In fuel injection valves, actuators are used, such as piezoelectric actuators or magnet valves. Triggering the actuators initiates a pressure relief of a control chamber, causing an injection valve to open, so that fuel can be injected into the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. However, magnet valves have the property of tending to bounce, and as a result the performance graph for the quantity, that is, the injection quantity, can vary so much relative to the triggering time that it is only conditionally suitable for reproduction or for compensation functions.
European Patent Disclosure EP 0 562 046 B1 discloses an actuation and valve assembly with damping for an electronically controlled injection unit. The actuation and valve assembly for a hydraulic unit has an electrically excitable electromagnet assembly with a fixed stator and a movable armature. The armature includes a first and a second surface. The first and second surfaces of the armature define a first and second hollow chamber, and the first surface of the armature is oriented toward the stator. A valve is provided which is connected to the armature. The valve is capable of carrying a hydraulic actuating fluid from a sump to the injection system. A damping fluid can be collected there relative to one of the hollow chambers of the electromagnet assembly and drained away from there again. By means of a region of a valve needle protruding into a central bore, the fluidic communication of the damping fluid can be selectively opened and closed in proportion to the viscosity of this fluid.
German Patent Disclosure DE 101 23 910.6 pertains to a fuel injection system. This system is used in an internal combustion engine. The combustion chambers of the engine are supplied with fuel via fuel injectors. The fuel injectors are acted upon in turn via a high-pressure source; moreover, the fuel injection system includes a pressure booster which has a movable pressure booster piston. This piston divides a chamber that can be connected to the high-pressure source from a high-pressure chamber that communicates with the fuel injector. The high fuel pressure in the high-pressure chamber can be varied, by filling a back chamber of a pressure boosting device or by evacuating fuel from this back chamber of the fuel booster.
In magnet valves of the prior art, the stroke length is defined by stop sleeves, to name one example. In addition, in magnet valves that have two seats, the stroke of the magnet valve can be defined by the two seats. In such magnet valves, bouncing can occur at the first, upper seat. The same is true for a valve that is open when without current and that has only one seat. If stop sleeves are received in the magnet core, they surround a closing spring that acts on the magnet armature. By means of a stop sleeve, the precise adjustment of a remanent air gap between the magnet core and the magnet armature, or its armature plate, can be accomplished. In fast opening of the magnet valve, which is desired, the armature comes to strike one face end of the stop sleeve, which is called armature bouncing. The armature bouncing on the stop sleeve has effects on the quantity performance graph, or in other words the injection quantity of fuel, relative to the triggering duration of a magnet coil of a magnet valve that actuates a fuel injector. In some applications, the effects of armature bouncing on the quantity performance graph are wanted, such as if a preinjection quantity plateau is desired for a phase of preinjection into the combustion chamber. However, in conjunction with regulating a preinjection quantity, as will be needed for fuel injection systems expected in the future, a quantity performance graph that has a preinjection quantity plateau is extremely unfavorable.
With the embodiment proposed according to the invention, the armature bouncing that affects the quantity performance graph of a fuel injector is reduced considerably, by the creation of a surface area that builds up a damping force. Although in previously employed embodiments only the end face of a stop sleeve and the end face of a magnet core were available as a surface area that generates a damping force, with the embodiment proposed according to the invention a targeted increase in the damping can be achieved.
The damping face, embodied on the side of the magnet core toward the magnet armature, is made of non-magnetic material, such as plastic. Plastic material has the advantage that it can easily be worked. This material can either be glued to the magnet core or cast on it. The easy workability of the plastic material also offers the advantage that the damping performance can be adjusted in a targeted way by the embodiment of an angle relative to the plane end face of the magnet armature. In principle, all materials that have no or only slight effects on the magnetic circuit can be used to produce the damping face.
The damping face can extend on the face end of the magnet core toward the magnet armature both parallel to this face end and at a damping adjustment angle, relative to the end face of the magnet armature. The desired damping behavior can be established by the choice of the damping adjustment angle. Besides a hydraulic damping chamber that opens outward in the radial direction, this damping chamber can also narrow increasingly outward, in terms of the radial direction, relative to the axis of symmetry of the magnet coil and of the magnet armature. An unwanted, premature outflow of the damping fluid (such as fuel) from the hydraulic damping chamber can be attained by the embodiment of a luglike protrusion on the outside radius of the hydraulic damping chamber. Upon fast opening of the magnet armature, the luglike protrusion acts as a throttling element, and upon an upward motion of the magnet armature, it effects throttling of the flow of the actuating fluid, such as fuel or Diesel fuel, from the hydraulic damping chamber upon opening of the magnet armature. By means of the choice of a non-magnetic material, the magnetic properties of the magnet valve—in particular, the preservation of the remanent air gap—remain unimpaired.
The invention is described in further detail below in conjunction with the drawing.
Shown are:
A magnet valve 1, which is used to actuate a fuel injector for self-igniting internal combustion engines, includes a magnet core 2. A magnet coil 3 is let into the magnet core 2. The magnet core 2 includes a first end face 4 and a second end face 5 that points toward a magnet armature 10. A bore 6 is embodied in the magnet core 2, and a stop sleeve 7 is let into the bore. A face end 8 is embodied on the lower end of the stop sleeve 7 and forms a stop for one face end 12 of an armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10. The stop sleeve 7 surrounds a closing spring 9, which urges the face end 12 of the magnet armature 10 in the closing direction. The face end 12 of the magnet armature 10 is embodied on its armature plate 11. In the variant embodiment of the magnet valve known from the prior art, the magnet armature 10 is embodied as a one-piece armature; that is, the armature plate 11 and the armature bolt of the magnet armature 10 form a single component. Alternatively, the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10 may also be embodied displaceably on the armature bolt. In that case, or in other words with a magnet armature embodied in two parts, the armature plate 11 is acted upon via a spring element which surrounds the armature bolt.
Reference numeral 13 indicates a remanent air gap, which defines the spacing between the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2 and the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10. In the variant embodiment, shown in
In the variant embodiment of a magnet valve shown in
In
Of the magnet armature 10 shown in
The hydraulic damping chamber 31 is defined toward the magnet core 2, on the second end face 5 thereof, by a damping face 20, which begins at the outside diameter 28 of the stop sleeve 7 and extends as far as the circumference 27 of the magnet core 2. Moreover, the hydraulic damping chamber 31 is defined by the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10. The damping face 20 toward the magnet armature comprises a non-magnetic material 16, such as plastic material, so as not to impair the magnetic properties of the magnet valve 1. The attainable damping force can be adjusted by means of the geometry of the damping face 20, which generates a damping force that counteracts the opening motions of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10.
On the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2, which faces the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10, the damping face 20 that defines the hydraulic damping chamber 31 can at a constant spacing 15; that is, fuel emerging parallel to the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 and to the face end 8 of the stop sleeve 7 enters the hydraulic damping chamber 31. In this variant embodiment, the hydraulic damping chamber 31 has a constant cross section extending in the radial direction.
In a further variant embodiment of the hydraulic damping chamber 31, the damping face 20 may be embodied at an angle 17 on the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2. In this variant embodiment, the spacing between the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10 and the damping face 20 on the second face end 5 of the magnet core 2 increases continuously in the radial direction. As a result, it is attained that the fuel flowing into the hydraulic damping chamber 31 from the outlet gap 18 generates a damping force, counteracting the opening motion of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10, that is greater than the damping force that can be generated by only the face end 8 of the stop sleeve 7 (as shown in
A further variant embodiment of a hydraulic damping chamber 31 provides that a luglike protrusion 32 be made on the damping face 20, on the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2. This luglike protrusion 32 on the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2, when the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10 moves upward in the opening direction, effects throttling of the fuel volume flowing out of the hydraulic damping chamber 31, as a result of which the damping force acting on the magnet armature 10, that is, on its armature plate 11, can be increased, since the throttle restriction between the end face 12 of the armature plate 11 and the luglike protrusion 32 becomes smaller and smaller in the course of the opening motion of the magnet armature 10. Because of the reduction in size of the throttle restriction, that is, of the spacing between the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 and the luglike protrusion 32, the fuel volume entering the hydraulic damping chamber 31 through the outlet gap 18 is capable of flowing out of this chamber only in delayed fashion, so that inside the hydraulic damping chamber 31, a damping volume that develops a damping action remains. The outlet opening for the fuel volume flowing out of the damping chamber is identified by reference numeral 35.
The damping face 20, which is made of a non-magnetic material 16, may be either glued to the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2 or cast on the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2. If the damping face 20 is made of a non-magnetic material 16 such as plastic material, then by suitable working of the damping face 20, such as grinding machining, the angle 17 that definitively affects the damping behavior can be adjusted in a targeted way.
The damping face 20 on the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2 includes a first annular face portion 21, which extends from the outside radius 28 of the stop sleeve 7 to the inside radius 25 of the magnet coil 3 inside the magnet core 2. The damping face 20 furthermore includes a second annular face portion 22, which extends from the inside radius 25 of the magnet coil 3 to its outside radius 26, and a third annular face portion 23, which extends from the outside radius 26 of the magnet coil 3 inside the magnet core 2 to the outer circumference 27 of the magnet core 2. Inside the third annular face portion 23, the aforementioned luglike protrusion 32 that develops a throttling action can be embodied on the damping face 20 that defines the annularly configured hydraulic damping chamber 31; with the face end 12 of the armature plate 11, this protrusion defines an outlet opening 35, whose opening cross section is dependent on the stroke length and the speed of motion of the magnet armature 10.
Inside the magnet core 2 of the magnet valve 1 as shown in
As can also be learned from
In
The non-magnetic filler 16 extends on the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2 over a first annular face portion 21, over a second annular face portion 22 adjoining the first, and through a third annular face portion 23. The non-magnetic filler 16 has a first step 29 and a second step 30 and can be cast or glued onto the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2. The steps 29 and 30 of the non-magnetic filler 16 form a first edge 33 and a second edge 34, respectively, which engage the recess 24 in the magnet core 2 and secure the non-magnetic filler 16 radially relative to the magnet core 2 by positive engagement.
In the view in
In the variant embodiment shown in
from which, the following is true:
From the above equation, the volumetric flow in the pinch gap is found by integration to be
The continuity equation leads to a differential equation for the pressure in the gap between the armature plate 11 and the magnet core 2, in accordance with the following equation:
In this equation, v is the velocity [speed] of the magnet armature and p is the gap width: B=2π·r. For simple geometries, such as a conical gap as in
It can be seen from
Unlike the variant embodiment, shown in
With the variant embodiments described above, whether they are the embodiment of a damping face 20 extending parallel at a constant spacing 15 between the second end face 5 and the face end 12 of the armature plate 1, or a damping face 20 with an angle 17 or a damping face 20 with a luglike protrusion 32, the quantity performance graph of a fuel injector can be improved considerably, and in particular, a quantity performance graph free of plateaus can be brought about. If a characteristic curve for a particular high-pressure level within a family of characteristic curves has a preinjection plateau, and if within this preinjection plateau the triggering duration is changed, then the quantity of fuel injected into the combustion chamber of the self-igniting internal combustion engine remains constant. The characteristic curves, established by the embodiment proposed according to the invention, for fuel pressures within a family of characteristic curves have a strongly monotonously increasing course, or in other words without any preinjection plateau. This in turn means that when the triggering duration is longer, more fuel will always be injected into the combustion chamber of the engine. This is the fundamental prerequisite for a zero-quantity calibration of a fuel injector. A plateau-free quantity performance graph is especially helpful in zero-quantity calibration of the fuel injector while the vehicle is in operation. Moreover, the embodiment proposed according to the invention of a hydraulic damping chamber 31 between the second end face 5 of the magnet core 2 and the face end 12 of the armature plate 11 of the magnet armature 10 makes it possible to reduce noise during operation of a fuel injector.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102 58 442.7 | Dec 2003 | DE | national |
103 05 985.7 | Feb 2003 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/DE03/04111 | 12/12/2003 | WO | 6/13/2005 |