Patent Application
20100031930
The present disclosure relates to a fuel system, and, more particularly, to a fuel system including a fuel pump for selectively providing fuel to an engine priming system and a regeneration system associated with the engine.
Some engines use fuel injection systems to introduce fuel into the engine for priming purposes and/or into a regeneration system associated with the engine. The fuel injection system may be any one of various types of fuel systems and may include, within the system, a number of fuel injectors and at least one fuel pump. A fuel pump may be used to draw fuel from a fuel source, such as a fuel tank mounted on the engine, and distribute the fuel to the engine for such purposes as priming. A fuel pump may also be used to draw fuel from the fuel source and distribute the fuel to the regeneration system associated with the engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5334,161 (the '161 patent), issued on Jul. 9, 1996 in the name of Tarr et al. and assigned to Cummins Engine Company, Inc., discloses a water drain and fuel-priming pump for a fuel system. The '161 patent discloses a reversible pump which is operable in a first direction to pump separated water out of a fuel filter and into a water drain, and which is operable in a second, opposite direction to pump fuel into the fuel filter in order to prime the fuel pump. The '161 patent, however, fails to provide a mechanism for providing fuel to a regeneration system associated with the engine. The reversible pump disclosed in the '161 patent, requires a secondary, additional pump in order to pump fuel to a regeneration system.
The disclosed fuel system is directed to improvements in the existing technology.
In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed toward a fuel system for providing fuel to an engine and to a regeneration system associated with the engine, including a fuel source; and a pump associated with the fuel source, the pump operable in a first state to pump fuel from the fuel source to the engine, and the pump operable in a second state to pump fuel from the fuel source to the regeneration system, wherein the first state corresponds to a first rotational direction of the pump and the second state corresponds to a second rotational direction of the pump.
In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed toward a method of selectively providing fuel to an engine and a regeneration system, the method including providing an electric fuel pump associated with the engine and the regeneration system; providing a fuel source fluidly connected to the pump; drawing fuel from the fuel source to the pump; and selectively directing fuel from the pump to the engine when the pump is in a first state and to the regeneration system when the pump is in a second state, wherein the first state corresponds to a first rotational direction of the pump and the second state corresponds to a second rotational direction of the pump.
In yet another aspect, the present disclosure is directed toward a machine, including an engine configured to generate a power output; a regeneration system associated with the engine; and a fuel system configured, to selectively provide fuel to the engine and the regeneration system, the fuel system including a fuel source; and an electric fuel pump associated with the fuel source, the pump operable in a first state to pump fuel from the fuel source to the engine, and the pump operable in a second state to pump fuel from the fuel source to the regeneration system, wherein the first state corresponds to a first rotational direction of the pump and the second state corresponds to a second rotational direction of the pump.
In an exemplary embodiment, the reversible pump 16 includes a direct current (DC) motor that can be operated in a first rotational direction and in a second, opposite rotational direction. The first rotational direction corresponds to the arrow in
When the reversible pump 16 is operated in Direction A, the fuel in the fuel system 10 generally follows a dashed-line fuel path 44 and flows through the reversible pump 16 from right to left as shown in
When the reversible pump 16 is operated in Direction B, the fuel in the fuel system 10 generally follows a dashed-line fuel path 46 and flows through the reversible pump 16 from left to right as shown in
The disclosed fuel system may be applicable to any engine that includes an engine priming system and a regeneration system.
In operation, an electronic control module (ECM) or other controller associated with the engine provides a control signal to the reversible pump 16. When fuel is desired to be delivered to the engine priming system 12, the ECM provides a control signal to the reversible pump 16 such that the motor of the reversible pump 16 is operated in Direction A. When fuel is desired to be delivered to the regeneration system 14, the ECM provides a control signal to the reversible pump 16 such that the motor of the reversible pump 16 is operated in Direction B. An operator of a machine employing the engine may indicate to the ECM a desired fuel path via switches provided on the machine. Alternatively, the engine ECM may independently determine when to activate and/or reverse the operational direction of the reversible pump 16.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed fuel system without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other embodiments of the fuel system will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the fuel 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 equivalents.
