This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0031310, filed on Mar. 27, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injector, and more particularly, to a fuel injector used for a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fuel injector controls an injection time and an injection amount by operating an oil pressure control solenoid valve or a piezo valve according to a signal transmitted from an electronic control unit (ECU).
An exhaust gas regulation of a diesel engine has been becoming continuously strict. In particular, NOx discharge has been regulated to further decrease in Euro3, Euro4, Euro5, and the like. In order to satisfy the above requirements and to enhance an exhaust gas characteristic, it is advantageous to decrease an injection rate during an injection delay and to increase an injection rate after combustion is initiated using an injection characteristic of the fuel injector. Also, injection needs to be performed by dividing a single injection cycle into a plurality of injections such as a pre-injection, a main-injection, a post-injection, and the like, and the pressure of pre-injection and the pressure of main-injection need to be adjusted to be different from each other.
A related art includes a pilot control spring disposed between an upper end of a valve piston and an internal upper end surface of a valve control chamber within the valve control chamber to downwardly and elastically support the valve piston, and a needle guide downwardly supported by a needle spring to guide a connector of a nozzle needle within a needle space and formed with a constraint groove with a depth corresponding to a lifting section on a lower end surface of the valve control chamber to constantly constrain the lifting section of the nozzle needle during pilot injection.
However, the related art has a problem that it is difficult to clearly generate two-phase pressure during the main injection. Also, while injection is not being performed, the inside of a fuel injector is maintained at low pressure and thus, a time is delayed until high pressure for injection occurs. Accordingly, injection is slowed down whereby an injection characteristic is degraded.
An aspect of the present invention provides a fuel injector that may adjust injection pressure of a fuel injector using two phases and thereby decrease an injection rate when the injection is being delayed and may increase the injection rate when the injection is initiated, thereby enhancing an exhaust gas characteristic of a diesel engine.
Another aspect of the present invention also provides a fuel injector that may optimally control a time and an amount of fuel injection by applying a pilot valve.
Another aspect of the present invention also provides a fuel injector that may enhance the durability of a booster by applying a spring-free booster and may also effectively control an injector.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a body of a fuel injector including: a needle valve mechanism including a needle valve provided near a nozzle portion, and a fuel chamber; a needle valve actuator mounted with a piston on a center, wherein a spring is disposed into the piston; a booster having only a spring-free piston; a pilot valve operating by a pressure difference between supplied fuel pressure and working pressure of a solenoid valve; and the solenoid valve controlling working pressure of fuel to operate the needle valve actuator or the pilot valve. First through third chambers may be formed in an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion, respectively, based on the piston.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a body of a fuel injector including: a needle valve mechanism including a needle valve provided near a nozzle portion, and a fuel chamber; a needle valve actuator including a piston, wherein a spring is disposed into the piston; a booster having only a spring-free piston; a pilot valve operating by a pressure difference between supplied fuel pressure and working pressure of a solenoid valve; and the solenoid valve controlling working pressure of fuel to operate the needle valve actuator or the pilot valve and having a solenoid valve chamber. A third orifice is mounted on one side of the booster to be capable of adjusting pressure of supplied fuel, and a fourth orifice is mounted on a fuel passage formed between the booster and the needle valve actuator. In the pilot valve, a fifth orifice for adjusting pressure of fuel is mounted on one side of the spacer.
These and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Exemplary embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
Hereinafter, a fuel injector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The common rail 110 and the supply pump 130 are connected to each other by a fuel supply pipe 132. A discharge amount of the supply pump 130 is configured to be controlled by a control unit (not shown), for example, an electronic control unit (ECU) so that fuel pressure of the common rail 110 may become a desired value or zero.
A plurality of discharge ports 112 is formed on the common rail 110 to supply fuel to the fuel injector 1000 of each cylinder. In
As shown in
The body 600 may further include a fuel inlet 150 and a fuel returning portion 750 that are connected to fuel passages, which will be described later. A check valve 180 is mounted on one side of a fuel passage 150 continuing to the fuel inlet 150.
As shown in
The check valve 180 is mutually connected with the fuel passage 272 connected to the fuel chamber 254 and a fuel passage 262 that mutually continues to fuel passages 282 and 283.
The needle valve mechanism 200 includes a needle valve 252, which is provided near the nozzle portion 250, and the fuel chamber 254. The needle valve actuator 230 is mounted above the needle valve 252 to operate the needle valve 252. A piston 235 is mounted on a center of the needle valve actuator 230. A spring 240 is disposed into the piston 235. In the needle valve actuator 230, a spacer spring 238 is mounted on one side of the piston 235 and a shim 237 is mounted on another side of the piston 235. The spring 240 is disposed between the spacer spring 238 and the shim 237. Also, a first chamber 210 is formed above the piston 235, and a second chamber 220 is formed in the spring 240 side formed in the middle of the piston 235. The needle valve actuator 230 and the solenoid valve 500 to be described later are configured to be mutually connected to each other by the fuel passages 172 and 174.
Even though the booster 300 may be installed between the needle valve mechanism 200 and the solenoid valve 500, an example in which the booster 300 is disposed between the needle valve mechanism 200 and the pilot valve 400 as shown in
The booster 300 includes the piston 350 in a shape of a cross, and does not employ a spring, which is different from a conventional booster.
The booster 300 corresponding to a main component of the present invention is formed with first through third chambers 310, 320, and 330 in an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion, respectively, based on the piston 350. The piston 350 of the booster 300 is configured to be spring free and be controllable according to pressure of fuel. Also, in the booster 300, a sleeve stone 355 is mounted on one side of the piston 350. A third orifice 365 is mounted on one side of the booster 300 to be capable of adjusting the pressure of supplied fuel.
As shown in
However, as shown in
Here, A1-A4 denote an area where P1 works, A2 denotes an area where P2 works, A1-A2 denotes an area where P3 works, and A4 denotes an area where P4 works. For reference, P1 denotes common rail pressure and P4 denotes return pressure.
Accordingly, unlike the conventional booster 30, the booster 300 of the present invention may perform high pressure boosting without employing a spring. Also, as shown in
For reference, in
The third orifice 365 is mounted on one side of the booster 300 to be capable of adjusting pressure of supplied fuel. The fourth orifice 265 is mounted on one side of fuel passages 282 and 283 formed between the booster 300 and the needle valve actuator 230. The fourth orifice 265 is able to adjust the pressure of fuel between the fuel passages 262 and 282 and the fuel passages 172 and 174.
Meanwhile, the booster 300 and the pilot valve 400 are mutually connected to each other by fuel passages 392, 394, and 492 and are also mutually connected to each other by fuel passages 491, 493, and 262 connected to the fuel passage 152.
As shown in
The second orifice 450 is mounted on one side of the first chamber 410 and is mounted on one side of a fuel passage 175 continuing to the fuel passage 172. The fuel passage 172 continues to the solenoid valve chamber 520 of the solenoid valve 500 to be described later and to the fuel passage 239 of the needle valve actuator 230 side. Also, the second orifice 450 is configured to control low pressure generated by the fourth orifice 265 and separate pressure at a predetermined time interval using the low pressure.
The pilot valve 400 may also decrease pressure in the second chamber 320 of the booster 300. The pilot valve 400 operates by a pressure difference between the supplied fuel pressure and the working pressure of the solenoid valve 500.
One side of a fuel passage 335 formed between the fuel passages 392 and 394 that are formed below the spool 475 of the pilot valve is connected to the fuel returning portion 750 side, and another side of the fuel passage 335 is connected to a fuel passage 337 that is connected to the needle valve actuator 230 side.
The solenoid valve 500 controls working pressure of fuel that is used to control the needle valve actuator 230 or the pilot valve 400. The solenoid valve 500 includes a plunger 530 and a spring 540 mounted above the plunger 530.
Even though not illustrated, the solenoid valve 500 further includes an electronic valve operating the solenoid valve 500. In
Meanwhile, as shown in
Hereinafter, operations of the fuel injector according to embodiments of the present invention constructed as above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
Based on an operation state of the engine, pressure of fuel induced from the supply pump 130 is adjusted by a control unit (not shown) and the fuel pressurized at predetermined pressure is accumulated in the common rail 110.
In a combustion chamber (not shown) of each cylinder of the engine, fuel is injected from the fuel injection hole 274 of each injection injector 1000. Based on an operation circumstance of the engine, the fuel injector 1000 drives the fuel at low pressure or high pressure. For example, when the engine is driven at high load, the fuel injector 1000 drives the fuel in a high pressure mode. When the engine is driven idly, that is, when the engine is driven at low load, the fuel injector 1000 drives the fuel in a low pressure mode.
As shown in
When the solenoid valve 500 operates in an initial state as shown in
Even though the first orifice 550 and the fourth orifice 265 are opened in the initial low pressure mode of the fuel injector 1000, the second orifice 450 may be controlled to be closed or be maintained in a slightly open state. That is, this is to possibly decrease the affect of the second orifice 450 with respect to the pressure of fuel of the fuel passage 172.
In the above state, the needle valve actuator 230 performs low pressure injection while upwardly moving due to an increase in the pressure of the fuel chamber 254, as shown in
In the fuel injector 1000, fuel provided from the fuel inlet 150 passes through the fuel chamber 254 and the needle valve actuator 230. Here, a portion of fuel moves to the fuel passage 335 through the fuel passage 337 mounted on one side of the needle valve actuator 230, and another portion of fuel moves to the solenoid valve chamber 520 through the fuel passages 230, 172, and 174 mounted above the needle valve actuator 230. The moved fuel moves to the fuel tank 40 through the fuel returning portion 750.
In the above state, as shown in
Meanwhile,
When the pressure decreases in the second chamber 320 of the booster 300, the pressure of the first chamber 310 of the booster 300 increases to be greater than the pressure of the third chamber 330 and thus, the third chamber 330 is pressurized due to the above pressure difference. In this instance, the pressure of the fuel passages 282 and 262 increases to be greater than the pressure of the fuel passage 152. Accordingly, the fuel does not move to the fuel passage 152 side by the check valve 180 and moves to the fuel chamber 5 through the fuel passage 272. The fuel moved to the fuel chamber 254 is injected at the high pressure through the nozzle portion 250 and through the fuel injection hole 274.
When an operation of the solenoid valve 500 is switched off after the high pressure injection, the plunger 530 is closed as shown in
In the above state, as shown in
Meanwhile, in the fuel injector 1000 according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the solenoid valve 500 operates, the needle valve mechanism 200 escalates and fuel of the first chamber 410 of the pilot valve 400 is discharged through the fifth orifice 585. The fuel discharged through the fifth orifice 585 is discharged to the fuel returning unit 750 through the fuel passage 162.
When releasing the solenoid valve 500, fuel is returned to the first chamber 410 of the pilot valve 400 through the fifth orifice 585 mounted on one side of the spacer 485, instead of the second orifice 450, which is different from the aforementioned embodiment. The remaining operation is the same as the aforementioned embodiment and thus, further detailed description will be omitted here.
A fuel injector according to embodiments of the present invention constructed as above may perform two-phase injection including a high pressure injection and a low pressure injection by applying a piston-free booster and thus, may optimally control a time and an amount of fuel injection.
Also, a fuel injector according to embodiments of the present invention may optimally control a time and an amount of fuel injection by enabling a pilot valve, that is, a differential pilot valve to control a booster. In addition, by applying a spring-free booster, a lifespan of the injection may be extended. Constant pressure may be supplied from the booster and thus, it is possible to decrease exhaust gas and an environmental pollution.
Also, an injection injector according to embodiments of the present invention may be widely applicable to the field of a fuel injection apparatus of a vehicle engine.
Also, a fuel injector according to embodiments of the present invention may optimally control a time and an amount of fuel injection by enabling a pilot valve, that is, a differential pilot valve, to control a booster.
Also, a fuel injector according to embodiments the present invention may extend a lifespan of the injector by applying a spring-free booster and enables constant pressure to be supplied from the booster. Accordingly, exhaust gas may decrease, which may result in decreasing environmental pollution.
Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the described exemplary embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2012-0031310 | Mar 2012 | KR | national |