US2037702A - Fuel atomizing and injecting assembly for internal combustion engines - Google Patents

Description

l April 21, 1936- F. D. BUTLER 2,037,702

FUEL ATOMIZING AND INJECTING ASSEMBLY FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed NOV. 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E 5, I' Fig f y 73 #faim m 2- 21 mi/m 1 f IIIINWNNNW ,4 i .,=1111\11 1 h 5+ lr, z 1 f 1 /25 q 70 5 72; U 'l/ F 'Q 17 /'f i? 42 L gg, .fj m VD l 5K s 24 8i 'ES A@ I g2 I i f2 62 7 I /1 Ms 77 1 41 I. l 17 6 3 c Il q i *f 1' 1 y, v 1 11?, 20 I "1. QZZ b 50' I n 1 QA `\,v. ZI 5'/ ge 25 xx 92 54 f n I l 4s I b l /a 2l 1| 4 22 7? if@ "'12 if fr f1;

224% TEVENS; ZMQMM April 21, 1936. f.-` Dl BUTLER 2,037,702

FUEL ATOMIZING ANI-) INJEGTING ASSEMBLY FOR INTERNAL GOMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Nov. 4, 1951l 2 sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlcE FUEL ATORIIZING AND INJECTING ASSEM- BLY FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION EN- GINES Frank David Butler, United States Navy', Bremerton, Wash.

Application November 4, 1931, Serial No. 573,008

12 Claims.

(Cl. 12S-139) l (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) ing and injecting systems for solid fuel injection.

engines of the type mentionad and has the following objects in view; rst, to provide a suit'- able combined' atomizing and injecting unit means for each one of the cylinders of such an engine for the purpose of automatically and simultaneously atomizing and injecting the liquid fuel charges into their` respective cylinder units by the internal compression and combustion forces therein and in proper timing relation to the travel of the respective pistons thereof; second, to provide means whereby said atomizing and injecting units may 'be removed from their respective cylinder units one at a time and replaced with spare units without necessitating the stopping of the engine; third, to provide means whereby the stroke and period of operation of the individual fuel atomizing and injecting units of the several cylinders may be varied and controlled collectively, externally and remotely from their respective cylinders, in such a manner as to form a unitvcontrol of the entire engine; and nally, to produce a fuel atomizing and injecting assembly design of the type mentioned which is exceedingly simple in construction, eiiicient in operation, durable in use,l and which may be readily and conveniently applied, removed or replaced in various designs of the type of engines mentioned.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, it being understood that various changes may be made in practice within the scope of the claims, without digressing from my inventive idea or sacrificing any of the advantages disclosed.

With reference to the drawings; Fig. 1 is a Vertical section of a combined automatic fuel atomizing and injecting unit, as per my invention, installed in the cylinder assembly of a two-stroke cycle, radial, solid fuel injection aviation engine, the assembly of the unit being illustrated in the atomizing and injecting position of trave 1\; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the fuel atomizer as it would appear on the dotted line A--A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view as would appear on the dotted line B-B of Fig. 2; Fig. 4

ythat illustrated in Fig. 6 with the exception that is a fragmentary view of similar parts illustrated in Fig. 1 except showing the assembly of thel atomizing and injecting unit in its closed position of travel; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the liquid fuel supply and the engine control 5 systems; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section of the combined fuel atomizing and injecting unit as it would appear on the dotted line C-C of Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is a similar view to l0 the former illustrates the unit as it would appear on the dotted line D-D of Fig. 1.

With reference to the symbols of the drawings, similar numerals represent and indicate similar parts in the several views;-The numeral I indicates the fuel injection plunger member which is secured by a threaded and gasketed t to the valve bonnet 2. Plunger I is provided with a sliding t Within the cylindrical fuelf. injection chamber 3 of the fuel atomizing valve member 4, and adjustable longitudinally in the latter by varying the adjustment position of the jam nut 5. 'I'he bonnet 2 is secured by a threaded and gasketed t to the upper end of the engine cylinder body 6, Fig. 4, and having at its lower end a cylindrical and shouldered lit with the actuating plunger cylinder body member 1 whose upper -end is provided with an integral enlarged head 1a removably secured within the lower part of said b'onnet 2 by a cylindrical groove tted with the spring snap retainer member 8. The upper end of plunger member 1 is provided with a seat 30 for the valve disc 9 of the actuating plunger member I0. Surrounding the actuating plunger 1 is a space forming the annular shaped fuel feed supply chamber II. The interior of the valve bonnet 2 is provided with the cylindrical shaped dash pot and spring housing chamber I2. The fuel atomizing tubular valve member 4 is provided with a longitudinally sliding t inside of the actuating plunger member I0, longitudinally within which member 4 extends the injection plunger member I1. The spring retainer collar I3 is secured by the' retainer wire I4 to the top of said member 4 which member 45 lcontrols fuel supply communication between the fuel ,discharge chamber 3 (within the body of member 4 unoccupied by plunger I) and the fuel feed chamber II via, the radial fuel feed holes I5 and annular shaped fuel feed groove I6 inv 50 the disc 9 of the actuating plunger member I0, and the radial fuel feed holes I1 in said member 4, Fig. 1. The fuel discharge chamber 3 is provided with communication with the combustion chamber I8 of the cylinder I9 via the radial 55 fuel discharge slots 20, the annular shaped fuel discharge passage 2|, the spiral fuel whirling grooves 22 of the multi-threaded portion 23 adjoining passage 2|, the fuel whirling chamber 24 adjoining the ends of the grooves 22, and the atomizing valve disc 25 adjoining the whirling chamber 24 and said combustion chamber I8. The actuating plunger member I0 is similar in appearance to a poppet valve as shown by the illustrations Figs. 1 and 4 and is provided with a sliding t in the inside of its cylinder body member 1 and surrounds the fuel atomizing valve member 4. The lower or inner end of plunger I0 is exposed within the compression space of its cylinder where said plunger I0 is provided with a seat 26 for the atomizer valve disc 25 on the lower or inner end of fuel atomizer valve member 4. The top surface of valve disk 9 of member. ID is provided with a retainer shoulder 21 for laterally retaining the ends of the atomizer valve spring 28 and its own retainer spring 29, each disposed within chamber I2 of bonnet 2. The remaining ends of springs 21 and 29 respectively bear against said collar I4 and the bonnet 2. .The actuating plunger cylinder body member 1 is provided with a tapered and gasketed fit with the engine cylinder body 6, a slidable t about the member I0 and a cylindrical and shouldered t comprising the seat 30 and disk 9. Annular shaped feed supply pressure release chamber 3| is formed in member 1 below the lower edge of seat 30 which seat normally forms its upper rim communication between the annular shaped fuel feed heating and pressure cushioning chamber 32 (surrounding member. 1) and the fuel feed supply chamber II is maintained via the fuel transfer holes 33 (Figs. 1 and 7) extending through head 1a of member 1,. The assembly of the combined fuel atomizing and injecting unit is indicated by the numeral 34 and includes all the parts and items indicated by the numerals from I to 33 (illustrated in Fig. 4) with the exception of items represented by numerals 6, I8, I9 and 32, said unit l34 being installed in the cylinder body 6 in such a manner that it may be removed and exchanged with a spare without necessitating (in multi-cylinder engines) stopping the engine. The fuel pressure stabilizer bellows 35 (which will be described more in detail later) is retained in place, during the removal of the unit 34 from the cylinder body 6, by the snap spring retainer ring 36 which .latter is provided with a snap fit in the groove within which it is mounted in said cylinder body 6. With reference to all the figures in general, the operation of the automatic combined fuel atomizing and injecting assembly unit 34 is as fol-- lows;-Liquid fuel under a medium pressure is supplied to the fuel feed supply chamber II (each ofthe units 34) from the fuel supply tank 31 via the fuel cut out valve 38, (Fig. 5) the fuel strainers 39, the mechanically` operated fuel pump assembly 40 or the manually operated fuel pump assembly 4I, the fuel manifold 42, the fuel cut out valve 43 individually for each cylinder, the fuel feed heating and pressure stabilizing chamber 32, and the fuel transfer holes 33.

'Ihe pressure of the liquid fuel (delivered to the l chamber I I as described) plus the tension of the resilient retainer spring 29 tends to retain the disc 9 of the actuating plunger member I 0 in contact with its seat 30, similar to the position in which it is illustrated in Fig. 4. The plunger member III remains in the position last mentioned until such time as the pressure of the air charge being compressed in the cylinder I9 by the piston 44 (through the rotation of the crank shaft 45) and acting aganst'the area of the stem end of said plunger member I0 plus the area of the head of disc 25 of the atomizing valve'member 4, is such as to 'overcome the mentioned combined pressure of the liquid fuel and the retainer spring 29 retaining said plunger in contact with the seat 30, at which latter time said plunger member I0 travels upward or outward from its closed 'position to its open or spray position of travel which former position is illustrated in Fig. 4 and which latter position is illustrated in Fig. l.

Assuming (for example) that the fuel injection chamber 3, adjoining the fuel injection plunger member I, was (by rotating the engine) lled with liquid fuel from the fuel feed supply chamber I I via the radial holes I5, the annular groove I6 and radial holes I1, on the previous closing stroke of the actuating plunger I0, that the tension of the spring 29 is negligible, that the area of the head of the disc 9 minus the area of the small end of plunger I is four times an area of equal diameter to the stem end of the member I0, that the pressure of the .fuel in chamber II is 115 pounds per square inch and that the air charge in the cylinder combustion chamber I8 has been compressed above the piston 44 to a trifle over 460 lbs. per square inch. Under the foregoing assumed conditions, the actuating plunger I0 with the atomizing valve member 4 would, by said pressure exerted on their ends exposed thereto, be caused to travel from the position in which they are illustrated in Fig. 4 to the position in which they are illustrated in Fig. 1. This movement would cause the liquid fuel in the fuel injection chamber 3 to be injected into the cylinder combustion chamber I8, (by the relatively stationary injection plunger I), in a whirling minutely atomized and highly agitated spray and under an extremely high pressure and velocity via, the radial slots 29, the annular passage 2|, the spiral fuel whirling grooves 22 of the threa'led portion 23, the fuel whirling chamber 24, and between the yieldingly mounted atomizing disc 25 and its seat 26. As soon as the disc 9 leaves its seat 30 (during the foregoing operation) the pressure of the fuel in the fuel feed chamber II is equalized on both sides of the said disc, and the area of the stem end of member I0 minus the area of the head of disc 25 must oppose a similar area (at the disc end `of said member I0) equal to the area of the Stem end of said member II) minus the area of the small end of plunger I, the smaller area and higher pressure at the stem end of said member I0 prevails and forces said plunger I 0 to continue to travel away from seat 30 .until such time as the increasing tension of spring 29 plus the accumulating fuel pressure in the dash pot chamber I2 outward of disc 9, is such as to stop the outward travel of said member I0. Simultaneously with the foregoing described outward travel of the actuating plungermember I0, the larger area of the head of disc 25 as compared with the smaller area of the small end of the fuel injection plunger I (which ratio we will assume is 1 to 8) causing the former to force the atomizing valve member 4 to follow closely behind the actuating plunger member ID in its outward travel, in the meantime the end of the fuel injection plunger I cuts off communication between the fuel injection chamber 3 and the fuel feed supply chamber I I by passing over the radial fuel feed holes I1, the latter operation causing the pressure on the fuel charge in chamber, 3 to accumulate to an assumed pressure of approximately eight times the compression and later combustion pressures in the engine combustion chamber it, and the'fuel charge in said fuel injection chamber 3 to be injected into said combustion chamber i3 by said injection plunger i as previously described. During the foregoing described outward travel of the members il and lil, a small quantity of fuel is displaced by said members from the fuel feed chamber li into the chamber 32 and is compensated for in the latter chamber by the contraction of the pressure stabilizing or pulsating bellows which latter has the sides thereof constructed of a thin flexible metal so as to be capable of contracting as the members l and l@ travel outward and expanding as they travel inward, the pulsating movement of said bellows 35 beingvery slight due to the large volumedisplaced by a slight contracting or expanding movement of the large side areas thereof as compared with the volume of fuel displaced by said members i and l@ as previously mentioned. The bellows and the holes 33 also moderate the shock liable to result from the intermittent flow of the fuel oil occurring during the periodic movement of members l and iii. During the inward travel of the members l and lil the fuel injection chamber 3 is filled with a fresh fuel charge from the chambers it and Si via, the radial holes iti, the annular groove it and the radial holes il 'due to the displacement oi" the plunger il in the' chamber 3 as the member l moves away from the end of said plunger, and in the meantime the pressure on the fuel i'n the fuel release chamber 3l is completely removed due to the fuel suction taken therefrom by the displacement of plunger i during the period the disc 9 of the member E@ is closing on communication between chambers ii and ill by seating on seat tit.

From the foregoing descriptionmf the opera-` tion of the automatic combined atomizing and injecting assembly unit 3d it is evident that in order to advance orV retard the starting of the fuel injection period thereof (and consequently increase or decrease the length of stroke of the members il and l@ and increase or decrease the quantity of fuel injected into the combustion chamber it per stroke of the member fi) it would only be necessary to respectively decrease or increase the pressure of the liquid fuel being supplied to chambers lli of the units 3d, and that by so doing, the power and speed of operation of the entire engine may be successfully controlled externally and remotely from said units 3d. iith the foregoing type of control in view, the fuel pump assembly ill is design ed to furnish a greater quantity of liquid fuel to the fuel manifold l2 than is necessary for fuel injection purposes and of' suicient pressure as to be about one fourth of that of the highest possible compression pressure obtainable in chambers i3. With reference to Fig. 5 the construction and operation of the pump assembly t@ is as follows: llt being understood and apparent to those skilled in this art that any type of pump could be used that would:

tate with the crank shaft 45 is adapted to. drive the worm wheel 41 which latter is secured to rotate with the pump drive shaft 48 which latter in turn is adapted to be mounted in the pump casing 49 and to have secured thereto a wide or first stage drive gear 50 and a narrow or second stage drive gear 5i, said gears being adapted to drive the wide and narrow driven gears 52 and 53 respectively, and to be mounted in the gear housings 54 and 55 respectively. Liquid fuel supply and discharge connections respectively are supplied between, the fuel supply tank 3l and the suction side 54a, of housing 5d," between the discharge side Mb of housing 5d and the suction side 55a of housing 55, and between the discharge side 55h of housing 55 and the manifold @2. A manually operated plunger type pump assembly lill adapted to furnish a fuel supply pressure to the manifold [i2 for engine starting purposes is also illustrated in Fig. 5 in addition to pump til, and consists of the following;-A suction check valve 56 having communication with the suction connection 5ta of pump dll; a discharge check valve 5l having communication with the discharge connection 55h of pump lit; a plug type cut out valve member 5t used for hand pump @it connecting purposes; a plunger member 59 adapted to take suction via the checlzvalve t and to discharge via the check valve 5l, to be manually operated upward in the pump barrel t@ by the pump handle 6i and to be operated downward in said barrel either manually or automatically by the said handle di or the coarse pitch resillient spring member @2 respectively, and to be seated on the seat @t of the pump body member te when not in use.

With reference to Figs. l and 5 in particular,

the object, construction and operation of the fuel pressure regulating valve assembly 65 is as follows;-The said valve assembly t5 is a means of varying the pressure of the liquid fuel in the fuel feed manifold i2 and consequently (as previously described) a means of remotely and conveniently controlling the power and speed of the engine while in operation. The liquid fuel supplied to the fuel feed manifold d2, from the fuel supply tank 3l (as previously described) by the pump lli, is controlled by the valve assembly S5 through remote control viafthepthrottle control Wheel t6 and the spring loaded manually operable bell-crank tl, connections being made between the extension stern d@ of the wheel t6 'and the threaded valve stem t9 of the control valve disc lll, and between the fuel return connection 'li and said fuel supply tank 3l. IThe valve assembly 65 consists of a valve disc l@ integral with the threaded valve stem @t and having a travelfrom turning by the guide lock screw 33, is under tension of the resilient spring 'itl and lis adjustable by the rotation of the stem td which rotation increases or` decreases the tension of said spring l@ against said nut 'l2 and consequently the tension of the valve disc l@ against its seat l5. To increase the pressure of the liquid fuel in the fuel feed manifold 32 and thereby decrease the power and speed of the engine, the valve stern 69 is screwed towards the valve seat l5, vthis operation causes the nut 'l2 to travel away from the seat 'l5 thereby increasing the tension` on the spring 14, thus requiring more pressure on the small end of disc 10 to lift said disc from its seat 15. To decrease the pressure of the liquid .fuel in the fuel feed manifold 42 and thereby increase the power and speed of the engine, the valve stem 69 is screwed away from the valve seat 15, this operation causes the nut 12 to travel towards the seat 15, thereby requiring less pressure on the small end of disc 10 to lift said disc from its seat 15. In order to rapidly increase the speed of the engine, the wheel 66 is `pulled out by hand or pushed out by the spring loaded bell-crank accelerating means 61 which-latter may be connected up for foot operation via the rod 16. By screwing the stem 69 fairly well in or to about the engine idling control position, the engine may be controlled with the accelerating means 61 without any further adjustment of said stem by the wheel 66. I

The body members of the individual valves 43 are secured to the cylinder body members 6 by their embracing U shaped bolts 11, and the valve assembly 65 and the manifold 42 are secured to said body members of valves 43 by the bolts 18. A replacement of any one of the units 34 may be accomplished, during the period the engine is operating, by first closing the respective fuel cut out valve 43 to the unit 34 that is to be replaced with a spare unit and then slowly removing the defective unit 34 from the cylinder body 6, allowing sufficient time to elapse for the fuel in chamber 32 to pass into the cylinder I9 via the tapered portion 19 of the member 1 before said unit is finally removed. The threaded portion of the member 2 should be considerably longer than the taperedportion 19 of the member 1 in order to facilitate removals and replacements of the units 34.

During the operation of the engine, the firing of any one of the cylinder units may be temporarily stopped for test purposes by screwing the respective fuel injection plunger member I thereof inward out of adjustment.

The invention herein described may be manufactured and used by orl for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any rc-yalty thereon or therefor.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A liquid fuel injecting assembly for cylinders of a combustion motor comprising a valve stem having a valve head thereon and a longitudinal opening therein adapted to supply fuel oil to said valve head, a first member surrounding and movably supporting said stem and having a seat for said valve head, a pin slidably fitting a portion of said longitudinal opening, means for supporting said pin, means for movablysupporting the rst member on the cylinder of a combustion motor with said valve head and an adjacent portion of the first member extending into and adapted to be moved by the force of compression in the interior of the compression chamber of said cylinder, a valve element on the first member removed from the seat for said valve head and adapted when. open to admit fuel oil to said longitudinal opening,` an element of the last stated means having a seat for said valve element, means for Supplying fuel oil to said valve element, and means for opening said valve head and admitting its supplied fuel oil into the cylinder when the first member is moved by said compression. l

2. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by means for longitudinally, adjustably securing said pin to its supporting means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by means for controlling larger or smaller the volume of fuel oil supplied through the valve head by respectively decreasing or increasing the pressure of the fuel oil supplied to the valve element. `4. The. apparatus of claim 1 characterized by means for supplying fuel oil under pressure to the valve element, and means for varying low or high the fuel oil pressure supplied to the valve element for varying respectively greater or less the volume of fuel oil supplied through said valve head.

5. The apparatus of claim l further characterized by the means for supporting said pin being longitudinally adjustable, means for supplying fuel oil under pressure -to the valve element, and manually adjustable means for varying low or high said fuel oil pressure to respectively increase or decrease the volume of fuel oil supplied through said valve head.

6. 'I'he apparatus of claiml further characterized by said fuel oil supplying means having associated therewith at each cylinder adjustable means for varying low or high the pressure of the supplied fuel oil, and respectively increasing or decreasing the volume of fuel oil admitted through the valve head.

7. In a fuel injecting assembly for association with the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, the combination of a plunger mounted to move longitudinally and provided with a head adapted to be exposed to and moyed by pressure within said chamber, a valve member having an enlarged valve head mounted to be exposed to and longitudinally movable by pressure within said chamber and adapted to seat in the head of and to reciprocate with said plunger, a body portion provided with an inner end adapted to be removably attached to a wall of said chamber, said valve member being tubular and open at its end opposite its said head, a stationary plunger extending into the tubular part of and adapted to open said valve member when said movable plunger is moved, a valve and valve seat cooperably 4mounted respectively on said movable plunger and body portion, means for supplying fuel oil under pressure to the last stated valve, registerable oil supply ports l in .the movable plunger and valve member intermediate the last stated valve and the enlarged head of the Valve member, said ports, when the last stated valve is open, communicate with the tubular bore of said valve member and feed fuel oil from the supply thereof to the last stated valve, means for closing said cooperable valve and seat and moving the movable plunger and valve member toward said combustion chamber.

8. 'I'he apparatus of claim 7 characterized by a spring between the valve member and the first plunger adapted to normally hold the valve head against its seat, a second spring adapted to normally hold the plunger valve head against its seat on the body portion, the valve head being adapted to open into the compression-combustion chamber, and the plunger valve being adapted to open outwardly and remote from said chamber.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 characterized by the consumption of the supplied fuel oil being Lintermittent, and the 4fuel oil supply means being provided adjacent the cooperable valvel and seat with pressure yieldable means movable by the pressure of the fuel oil for stabilizing fluctuations occasioned by said intermittent consumption of fuel oil.

the consumption of fuel oil being intermittent, which subjects said oil to uctuations, and the fuel oil supplying means being provided with a fuel oil passage extending'at least partly around said body portion, a pressure diaphragm in said passage and yieldable by the pressure of the fuel oil, and said diaphragm having inner and outer diaphragm walls spaced apart by and secured to an intervening` edge member, there being a fuel oil space between said diaphragm walls and the Wall of the last stated passage.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 characterized by said valve member being provided adjacent its head with helical grooves through which, when said head is 01T its seat, the fuel oil is adapted to helically pass linto the combustion chamber.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 characterized by the fuel pressure supply means having a surplus fuel return means Whose inlet is controlled by the valve comprising a casing, a valve seat therein which forms said inlet, a valve stem extending through said casing and having a threaded portion and a valve head provided with a seating surface adapted to t said valve seat and said head being exposed to the pressure of the fuel tending to pass through said seat, a nut on the threaded portion of said valve stem, means for preventing the turning of the nut by rotation of said stem, and spring means between said nut and a portion of the-casing.

FRANK DAVID BUTLER.

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