Patent Application
20220049674
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to patent application no. CN 202010799987.3, filed on Aug. 11, 2020 in China, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present application relates to a high-pressure fuel pump, having improved fuel supply pump fuel supply performance.
A typical high-pressure fuel pump comprises a low-pressure assembly and a high-pressure assembly. A vane pump in the low-pressure assembly is configured to supply fuel to the high-pressure assembly; a plunger pump in the high-pressure assembly sucks in the fuel supplied by the vane pump, pressurizes the fuel to a high pressure and then outputs same.
This type of high-pressure fuel pump experiences the problem of inadequate fuel output capability at certain speeds, in particular in a high-speed region. The applicant has discovered that this problem is due to the reason described below, at least to a certain extent: the phases of a fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump and a fuel supply cycle of the vane pump are synchronized. In one fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, the plunger pump's demand for the fuel suction amount rises gradually to a peak, and then falls. In one fuel supply cycle of the vane pump, the fuel supply amount of the vane pump experiences a process of falling from a high point to a trough and then rising from the trough. When the phases of the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump and the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump are synchronized, the trough in the fuel supply amount of the vane pump corresponds in phase to a region of high fuel suction demand of the plunger pump; thus, the fuel supply characteristic of the vane pump cannot be matched to the fuel suction demand of the plunger pump, resulting in inadequate fuel output capability of the high-pressure fuel pump.
The object of the present application is to solve the problem of inadequate fuel output capability in high-pressure fuel pumps.
To this end, according to one aspect of the present application, a high-pressure fuel pump is provided, comprising:
a drive shaft, and a vane pump and a plunger pump which are driven by the drive shaft, the vane pump being configured to supply pre-pressurized fuel to the plunger pump;
wherein the drive shaft comprises a cam, configured to drive a piston rod of the plunger pump, such that the plunger pump executes a working cycle consisting of a fuel suction stroke and a fuel discharge stroke alternating with each other;
the drive shaft further comprises a shaft portion for driving a rotor of the vane pump;
the vane pump is configured such that for each fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, the vane pump provides a fuel supply cycle that is advanced by an advance phase angle relative to the fuel suction stroke.
According to a feasible embodiment, the vane pump is configured such that a starting point of each fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump falls within a trough of one fuel supply cycle of the vane pump; and/or
an end point of the fuel suction stroke falls within a trough of the following fuel supply cycle of the vane pump.
According to a feasible embodiment, the vane pump comprises multiple radially slidable vanes borne by the rotor, the multiple vanes being uniformly distributed at equal angular intervals, and the range of values of the advance phase angle is greater than 0° and less than half of an included angle between two vanes adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction.
According to a feasible embodiment, the number of the vanes is 1 or more multiple of the number of working cycles completed by the plunger pump in each revolution of the drive shaft, such that the number of fuel supply cycles provided by the vane pump in each revolution of the drive shaft is 1 or more multiple of the number of working cycles completed by the plunger pump.
According to a feasible embodiment, the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump starts at a top stopping point of the piston rod, and each fuel supply cycle of the vane pump starts when one of the multiple vanes is located at the position of a minimum gap between the rotor and a stator of the vane pump.
According to a feasible embodiment, when one of the vanes of the vane pump is located at the position of the minimum gap between the rotor and stator of the vane pump, the highest point of a cam lobe of the cam is disposed at a point which is offset from the vertical direction by an offset angle in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of the drive shaft, the value of the offset angle being equal to the advance phase angle.
According to a feasible embodiment, the piston rod of the plunger pump is oriented in the vertical direction, the shaft portion is connected to the rotor via a key, a radial center line of the key equally divides an included angle between two vanes adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction, and when the radial center line of the key lies in the vertical direction, one of the multiple vanes is located at the position of the minimum gap between the rotor and stator of the vane pump.
According to a feasible embodiment, the plunger pump comprises a single piston rod, the cam comprises a pair of cam lobes (6) which are arranged opposite one another and configured to drive the piston rod, the number of the vanes is 4, and in each revolution of the drive shaft, the plunger pump completes two working cycles and the vane pump completes four fuel supply cycles.
According to a feasible embodiment, when one of the vanes of the vane pump is located at the position of a minimum gap between the rotor and a stator of the vane pump, the highest point of one of the pair of cam lobes is located at a point which is offset from the vertical direction by 20°-35°, preferably about 30°, in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of the drive shaft.
According to a feasible embodiment, the position of the minimum gap between the rotor and stator of the vane pump is disposed at a point which is offset from the vertical direction by about 25° in the rotation direction of the drive shaft.
According to the present application, the phase of the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump is delayed by an angle relative to the phase of the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump. This delay angle enables the peak in fuel suction demand of the plunger pump to avoid the trough in the fuel supply amount of the vane pump. Thus, the fuel supply characteristic of the vane pump is matched as closely as possible to the fuel suction demand of the plunger pump, thereby increasing the fuel output capability of the high-pressure fuel pump, especially the fuel output capability in a high speed region.
A more complete understanding of the abovementioned and other aspects of the present application will be gained from the following detailed description which makes reference to the drawings, wherein:
Some embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the drawings.
The high-pressure fuel pump in
A main body part of the drive shaft 2 is arranged substantially horizontally in an accommodating cavity formed in the housing 1, and is formed with a cam 5 for driving the plunger pump 4. The cam 5 comprises a pair of cam lobes 6 which are spaced apart by 180° in the circumferential direction and rotationally symmetrical. The plunger pump 4 comprises a tappet 7 that is driven by the cam 5 to reciprocate up and down, a piston rod 8 that is driven by the tappet 7 to reciprocate up and down, and a return spring 9 that surrounds the piston rod 8 and pushes against the tappet 7. The return spring 9 maintains contact between a roller 7a in the tappet 7 and a cam face of the cam 5.
As the drive shaft 2 rotates, the cam face of the cam 5 controls the plunger pump 4 to complete a working cycle thereof, each working cycle comprising a fuel discharge stroke and a fuel suction stroke in succession. In the fuel discharge stroke, the cam lobe 6 pushes the roller 7a, the tappet 7 moves upward, and the piston rod 8 pushes fuel in a piston chamber of the plunger pump 4, such that the fuel is discharged in a pressurized state. When a top stopping point in the cam curve of the cam 5 (i.e. a top stopping point of the piston rod 8) is reached, the fuel discharge stroke ends, and is followed by the fuel suction stroke. In the fuel suction stroke, under the action of the return spring 9, the tappet 7 and the piston rod 8 move downward, the volume of the piston chamber increases, and fuel is sucked into the piston chamber from the vane pump 3. The fuel suction stroke starts at the top stopping point in the cam curve of the cam 5, and ends at an angle after the top stopping point, e.g. equal to or less than 90°, depending on the shape of the cam lobe 6. In other words, the fuel suction stroke can be joined to the starting point of the next fuel discharge stroke, or end at an angle before the starting point of the next fuel discharge stroke. In the case shown in
An end shaft portion 10 of the drive shaft 2 is configured to drive the vane pump 3. Specifically, the end shaft portion 10 is connected to a rotor 12 of the vane pump 3 via a key 11. The vane pump 3 further comprises a stator 13 arranged eccentrically around the rotor 12, and fuel distribution plates 14, 15 located at two sides in the axial direction of the rotor 12 and stator 13.
The rotation of the drive shaft 2 drives the vane pump 3 to output fuel toward the plunger pump 4 side. The flow rate of fuel outputted by the vane pump 3 is not constant, but in a pulsating form. For each 360° rotation of the drive shaft 2, the vane pump 3 experiences four fuel output cycles. In each fuel output cycle, the fuel flow rate has a trough and a peak, as described in detail below.
In
The key 11 is disposed at a middle position between two vane slots 19, i.e. a radial center line of the key 11 forms an included angle of 45° with a radial central axis of any vane 18 which is adjacent in the circumferential direction. When one vane 18 is located at the 0° angular position of the rotor 12, the radial center line of the key 11 is located above, or below, or at the left side, or at the right side of the central axis A of the drive shaft 2 in the vertical direction X or a horizontal direction. One of four feasible positions of the key 11 (above the central axis A) is shown in
For this exemplary configuration, according to the prior art, a connecting line O1O2 between cam top points O1, O2 of the two cam lobes 6 of the cam 5 is parallel to the radial center line of the key 11; that is to say, at a top stopping point in the cam curve of the cam 5, one vane 18 is located at the 0° angular position of the rotor 12, and the radial center line of the key 11 and the connecting line O1O2 between the cam top points of the cam lobes 6 are both oriented in the vertical direction X, such that the phases of the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump 4 and a corresponding fuel supply cycle of the vane pump 3 are synchronized.
According to the present application, when one vane 18 is located at the 0° angular position of the rotor 12, the connecting line O1O2 between the cam top points of the two cam lobes 6 of the cam 5 is offset from the vertical direction X by an angle β in the opposite direction to the rotation direction R of the rotor 12; the offset angle β is greater than 0° and less than half of the included angle between vanes 18 adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction.
It must be pointed out that the 0° angular position of the rotor 12 does not need to be located at the point that is offset by 45° with respect to the vertical direction X in the rotation direction R of the rotor 12, but can be disposed at any suitable angle relative to the vertical direction X. For example,
Due to the existence of the offset angle β, the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump 4 lags behind a corresponding fuel supply cycle of the vane pump 3 by the angle β, such that the region of high fuel suction demand of the plunger pump 4 avoids the trough in the fuel supply amount of the vane pump 3.
The size of the offset angle β can be determined by simulation or experiment, so that the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump 4 is as closely matched as possible to the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump 3, for example such that the region of high fuel suction demand of the plunger pump 4 is wholly located within a region that the fuel supply capability of the vane pump 3 can satisfy. For example, in the examples of
The improvement in matching between the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump 4 and the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump 3 in the present application can be seen from
It can be seen from a comparison of curves S0 and S1 in
In contrast, it can be seen from a comparison of curves S0 and S2 in
The increase in fuel output capability of the high-pressure fuel pump in the present application can be seen from the experimental curve in
In addition, it can also be seen from
Furthermore, it can be seen from the description above that in the present application, for a fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, the corresponding fuel supply cycle of the vane pump is advanced by an angle, such that when the plunger pump is drawing fuel, the output flow rate of the vane pump is larger, i.e. liquid pressure at a front end is higher when the plunger pump is drawing fuel, therefore the fuel suction efficiency of the plunger pump can be increased, thereby increasing the volumetric efficiency and fuel output capability of the high-pressure fuel pump.
The scope of the present application is not limited to the particular embodiments described above, but can be implemented in a broader sense. Feasible embodiments of the present application in a broad sense are described below.
Overall, the high-pressure fuel pump of the present application may comprise one or more plunger pump.
In the case where multiple plunger pumps are comprised, central axes of these plunger pumps may be arranged in parallel along the central axis of the drive shaft, or distributed at equal angular intervals relative to the central axis of the drive shaft; for each plunger pump, a corresponding cam is provided on the drive shaft, and each cam can have one lobe, or multiple lobes uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction. The plunger pumps and cam lobes should be distributed in such a way that in one revolution of the drive shaft, all of the working cycles of the plunger pumps (each comprising one fuel suction stroke and one fuel discharge stroke) are distributed at equal intervals within 360° .
Supposing that the high-pressure fuel pump of the present application comprises n (n being an integer ≥1) plunger pumps, each plunger pump being driven by m (m being an integer ≥1) cam lobes; then in one revolution of the drive shaft, the total number of working cycles of the plunger pumps is n*m. The number of vanes comprised in the vane pump is 1 or more multiple of the total number of working cycles of the plunger pumps in one revolution of the drive shaft, i.e. the number of vanes is n*m*k (k being an integer ≥1). Thus, relative to each fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, the vane pump can provide at least one fuel supply cycle having an advance phase angle, such that in each fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, the vane pump can supply ample pre-pressurized fuel to the plunger pump. The value of the advance phase angle is greater than 0° and less than half of the included angle between a pair of vanes adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction.
Account is taken of the fact that in actual production, the cam lobes on the drive shaft are generally formed in advance, and subsequently the key slot of the key for connecting the vane pump rotor is provided at a determined angular position. Thus, according to the present application, based on the determined position of the minimum gap between the rotor and stator of the vane pump and the advance phase angle of the vane pump, it is possible to determine the angular positional relationship between the key and the cam lobes, and the key slot can then be provided on the drive shaft. It must be pointed out that the number of feasible angular positions of the key slot is equal to the number of vanes, and one of these feasible angular positions can be selected as the actual angular position of the key slot.
In this respect it must also be pointed out that in the prior art described above, the key slot on the drive shaft has the same angular position as the cam lobe. According to the present disclosure, as stated above, the angular position of the cam lobe is associated with the phase of the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump rotor. After determining the eccentric position of the vane pump stator, the relationship between the angular position of the cam lobe and the phase of the vane pump rotor is determined, and the angular positions of the key slots on the vane pump rotor and the drive shaft can then be determined. In other words, according to the present application, the angular positional relationship between the key slot on the drive shaft and the cam lobe is not determined directly when the drive shaft is designed, as in the prior art; instead, the angular position of the key slot (key) needs to be determined on the basis of the angular position of the cam lobe, taking into account the angle of advance of the starting point of the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump relative to the top stopping point of the cam.
It must also be pointed out that although it is preferable for the key slot on the vane pump rotor to be provided at the angular position exactly halfway between two vane slots, this is not a requirement. In fact, the key slot on the vane pump rotor can be provided at any angular position relative to the vane slots.
In summary, according to the present application, as the fuel supply cycle provided by the vane pump has an advance phase angle with respect to the phase of the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, the fuel supply cycle of the vane pump is matched to the fuel suction stroke of the plunger pump, thus avoiding the situation in the prior art in which the trough in the fuel supply amount of the vane pump corresponds in phase to a region of high fuel suction demand of the plunger pump, and thereby increasing the fuel output capability of the high-pressure fuel pump.
Although the present application has been described here with reference to particular exemplary embodiments, the scope of the present application is not limited to the details shown. Various amendments could be made to these details without deviating from the basic principle of the present application.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202010799987.3 | Aug 2020 | CN | national |
