Dual Fuel Connector for Internal Combustion Engines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing engines without internal cylinder head bores to serve as fuel rails face complexity and spatial limitations in delivering two different fuels to fuel injection valves, requiring additional piping and potential modifications to the cylinder head.
Innovation Solution
A dual fuel connector with separate fluid connections to two fuel rails, featuring concentric fluid passages that eliminate the need for direct connections between the fuel rails and the fuel injection valve, allowing for flexible fuel proportion and timing control, and facilitating installation and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If additional piping is used to deliver two different fuels to fuel injection valves in engines without internal cylinder head bores, then fuel delivery capability is improved, but device complexity and spatial limitations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple fuel delivery functions into a single integrated connector assembly that interfaces with the fuel injection valve. The connector incorporates multiple ports and internal passages that can deliver different fuels (gaseous and liquid) through a unified structure, eliminating the need for separate piping connections for each fuel type and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector is designed as a multi-functional component that can handle multiple fuel types simultaneously. It includes separate passages for gaseous fuel and liquid fuel delivery, along with integrated sealing and connection features, allowing a single component to perform what would otherwise require multiple separate piping systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If separate piping is used for each fuel type, then fuel proportion control flexibility is improved, but installation and maintenance difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The connector merges multiple fuel delivery functions into a single replaceable unit. While it maintains separate internal passages for different fuels to enable proportion control, the entire multi-passenger structure is installed and maintained as one integrated component, simplifying installation and maintenance procedures compared to managing multiple separate piping connections.
3Volume of moving object
If a compact connector design is used, then spatial efficiency is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The connector employs a nested arrangement where internal fuel passages are concentrically positioned within the connector body. The gaseous fuel passage is nested within or adjacent to the liquid fuel passage, allowing compact packaging of multiple flow paths while maintaining proper alignment through the shared cylindrical geometry of the connector.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector is designed with segmented internal passages that are separately formed but precisely aligned through modular manufacturing techniques. Each fuel passage can be independently manufactured and then assembled or integrated with precision positioning features, reducing the overall manufacturing precision requirements compared to forming all passages in a single complex operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A dual fuel connector separately supplies two different fuels to fluidly isolated fuel passages within a fuel injection valve of an internal combustion engine. The dual fuel connector comprises a body with separate fluid connections to the first fuel inlet, the second fuel inlet, a first fuel rail and a second fuel rail. A first fuel passage within the body is in fluid communication with the first fuel rail and the first fuel inlet. A second fuel passage within the body is in fluid communication with the second fuel rail and the second fuel inlet, and wherein the first fuel passage is fluidly isolated from the second fuel passage. The dual fuel connector supplies two different fuels to a fuel injection valve, for engines that are not designed with a cylinder head that has internal bores that can serve as fuel rails.