Pressure regulator for engine lubrication system
AssigneeCummins Inc.
InventorsSimon Tooley, Daniel McNish, Jason Kenneth Rigg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A lubrication system for an internal combustion engine includes a fluid flow control device at the outlet side of the pump that regulates pressure conditions at the outlet side of the pump upstream of the lubrication circuit in the engine. The fluid flow control device includes a chamber that is opened in response a fluid pressure exceeding a threshold to allow the fluid to pass from the outlet side of the pump back to the inlet side of the pump. The fluid flow control device also includes at least one elongated aperture in communication with the chamber for receiving fluid fed from the chamber and allowing the fluid in the chamber to flow to the inlet side of the pump.
Claims17
A lubrication system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a reservoir from which fluid is fed by a pump for circulation through the lubrication system via a fluid flow path;
- and
- a flow control device coupled to the fluid flow path downstream of an outlet side of the pump, the flow control device including an elongated body defining a chamber extending from a first end of the body toward a second end of the body, a plunger at the first end of the body configured to normally close the chamber at the first end of the body and to displace into the body to admit fluid through an opening at or adjacent the first end into the chamber in response to a fluid pressure in the fluid flow path exceeding a threshold, and at least one elongated aperture extending along a longitudinal axis of the body, the elongated aperture being configured to slow displacement of the plunger as the plunger progressively opens the at least one elongated aperture to allow fluid to flow from the chamber through the elongated aperture to an inlet side of the pump as the plunger is displaced into the body, wherein the at least one elongated aperture is two elongated apertures located on opposite sides of the body.
A flow control device for controlling a pressure in a fluid flow path of an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- an elongated cylindrical body defining a chamber extending from a first end of the body toward a second end of the body, a plunger at the first end of the body configured to normally close the chamber at the first end of the body and to displace into the body to admit fluid through an opening at or adjacent the first end into the chamber in response to the pressure in the fluid flow path exceeding a threshold, and at least one elongated aperture extending along a longitudinal axis of the body that opens into the chamber and at an exterior side of the body, the elongated aperture being configured to slow displacement of the plunger as the plunger progressively opens the at least one elongated aperture to allow fluid flow from the chamber therethrough in response to the plunger being displaced into the body, wherein the at least one elongated aperture is two elongated apertures located on opposite sides of the body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.