reduced.
  • the air supplied directly to the injectors is accounted for by the engine control computer 22.
  • the injector is accounted for by its effect on manifold pressure.
  • the source of inject air is downstream of the mass air flow sensor and of the combustion air filter.
  • the injector air flow is in proportion to the manifold vacuum (atmospheric pressure minus manifold absolute pressure) thus producing the best spray pattern (smallest droplet size) under idle and light load conditions, when the vacuum is high (15-20 in.hg.; 50,796-67,728 Pa).
  • the engine combustion is most sensitive to droplet size at idle and light load conditions.
  • the pintle or pin 19 is of very low mass.
  • this low mass electromechanical actuator allows the injector to turn on and off with less delay than conventional Bosch type injector. This results in a flow calibration which maintains its linearity at pulse widths below 2 msec.
  • a cover 9 seals the bistable switch, the passages to the power nozzle 12, return fuel passages and fuel to engine passage are all sealed and secured to body member 11 for, in this embodiment, direct substitution in a conventional multi-point fuel injection.
  • the air input 26 is connected to air rail 98 by short pipe section 99.
  • the pin 19 when the pin 19 is in an intruding position, it is specifically located in a region to the right of the center line through the power nozzle 12 and upstream of the throat 12T of the power nozzle a short predetermined distance. It is essentially within this sector that the pin is most effective in effecting a switch.
  • the design of the fluidic is such that in the normal case with the pin in non-intruding position the axis of the power nozzle 12 is canted about 8 degrees relative to the axis of chamber 13 so that the fuel will flow through passage 18 and return to the tank (as shown in Fig. 2c).
  • the pin When the pin intrudes in the flow pass in the power nozzle, it will cause a deflection of the jet of 15 to 16 degrees.
  • the chamber effectively amplifies this deflection to cause the jet to travel along wall 15 and pass through common outlet 16 and be directed into outlet passage 17 leading to the engine, as shown in Fig. 2b.
  • the bistable fluidic switch element has a chamber of the type wherein the sidewalls converge to a common outlet 16.
  • the common outlet 16 with its converging sidewalls 13C and 14C isolate this chamber from the output channels 17 and 18 and the converging sidewalls generate vortices for maintaining the liquid flowing in the channels on one of the sidewalls until switched by operation of the pin.
  • the switching element is bistable such that it is in one stable state or the other which is maintained in that condition by the feedback constituted by the vortex 30 which is generated by a portion of the power stream which is peeled off by the opposite wall. Since the chamber is of the cross-over type, it serves to isolate the interaction region from pressures downstream of the throat or outlet.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically a conventional fuel system (referred to in the art as the "Bosch" fuel injection system) in which a tank T delivers fuel via pump 50 through a fuel filter 51 to a fuel rail 52 which has the pressure therein regulated by a compensated pressure regulator having a spring biased diaphram 54 defining the regulator chamber into two chambers, one side of which is coupled to the air intake manifold 60 by a compensating air pressure line 61.
  • the fuel injectors 71, 72 have a solenoid control injection valve which is typically biased closed by a spring so that a large electrical current is required to open the valve.
  • the fuel management system for the internal combustion engine of the automobile includes an onboard computer which is supplied with data signals from sensors monitoring various engine operating parameters, such as rpm, temperature, exhaust gas characteristics, mass air flow, etc., and determines the proper fuel-air ratio for fuel economy, efficiency and smoothness of engine operations and compliance with emission standards.
  • the computer 75 supplies individual signals to control each of the solenoids 71S, 72S of the injectors 71 and 72, each of the injectors having a relatively large mass pintle 71P and 72P, respectively, which are seated in a valve seat (not shown) by a spring 71S, 72S for the purpose of injecting fuel into the intake manifold induction pipe 60-1, 60-2 for each cylinder of the engine.
  • TBI throttle body injection
  • the intake manifold 60 has a separate air induction pipe for each cylinder of the engine two of which are shown 60-1 and 60-2, each being provided with a separate fluidic injector which is connected in parallel to fuel supply or pipe rail 52.
  • the same schematic applies to 4, 6 or 8 injectors.
  • Air is drawn through air filter 81 and passes through the mass flow sensor 82 to throttle 83.
  • Throttle plate 84 is controlled by the operator and controls the flow area in the throttle air passage and thus the mass air flow to the engine cylinders via the induction pipes for each cylinder.
  • a system incorporating the present invention is shown in Fig. 4 and includes the pump 50' for pumping fuel from the tank (not shown) through a filter 51' to a fuel rail 52' which supplies the fuel under pressure to each of the injectors 10-1, 10-2 which are fluidic fuel injectors having the silhouette illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 1 with exemplary dimensions illustrated in Fig. 2.
  • Fuel under pressure in fuel rail line 52' is introduced into the power nozzle 12 from rail 52' for each of the fuel injectors and in parallel.
  • Fuel which is not delivered to the engine is returned at a somewhat lower pressure to a return fuel rail 95 from each of the bistable fluidic injectors whenever the fuel is traveling on the side 14 of chamber 13 taking the path indicated by the arrow 96 (Fig. 2c) and is returned to the tank via line 97.
  • a fixed pressure regulator 53' has a diaphram 54' biased by a spring 55' so as to maintain the fuel pressure at a relatively constant value.
  • Air for aerating the fuel prior to injection into the induction pipe leading to the engine is supplied after being filtered and measured by mass flow sensor but prior to passing through the throttle on fuel injector air supply rail 98 which supplies air in parallel to each of the fuel injectors and the outlet leg or passage 17.
  • the fixed pressure regulator 53' need not be compensated as in the case illustrated in Fig. 3.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Fuel-Injection Apparatus (AREA)
  • Electrical Control Of Air Or Fuel Supplied To Internal-Combustion Engine (AREA)

Claims (10)

1. Système d'injection de carburant pour un moteur à combustion interne, ledit système possédant des moyens de calcul (22) destinés à recevoir une pluralité de signaux électriques (23) qui correspondant à des paramètres de fonctionnement du moteur, et à produire des signaux électriques de commande pour fournir le carburant audit moteur, un commutateur fluidique bistable (10), qui possède une buse de puissance (12) raccordée à une alimentation de carburant sous pression, une chambre (13) possédant des parois latérales (14, 15) qui mènent à une sortie commune (16) et une paire de canaux de sortie (17, 18) qui recoivent le carburant sortant à travers ladite buse de puissance, l'un desdits canaux (17) menant audit moteur à combustion interne et l'autre desdits canaux (18) à ladite alimentation, et des moyens électromagnétiques (21) commandée par lesdits signaux de commande fournis par lesdits moyens de calcul (22) pour commander l'état dudit commutateur bistable (10), caractérisé par une tige de commande du débit (19) commandée par lesdits moyens électromagnétiques (21) et positionnée pour s'interposer dans le trajet d'écoulement du fluide dans ladite buse de puissance (12) dans une région située sur un côté de l'axe de ladite buse de puissance, et en aval du col (12T) de cette buse, ou pour se dégager de ce trajet, pour inverser l'état dudit commutateur bistable (10) et inverser de cette façon celui desdits canaux de sortie (17, 18) dans lequel le carburant s'écoule.
2. Système d'injection de carburant selon la revendication 1, comprenant des moyens (26) prévus dans celui desdits canaux de sortie (17) qui mène audit moteur et qui servant à isoler ledit commutateur fluidique (10) de la dépression du moteur.
3. Système d'injection de carburant selon la revendication 1, comprenant des moyens (26) prévus dans l'un (17) desdits canaux de sortie pour fournir de l'air pour atomiser le carburant qui circule dans ce canal.
4. Système d'injection de carburant selon la revendication 1, comprenant des moyens pour faire en sorte qu'en l'absence de ladite tige (19) dans le trajet d'écoulement du carburant, ledit commutateur fluidique bistable (10) se trouve dans l'un prédéterminé de ses étate stables pour envoyer le carburant audit autre (18) desdits canaux.
5. Système d'injection de carburant selon la revendication 4, dans lequel l'axe de ladite buse de puissance (12) est incliné d'un certain angle sur l'axe de ladite chambre (13).
6. Système d'injection de carburant selon la revendication 1, dans lequel il y a un injecteur de carburant pour chaque cylindre dudit moteur et une rampe de distribution de carburant commune (52') qui aboutit à chacun desdite commutateurs fluidiques bistables (10-1; 10-2) et une rampe de retour de carburant commune (95) reliée à tous lesdits commutateurs fluidiques bistables.
7. Système d'injection de carburant selon une quelconque des revendications 1 à 6, comprenant des moyens (98) servant à introduire de l'air dans le commutateur fluidique bistable ou dans chaque commutateur fluidique bistable (10-1; 10-2) pour atomiser ledit carburant avant l'injection de ce carburant dans un collecteur d'admission d'air (60).
8. Système d'injection de carburant selon une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, comprenant un électro-aimant (21) pour commander la position de ladite tige de commande de l'écoulement (19).
9. Système d'injection de carburant selon une quelconque des revendications 1 à 8, dans laquelle la tige de commande de l'écoulement (19) se déplace le long de son axe longitudinal.
10. Système d'injection de carburant selon la revendication 9, dans lequel un ressort (24) rappelle la tige de commande de l'écoulement (19) vers la position dans laquelle elle est dégagée dudit trajet d'écoulement du fluide.
EP19860105077 1985-04-30 1986-04-14 Système d'injection de carburant Expired EP0200063B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US72890285A 1985-04-30 1985-04-30
US728902 1985-04-30

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0200063A1 EP0200063A1 (fr) 1986-11-05
EP0200063B1 true EP0200063B1 (fr) 1990-01-17

Family

ID=24928732

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19860105077 Expired EP0200063B1 (fr) 1985-04-30 1986-04-14 Système d'injection de carburant

Country Status (6)

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EP (1) EP0200063B1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH0759920B2 (fr)
AU (2) AU589417B2 (fr)
BR (1) BR8601924A (fr)
CA (1) CA1274130A (fr)
DE (1) DE3668357D1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2202000A (en) * 1987-02-04 1988-09-14 Nigel James Leighton I.C. engine fuel injection systems using electro fluidic injectors
US4924912A (en) * 1989-12-08 1990-05-15 Allied-Signal Inc. Electrofluidic pin transducer with stable null setting
US5255658A (en) * 1990-10-12 1993-10-26 Coltec Industries Inc. System and apparatus to improve atomization of injected fuel
GB9313966D0 (en) * 1993-07-06 1993-08-18 Univ Loughborough Fuel metering

Family Cites Families (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3530871A (en) * 1968-10-15 1970-09-29 Ibm Fluidic heat sensitive device and system
US3782639A (en) * 1972-04-17 1974-01-01 Ford Motor Co Fuel injection apparatus
US3906979A (en) * 1973-10-09 1975-09-23 Garrett Corp Electro-fluidic/hydrofluidic transducer
US3993101A (en) * 1975-08-25 1976-11-23 The Garrett Corporation Tristable fluidic device
JPS5543269A (en) * 1978-09-22 1980-03-27 Toyota Central Res & Dev Lab Inc Intermittent gas injection valve
JPS5799267A (en) * 1980-12-12 1982-06-19 Toyota Motor Corp Electronic control type fuel injection device
JPS57143158A (en) * 1981-03-02 1982-09-04 Toyota Motor Corp Electronically controlled fuel injection apparatus for internal combustion engine
US4475486A (en) * 1982-02-18 1984-10-09 General Motors Corporation Engine induction system
JPS58173767U (ja) * 1982-05-14 1983-11-19 トヨタ自動車株式会社 燃料噴射式内燃機関の燃料圧力調整装置
US4565220A (en) * 1983-02-28 1986-01-21 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Liquid metering and fluidic transducer for electronic computers

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0200063A1 (fr) 1986-11-05
JPH0759920B2 (ja) 1995-06-28
DE3668357D1 (de) 1990-02-22
AU625562B2 (en) 1992-07-16
BR8601924A (pt) 1986-12-30
AU4367189A (en) 1990-02-08
AU5646786A (en) 1986-11-06
JPS627953A (ja) 1987-01-14
CA1274130A (fr) 1990-09-18
AU589417B2 (en) 1989-10-12

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