Integrally Formed and Tuned Fuel Rail/Injectors

The field of the invention relates to electromagnetic fuel injectors, fuel rails and processes for fabricating same.

For motor vehicle applications in particular, it is known to mechanically couple a plurality of electromagnetic fuel injectors between a fuel rail and an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. In response to an electronic drive signal, the actuated fuel injector passes fuel from the fuel rail into the intake manifold for a predetermined time thereby delivering a predetermined amount of fuel. For accurate fuel delivery, each fuel injector coupled to the fuel rail must deliver substantially the same amount of fuel during the predetermined time of actuation.

A typical fuel injector, which is illustrated herein in Prior Art FIG. 1, is shown connected to fuel rail 102 by fuel connector 6. Fuel injector 10, which is one of a plurality of fuel injectors connected to fuel rail 4, includes housing 12 constructed of an electromagnetic permeable material and having a lower housing 14 crimped to an upper housing 16. Lower housing 14 is fabricated by a conventional cold heading and machining process which forms fuel passageway 18 and cavity 20 for receiving coil bobbin assembly 22 therein Electrical contacts 24 are positioned through plastic cap 26 and connected to coil bobbin assembly 22 through housing 12. Placement of "O" ring 28 and "O" ring 30 on respective lower housing 14 and upper housing 16 within cavity 20 is required to seal coil bobbin assembly 22 and electrical contacts 24 from fuel passageway 18.

Continuing with Prior Art FIG. 1, armature 34 is slidably, axially mounted within fuel passageway 18 and biased against spring 32. Armature 34 is connected to stem 36 which is axially positioned within sleeve 42 and includes conical end 38. Lower housing 14 is crimped to sleeve 42. Sleeve 42 has a conical seat 46 formed around valve opening 50 for mating with conical end 38 of stem 36 thereby forming a needle and seat valve. Fuel passageway 18 communicates with sleeve 42 and extends through upper housing 16 to fuel connector 6 which mates with fuel rail 4.

During operation, coil bobbin assembly 22 is electrically actuated by a drive signal of predetermined voltage and pulse width. A magnetic field is thereby induced through a magnetic core defined by lower housing 14 and upper housing 16. This induced magnetic field couples to armature 34 deflecting it against spring 32 thereby opening the needle and seat valve. When the drive signal is deactuated, spring 32 downwardly deflects armature 34 thereby closing the needle and seat valve. Accordingly, dynamic fuel flow through the fuel injector is related to spring strength of spring 32, electrical characteristics of coil bobbin assembly 32, and size of valve opening 50.

Prior approaches have also sought to separately adjust fuel delivery through each fuel injector and match sets of fuel injectors to a fuel rail. More specifically, tube 56 is inserted within fuel passageway 58 against spring 32 of prior art fuel injector 12 or similar fuel injector. Fuel injector 12 is then inserted on a test stand (not shown) and tube 56 connected to a stepper motor (not shown) for coupling axial movement to tube 56. A fuel metering probe (not shown) is coupled to fuel passageway 58 which in turn is coupled to a source of pressurized fuel (not shown). A voltage signal is then applied to electrical contacts 24 for a predetermined time and fuel flow measured. Tube 56 is axially displaced, upwardly or downwardly, until a desired fuel flow is measured during such predetermined time. Afterwards, tube 56 is crimped to prevent further movement. In effect, the spring constant of spring 32 is being adjusted to achieve a desired dynamic response. In accordance with the test measurements, a set of closely matched fuel injectors are selected for installation on a particular fuel rail.

The inventor herein has recognized numerous disadvantages of the prior art device and processes described above. For example, the fuel adjusting and fuel injector matching processes have inherent inaccuracies in addition to manufacturing complexity. A number of test stands are required for efficient manufacturing and each of these stands is calibrated differently. Accordingly, there will be variances between fuel injectors processed on different stands. Further, the measuring probe influences fuel flow through each injector such that the resulting measurements may not accurately reflect actual fuel flow. In addition, only the injectors are adjusted and measured, fuel flow variances are also introduced by the fuel rail.

The inventor herein has also recognized numerous disadvantages of the prior art structural devices, specifically the fuel injector and fuel rail. Numerous processing and assembly steps are required to fabricate a fuel rail and couple each individual fuel injector to the fuel rail through a corresponding fuel connector. Further, for each fuel injector, several "O" rings and corresponding assembly steps are required to seal coil bobbin assembly 22 and electrical contacts 24 from fuel passageway 18. In addition, complicated processing steps are required such as cold heading and machining lower housing 12 to form fuel passageway 18 and cavity 20. Cumbersome crimping steps are also required to assemble lower housing 12 to upper housing 14 and sleeve 42. The magnetically permeable housing is also susceptible to corrosion in typical under hood environments.

An object of the invention described herein is to provide a fuel rail, including injectors, which are electrically tuned to deliver substantially the same amount of fuel from each injector. Another object is to eliminate the need for a fuel rail which is totally separate from the fuel injectors and eliminate the fuel connectors of prior approaches.

The above described object is achieved, disadvantages of prior approaches overcome, and other objects and advantages obtained by providing a fuel rail with injectors that are electrically tuned such that each injector delivers substantially equivalent fuel flow, and processes for fabricating such apparatus, as claimed herein. In one aspect of the invention, a fuel rail assembly comprises: a plurality of fuel injectors each including an electric coil assembly and valve means mechanically responsive to application of electrical power to the coil assembly for controlling fuel flow through the fuel injector; a plurality of electronic drivers each coupled to a corresponding one of the electric coil assemblies for applying the electrical power; and a plurality of adjusting means each including a separate resistor coupled in series between one of the electrical drivers and one of the electric coils, each of the resistors of the adjusting means having a preselected resistance value determined by operating characteristics of the fuel injector to which the resistor is coupled for maintaining substantially equivalent fuel flow through each of the fuel injectors.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for integrally forming a fuel rail assembly having a plurality of core fuel injector assemblies which are electrically tuned for substantially equivalent fuel flow is provided. One such method comprises the steps of: positioning each of a plurality of electric coil assemblies within a corresponding magnetic core to form a plurality of the core fuel injector assemblies and positioning each of the core fuel injector assemblies within a separable mold; inserting each of a plurality of first removable pins into an opening concentrically formed in each of the core fuel injector assemblies; inserting a second removable pin into the mold which communicates with each of the core fuel injector assemblies; injecting plastic into the mold for hermetically sealing each of the coil assemblies within the corresponding magnetic core for each of the core fuel injector assemblies; removing the first pins to define a fuel passageway in each of the core fuel injector assemblies and removing the second pin to define a fuel path communicating with each of the fuel passageways; removing the separable mold to provide the fuel rail assembly with the plurality of core fuel injector assemblies hermetically sealed therein; inserting each of a plurality of armatures into each of the fuel passageways of the core fuel injector assemblies; coupling each of a plurality of valve assemblies to each of the fuel passageways of the core fuel injector assemblies; and connecting one of a plurality of resistors in series between each one of the coil assemblies and one of an equal plurality of electronic drivers, the resistors being selected with a resistance value to provide substantially equivalent fuel flow through each of the core fuel injector assemblies.

An advantage of the above aspects of the invention is that a fuel rail is provided with substantially equivalent fuel flow through each injector without complicated adjusting steps inherent in prior approaches such as adjusting spring forces. An additional advantage is that the entire fuel rail is tuned for desired fuel delivery.

Another advantage of the above aspect of the invention is that the core fuel injector assemblies, including the magnetic core and coil bobbin assembly, are integrally formed with the fuel rail thereby eliminating the disadvantage of separate fabrication and assembly steps inherent with prior approaches. Another advantage is that the electric coil assembly and associated electrical contacts are hermetically sealed and isolated from the fuel passageway by injection molding plastic during the fabrication process without the need for installing numerous "O" rings or bonding, and sealing the electrical contacts which are disadvantages of prior approaches. The coil assembly is completely surrounded within the molded plastic, and the molding provides a separate fuel path, which eliminates any interfaces which would otherwise require "O" rings or bonding. Still another advantage is that the fuel injector housing is integrally formed from the injection molded plastic thereby eliminating the prior approach processing disadvantages of cold heading, machining, and crimping housing portions together. Another advantage is that the need for a magnetically permeable housing to create the magnetic core and the inherent disadvantage of susceptibility to corrosion is also eliminated.

The objects and advantages described herein will be more fully understood, and others will become apparent, by reading an example of an embodiment in which the invention is used to advantage, referred to herein as the Preferred Embodiment, with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a prior art fuel injector described further in the Background of the Invention section;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an integrally formed fuel rail assembly with fuel injectors coupled to electrical power drivers through tunning resistors positioned on the fuel rail;

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a single fuel injector partially embedded within the fuel rail assembly taken along lines 3A--3A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3B is a partially broken away and rotated view of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 illustrates placement of various fuel injector components shown in FIG. 2 within a two piece mold for purposes of describing various process steps;

FIG. 5 is an additional illustration of the two piece mold shown in FIG. 4 provided for purposes of describing the process steps herein;

FIG. 6 is an additional illustration of the two piece mold shown in FIG. 4 provided for purposes of describing the process steps herein.

FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of the two-piece mold shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a fuel injector partially embedded within a first rail formed in accordance with the embodiment shown in FIG. 7; and

FIGS. 9A-9C are a schematic representation of three alternative fuel connections between the fuel injectors in accordance with the fabrication process shown in FIG. 7.

Referring first to FIG. 2, integrally formed fuel rail assembly 102 is shown for illustrative purposes having a plurality of fuel injectors 110a-110d. As described in greater detail later herein, each of the fuel injectors 110a-110d includes one of the corresponding core fuel injector assemblies 114a-114d, which are molded within fuel rail 102, and one of the corresponding armature assemblies 136a-136d inserted within one of the corresponding sleeves 134a-134c. Fuel rail 102 also includes fuel inlet 106, coupled to a source of fuel such as a fuel pump (not shown), and fuel outlet 108 for returning fuel to a fuel supply or fuel tank (not shown). Conventional pressure regulator 112 is shown coupled to fuel rail 102 for maintaining a desired fuel pressure therein.

In this particular example, fuel injectors 110a-110d are electronically actuated, via respective pair of electrical contacts 120a-120d (each pair having a positive and a negative terminal), by conventional fuel controller 60, via respective electrical connector 62. Fuel controller 60 is responsive to voltage signals fpa, fph, fpc, and fpd from engine controller 84 which is described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,614 issued to Moyer and incorporated herein by reference. In response to fuel controller 60, fuel injectors 110a-d meter desired quantities of fuel, at desired times, from fuel rail 102 into an intake manifold (not shown) of an internal combustion engine (not shown).

Continuing with FIG. 2, connector board 64 is shown mounted on fuel rail 102 and includes connector tabs 66a-d, and connector tab 68. Conductive trace 88 is shown coupled between connector tab 68 and the positive contact of each pair of electrical contacts 120a-d. The negative terminal of each pair of electrical contacts 120a-d is shown coupled to respective connector tabs 66a-d via respective conductive traces 92a-d. As described in greater detail later herein conductive traces 88 and 92a-d are embedded within fuel rail 102 during the injection molding process. Connector tabs 66a-d are coupled to respective connector tabs 74a-d and fuel controller 60 via connector cable 62. Similarly, connector tab 60 is coupled to connector tab 72 on fuel controller 60 via connector cable 62. As described later herein, trimming resistors 70a-d are selected and inserted on connector board 64 in series between respective connector tabs 66a-d and 74a-d.

Fuel controller 60 is now described with continuing reference to FIG. 2. Connector tab 72 is shown connected to battery voltage V.sub.B for supplying V.sub.B to each positive contact of each pair of electrical contacts 120a-d. Conventional Darlington Pair transistors 76a-d are each shown having their collector electrodes coupled to respective connector tabs 74a-d. Each collector electrode of transistors 76a-d is also coupled to the positive plate of respective capacitors 78a-d, the negative plate being coupled to electrical ground, for providing ac filtering in a conventional manner. Conventional Zener diodes 80a-d are each shown having an anode coupled to electrical return and a cathode coupled to the collector of each transistor 76a-d for providing an electrical short to ground should an overload condition occur. The base electrode of each transistor 76a-d is shown coupled to respective actuating signals fpa-fpd from electronic engine controller 84 via respective series resistors 82a-d.

A cross-sectional view of a portion of fuel rail 102 and fuel injector 110a, taken along line 3A--3A of FIG. 2, is shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. In this particular example, core fuel injector assembly 114a is shown including coil bobbin assembly 116a inserted within a stator or magnetic core 124a. Coil bobbin assembly 116a includes wire 118a wound about bobbin 119a and having opposing ends connected to pair of electrical contacts 120a for connection to fuel controller 60.

As described in greater detail later herein with particular reference to FIGS. 4-6, injection molded plastic 132 seals coil bobbin assembly 116a within magnetic core 124a, and also forms both housing 144a and axial fuel passageway 126a. Injection molded plastic 132 also forms fuel rail 102 and fuel path 156 within fuel rail 102 which communicates with fuel passageways 126a-126d. In addition, molded plastic 132 also seals coil bobbin assembly 116a and contacts 120a from any fuel flow, such as through axial fuel passageway 126a, thereby eliminating the need for a plurality of "O" rings and additional assembly processes which were inherent in prior approaches. In addition, integrally forming a plastic housing around a magnetic core eliminates the need for a magnetic permeable housing which is prone to corrosion and the associated crimping, cold heading, and machining processes which were previously described disadvantages of prior approaches.

Continuing with FIGS. 3A-3B, magnetic core 124a, constructed of a magnetic permeable material, includes U-shape strap 123a having its open end welded to magnetic permeable assembly 128a having axial bore 130a formed therein. Sleeve 134a, having axially bored fuel passageway 146a and valve opening 148a circumscribed by conical seat valve 150a, is shown coupled to axial bore 130a of magnetic core 124a. Armature assembly 136a is shown including rotor or armature 138a, and stem 140a having conical needle 142a formed thereon for mating with conical seat valve 150a. Armature 138a is shown including recess 158a for positioning return spring 162a therein. Armature assembly 136a is shown positioned within sleeve 134a such that armature 138a resides within axial fuel passageway 126a and is biased away from upper leg 125a of magnetic core 124a by return spring 162a. Silicon etched nozzles 166a, described in U.S. Pat. 4,907,748 the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference, is shown communicating with valve opening 148a of sleeve 134a and attached thereto by retaining cap 168a. Retaining cap 168a of fuel injector 110a is adapted for insertion into the engine intake manifold (not shown) and sealed thereto by "O" ring 178.

During fuel injector operation, electronic engine controller 84, via fuel controller 60, demands a predetermined amount of fuel for delivery to the internal combustion engine by electronically actuating coil bobbin assembly 116a a predetermined time via electrical contacts 120a. In response, the magnetic field coupled to magnetic core 124a via coil bobbin assembly 116a axially displaces armature 138a in an upward direction against return spring 162a thereby displacing needle 142a from conical seat valve 150a. Fuel then flows from fuel path 156 through axial fuel passageway 126a of core fuel injector assembly 114a, axial fuel passage 146a and valve opening 148a of sleeve 134a, and silicon etched nozzles 166a, into the intake manifold (not shown). When electrical power is removed from coil bobbin assembly 116a, return spring 162a downwardly deflects armature assembly 136a thereby seating needle 142a against valve opening 148a to stop fuel flow through the injector. Since coil bobbin assembly 116a and contacts 120a are hermetically sealed from the fuel passageways by injection molded plastic 132, as previously described, fuel flowing through the passageways cannot come in contact with any electrical components. Should the bond between injection molded plastic 132 and magnetic core 124a ever develop a slight gap, fuel would still not come in contact with any electrical components, but would simply flow around magnetic core 124a and return to the fuel passageways (126a, 127a, or 146a).

The process steps for fabricating fuel rail 102 and fuel injectors 110a-110d are now described with reference to FIGS. 4-6, wherein like numerals refer to like parts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B. For ease of illustration, FIGS. 4-6 show only two fuel injectors (110b and 110d) formed within a portion of fuel rail 102. To further ease the illustration, the following discussion is with reference to only one fuel injector (110d), the components and process steps for fabricating being the same for fuel injectors 110a-110d.

Referring first to FIG. 4, two piece injection mold 182 is shown having lower mold 184 and upper mold 186 in the open position. Lower mold 184 is shown having recess 188d with removable pin 190d inserted therein. Core fuel injector assembly 114d is shown positioned over pin 190d within recess 188d. As described previously herein, core fuel injector assembly 114d includes coil bobbin assembly 116d, having wire 118d wound on bobbin 119d and contacts 120d (FIGS. 2 ad 3B) coupled to opposing ends of wire 118d, and positioned within magnetic core 124d. Pin 190d is shown inserted through fuel passageway 126d of core fuel injector assembly 114d and biased against upper leg 125d of magnetic core 124d.

Upper mold 186 is shown including injection inlet opening 196d communicating with recess 198 which has removable pin 202 disposed therein. Removable pin 202 includes flattened side 204 adapted for flush communication with upper leg 125d of magnetic core 124d when two piece mold 182 is assembled.

Referring now to FIG. 5, two piece injection mold 182 is shown in the mated position with pin 202 displaced against upper leg 125d of magnetic core 124d. Plastic as been injected through opening 196 to form fuel rail 102 and hermetically seal coil bobbin assembly 116d and magnetic core 124d within fuel rail 102.

Referring to FIG. 6 and also referring to FIG. 3A, removal of pin 190d and pin 202d respectively defines axial fuel passageway 126d and fuel path 198 which communicate with each other through fuel opening 122d in upper leg 125d of magnetic core 124d.

An assembly process then follows which is more easily understood with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B wherein like numerals refer to like parts shown in FIGS. 4-6. Silicon nozzle assembly 166d is bonded to sleeve 134d in communication with valve opening 148d. Retaining cap 168d is then crimped onto sleeve 134d and "O" ring 178d positioned on sleeve 134d. Armature assembly 136d, having return spring 162d coupled to armature 138d, is inserted into sleeve 136d which is then axially inserted into fuel passageway 126d of core fuel injector assembly 114d. "O" ring 164d and retaining ring 170d are positioned for sealing sleeve 134d to housing 144d and completing the fabrication process.

The assembly process continues with reference to FIG. 2 and selection of trimming resistors 70a-d. Fuel rail 102 is placed on a test stand (not shown) for measurement of fuel delivered by fuel injectors 110a-d during the voltage high state of respective fuel actuation signals fpa-fpd from electronic controller 84. More specifically, a set of trimming resistors 70a-d is first inserted on connector board 64. Referring, for example, to fuel injector 110a, coil bobbin assembly 116 is connected between VB and the output electrode of transistor 76a via series trimming resistor 70a. During the high voltage state of actuation signal fpa, transistor 76a is switched to the ON state thereby coupling electrical ground to coil bobbin assembly 116 via trimming resistor 70a. Accordingly, coil bobbin assembly is then connected in series between VB and ground through trimming resistor 70a and the dynamic impedance of transistor 76a. The test technician sequentially activates fuel injectors 110a-d and measures the resulting fuel flow therethrough. Trimming resistors 70a-d are then exchanged with trimming resistors of a desired resistance value to achieve substantially equivalent fuel flow through each fuel injector 110a-d.

An advantage of the above described process for achieving uniform fuel flow by judicious selection of resistance values, is that substantially equivalent fuel flow is achieved without cumbersome process steps such as the prior approach of altering the spring constant of each fuel injector as described previously. In addition, greater accuracy is achieved because the entire fuel rail is tunned and the need for inserting probes within the fuel flow path of an injector and the resulting inaccuracy caused thereby is eliminated. Further, each fuel injector is tunned on a single fuel stand thereby eliminating inaccuracies caused by variations among different stands which is a disadvantage inherent in prior approaches.

In addition to the advantages described above, it is readily apparent that these fabrication processes eliminate the prior art need for a separately formed fuel rail, fuel connectors and associated fabrication and assembly steps. In addition, the prior fuel injector requirements for cold heading, machining and crimping. A more reliable fuel injector results requiring fewer assembly steps and sealing components, such as "O" rings, than heretofore possible.

An alternative embodiment is now described with particular reference to FIGS. 7, 8, and 9A-9C wherein like numerals refer to like parts shown in FIGS. 1-6.

Referring first to FIG. 7, two-piece mold 182 is shown substantially similar to two-piece mold 182 previously described with particular reference to FIGS. 4-6, with the addition of longitudinal pin 220'. Before the injection molding process, longitudinal pin 220' is inserted as shown through pins 190a-d'. After the injection molding process which was previously described herein, longitudinal pin 220' is removed thereby defining lower fuel path 220' which communicates with axial fuel passageways 126a-d'. The assembly process for fuel injectors 110a-d' proceeds as previously described with insertion of sleeves 134a-c' and respective armature assemblies 136a-c'.

In this manner each fuel injectors 110a-d' are formed within fuel rail 102' communicating with upper fuel passageway 106' and lower fuel passageway 122' as shown in FIG. 8. In this particular configuration, fuel passageway 122' communicates with axial fuel passageways 146a-d' via respective bores 230a-d' through respective sleeves 134a-d'. Fuel is provided through upper fuel path 106' and excess fuel returned through fuel path 122'. This configuration is shown schematically in FIG. 9C.

Another alternate embodiment is provided wherein fuel is supplied through lower fuel path 122' as shown schematically in FIG. 9B. This particular configuration is provided by two-piece mold 182' as follows. Pin 202' is not utilized during the molding process. Longitudinal pin 220', however, is utilized to form lower fuel path 222' as previously described. Accordingly, after the injection molding process steps previously described, a fuel injector rail and embedded fuel injectors are formed having fuel feed only through lower fuel path 222'.

In accordance with the above alternative embodiments, three possible fuel feed figurations are achieved as shown schematically in FIGS. 9A-9C by judicious selection of pins 202' and 220' in two-piece mold 182'. This provides the designer and fabricators with flexibility in providing fuel rails, and also fuel injectors which was not hereto before possible.

This concludes the Description of the Preferred Embodiment. The reading of it by those skilled in the art will bring to mind many alterations and modifications without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the fuel injector claimed herein may be used to advantage with magnetic cores and coil bobbin assemblies different from the particular configurations shown in the Description of the Preferred Embodiment. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only by the following claims.