Method and system for fuel injection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016201593-A1
Application number	US-201614991801-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 8, 2016
Priority date	Jan 14, 2015
Publication date	Jul 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of an engine. In one example, a system may include a hollow cone-shaped injector and a control unit to control the injector. The control unit may detect the position of an inlet valve and trigger the injection process, wherein the injector may be configured to spray fuel out of an inlet duct, through an annular gap, and into the combustion chamber of an engine in an injection process.

First claim

1 . A method for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of an engine, comprising:
in response to opening an inlet valve associated with the combustion chamber, injecting fuel into the combustion chamber through an injector coupled to an inlet duct, wherein the injected fuel has a geometry of a hollow cone.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an annular gap is formed between the opened inlet valve and an outlet of the inlet duct coupled to the combustion chamber.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the injected fuel enters the combustion chamber through the annular gap without wetting the inlet valve or the inlet duct.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein additional fuel is injected into the combustion chamber based on a change of engine operating condition.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the additional fuel is injected with the injector by increasing the injection duration.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the additional fuel is injected with an additional injector associated with the combustion chamber when an engine load is greater than a threshold.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional injector is selected in response to the increase in the engine load and the status of the inlet valve.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional injector is an injector coupled to the inlet duct upstream of the first injector.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional injector is an injector coupled to a second inlet duct associated with the combustion chamber.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional injector is an injector coupled to the combustion chamber.

11 . An engine system comprising:
a combustion chamber; an inlet duct associated with the combustion chamber; an inlet valve; a hollow cone injector coupled to the inlet duct upstream of the inlet valve; and a controller configured with computer readable instructions stored on non-transitory memory for:
adjusting timing of actuating the inlet valve;
monitoring an engine load;
estimating a target amount of fuel based on the engine load;
injecting a first amount of fuel via the hollow cone injector only while the inlet valve is open; and
in response to the target amount of fuel greater than a threshold,
injecting a second amount of fuel.

12 . The engine system of claim 11 , wherein the fuel injected via the hollow cone injector enters the combustion chamber through an annular gap created between the inlet valve at the second position and an outlet of the inlet duct coupled to the combustion chamber.

13 . The engine system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for injecting the second amount of fuel based on a status of the inlet valve.

14 . The engine system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured for injecting the second amount of fuel via the hollow cone injector by increasing the duration of inlet valve opening.

15 . The engine system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured for injecting the second amount of fuel via the hollow cone injector by increasing the duration of fuel injection.

16 . The engine system of claim 11 , further comprising a second injector for direct injection of the second amount of fuel into the combustion chamber in response to closing of the inlet valve.

17 . The engine system of claim 16 , wherein the second amount of fuel is injected after the inlet valve is closed.

18 . The engine system of claim 11 , further comprising a third injector for port injection of the second amount of fuel into the combustion chamber.

19 . The engine system of claim 17 , where in the third injector is activated before the hollow cone injector is activated during an engine cycle.

20 . An engine system comprising:
a combustion chamber; an inlet duct associated with the combustion chamber; an inlet valve; a first injector coupled to the inlet duct upstream of the inlet valve, wherein fuel discharged from the injector has a geometry of a hollow cone; a second injector; and a controller configured with computer readable instructions stored on non-transitory memory for:
monitoring an engine load;
determining an amount of fuel to be injected for each injector in response to a change in the engine load and status of the inlet valve; and
injecting fuel with the first and the second injectors based on the determined amount of fuel.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Berkemeier Oliver
• Ruhland Helmut Hans
• Lawther Robin Ivo

Classifications

• F02M61/16

  Details not provided for in, or of interest apart from, the apparatus of groups F02M61/02 - F02M61/14 · CPC title

• F02M61/14

  Arrangements of injectors with respect to engines; Mounting of injectors · CPC title

• F02M61/04

  having valves {, e.g. having a plurality of valves in series} · CPC title

• F02M51/06

  Injectors peculiar thereto {with means directly operating the valve needle} · CPC title

• F02D41/3094 Primary

  the fuel injection being effected by at least two different injectors, e.g. one in the intake manifold and one in the cylinder · CPC title