Inlet metering valve block
AssigneeTransportation IP Holdings, LLC
InventorsPisey Leute, Sudheer Khanapure, Manuel Flores
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inlet metering valve (IMV) block may include a plurality of IMV apertures, wherein each aperture of the plurality of IMV apertures is adapted to receive at least one IMV of a plurality of IMVs. The IMV block may further include an internal fuel passage in fluid communication with the plurality of IMV apertures. The IMV block may further include a fuel inlet port fluidically couplable between a fuel inlet connector and the internal fuel passage, wherein the fuel inlet port is configured to transfer fuel from a fuel source to the internal fuel passage. Further, the IMV block may also include a plurality of mounting holes to releasably attach the IMV block to a fuel pump.
Claims13
An inlet metering valve (IMV) system comprising:
- a first IMV;
- a second IMV;
- a control circuit electrically coupled to the first IMV and the second IMV to concurrently operate the first IMV and the second IMV to cooperatively regulate an amount of fuel transferred from a fuel source to a fuel pump;
- and
- an IMV block separable from the fuel pump, the IMV block comprising at least one body defining a first IMV aperture, a second IMV aperture, an internal fuel passage, a fuel inlet port, and a plurality of mounting holes, wherein:
- the first IMV aperture is adapted to receive the first IMV and the second IMV aperture is adapted to receive the second IMV;
- the internal fuel passage is in fluid communication with the first IMV aperture and the second IMV aperture;
- the fuel inlet port is fluidically couplable between a fuel inlet connector and the internal fuel passage, the fuel inlet port being configured to transfer fuel from the fuel source to the internal fuel passage;
- and
- the plurality of mounting holes are configured for releasably attaching the IMV block to the fuel pump.
A method of controlling fuel flow from a fuel source to a fuel pump through an inlet metering valve (IMV) block separable from the fuel pump, the method comprising:
- determining a number of two or more IMVs operably engaged with the IMV block,
- operating a first IMV of the number of IMVs;
- monitoring the first IMV for a fault condition;
- and
- switching from operating the first IMV to operating a second IMV of the number of IMVs based on detecting the fault condition;
- selecting an operational mode based on the number of IMVs operably engaged with the IMV block;
- and
- operating each IMV of the number of IMVs according to the selected operational mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.