US 4,048,969 AGranted

Fuel vaporizer apparatus

OwnerD. Edward Widmaninventor

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Abstract

An internal combustion engine has the usual gasoline tank, electric starter, cam-operated fuel pump and inlet and exhaust manifolds. The exhaust manifold is converted to a heat exchanger by running steel tubing therethrough having an inlet connected to a second electrically operated pump and an outlet connected through electrically operated normally closed shutoff valve means to the intake conduit of a standard L.P. gas carburetor. The carburetor is connected to the inlet manifold by a base plate connected through an electrically operated shutoff valve to the cam-operated pump and provided with spray jet means for supplying liquid gasoline spray to the inlet manifold for starting. An electric switch having two "on" positions is provided, in the first position battery power is provided for starting and for opening the valve to the base plate and then for holding the valve open for about a minute at which time the switch is turned to its second position shutting off the valve to the base plate gas supply and turning on the electric pump and opening the valve means to the L.P. carburetor. A gasoline collecting reservoir between the L.P. valve means and the L.P. carburetor continuously returns any liquid gasoline to the electrically operated pump intake.

Claims5

Dependent claims

An internal combustion engine having intake and exhaust manifolds, a gasoline tank, ignition means including an ignition switch and a battery, an L.P. gas carburetor, the L.P. gas carburetor having an air intake and being mounted on a base plate having a carburetor bore connecting the L.P. gas carburetor discharge passage with the engine intake manifold, the base plate having jet means for spraying gasoline into the bore, the engine having heat exchanger means associated with its exhaust manifold for heating gasoline passing to the carburetor to a high temperature for breaking down the gasoline to a hot vapor in which heavy molecules are broken down into lighter molecules, the engine having a cam driven fuel pump for supplying gasoline to a delivery conduit to two passages, the first passage supplying gasoline to the base plate carburetor bore through first normally closed electrically-operated shutoff valve means, the second passage supplying fuel to the carburetor through the heat exchanger and through second normally closed electrically-operated shutoff valve means, the conduit from the heat exchanger to the carburetor being the hot gas conduit and having a sump adjacent its entrance to the caburetor for collecting gasoline condensed during its passage through the hot gas conduit, the sump being connected by a drain conduit to the intake of an auxiliary electrically operated pump whose delivery outlet is connected by a return conduit to the delivery conduit, the delivery conduit is connected to a by-pass conduit having a metering passage for the slow return of gasoline boiled in the hot gas conduit to the gasoline supply tank for the engine when the engine is turned off, switch means associated with the ignition switch of the engine has two alternative positions in which the movable contact of the switch is first in contact with a first fixed contact for supplying electric current from the engine battery to the first normally closed electrically operated shutoff valve means, and a second fixed contact for supplying electric current to the second shutoff valve means and to the auxiliary pump, whereby the engine is started and the movable contact is held in contact with the first fixed contact for shutting off the flow of fuel through the heat exchanger means and the hot gas conduit to the carburetor for about one minute, and then when the heat exchanger means is warmed, the movable contact is moved to contact with the second fixed contact for shutting off the flow of fuel to the base plate and starting flow of fuel through the hot gas conduit and starting the auxiliary pump.

In an internal combustion engine having accelerator mechanism, a gasoline tank, a cam-operated fuel pump whose inlet is connected by a fuel conduit from the tank and having a delivery conduit to the engine, inlet and exhaust manifolds and battery means for the engine ignition mechanism, the improvement comprising a system including an L.P. gas carburetor having coacting valve means linked to the accelerator mechanism for controlling the quantity of air and the quantity of fuel vapor admitted through a hot gas inlet to the carburetor, and including heat exchanger means heated by exhaust gasses in the exhaust manifold for heating gasoline in steel tubing as it passes to the carburetor, the caburetor being secured on a base plate secured to the inlet manifold and having its fuel vapor and air mixture outlet connected to an inlet of the intake manifold, the base plate being provided with a gasoline inlet connected to regulatable jet spray means for spraying gasoline into an air stream passing into the inlet manifold for starting the engine, the system also including:

a first branch gasoline conduit for carrying gasoline from the delivery conduit to the base plate inlet, a normally closed and electrically controlled shutoff valve being included in the branch gasoline conduit, second branch gasoline conduit means for carrying gasoline from the delivery conduit to the steel tubing intake in the heat exchanger means, the steel tubing exit in the heat exchanger means being connected by hot vapor conduit means through normally closed electrically controlled shutoff valve means to a hot gas collector pipe leading to the carburetor hot gas inlet, the latter normally closed electrically controlled shutoff valve means having its electrically controlled motor means heat-insulated from the valve means, the hot gas collector pipe having a sump for collecting liquid gasoline condensed in the hot vapor conduit means, the sump being connected by a drain conduit to the intake of an auxiliary electrically-operated pump whose discharge outlet is connected to the delivery conduit, and a switch, the switch having at least two fixed contacts, and a movable contact alternatively in contact with the first and second fixed contacts, the first fixed contact being electrically connected to the shutoff valve of the first branch gasoline conduit for opening that valve, the second fixed contact being electrically connected to the shutoff valve means of the second branch gasoline conduit for opening the latter valve means and also electrically connected to the auxiliary pump for operating the latter pump;
whereby, after the engine is started, the movable contact remaining in contact with the first fixed contact, the engine is supplied with fuel through the carburetor base plate for an interval of about one minute, and then the movable contact is moved into contact with the second fixed contact for supplying hot vaporized fuel to the engine from the heat-exchanger means.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.