Acoustic cover for vehicle fuel injection pump

An acoustic cover for a fuel injection pump, comprising:

• a top portion being sized and shaped to fit over a top of the fuel injection pump when mounted;
• a spacing feature applied to an underside of the top portion and forming a clearance with the top of the fuel injection pump when mounted;
• and
• a side portion being sized and shaped to mechanically engage a side of the fuel injection pump when mounted, wherein the side of the fuel injection pump and the side portion of the acoustic cover are acoustically coupled to one another so that sound, vibrations, or both that emanate from the fuel injection pump are directly transferred to the side portion and damped by the acoustic cover, and the top of the fuel injection pump and the top portion of the acoustic cover are acoustically separated from one another by the clearance so that sound, vibrations, or both that emanate from the fuel injection pump cannot be directly transferred to the top portion.

A high-pressure fuel injection pump for a vehicle, comprising:

• a pump housing;
• an inlet in the pump housing;
• an outlet in the pump housing;
• a recessed lid fitted on top of the pump housing;
• a pump device receiving fuel from the inlet at a first fluid pressure, providing fuel to the outlet at a second fluid pressure that is higher than the first fluid pressure, and being mechanically coupled to a vehicle engine so that mechanical output from the vehicle engine drives the pump device;
• and
• an acoustic cover having a top portion and a side portion and being sized and shaped so that the acoustic cover fits over top of the pump housing and is mounted to a side of the pump housing so as to form a cavity between the recessed lid of the pump housing and the top portion of the acoustic cover, wherein the acoustic cover includes a sound-damping metal laminate material that dampens noise, vibrations or both emanating from the high-pressure fuel injection pump.

A method for damping sound, vibrations, or both that emanate from a high-pressure direct injection fuel pump, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing an acoustic cover that includes a top portion and a side portion, wherein at least one of the top portion and the side portion is made from a sound-damping metal laminate material;
• (b) mounting the acoustic cover to the high-pressure direct injection fuel pump via a mechanical engagement between a side of the high-pressure direct injection fuel pump and the side portion of the acoustic cover, the mechanical engagement causes the high-pressure direct injection fuel pump and the acoustic cover to be acoustically coupled to one another;
• (c) receiving sound, vibrations, or both having a frequency between 500 Hz and 12,000 Hz from the high-pressure direct injection fuel pump at the acoustic cover via the mechanical engagement;
• and
• (d) damping the sound, vibrations, or both by converting at least some of the acoustic energy associated with the sound, vibrations, or both into thermal energy within the sound-damping metal laminate material.