Fuel injection valve

A fuel injection valve comprising:

• a nozzle that is centered on a valve axis and includes:
• a nozzle tubular portion that forms a fuel passage at an inside of the nozzle tubular portion;
• a nozzle bottom portion that closes one end of the nozzle tubular portion;
• a plurality of injection holes that connect between one surface of the nozzle bottom portion, which is located on one side where the nozzle tubular portion is placed, and another surface of the nozzle bottom portion, which is located on an opposite side that is opposite to the nozzle tubular portion, wherein the plurality of injection holes are configured to inject fuel that is received in the fuel passage;
• and
• a valve seat that is shaped in a ring form and is formed around the plurality of injection holes at the one surface of the nozzle bottom portion, which is located on the one side where the nozzle tubular portion is placed;
• a needle that is configured to reciprocate along the valve axis at an inside of the nozzle, wherein the needle closes the plurality of injection holes when the needle contacts the valve seat, and the needle opens the plurality of injection holes when the needle is spaced away from the valve seat;
• and
• a drive device that is configured to drive the needle in a valve opening direction or a valve closing direction, wherein:
• the drive device includes a stationary core, a movable core and a coil, wherein when the coil is energized, the movable core is magnetically attracted toward the stationary core to drive the needle in the valve opening direction;
• each of the plurality of injection holes has:
• an inlet opening that is formed at the one surface of the nozzle bottom portion which is located on the one side where the nozzle tubular portion is placed;
• and
• an outlet opening that has a cross-sectional area larger than a cross-sectional area of the inlet opening and is formed at the another surface of the nozzle bottom portion which is located on the opposite side that is opposite to the nozzle tubular portion;
• the plurality of injection holes include at least one flat injection hole while the outlet opening of the at least one flat injection hole has a long axis and a short axis, and the at least one flat injection hole includes at least one specific flat injection hole;
• the at least one specific flat injection hole has an injection hole axis that connects between a center of the inlet opening and a center of the outlet opening while the long axis of the outlet opening of the at least one specific flat injection hole is perpendicular to a plane which includes the injection hole axis and is parallel with the valve axis;
• an inner wall of the at least one specific flat injection hole has two planar portions which are opposed to each other while the long axis is interposed between the two planar portions;
• at a one-side wall section of the inner wall which is located on one side of the long axis and guides the fuel at a fuel injection time, a radius of curvature of a segment of one end portion of the inlet opening directed in an axial direction of the long axis is defined as a first curvature radius, and a radius of curvature of a segment of one end portion of the outlet opening directed in the axial direction of the long axis is defined as a second curvature radius, and a ratio of the second curvature radius relative to the first curvature radius is defined as a curvature radius ratio, and the curvature radius ratio is in a range of 40% to 100%;
• the plurality of injection holes are symmetrically arranged with respect to a reference plane that includes the valve axis;
• the at least one specific flat injection hole is at least two specific flat injection holes, each of which has an injection hole angle that is an angle of the injection hole axis relative to an imaginary axis parallel with the valve axis, wherein the injection hole angle of each of the at least two specific flat injection holes is largest among the plurality of injection holes;
• and
• the at least one specific flat injection hole satisfies a relationship of R2<R1<R3, where:
• R1 denotes the first curvature radius;
• R2 denotes the second curvature radius;
• and
• R3 denotes a third curvature radius that is a radius of curvature of another segment of the one end portion of the outlet opening directed in the axial direction of the long axis while the another segment of the one end portion of the outlet opening is located at an other-side wall section of the inner wall, which is located on an opposite side of the long axis that is opposite to the one-side wall section which guides the fuel at the fuel injection time.