Fuel bowl and method of feeding fuel
OwnerWilliam R. Krupinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuel bowl for a carburetor has no valves and is configured for continuous flow of fuel through the bowl. The fuel bowl can be constructed to constrain the constantly flowing fuel within a compartment of the bowl to maintain fuel level in the bowl sufficient to meet the carburetor demand under circumstances of high fuel demand and/or high g-forces. A method of continuously circulating fuel through the fuel bowl facilitates fuel level maintenance over a range of performance requirements.
Claims18
A fuel bowl for holding liquid fuel to be fed into a carburetor for an internal combustion engine, the fuel bowl comprising a body having an internal cavity and a back wall partially defining the internal cavity configured for interfacing with a meter block of the carburetor, the back wall having a thickness, a bottom end, a top end, and a height extending between the bottom end and the top end, a fuel inlet configured to receive fuel from a fuel tank into the cavity, a recirculation outlet configured to pass fuel from the internal cavity back to the fuel tank and a fuel supply outlet configured for mating with a carburetor fuel inlet for passing liquid fuel from the cavity to the carburetor, the fuel supply outlet extending from an opening facing the internal cavity through the thickness of the back wall, said opening being spaced apart between the top end and the bottom end of the back wall, the body being free of valving whereby fuel can be circulated continuously through the cavity to maintain a fuel level in the internal cavity above said opening of the fuel supply outlet.
A fuel bowl for holding liquid fuel to be fed into a carburetor for an internal combustion engine, the fuel bowl comprising a body having an internal cavity, a fuel inlet configured to receive fuel from a fuel tank into the cavity, a recirculation outlet configured to pass fuel from the internal cavity back to the fuel tank and a fuel supply outlet configured for mating with a carburetor fuel inlet for passing liquid fuel from the cavity to the carburetor, and a flow restrictor in the cavity arranged between the fuel supply outlet and the recirculation outlet for retaining fuel in a volume including the fuel supply outlet;
- wherein the flow restrictor comprises a weir and the weir defines a reservoir compartment and a recirculation compartment within the internal cavity, the fuel supply outlet being located in the reservoir compartment and the recirculation outlet being located in the recirculation compartment, the weir comprising a first portion projecting upwardly from a bottom of the cavity and a second portion projecting transversely of the first portion and defining a free end of the weir spaced from the body within the cavity and defining a compartment opening communicating with the reservoir compartment and the recirculation compartment, the weir being configured to block flow of fuel from the reservoir compartment to the recirculation compartment except through the compartment opening.
A method of feeding liquid fuel to a carburetor of an internal combustion engine comprising:
- continuously circulating liquid fuel through a fuel bowl;
- constraining fuel within the fuel bowl to maintain a volume of fuel in a reservoir compartment of the fuel bowl including a fuel supply outlet connected to the carburetor through which liquid fuel from the fuel bowl is drawn into the carburetor;
- wherein the step of continuously circulating comprises directing the fuel upward over a weir comprising a first portion projecting upwardly from a bottom of the fuel bowl and a second transverse portion projecting transversely of the first portion, the weir defining the reservoir compartment, and subsequently directing the fuel transversely over the second transverse portion of the weir into a recirculation compartment of the fuel bowl.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.