Ultrasonic fuel injector

An electromagnetically operated ultrasonic fuel injector and atomizer apparatus comprising:

• a housing;
• a sealing shaft having a conical tip for sealing with a conical seat disposed within said housing;
• a solenoid coil disposed within said housing for moving said sealing shaft tip into and out of engagement with said seat, thereby controlling the flow of fuel through a fuel outlet opening in said seat;
• a hollow electromechanical oscillator assembly disposed around said sealing shaft, said oscillator assembly comprising:
• a) a plurality of crystal actuators for converting electrical signals into mechanical oscillations;
• b) a horn part for amplification of said mechanical oscillations;
• c) a compression member attached to said horn part such that said crystal actuators are located between said compression member and said horn part, whereby said compression member causes pressure to be applied to said crystal actuators;
• and
• d) a flat circular electrode member clamped between an adjacent pair of said crystal actuators and having a portion extending radially beyond the outside diameter of said crystal actuators and said compression member;
• means for clamping said radially extending portion of said electrode member within said housing for mounting said oscillator assembly to said housing;
• said horn part, crystal actuators and compression member having aligned internal openings surrounding said sealing shaft such that fuel flows around said sealing shaft within said aligned openings;
• whereby when said solenoid coil is excited and electrical signals are supplied to said crystal actuators via said electrode member, said sealing shaft tip is moved out of engagement with said seat and fuel exiting through said outlet opening is atomized by oscillations of said horn part.

An ultrasonic fuel injector atomizer apparatus for atomizing fuel, comprising:

• a housing;
• a generator for generating oscillations;
• a horn including an externally tapered section coupled to said generator and provided with a generally tubular opening for dispensing the fuel, said tapered section being shaped to increase the amplitude of the oscillations at the opening and thereby to improve atomization of the fuel;
• a compression member positioned to compress said generator against said tapered horn section, in which said horn is provided with an internally threaded bore and said compression member includes an externally threaded stud integrally formed thereon for threaded engagement with the bore for securing said horn, said compression member and said generator together into a unit;
• and
• a valve coupled to a source of the fuel and having a valve stem with a sealing surface centered within said horn and said compression member and a valve seat formed on said compression member stud and positioned adjacent to said fuel dispensing opening.

An ultrasonic fuel injector atomizer apparatus for atomizing fuel, comprising:

• a housing;
• a generator for generating oscillations;
• a horn including an externally tapered section coupled to said generator and provided with a generally tubular opening for dispensing the fuel, said tapered section being shaped to increase the amplitude of the oscillations at said opening and thereby to improve atomization of the fuel;
• a compression member positioned to compress said generator against said tapered horn section, in which said compression member is provided with an internally threaded bore and said horn includes an externally threaded stud integrally formed thereon for threaded engagement with the bore for securing said horn, said compression member and said generator together into a unit;
• and
• a valve coupled to a source of the fuel and having a valve stem with a sealing surface centered within said horn and said compression member and a valve seat formed on said horn and positioned adjacent to said fuel dispensing opening.

An ultrasonic fuel injector atomizer apparatus for atomizing fuel, comprising:

• a housing;
• a generator for generating oscillations;
• and
• a horn including an externally tapered section coupled to said generator and provided with a generally tubular opening for dispensing the fuel, said tapered section being shaped to increase the amplitude of the oscillations at said opening and thereby to improve atomization of the fuel
• a compression member positioned to compress said generator against said horn tapered section, an electrode having an extension extending beyond said compression member for support of said generator in said housing, and an attachment mechanism attaching and supporting said electrode extension to and within said housing.