The present disclosure relates generally to fuel injectors for internal combustion engines. More particularly, the disclosure relates to fuel injectors that: deliver a fuel charge in the form of fan spray into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine.
Modern combustion engines generally include at least one cylinder, a cylinder head for said cylinder, and a piston that may reciprocate within said cylinder. A combustion chamber is defined and delimited by the piston, cylinder, and the cylinder head. Fuel (such as diesel fuel) may be injected by a fuel injector as a fuel charge into the combustion chamber for combustion. Such fuel injectors may include one or more orifices that facilitate the injection of the fuel charge into the combustion chamber.
A manner in which the fuel charge is injected and introduced into the combustion chamber may impact a mixing and/or an interaction of the fuel charge with the air and elements within the combustion chamber. Some injection patterns, for example, may cause overpenetration of the fuel charge and thereby cause an increased interaction of the fuel charge with walls of the cylinder, in turn leading to inadequate mixing of the fuel charge with the air and the elements. As a result, the engine may suffer heat loss, formation of a relatively large amount of soot within the cylinders, and increased emissions.
European Patent No. 2,808,533 ('533 reference) discloses a nozzle body of a fuel injector. The nozzle body includes a spray hole that axially extends throughout a wall of the nozzle body. The '533 reference also discloses that in a vicinity of its entry, an elongated section of the spray hole is oval or elliptical or oblong.
In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a fuel injector for an internal combustion engine. The fuel injector includes a body defining an orifice. The orifice is configured to provide passage to a fuel into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine. The orifice includes an inlet port and an outlet port. The inlet port includes a first oval shape, while the outlet port includes a second oval shape orthogonal to the first oval shape. A transition from the first oval shape to the second oval shape defines a stagnation plane, facilitating an exit of the fuel as a fan spray from the outlet port.
In another aspect, the disclosure relates to an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine includes a combustion chamber defined between a flame deck surface of a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine and a piston crown of a piston disposed within a cylinder bore of the internal combustion engine. Further, the internal combustion engine includes a fuel injector that is configured to inject a fuel into the combustion chamber. The fuel injector includes a body that defines an orifice configured to provide passage to the fuel into the combustion chamber. The orifice includes an inlet port and an outlet port. The inlet port has a first oval shape, while the outlet port has a second oval shape. The second oval shape is orthogonal to the first oval shape. Moreover, a transition from the first oval shape to the second oval shape defines a stagnation plane, facilitating injection of the fuel as a fan spray into the combustion chamber from the outlet port.
Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments or features of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Generally, corresponding reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or corresponding parts. Also, wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same, or the like parts.
Referring to
The engine 100 may be a reciprocating engine and may embody a diesel engine, a gasoline engine, a gas engine, a two-stroke engine, a four-stroke engine, or any other conventionally known and applied engine. The engine 100 may include a cylinder 104 and a cylinder head 106 arranged at an end 110 of the cylinder 104. The cylinder head 106 may act as a support structure for mounting various components of the engine 100 such as an intake valve 112, an exhaust valve 114, etc., of the engine 100. The cylinder head 106 may include various features such as an intake conduit 118 for allowing intake of a volume of air into a combustion chamber 120 of the engine 100, and an exhaust conduit 122 for facilitating discharge of exhaust gases from the combustion chamber 120, after a cycle of combustion. Further, the cylinder 104 may include a bore 126 extending from the end 110 (referred to as a first end 110) up to a second end (not shown) of the cylinder 104. The engine 100 further includes a piston 130 that is arranged within the bore 126, and is configured to reciprocate within the bore 126 between a top dead center (TDC) of the cylinder 104 and a bottom dead center (BDC) of the cylinder 104. The piston 130 includes a piston crown 132 that is directed against a flame deck surface 134 defined by the cylinder head 106. The combustion chamber 120 may be defined between the flame deck surface 134 of the cylinder head 106 and the piston crown 132, and may be further delimited by a surrounding wall 136 (or a liner wall 136) of the cylinder 104. The piston crown 132 may include a recess 140, as shown, imparting a characteristic shape/profile to the combustion chamber 120, but it will be understood that aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to such shape/profile of the combustion chamber 120, or to a design of the piston crown 132 or recess 140.
The engine 100 may further include a fuel injector 142. The fuel injector 142 may be mounted in the cylinder head 106, and may include a tip 144 that protrudes into the combustion chamber 120 through the flame deck surface 134. In one example, the fuel injector 142 may include a solenoid based mechanism (not shown) to regulate and/or facilitate an injection of a fuel (such as diesel fuel) into the combustion chamber 120. In such an example, the solenoid may generate a magnetic field when supplied with a current or a voltage, and may accordingly cause an operation of a valve, such as a displacement of a needle valve, of the fuel injector 142, in turn opening the fuel injector 142 for fuel injection. When the fuel injector 142 is operated, an injection of a quantity of a pressurized fuel into the combustion chamber 120 may follow. Other known methods of fuel injection may also be contemplated. The fuel injector 142 defines a longitudinal axis 148 defined along a length of the fuel injector 142.
Referring to
Although not limited, the orifices 152′, 152″ may be rotationally arrayed around the tip 144 of the fuel injector 142 (see
Further description below discusses details pertaining to the orifices 152′, 152″, and such details may be discussed by way of referencing the first orifice 152′ alone. It will be understood that the details discussed for the first orifice 152′ may be applicable to second orifices 152″, as well. Nevertheless, in some embodiments, it is possible that details discussed for the first orifice 152′ are limited to the first orifice 152′ itself, and/or to only a certain number of the second orifices 152″. For ease in referencing and understanding, the first orifice 152′ may be simply and interchangeably referred to as orifice 152, hereinafter. Wherever required, however, references to the first orifice 152′ and the second orifices 152″, by name and specific numeral callouts, such as 152′ and 152″, may also be used.
With continued reference to
The orifice 152 may include an inlet port 160 and an outlet port 162. The inlet port 160 may be configured to receive fuel from the inner chamber 156 of the fuel injector 142, while the outlet port 162 may be configured to provide an exit to the fuel received through the inlet port 160 into the combustion chamber 120, for fuel injection into the combustion chamber 120. Further, the orifice 152 includes a linear profile and defines an axis 164, referred to as a linear axis 164. In one embodiment, the linear axis 164 of the orifice 152 may be inclined to the longitudinal axis 148 of the fuel injector 142. Particularly, the inclination may be defined by the outlet port 162 of the orifice 152 being tilted towards the piston 130 (see
Referring to
In one implementation, the major outlet axis 172 of the second oval shape 168 at the outlet port 162 is dimensionally smaller than the minor inlet axis 174 of the first oval shape 158 at the inlet port 160. In one implementation, and according to an aspect of the present disclosure, the orifice 152 has a larger cross-sectional area at the inlet port 160, with the first oval shape 158, than at the outlet port 162, with the second oval shape 168. Effectively, the inlet port 160 has a larger area compared to the outlet port 162.
Further, as shown in
Furthermore, the orifice 152 may define a transition that extends between the first oval shape 158 at the inlet port 160 and the second oval shape 168 at the outlet port 162. The transition from the first oval shape 158 to the second oval shape 168 may be defined along the linear axis 164. Such a transition defines a stagnation plane 184 that facilitates an exit of the fuel from the fuel injector 142 as a fan spray from the outlet port 162. Notably, the stagnation plane 184 is defined about a fourth plane 186 defined by the major outlet axis 172 of the second oval shape 168 at the outlet port 162, and the minor inlet axis 174 of the first oval shape 158 at the inlet port 160. Accordingly, the stagnation plane 184 may pass through and lie along the linear axis 164 of the orifice 152, and be in line with the major outlet axis 172 of the second oval shape 168 at the outlet port 162. Given the orthogonal orientation of the first oval shape 158 relative to the second oval shape 168, the stagnation plane 184 may also be in line with the minor inlet axis 174 of the first oval shape 158 at the inlet port 160 (also see
It may be understood that the stagnation plane 184 is defined by a convergence (i.e. a convergent transition) of the orifice 152 from the larger major inlet axis 170 of the first oval shape 158 at the inlet port 160 to the relatively smaller minor outlet axis 176 of the second oval shape 168 at the outlet port 162, and by a substantially non-convergent transition of the orifice 152 from the minor inlet axis 174 of the first oval shape 158 at the inlet port 160 to the major outlet axis 172 of the second oval shape 168 at the outlet port 162. Said convergent transition may be best understood by envisioning the transition of the orifice along the third plane 182, a depiction which is provided in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
A fan spray created according to the aspects of the present disclosure mitigates the chances of fuel interacting excessively with the cylinder wall (or a liner wall 136 available within the cylinder 104). This is because, unlike a low angle conical spray (or unlike a pencil-shaped fuel spray pattern), the fan spray diffuses early (i.e. at a relatively short distance), and thus penetrates relatively less into the combustion chamber 120, reducing an interaction of the fuel with the cylinder wall (or the liner wall 136), thereby also mitigating the chances of degrading a lubricant that may be present on such walls. In particular, the wide-angle profile of the fan spray increases the chances of the fuel mixing with the air and the elements present within the combustion chamber 120, facilitating the early diffusion of fuel, and in turn facilitating easier and more effective combustion.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the system of the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the system disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalent.
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