WO2021028344A1

WO2021028344A1 - Flow limiter for a fuel injection system, and fuel injection system

Info

Publication number: WO2021028344A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/072264
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richard Pirkl; Razvan-Sorin STINGHE; Martin Seidl; Wolfgang MELDER; Thomas Atzkern; Igor Nesmjanowitsch; Fabian Schmid
Original assignee: Liebherr-Components Deggendorf Gmbh
Priority date: 2019-08-09
Filing date: 2020-08-07
Publication date: 2021-02-18
Also published as: DE102019121549A1; EP4010580A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a flow limiter for a fuel injection system, which flow limiter comprises: a throttle bush, which has a through-hole; a throttle insert, which is movably held in a first portion of the through-hole; a sealing portion in a second portion of the through-hole, which has a reduced cross-section in comparison with the first portion of the through-hole; and a spring element, which is held in the through-hole and pushes the throttle insert away from the sealing portion. The invention is characterized in that the throttle insert has, at its end nearest the sealing portion, a sealing surface, which closes the through-hole when the sealing surface is in contact with the sealing portion.

Description

Flow limiter for a fuel injection system and a fuel injection system

The present invention relates to a flow limiter for a fuel injection system and a fuel injection system having such a flow limiter. To understand the invention, the basic functionality of an injector (= fuel injection nozzle) is helpful, which is to be considered in more detail below in parts. An injector has a nozzle needle (also: injector needle), which allows a high pressure fuel to come out when an outlet hole of the injector is opened. In interaction with this outlet opening, this nozzle needle acts like a plug which, when it is raised, enables the fuel to escape. Accordingly, it is therefore necessary to lift this needle at relatively short time intervals and to slide it back into the outlet opening again after a short time. Hydraulic servo valves (also: pilot valves), which are controlled by solenoid valves, are used to trigger the movement of this nozzle needle. The servo valves are required for the controlled opening and closing of the nozzle needle. This is how it is possible to determine the start of injection, the injection duration and the end of injection.

Due to the high injection pressures of over 2500 bar, it is not possible to control (= move) the nozzle needle directly with the aid of a solenoid valve. In this case, the forces required to open and close the nozzle needle would be too great, so that such a method could only be implemented with the help of very large electromagnets. However, such a design is ruled out due to the limited space available in a motor.

Instead of direct control, so-called pilot valves, typically in the form of a servo valve, are typically used, which control the nozzle needle and are themselves controlled via an electromagnetic valve. In this case, a pressure level is built up in a control chamber interacting with the nozzle needle with the aid of the fuel available under high pressure, which pressure level acts on the nozzle needle in the closing direction. This control chamber is typically connected to the high pressure area of the fuel via an inlet throttle. Furthermore, this control chamber has a small, closable outlet throttle from which the fuel can escape. If he does this, the pressure in the control chamber and the closing force acting on the nozzle needle are reduced. This results in a movement of the nozzle needle, which releases the outlet opening at the injector tip. The pilot valve includes the inlet throttle, the control chamber and the outlet throttle. In order to be able to control the movement of the nozzle needle, the outlet throttle of the control chamber is optionally closed or opened with the aid of an electromagnetic valve or another suitable valve. The controlled opening of this outlet throttle in combination with the inlet throttle determines the pressure in the control chamber of the valve. As already briefly explained above, this pressure is then responsible for opening and closing the nozzle needle. In order to end the injection and to keep the outlet throttle of the valve closed between the injections, a certain spring force is required, which a closing element (in technical jargon also: armature) against the outlet throttle presses to prevent the drainage of fuel and thereby the reduction of pressure in the control chamber from the drain throttle. For opening, however, the set spring force with which the closure member is pressed against the sealing point of the outlet throttle must be overcome so that the closure member releases the outlet throttle as quickly as possible. Typical required switch-on times, that is to say the time from the start of the energization to the stop of the closure element on an upper stroke limit of such solenoid valves, are in the range of approx. For an engine with such a fuel injection, however, it is particularly detrimental if too much or continuously fuel is injected. In the event of such an injector malfunction, for example the injector not closing completely by the injector needle, the armature element not closing completely or a leak in the injector housing, the continuous flow of fuel into the combustion chamber can cause severe damage.

It is therefore advantageous to limit the total amount of fuel that can be introduced into the combustion chamber in the event of a defective fuel injection process in order to avoid damage as far as possible.

This object is achieved according to the invention by means of a flow limiter according to claim 1 or a fuel injector according to claim 9. Further advantageous configurations of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

A flow limiter according to the invention for a fuel injection system has a throttle bushing with a through hole, a throttle insert which is movably received in a first section of the through hole, a sealing section in a second section of the through hole which is reduced in cross section compared to the first section of the through hole, and a spring element which is received in the through hole and urges the throttle insert away from the sealing portion. Furthermore, the Flow limiter characterized in that the throttle insert has, at its end facing the sealing section, a sealing surface which closes the through hole upon contact with the sealing section. If a fuel arranged downstream of the flow limiter closes! injector not in the correct way, so that the undesired state occurs in which fuel continuously flows into the combustion chamber, the clamping mechanism of the flow restrictor intervenes. In an idle state, fuel is present at high pressure on both sides of the throttle insert. The high-pressure fuel reservoir, typically the rail, is connected to the flow limiter on the side of the throttle insert facing away from the sealing section with the flow limiter. Since fuel is now applied to the throttle insert at identical pressure on both sides, the spring element arranged between the throttle insert and the sealing section acts so that the throttle insert is pushed away from the sealing section. The space created in this way forms a reservoir of fuel that can flow completely into the combustion chamber even in the event of a malfunction. When the injector opens, fuel flows out of this reservoir so that there is a pressure drop in the reservoir and the constant high pressure on the side of the throttle insert facing the rail causes the throttle insert, which is slidingly arranged in the throttle sleeve, to move towards the sealing section. A quantity of fuel flowing in from the rail (= high pressure side) via the throttle insert is unable to replace the outflow quantity from the injector which is injected into the combustion chamber quickly enough, so that in the event of a faulty injection that lasts longer than normal Throttle insert hits the sealing section with its sealing surface and interrupts the fuel supply for the injector. In this way, there is no continual, harmful continuous injection of fuel into the combustion chamber of a cylinder.

In normal operation, however, the injection of fuel is ended before the sealing surface of the throttle insert touches the sealing section, so that the Fuel flowing in via the throttle insert can fill or enlarge the reservoir defined between the sealing surface of the throttle insert and the sealing section of the bushing. If there is fuel under high pressure on both sides of the throttle insert slidingly received in the bushing, the throttle insert is forced away from the sealing section due to the spring element, so that the reservoir is enlarged.

According to an optional modification of the invention, it can be provided that the throttle insert with its outer cross section cooperates sealingly with the inner cross section of the through hole and prevents a fluid from flowing between the outer cross section of the throttle insert and the inner cross section of the through hole.

In this way, an inflow of fuel under high pressure into the reservoir (space between the sealing section and the sealing surface of the throttle insert) is restricted to a line leading through the throttle insert. This can be provided as a bore in the body of the throttle insert and runs from the side facing the sealing section to the side of the throttle section facing away from it.

Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the throttle insert has or generates a throttle line which provides a fluid connection along the through hole from the side of the throttle insert facing away from the sealing surface to the side of the throttle insert facing the sealing surface.

A throttle line can thus also be implemented which is not implemented through a bore in the throttle insert, but runs in the edge region of the throttle insert and the inner wall of the throttle bushing. To move the throttle line, it is only important to limit the flow of fuel under high pressure, so that the operating principle of the flow limiter works and this prevents the supply of fuel in the event of a permanent drainage of fuel.

According to an inventive modification of the invention it can be provided that the throttle line has a bore in the throttle insert that is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the throttle bushing and preferably has at least one further bore that is not run parallel to the longitudinal direction of the throttle bushing. Typically, the throttle line is placed in the approximately cylindrical throttle insert from above (coming from the rail) centrally along the longitudinal direction and then goes off laterally to the lateral surface of the throttle insert. The shape of the throttle line can accordingly assume an upside-down "T". When designing the throttle line, care must be taken to ensure that it has no fluidic connection downstream when the throttle insert meets the sealing section of the throttle bushing with its sealing surface.

It is preferably provided that the second section of the through hole adjoins the first section of the through hole.

The adjoining of the two sections ensures that no other sections can be located in between.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, the spring element is supported on the cross-sectional reduction of the second section and protrudes into the first section of the through hole. As a result, the throttle insert is always pressed in the direction of the rail when there is fuel under high pressure on both sides.

Furthermore, according to an advantageous modification of the invention, a stop element can be provided which limits a stroke of the throttle piece away from the sealing section, with the stop element preferably being pressed into the through hole or attached to the end of the through hole. In order to limit the reservoir existing between the sealing section and the throttle insert to a defined maximum size, the stroke of the throttle insert is limited not only by the sealing section but also by a stop element on the side facing away from it. The spring element then presses the throttle insert against this stop element and thus creates a space of a defined size that is proportional to the maximum amount of fuel that can flow off. This amount or the stroke of the throttle insert is selected so that no serious damage is caused even if the fuel contained therein and the fuel that continues to flow through the throttle line until sealing is completely emptied.

A filter element for filtering fuel is preferably provided, which is arranged on the side of the through hole facing the sealing surface and is preferably fastened with a press fit in the through hole.

It can be provided that the filter element is pressed or inserted into the sealing section with its narrowed cross section and protrudes downstream, that is to say away from the throttle insert. Fluid flowing downstream from the throttle insert must therefore pass through the filter element so that larger particles in the fuel are filtered.

The invention further comprises a fuel injector with a flow limiter according to one of the aspects discussed above, the flow limiter being arranged between a fuel supply line, the so-called rail, and the fuel injector.

This arrangement ensures that the amount of fuel that can be dispensed by the injector is limited, so that fuel cannot flow out continuously even in the event of a malfunction in the injector. It can be provided that the flow limiter is pressed into the fuel supply line by inserting the throttle bushing with its outside into the fuel supply line in a sealing manner. Pressing in is a particularly simple and economical type of connection for attaching the flow limiter.

The flow limiter is preferably arranged outside the injector and fastened to the housing of the injector. The flow limiter can be fastened by means of a union nut. This union nut interacts with an external thread on the injector housing and presses the flow limiter against the injector.

Furthermore, according to a further development of the invention, it can be provided that the fuel supply line opens into the union nut. For example, the fuel feed line can have a collar-like expansion at its end provided on the flow limiter, which is pressed against the flow limiter by means of the union nut. It can be provided that the flow limiter is arranged inside the injector by inserting the throttle bushing with its outside in a sealing manner in a housing of the injector, preferably inserting it into a feed line of the injector. Further advantages, details and features of the invention emerge from the following description of the figures. Show:

1a-c: various representations of a flow limiter which can be arranged outside an injector, and

2a-d: different representations of a flow limiter which is arranged within an injector. FIG. 1 a shows a flow limiter 1 in a sectional view which can be attached outside an injector. This has a throttle bushing 2 in which a through hole 3 is arranged in the longitudinal direction. This through hole 3 has a first section which, seen in FIG. 1a, makes up approximately the upper 75% of the through hole and in which a throttle insert 4 is movably received. This throttle insert 4 can be moved in a sliding manner in the through hole 3 depending on the prevailing pressure conditions. A positioning of the throttle insert 4 is shown, in which the maximum removed position has been assumed by a sealing section 5. For the movement of the throttle insert 4, among other things, a spring element 6 is provided, which is supported on the sealing section 5, which has a reduced cross-section, and pushes the throttle insert 4 away. The stroke of the throttle insert 4 is limited by the stop element 12, which defines the maximum deflection of the throttle insert 4 away from the sealing section 5.

This stop element 12 is fastened to the throttle bushing 2 by means of a union nut 11. It can further be provided that this union nut 11 leads a fuel supply line 10 (typically the rail) to the flow limiter 1 via an internal thread or an alternative fastening option, so that fuel is permanently present under high pressure on the side of the throttle insert 4 facing away from the sealing section 5.

The fuel under high pressure flows through the throttle line 8 downstream to the outlet side of the flow limiter 1.If a downstream fuel injector is in a closed state, after the downstream line spaces have filled up, fuel will be present at the same high pressure on both sides of the throttle insert. The compressive force of the spring element 6 then leads to the throttle insert 4 being urged towards the stop element 12. The fuel continues to flow via a throttle line 8, which runs through the throttle insert 4 in FIG. 1 a and then runs outward perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the throttle insert 4.

It is clear to the person skilled in the art that the precise configuration of the throttle line 8 for the present invention may also be subject to certain variations. It must only be ensured that in a sealing state of the flow limiter 1, in which the throttle insert 4 is in contact with the sealing section 5, the throttle line 8 must not have a fluidic connection to a section downstream of the sealing section 5.

FIG. 1 b shows a view of FIG. 1 a rotated by 90 °. In this illustration, the components of the throttle line 8 going out to the left and right side can be seen.

1c shows a possible side view of the flow limiter 1. It can be seen that the union nut 11 is bent so that it can be tightened in the external thread of the throttle bushing 2 with a wrench. The throttle bushing 2 itself also has corresponding bevels in its outer circumference so that it can be fixed when the union nut 11 is tightened.

2a shows a sectional view of a flow limiter 1 which can be attached inside an injector. The basic structure of the flow limiter 1 is the same as in the previously considered model.

What is different is, for example, the stop element 12, which is now located in the interior of the throttle bushing 2 and is fixed there. The fixation can be implemented by pressing in or gluing or the like.

In addition, the outer contour of the throttle bushing 2 is also changed, since it is now essentially cylindrical, the outer circumference having increased slightly in the lower area near the sealing section 5. A filter element 9 is now also present, which is pressed into the sealing section 5 with a reduced cross section. Fuel flowing through the throttle bushing 2 is therefore inevitably filtered, so that undesired foreign particles are filtered out.

2b shows a view of the flow limiter 1 rotated by 90 °, in which the course of the throttle line 8 can also be seen very well. 2c is a possible external view of the flow limiter 1, by means of which the two cylinder jacket surfaces with different radii can be recognized.

Figure 2d shows a flow limiter in a state received within a fuel injector.

The flow limiter 1 is pressed with its radially larger part into a pressure piece 13 of the injector and extends with its slimmer part into the fuel pipe, which delivers fuel at high pressure. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that, as an alternative or in addition to this, the flow limiter 1 can also be pressed into the fuel pipe.

Claims

Flow limiter for a fuel injection system and fuel injection system claims

A flow limiter (1) for a fuel injection system, comprising: a throttle bushing (2) with a through hole (3), a throttle insert (4) which is movably received in a first section of the through hole (3), a sealing section (5) in a second section of the through hole (3), which is reduced in its cross section compared to the first section of the through hole (3), and a spring element (6) which is received in the through hole (3) and the throttle insert (4) from the sealing section (5) pushes away, characterized in that the throttle insert (4) at its end facing the sealing section (5) has a sealing surface (7) which closes the through hole (3) upon contact with the sealing section (5).

2. Flow limiter (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the

Throttle insert (4) with its outer cross-section sealingly interacts with the inner cross-section of the through hole (3) and a fluid flows between the outer cross-section of the throttle insert (4) and the inner cross-section of the through hole (3).

3. Flow limiter (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the throttle insert (4) has or generates a throttle line (8) which provides a fluid connection along the through hole (3) from the side of the throttle insert (4) facing away from the sealing surface to the Provides sealing surface facing side of the throttle insert (4).

4. Flow limiter (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the throttle line (8) has a bore in the throttle insert (4) which is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the throttle bushing (2) and preferably at least one further bore that is not parallel to the longitudinal direction of the throttle bushing (2) Has guided bore.

5. Flow limiter (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the second portion of the through hole (3) is adjacent to the first portion of the through hole (3).

6. Flow limiter (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spring element (6) is supported on the cross-sectional reduction of the second section and protrudes into the first section of the through hole (3).

7. Flow limiter (1) according to one of the preceding claims, furthermore a stop element (12) is provided which limits a stroke of the throttle piece away from the sealing section (5), wherein preferably the stop element (12) is pressed into the through hole (3) or attached to the end of the through hole (3).

8. flow limiter (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, further a filter element (9) for filtering fuel is provided, which is at one of the Sealing surface facing side of the through hole (3) is arranged and is preferably fastened with a press fit in the through hole (3).

9. Fuel! Injector with a flow limiter (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the flow limiter (1) between a

Fuel supply line (10), the so-called rail, and the fuel! injector is arranged.

10. Fuel! The injector according to the preceding claim 9, wherein the flow limiter (1) is pressed into the fuel supply line (10) by the

Throttle bushing (2) with its outside sealingly inserted into the fuel supply line (10).

11. Fuel! Injector according to one of the preceding claims 9 or 10, wherein the flow limiter (1) is arranged outside the injector and on the

Housing of the injector is attached, preferably the attachment of the flow limiter (1) is provided by means of a union nut (11).

12. Fuel! Injector according to the preceding claim 11, wherein the fuel supply line (10) opens into the union nut (11).

13. Fuel! The injector of the preceding claim 9, wherein the

The flow limiter (1) is arranged inside the injector by inserting the throttle bushing (2) with its outside in a sealing manner in a housing of the injector, preferably in a feed line of the injector.