Annulus nozzle injector with tangential fins

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9845780-B2
Application number	US-201514932824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2015
Priority date	Nov 4, 2015
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for direct fuel injection. In one example, a fuel injector system includes a needle, a plurality of tangential fins coupled to a nozzle end of the needle, an actuator coupled to the needle, and a controller storing non-transitory instructions that when executed cause the controller to, responsive to a command to inject fuel, activate the actuator to push the needle in a downward direction by an amount based on one or more operating parameters. In this way, the fuel injector may inject fuel with a cone shaped spray pattern, reducing the spray penetration of the injected fuel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fuel injector system coupled to an engine having a cylinder, comprising:
a needle;
a plurality of tangential fins coupled to a nozzle end of the needle, positioned at a tangent to a circle created by a plane through the nozzle end, including a plane through a top surface of the nozzle end;
an actuator coupled to the needle; and
a controller storing non-transitory instructions that when executed cause the controller to, responsive to a command to inject fuel, activate the actuator to push the needle in a downward direction by an amount based on operating parameters of at least one of the engine and the fuel injector system.

2. The fuel injector system of claim 1 , wherein the operating parameters comprise one or more of engine speed, engine load, engine temperature, and a type of fuel injection event.

3. The fuel injector system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the controller to activate the actuator to push the needle in the downward direction by a first amount, by a second amount, or by a third amount, the first amount greater than the second amount and the third amount, the second amount greater than the third amount.

4. The fuel injector system of claim 3 , wherein when a commanded fuel injection quantity is greater than a first threshold, the instructions cause the controller to activate the actuator to push the needle down by either the first amount or by the second amount.

5. The fuel injector system of claim 4 , wherein when the commanded fuel injection quantity is greater than the first threshold and when engine temperature is below a threshold temperature, the instructions cause the controller to activate the actuator to push the needle down by the second amount.

6. The fuel injector system of claim 4 , wherein when the commanded fuel injection quantity is less than the first threshold, the instructions cause the controller to activate the actuator to push the needle down by either the second amount or the third amount.

7. The fuel injector system of claim 6 , wherein when the commanded fuel injection quantity is less than the first threshold and engine temperature is below a threshold temperature, the instructions cause the controller to activate the actuator to push the needle down by the third amount.

8. The fuel injector system of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle end comprises a frustum shape and the plurality of tangential fins are coupled to an outer side surface of the nozzle end.

9. The fuel injector system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of tangential fins comprises four tangential fins evenly spaced around the outer side surface of the nozzle end.

10. The fuel injector system of claim 8 , further comprising an injector body, the needle housed within the injector body.

11. The fuel injector of claim 10 , wherein the injector body comprises a needle seat having an inner surface sized and shaped such that at least a portion of the inner surface is in face-sharing contact with at least a portion of the nozzle end when the needle is in a first, fully closed position.

12. The fuel injector of claim 11 , further comprising a fuel flow passage within the injector body, wherein flow of fuel through the fuel flow passage is blocked by the nozzle end when the needle is in the first position.

13. The fuel injector of claim 1 , wherein the actuator comprises an electric motor.

14. A method for operating a fuel injector of an internal combustion engine, comprising:
actuating a needle housed within a body of the fuel injector to move the needle outward from a closed position to an open position, the needle actuated by an amount based on a designated fuel quantity and engine temperature; and
flowing fuel from a fuel passage within the body and over a plurality of curved fins on a surface of a nozzle end of the needle, positioned at a tangent to a circle created by a plane through the nozzle end, the plane being through a top surface of the nozzle end, sidewalls of the curved fins projecting outwardly from the surface of the nozzle end, the sidewalls parallel to the tangent to generate a curved fuel injection spray pattern with a counter-clockwise rotational motion with respect to a longitudinal axis of the body when viewing the nozzle end.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein, for a given designated fuel quantity, the needle is actuated by a smaller amount when engine temperature is below a threshold temperature and is actuated by a greater amount when engine temperature is above the threshold temperature.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein actuating the needle to move the needle outward comprises activating an electric motor coupled to the needle to push the needle in a downward direction, and further comprising deactivating the electric motor, wherein upon deactivation of the electric motor, a retention spring of the fuel injector moves the needle upward to the closed position.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein flowing fuel from the fuel passage comprises flowing fuel from the fuel passage responsive to the needle being moved from the closed position to the open position, where the nozzle end of the needle is in contact with a needle seat of a body of the fuel injector when the needle is in the closed position in order to block the flowing of the fuel.

18. A system, comprising:
an engine having a cylinder;
a fuel supply;
a fuel injector coupled to the cylinder, the fuel injector comprising:
a body having a fuel passage coupled to the fuel supply;
a needle housed within the body, a first, nozzle end of the needle having a frusto-conical shape and a plurality of curved fins coupled to an outer surface of the nozzle end, positioned at a tangent to a circle created by a plane through the nozzle end of the needle, the plane being through a top surface of the nozzle end, sidewallsof the curved fins projecting outwardly from the outer surface, the sidewalls parallel to the tangent; and
an actuator coupled to a second, opposite end of the needle; and

a controller storing non-transitory instructions in memory that when executed cause the controller to, responsive to a command to open the fuel passage and inject fuel to the cylinder, activate the actuator to push the needle in a downward direction by an amount based on a designated fuel injection quantity and engine temperature.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein when the actuator is deactivated, the nozzle end of the needle is in contact with an inner surface of the body to block the fuel passage.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the actuator pushing the needle in the downward direction comprises the actuator pushing the needle away from the body of the fuel injector and into the cylinder.

21. A fuel injector system of an internal combustion engine, comprising:
a needle;
a plurality of tangential fins coupled to a nozzle end of the needle;
an actuator coupled to the needle;
a controller storing non-transitory instructions that when executed cause the controller to, responsive to a command to inject fuel, activate the actuator to push the needle in a downward direction by an amount based on operating parameters of at least one of the engine and the fuel injector system;
wherein the instructions cause the controller to activate the actuator to push the needle in the downward direction by a first amount, by a second amount, or by a third amount, the first amount greater than the second amount and the third amount, the second amount greater than the third amount;
wherein when a commanded fuel

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Zhang Xiaogang

Classifications

• F02D41/38

  of the high pressure type · CPC title

• F02D41/402

  Multiple injections · CPC title

• F02M61/08

  the valves opening in direction of fuel flow {(F02M61/047 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F02M61/16

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

• F02D2041/389

  for injecting directly into the cylinder · CPC title