Fuel delivery system for internal combustion engines

Abstract

A fuel delivery system for internal combustion engines that includes a source of fuel under pressure, fuel lines for feeding fuel to the individual cylinders of the engine, and a distributor for metering fuel under pressure from the source to the individual fuel lines. The fuel metering distributor includes a fuel cavity coupled to the fuel source for receiving fuel under pressure, apertures in the sidewall of the cavity coupled to associated individual fuel lines, and a piston slidably disposed in the cavity for opening the individual apertures to the cavity as a function of position of the piston within the cavity. A linear electromagnetic actuator is coupled to the piston for controlling position of the piston within the cavity as a function of engine operating conditions. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the apertures comprise circumferentially spaced slits positioned in the cavity sidewall so that all of the slits have identical cross sectional openings to fuel flow for a given position of the piston within the cavity. Thus, fuel is automatically identically metered to all of the engine cylinders through operation of a single actuator, thereby eliminating individual electromagnetic fuel injectors at the various engine cylinders.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.