Internal combustion engine

Abstract

A stratified charge, internal combustion engine having a cylinder, a piston reciprocally disposed within the cylinder, a head secured over the cylinder, a chamber in the head above the cylinder, an air pocket adjacent the chamber and extending radially beyond the projected boundaries of the cylinder, a fuel injection system supplying fuel to the chamber by means of a fuel nozzle in the chamber which projects a stream of fuel through the chamber and into the air pocket, and ignition means positioned within the chamber and within the trajectory of the injected fuel to initiate combustion of the fuel. In operation, the initial portion of the fuel injected through the chamber is ignited by the ignition means so that a flame front propagates through the chamber. Fuel subsequently injected passes through the flame front and into the air pocket undergoing further atomization, vaporization and preflame reactions through the highly turbulent primary combustion zone so that complete combustion of the total fuel injected is achieved.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.