Compact Gas Injector with Nested Lubricant Chamber
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Gas injectors for internal combustion engines face challenges due to the gaseous nature of the fuel, leading to excessive wear and the need for compact designs that allow lateral installation.
Innovation Solution
A compact gas injector design featuring a magnetic actuator with a lubricant chamber, a flexible sealing element, and a restoring element, which ensures lubrication and reduces wear, allowing for a slim and short axial overall length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a conventional gas injector design is used, then the injector can be installed centrally, but the axial length becomes too long for lateral installation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nesting by placing the restoring element inside the flexible sealing element, and the first needle guide inside the flexible sealing element as well. This nested arrangement allows multiple components to occupy the same spatial envelope, significantly reducing the axial length of the injector while maintaining all necessary functions for lateral installation
2Reliability
If gas injection is used instead of liquid fuel injection, then gaseous fuel can be injected, but lubrication is not possible leading to excessive wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a lubricant as an intermediary substance within the lubricant chamber that contacts the armature and moving components. This lubricant mediates between the gaseous fuel injection function and the need for mechanical protection, providing lubrication and cooling to reduce wear on the armature, needle guide, and other moving parts during operation
3Length of moving object
If the injector components are arranged in a compact nested configuration, then axial space is saved, but the complexity of sealing and assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible sealing element in the form of a bellows that serves multiple functions simultaneously: it seals the lubricant chamber, accommodates axial movements of the armature, and provides a compact nested structure for housing the restoring element and needle guide. This flexible shell approach reduces axial length while managing the complexity of sealing through a single multi-functional component
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves reduced wear on moving parts, improved heat dissipation, and allows for lateral mounting on internal combustion engines, enhancing the gas injector's service life and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic actuator with an armature, an inner pole and a coil
Implementation Method 2
The lubricant ensures lubrication of the armature, so that no wear occurs on the armature during operation
Implementation Method 3
A restoring element, in particular a closing spring in the form of a cylinder spring, wherein the restoring element resets the closing element to a closed starting position
Data Source
AI summary
A gas injector for injecting a gaseous fuel. The gas injector includes: a magnetic actuator having an armature, an inner pole and a coil; a closing element, having a valve needle, the closing element opening and closing a gas path at a sealing seat, the armature being connected to the closing element; a closed off lubricant chamber which is filled with a lubricant and in which the armature is arranged, the lubricant ensuring lubrication of the armature; a flexible sealing element sealing the lubricant chamber with respect to the gas path; a restoring element which resets the closing element to a closed starting position; and a first needle guide formed between a guide sleeve and the valve needle. The first needle guide is arranged in the lubricant chamber radially inside the flexible sealing element, and the restoring element is arranged in the lubricant chamber inside the flexible sealing element.