Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – Including valve means in flow line – Reciprocating
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-13
2003-11-18
Hwu, Davis (Department: 3752)
Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing
Including valve means in flow line
Reciprocating
C239S585300, C239S585400, C239S585500, C239S533300, C239S533900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06648249
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Examples of known fuel injector use an armature assembly having an armature that reciprocates between an open position and a closed position. The distance that the armature travels is known as an injector lift height, working air gap or distance. The working air gap or distance is one of many variables that determine the amount of fuel that will be dispensed outside the fuel injector when the injector is actuated.
The air gap is believed to be set by first taking a series of direct contact measurements. One direct measurement is believed to determine the distance between a contact face of a pole piece of the armature assembly and a sealing diameter of a seat. Another direct measurement is believed to determine the distance between the sealing diameter of a seat and the position of a closure member during a full open position. The difference between these two measurements determines the approximate working gap. The actual working gap is believed to be set by using a deformable ring that is inserted into a shoulder formed at one end of a valve body. The ring is subsequently crushed to the approximate working gap.
The actual working gap, however, may vary between individual injectors due to variations in the direct measurement operations, the deformability of the crush ring material or the valve body. Moreover, the direct measurements oftentimes can introduce contaminants into the fuel injector, leading to the possibility of inconsistent injector performance. Additionally, the crushing operation is believed to introduce undesirable structural loading on the body of the injector. Furthermore, the use of crush ring is believed to require random samplings of the crush ring and injectors to maintain consistent injector performance. Finally, once the crush ring is installed or crushed, it is believed that no adjustment can be made unless the crush ring is extracted and replaced with a new one.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIG. 1
, an enlarged partial view of a fuel injector extending between axis A—A, having a housing or valve body
200
, an armature assembly
210
and a ferromagnetic coil
220
disposed between inlet end
300
A and outlet end
300
B. The armature assembly
210
can include an armature
212
, armature tube
216
and a closure element
218
. The armature tube
216
can be integrated with the armature
212
for a two-piece armature assembly. Alternatively, the armature tube
216
can be integrated with the closure
218
. The armature assembly
210
is magnetically coupled to an electromagnetic actuator assembly that includes a pole piece or a stator
214
, coil
220
and bobbin. The valve body
200
is affixed to a shell
350
that is further affixed to the pole piece
214
. An elastic member
225
that can be a coil spring is disposed between the movable armature
214
and the fixed stator
214
. The elastic member
225
operates to bias the armature assembly
210
towards the outlet end
300
B of the injector, thereby forming a gap &Dgr; between the stator
214
and the armature
212
. Although disclosed as a single spring, the elastic member
225
can include more than one coil spring for a multi-spring rate elastic member. A flow metering device or seat
244
at the outlet end
300
B of the injector engages the armature assembly
210
, and prevents the elastic member
225
from pushing the armature assembly
210
out of the valve body
200
. Where the seat
244
is located defines how far the elastic member
225
can separate the armature assembly
210
from the stator
214
. In other words, the elastic member
225
and seat
244
cooperate to define a working gap &Dgr; between the armature
212
and the stator
214
. Finally, the location of the seat
244
also sets a spring preload on elastic member
225
that acts on the armature assembly
210
by the elastic member
225
.
The present invention further provides a method of setting a working gap of an armature assembly in a fuel injector. The fuel injector includes a housing including a first end and a second end extending between a longitudinal axis, a housing having a flow passage extending between the first and second ends, an electromagnetic actuator including a stator and an armature assembly, a spring disposed between the stator and the armature assembly and operable to push the armature assembly towards the second end to form a gap therein. The method comprises inserting a sleeve and a flow metering assembly within the flow passage, the flow metering assembly limiting the movement of the armature assembly towards the second end, and limiting the inserting of the flow metering assembly along the longitudinal axis toward a first end by a position of the sleeve, the position defining the magnitude of the gap between the stator and the armature assembly.
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Hwu Davis
Siemens Automotive Corporation
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