Helically-Shaped Intake Port of an Internal-Combustion Engine

The present invention relates to a helically-shaped intake port of an internal-combustion engine.

A helically-shaped intake port normally comprises a helical portion formed around the intake valve of an engine and a substantially straight inlet passage portion tangentially connected to the helical portion. However, if such a helically-shaped intake port is so formed that a strong swirling motion is created in the combustion chamber of an engine when the engine is operating at a low speed under a light load, that is, when the amount of air fed into the cylinder of the engine is small, since air flowing within the helically-shaped intake port is subjected to a great flow resistance, a problem occurs in that the volumetric efficiency is reduced when the engine is operating at a high speed under a heavy load, that is, when the amount of air fed into the cylinder of the engine is large.

In order to eliminate such a problem, the present inventor previously proposed a helically-shaped intake port in which a bypass passage, branched off from the inlet passage portion and connected to the helix-terminating portion of the helical portion, is formed in the cylinder head of an engine. A flow control valve is arranged in the bypass passage and is open when the engine is operating under a heavy load at a high speed. In this helically-shaped intake port, when the engine is operating under a heavy load at a high speed, a part of the air introduced into the inlet passage portion is fed into the helical portion of the helically-shaped intake port via the bypass passage. Consquently, since the flow area of the intake port is increased when the engine is operating under a heavy load at a high speed, it is possible to increase the volumetric efficiency. However, in this helically-shaped intake port, since the bypass passage is formed by a tubular passage which is completely separated from the inlet passage portion, the bypass passage has a relatively great flow resistance. In addition, since it is necessary to form the bypass passage adjacent to the inlet passage portion, the cross-sectional area of the bypass passage is restricted by the presence of the inlet passage portion. Consequently, it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory high volumetric efficiency. In addition, the helically-shaped intake port has a complicated construction itself, and, thus, if a bypass passage completely separated from the inlet passage portion is additionally provided, the entire construction of the intake port becomes extremely complicated. Therefore, it is considerably difficult to form a helically-shaped intake port equipped with such a bypass passage in the cylinder head.

An object of the present invention is to provide a helically-shaped intake port having a novel construction which can be easily manufactured and which is capable of obtaining a high volumetric efficiency when the engine is operating under a heavy load at a high speed.

According to the present invention, there is provided an intake device of an internal-combustion engine comprising: an intake valve having a valve stem; an axially extending intake port passage having an inlet opening at one end thereof and an outlet opening at the other end thereof, the intake port passage having a substantially cylindrically extending circumferential wall which circumferentially extends above the valve stem, a first side wall which extends between the inlet opening and the circumferential wall along an axis of the intake port passage, a second side wall which extends between the inlet opening and the circumferential wall along the axis of the intake port passage and is arranged so that it faces the first side wall, an upper wall which extends between the inlet opening and the circumferential wall along the axis of the intake port passage, and a bottom wall which extends between the inlet opening and the circumferential wall along the axis of the intake port passage; a separating wall projecting downwardly from the upper wall and spaced from the bottom wall, the separating wall extending along the axis of the intake port passage and being spaced from the circumferential wall so as to define a helical portion having a helix-terminating portion between the separating wall and the circumferential wall, the separating wall being spaced from the first side wall so as to define therebetween an inlet passage portion tangentially connected to the helical portion, the separating wall being spaced from the second side wall so as to define therebetween a bypass passage which interconnects the inlet passage portion and the helix-terminating portion, the separating wall extending to near the circumferential wall and opposite the helix-terminating portion with respect to the valve stem so as to define a narrow passage portion between the circumferential wall and the separating wall, the upper wall which extends to the narrow passage portion from the inlet passage portion having a width which is gradually reduced towards the narrow passage portion; normally closed valve means arranged in the bypass passage for controlling the flow area of the bypass passage; and actuating means for actuating the valve means in response to the change in the operating condition of the engine to open the valve means when the engine is operating at a high speed under a heavy load.

The present invention may be more fully understood from the description of a preferred embodiment thereof set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view along the line I--I in FIG. 2 of an internal-combustion engine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view along the line II--II in FIG. 1 of the internal-combustion engine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a helically-shaped intake port according to the present invention schematically illustrating the shape thereof;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a helically-shaped intake port according to the present invention schematically illustrating the shape thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the line V--V in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the intake port of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the line VI--VI in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the intake port of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along the line VII--VII in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the intake port of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the line VIII--VIII in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the intake port of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along the line IX--IX in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the intake port of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of a rotary valve; and

FIG. 11 is a view of a rotary valve drive control drive.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 designates a cylinder block, 2 a piston reciprocally movable in the cylinder block 1, 3 a cylinder head fixed onto the cylinder block 1, 4 a combustion chamber formed between the piston 2 and the cylinder head 3, 5 an intake valve, 6 a helically-shaped intake port formed in the cylinder head 3, 7 an exhaust valve, 8 an exhaust port formed in the cylinder head 3, 9 a spark plug arranged in the combustion chamber 4, and 10 a stem guide for guiding the stem 5a of the intake valve 5. As is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a downwardly projecting separating wall 12 is formed in one piece on the upper wall 11 of the intake port 6, and the helical portion B and the inlet passage portion A tangentially connected to the helical portion B are formed by the separating wall 12. The separating wall 12 extends from the interior region of the inlet passage portion A to the region around the stem 5a of the intake valve 5. From FIG. 2, it will be understood that the width L of the root portion of the separating wall 12 is gradually increased as the measuring point of the width L approaches the stem guide 10 from the inlet passage portion A. The separating wall 12 has a tip portion 13 located near the inlet opening 6a of the intake port 6. In addition, the separating wall 12 comprises a first side wall 14a extending in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 from the tip portion 13 to the stem guide 10 and a second side wall 14b extending in a clockwise direction in FIG. 2 from the tip portion 13 to the stem guide 10. The first side wall 14a extends near the stem guide 10 from the tip portion 13 to near the side wall 15 of the helical portion B, and the first side wall 14a and the side wall 15 define a narrow passage portion 16 therebetween. The first side wall 14a extends to the stem guide 10 while curving so that the first side wall 14a gradually moves away from the side wall 15 of the helical portion B. The second side wall 14b, which is substantially straight, extends from the tip portion 13 to the stem guide 10.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 9, the side walls 17, 18 of the inlet passage portion A are substantially vertically arranged, and the upper wall 19 of the inlet passage portion A gradually descends towards the helical portion B. The side wall 17 of the inlet passage portion A is smoothly connected to the side wall 15 of the helical portion B, and the upper wall 19 of the inlet passage portion A is smoothly connected to the upper wall 20 of the helical portion B. The upper wall 20 of the helical portion B gradually descends towards the narrow passage portion 16 from the connecting portion of the inlet passage portion A and the helical portion B. In addition, the width of the upper wall 20 of the helical portion B is gradually reduced towards the narrow passage portion 16 from the connecting portion of the inlet passage portion A and the helical portion B. Then the width of the upper wall 20 is gradually increased towards the helix-terminating portion C of the helical portion B from the narrow passage portion 16. The entire bottom wall 21 of the inlet passage portion A is substantially horizontally arranged near the inlet opening 6a (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the intake port 6, as is illustrated in FIG. 5. As the bottom wall 21 approaches the helical portion B, the bottom wall portion 21a located adjacent to the side wall 17 is gradually raised and forms an inclined face, as is illustrated in FIG. 8. The inclined angle of the bottom wall portion 21a is gradually increased towards the helical portion B.

The first side wall 14a of the separating wall 12 is slightly inclined so as to be directed downward, and the second side wall 14b is substantially vertically arranged. The bottom face 22 of the separating wall 12 descends, while slightly curving, towards the helical portion B from the inlet passage portion A so that the distance between the bottom face 22 of the separating wall 12 and the upper wall 19 of the inlet passage portion A is gradually increased towards the stem guide 10 from the tip portion 13. A downwardly projecting rib 23 is formed on the bottom face 22 of the separating wall 12 in the region indicated by the hatching in FIG. 4, and the bottom face of the rib 23 and the bottom face 22 form a slightly curved and inclined face.

A bypass passage 24, interconnecting the inlet passage portion A and the helix-terminating portion C of the helical portion B, is formed in the cylinder head 3, and a rotary valve 25 is arranged in the inlet portion of the bypass passage 24. The bypass passage 24 is separated from the inlet passage portion A by the separating wall 12, and the lower space of the bypass passage 24 is in communication with the inlet passage portion A over the entire length of the bypass passage 24. The upper wall 26 of the bypass passage 24 has an approximately uniform width. The upper wall 26 gradually descends towards the helix-terminating portion C and is smoothly connected to the upper wall 20 of the helical portion B. The side wall 27 of the bypass passage 24, which faces the second side wall 14b of the separating wall 12, is substantially vertically arranged and is located approximately on the extension of the side wall 18 of the inlet passage portion A. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the rib 23 extends towards the intake valve 5 from a position near the rotary valve 25.

As is illustrated in FIG. 10, the rotary valve 25 comprises a rotary valve holder 28 and a valve shaft 29 rotatably supported by the rotary valve holder 28. The rotary valve holder 28 is screwed into a valve insertion bore 30 formed in the cylinder head 3. A thin plate-shaped valve body 31 is formed on the lower end of the valve shaft 29 and extends between the bottom wall 21 of the inlet passage portion A and the upper wall 26 of the bypass passage 24, as is illustrated in FIG. 1. An arm 32 is fixed onto the top end of the valve shaft 29. A ring groove 33 is formed on the outer circumferential wall of the valve shaft 29, and an E-shaped positioning ring 34 is fitted into the ring groove 33. In addition, a seal member 35 is fitted onto the upper portion of the rotary valve holder 28, and the seal member 35 seals the valve shaft 29.

Referring to FIG. 11, the tip of the arm 32 fixed onto the top end of the rotary valve 25 is connected via a connecting rod 43 to a control rod 42 which is fixed onto a diaphragm 41 of a vacuum-operated diaphragm apparatus 40. The diaphragm apparatus 40 comprises a vacuum chamber 44 separated from the atmosphere by the diaphragm 41, and a compression spring 45 for biasing the diaphragm 41 is inserted into the vacuum chamber 44.

An intake manifold 47, equipped with a compound-type carburetor 46 comprising a primary carburetor 46a and a secondary carburetor 46b, is mounted on the cylinder head 3, and the vacuum chamber 44 is connected to the interior of the intake manifold 47 via a vacuum conduit 48. A check valve 49, permitting air to flow from the vacuum chamber 44 into the intake manifold 47, is arranged in the vacuum conduit 48. In addition, the vacuum chamber 44 is connected to the atmosphere via an atmosphere conduit 50 and a control valve 51. The control valve 51 comprises a vacuum chamber 53 and an atmospheric pressure chamber 54 which are separated by a diaphragm 52. In addition, the control valve 51 further comprises a valve chamber 55 arranged adjacent to the atmospheric pressure chamber 54. The valve chamber 55 is connected at one end to the vacuum chamber 44 via the atmosphere conduit 50 and at the other end to the atmosphere via a valve port 56 and an air filter 57. A valve body 58, controlling the opening operation of the valve port 56, is arranged in the valve chamber 55 and is connected to the diaphragm 52 via a valve rod 59. A compression spring 60 for biasing the diaphragm 52 is inserted into the vacuum chamber 53, and the vacuum chamber 53 is connected to a venturi portion 62 of the primary carburetor 46a via a vacuum conduit 61.

The carburetor 46 is a conventional carburetor. Consequently, when the opening degree of a primary throttle valve 63 is increased beyond a predetermined degree, a secondary throttle valve 64 is opened. When the primary throttle valve 63 is fully opened, the secondary throttle valve 64 is also fully opened. The level of vacuum produced in the venturi portion 62 of the primary carburetor 46a is increased as the amount of air fed into the cylinder of the engine is increased. Consequently, when a great vacuum is produced in the venturi portion 62, that is, when the engine is operating at a high speed under a heavy load, the diaphragm 52 of the control valve 51 moves towards the right in FIG. 11 against the compression spring 60. As a result, the valve body 58 opens the valve port 56. Thus, the vacuum chamber 44 of the diaphragm apparatus 40 becomes open to the atmosphere. At this time, the diaphragm 41 moves downward in FIG. 11 due to the spring force of the compression spring 45, and, thus, the rotary valve 25 is rotated and fully opens the bypass passage 24.

On the other hand, in the case wherein the opening degree of the primary throttle valve 63 is small, since the vacuum produced in the venturi portion 62 is small, the diaphragm 52 of the control valve 51 moves towards the left in FIG. 11 due to the spring force of the compression spring 60. As a result, the valve body 58 closes the valve port 56. In addition, in the case wherein the opening degree of the primary throttle valve 63 is small, a great vacuum is produced in the intake manifold 47. Since the check valve 49 opens when the level of vacuum produced in the intake manifold 47 becomes greater than that of the vacuum produced in the vacuum chamber 44 and since the check valve 49 closes when the level of the vacuum provided in the intake manifold 47 becomes less than that of the venturi produced in the vacuum chamber 44, the level of the vacuum in the vacuum chamber 44 is maintained at the maximum vacuum level in the intake manifold 47 as long as the control valve 51 remains closed. If a vacuum is produced in the vacuum chamber 44, the diaphragm 41 moves upward in FIG. 11 against the compression spring 45. As a result, the rotary valve 25 is rotated and closes the bypass passage 24. Consequently, when the engine is operating at a low speed under a light load, the bypass passage 24 is closed by the rotary valve 25. In the case wherein the engine speed is low even if the engine is operating under a heavy load and in the case wherein the engine is operating under a light load even if the engine speed is high, since the vacuum produced in the venturi portion 62 is small, the control valve 51 remains closed. Consequently, when the engine is operating at a low speed under a heavy load and at a high speed under a light load, since the level of the vacuum in the vacuum chamber 44 is maintained at the above-mentioned maximum level, the bypass passage 24 is closed by the rotary valve 25.

As was mentioned above, when the engine is operating at a low speed under a light load, that is, when the amount of air fed into the cylinder of the engine is small, the rotary valve 25 closes the bypass passage 24. At this time, a part of the mixture introduced into the inlet passage portion A moves forward along the upper walls 19, 20. In addition, at this time, a part of the remaining mixture impinges upon the rotary valve 25, and the flow direction thereof is deflected towards the side wall 17 of the inlet passage portion A. The the part of the remaining mixture moves forward along the side wall 15 of the helical portion B. As was mentioned above, since the widths of the upper walls 19, 20 are gradually reduced towards the narrow passage portion 16, the cross section of the flow path of the mixture flowing along the upper walls 19, 20 is gradually reduced towards the narrow passage portion 16. Thus, the velocity of the mixture flowing along the upper walls 19, 20 is gradually increased. In addition, as was mentioned above, since the first side wall 14a of the separating wall 12 extends to near the side wall 15 of the helical portion B, the mixture flowing along the upper walls 19, 20 is led onto the side wall 15 of the helical portion B and then moves forwards along the side wall 15. As a result, a strong swirling motion is created in the helical portion B. Then the swirling mixture flows into the combustion chamber 4 via the valve gap formed between the intake valve 5 and its valve seat and causes a strong swirling motion in the combustion chamber 4.

When the engine is operating at a high speed under a heavy load, that is, when the amount of air fed into the cylinder of the engine is large, since the rotary valve 25 opens the bypass passage 24, the mixture introduced into the inlet passage portion A is divided into three mixture streams. That is, the first mixture stream is a mixture stream which flows into the intake port 6 between the first side wall 14a of the separating wall 12 and the side wall 17 of the inlet passage portion A and then flows, while swirling, along the upper wall 20 of the helical portion B. The second mixture stream is a mixture stream which flows into the helical portion B through the bypass passage 24. The third mixture stream is a mixture stream which flows into the helical portion B along the bottom wall 21 of the inlet passage portion A. The flow resistance of the bypass passage 24 is smaller than that of the flow path formed between the first side wall 14a and the side wall 17, and, thus, the amount of the second mixture stream is larger than that of the first mixture stream. In addition, the flow direction of the first mixture stream which flows, while swirling, within the helical portion B is deflected downward by the second mixture stream, and, thus, the swirling motion of the first mixture stream is weakened. As was mentioned above, since the amount of the mixture which flows within the bypass passage 24 having a small flow resistance is increased and since the flow direction of the first mixture stream is deflected downward, it is possible to obtain a high volumetric efficiency. In addition, as was mentioned above, since the bottom face 22 of the separating wall 12 is inclined so as to be directed downward, the third mixture stream is guided by the bottom face 22 of the separating wall 12 so that the flow direction of the third mixture stream is deflected downward. Thus, it is possible to obtain a further high volumetric efficiency.

As was mentioned above, since the first side wall 14a of the separating wall 12 extends to near the side wall 15 of the helical portion B and forms the narrow passage portion 16, it is possible to create a strong swirling motion when the engine is operating under a light load at a low speed. In addition, since the width of the upper wall 20 of the helical portion B, which upper wall is located between the narrow passage portion 16 and the outlet portion of the bypass passage 24, is reduced towards the narrow passage portion 16, when the rotary valve 25 is opened, the second mixture stream flowing out from the bypass passage 24 and along the upper wall 20 of the helical portion B towards the narrow passage portion 16 is pushed downward as the second mixture stream approaches the narrow passage portion 16. The flow direction of the above-mentioned first mixture stream is deflected by the second mixture stream which is pushed downward, and, as a result, the volumetric efficiency is increased. Consequently, the presence of the narrow passage portion 16 has an influence on the creation of the swirling motion and the volumetric efficiency. For example, it has been proven that the swirling motion is weakened if the narrow passage portion 16 is too near to the outlet portion of the inlet passage portion A while the volumetric efficiency is reduced if the narrow passage portion 16 is too near to the outlet portion of the bypass passage 24. Consequently, it is preferable that the narrow passage portion 16 be formed opposite the outlet portion of the bypass passage 24 with respect to the stem 5a of the intake valve 5, as is illustrated in FIG. 2.

In the present invention, the intake port 6 can be formed by forming the separating wall 12 in one piece on the upper wall of the intake port 6. Consequently, it is possible to easily manufacture the helically-shaped intake port.

According to the present invention, by forming the separating wall so that it extends to near the side wall of the helical portion, it is possible to create a strong swirling motion when the engine is operating under a light load at a low speed, and it is possible to increase the volumetric efficiency when the engine is operating under a heavy load at a high speed.

While the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment chosen for purposes of illustration, it should be apparent that numerous modifications could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the basic concept and scope of the invention.