Returnless fuel system with demand fuel pressure regulator

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible first chamber and a second chamber, said diaphragm having generally opposed faces with one of the faces communicating with only the first chamber and the other face communicating with only the second chamber, the second chamber having a passage communicating with the air intake manifold of the engine, a fuel outlet from said first chamber for communicating with the injector of the engine to supply fuel to the injector, a fuel inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the first chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible first chamber, a valve carried by the body and communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the first chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move the valve to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator inlet into the first chamber to produce a substantially constant pressure drop across the injector under normal operating conditions, and when the valve closes and fuel trapped between the injector and the valve expands, the diaphragm moves relative to the housing to increase the volume of the first chamber to thereby accommodate expansion of the trapped fuel.

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet from said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel from the expansible chamber to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying all fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, a valve communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of all fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, and supplying all the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions of the engine to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel.

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet from said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, a valve communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, and supplying all the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions of the engine to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel, and an actuator operably associated with said valve of said demand regulator for opening said valve when it would otherwise be closed when the temperature of fuel supplied to the injector is greater than a preselected temperature.

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet from said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, a valve communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, and supplying all the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions of the engine to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel, and a temperature sensor which senses the temperature of fuel supplied to the injector and an actuator operably associated with said valve of said demand regulator for opening said valve when it would otherwise be closed and responsive to said temperature sensor to open said valve of said demand regulator when the temperature of fuel supplied to the injector is greater than a preselected temperature.

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet from said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, a valve communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, and supplying all the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions of the engine to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel, and a temperature responsive actuator operably associated with said valve of said demand regulator for holding open said valve when it would otherwise be closed when the temperature of fuel supplied to the injector is greater than a preselected temperature.

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet from said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, a valve communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, and supplying all the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions of the engine to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel, the fuel pump is a centrifugal pump driven by an electric motor at a substantially constant speed, and a one-way valve between the pump outlet and the valve of the demand regulator which permits the flow of fuel from the pump to the demand regulator inlet and closes to prevent reverse flow of fuel from the demand regulator through the fuel pump and wherein when the valve of the demand regulator closes and the volume of fuel trapped between the injector(s) expands, the diaphragm moves relative to the housing to increase the volume of the expansible chamber to thereby accommodate expansion of the trapped fuel.

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet from said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions a valve communicating between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, and supplying all the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions of the engine to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel, and wherein the diaphragm dampens fuel pressure fluctuation produced by operation of the fuel injector(s) and the demand regulator isolates the components of the fuel system upstream of the demand regulator from the noise produced by these fuel pressure fluctuations from operation of the injector(s).

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible fuel chamber, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible chamber, a fuel outlet frown said expansible chamber for communicating with the injector(s) to supply fuel to the injector(s), a demand regulator inlet carried by the housing for supplying all fuel to the expansible chamber, an electric fuel pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, a valve between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of all fuel from the demand regulator inlet through the expansible chamber, supplying all of the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions to maintain a desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet of the demand fuel regulator for returning fuel to the supply, and the diaphragm also dampening pressure fluctuation produced by operation of the injector(s) and the demand regulator isolates the components of the fuel system upstream of the demand regulator from noise produced by these pressure fluctuations produced by operation of the injector(s).

A no-return fuel system for a combustion engine with an air intake manifold and at least one fuel injector, comprising a demand regulator having a housing, a diaphragm defining in cooperation with said housing an expansible first chamber and a second chamber, said diaphragm having generally opposed faces with one of the faces communicating with only the first chamber and the other face communicating with only the second chamber, a fuel outlet from said first chamber for communicating with the injector(s) of the engine to supply fuel to the injector(s), a fuel inlet carried by the housing for supplying fuel to the first chamber, an electric pump having a pump inlet for communicating with a supply of fuel and a pump outlet for communicating with the demand regulator inlet to supply fuel thereto at a substantially constant pressure under normal operating conditions, said diaphragm being yieldably biased relative to the housing in a direction tending to decrease the volume of the expansible first chamber, a valve between the demand regulator inlet and the expansible chamber and operably associated with the diaphragm to move to open and closed positions to control the flow of fuel from the demand regulator through the expansible chamber and supplying all of the fuel from the expansible chamber to the fuel injector(s) in response to the demand of the engine for fuel under normal operating conditions to maintain the desired fuel pressure at the injector(s) without a line downstream of the fuel outlet for returning fuel to the supply of fuel, a supply of fluid at a superatmospheric pressure, a port communicating with the second chamber and a valve movable to a first position to communicate the supply of fluid at a superatmospheric pressure with the port to increase the pressure at which the demand regulator supplies fuel to the injector(s).