Engine fuel supply device
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsYasuo Takagi, Tsutomu Nakada, Ken Naito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Fuel in a fuel tank is pressurized by a fuel pump and supplied to a fuel gallery. When a fuel injection valve connecting with this gallery is opened by an electromagnetic signal, fuel is injected from the valve into a combustion chamber of the engine. The fuel gallery is formed inside a cylinder head, and the fuel injection valve is disposed in the cylinder head such that a fuel inlet port of the valve faces the gallery. In this manner, a high pressure fuel passage does not project outside the cylinder head, and there is less risk of fuel leaking from the passage. Further, as the high pressure fuel passage does not project outside the engine, the piping around the engine is simplified.
Claims10
A fuel supply device for use with an engine including a fuel tank, cylinder head and combustion chamber having an opening in said cylinder head, said device comprising:
- a fuel pump which pressurizes fuel in said fuel tank,
- a fuel gallery which guides fuel discharged by said fuel pump, said gallery being formed inside said cylinder head,
- a fuel injection valve disposed in a transverse direction to said gallery, said valve comprising an end part which injects fuel from said gallery into said combustion chamber, a base part projecting outside said cylinder head, and a fuel inlet port facing said gallery,
- means for detecting a fuel pressure in said gallery after said engine has stopped,
- means for detecting a fuel temperature in said gallery after said engine has stopped,
- means for setting a predetermined pressure in the vicinity of a saturation vapor pressure of said fuel according to said fuel temperature, and
- means for returning fuel in said gallery to said fuel tank when said fuel pressure is less than said predetermined pressure.
A method of supplying fuel to an engine having a fuel tank, a fuel pump configured to pump fuel from the fuel tank, a fuel gallery configured to guide fuel discharged by the fuel pump, a combustion chamber configured to ignite fuel, and a fuel injection valve configured to inject fuel from the gallery into the combustion chamber, comprising the steps of:
- detecting a fuel pressure in said gallery after said engine has stopped,
- detecting a fuel temperature in said gallery after said engine has stopped,
- setting a predetermined pressure in the vicinity of a saturation vapor pressure of said fuel according to said fuel temperature, and
- returning fuel from said gallery to said fuel tank when said fuel pressure is less than said predetermined pressure.
A system for supplying fuel to an engine, comprising:
- a fuel tank;
- a fuel pump configured to pump fuel from the fuel tank;
- a fuel gallery configured to guide fuel discharged by the fuel pump to a fuel combustion chamber;
- a pressure sensor configured to detect a fuel pressure in said gallery after said engine has stopped;
- a temperature sensor configured to detect a fuel temperature in said gallery after said engine has stopped;
- a controller configured to set a reference pressure in the vicinity of a saturation vapor pressure of said fuel based upon the detected fuel temperature, to compare the reference pressure with the detected fuel pressure and to generate a signal if said detected fuel pressure is less than said reference pressure;
- and
- a valve configured to return fuel from said gallery to said fuel tank responsive to said signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.