High-Pressure Fuel Pump Integrated Check Valves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel pumps for internal combustion engines have complex component arrangements that increase assembly costs and reduce reliability due to the complexity of high-pressure fuel pumps, particularly in the positioning and operation of inlet and outlet check valves.
Innovation Solution
A simplified fuel pump design with fewer components, where the inlet check valve and outlet check valve are positioned within a pumping unit, reducing complexity and wear on bias springs, and featuring a pumping plunger that moves reciprocally to draw fuel and pressurize it for efficient delivery to the fuel injectors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex components and assemblies are used to position check valves in a fuel pump, then the fuel pump can achieve proper fuel flow control, but the assembly cost increases and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the inlet check valve and outlet check valve into a single integrated check valve assembly that is positioned within the pumping unit itself. This merging of valve functions and their integration into the pump housing eliminates the need for separate complex assemblies, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining proper fuel flow control and improving reliability through fewer potential failure points.
Solution Approach 2:
The check valves are nested within the pumping unit structure, with the inlet check valve positioned to receive fuel from the inlet passage and the outlet check valve positioned to deliver fuel to the outlet passage. This nesting arrangement allows the valves to be housed within the existing pump geometry without requiring additional external assemblies, reducing complexity while maintaining functional separation.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple check valves are positioned in separate assemblies, then fuel flow control is achieved, but assembly costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the inlet check valve and outlet check valve into a single integrated assembly that can be manufactured as one unit or pre-assembled together. This consolidation reduces the total number of separate components that need to be sourced, manufactured, and assembled, thereby lowering assembly costs while maintaining the necessary fuel flow control functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated check valve assembly serves multiple functions simultaneously - the inlet check valve prevents backflow from the pump to the tank, the outlet check valve prevents backflow from the pump to the injectors, and both are housed within a single structural unit. This multi-functionality reduces the overall component count and simplifies the manufacturing process.
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 simplified design reduces assembly costs and improves the reliability and life of the high-pressure fuel pump by minimizing component complexity and wear, while maintaining efficient fuel flow and pressure management.
Implementation Method 1
The inlet check valve plunger is mounted for reciprocal movement in the inlet check valve cavity
Implementation Method 2
The inlet check valve is positioned along the outlet fuel circuit upstream from the outlet check valve and downstream from the pumping chamber to receive high-pressure fuel from the pumping chamber during the pumping plunger pressure stroke
Implementation Method 3
The pumping plunger is mounted for reciprocal movement through an intake stroke to receive fuel in the pumping chamber and a pressure stroke to pump fuel under high pressure from the pumping chamber
Implementation Method 4
a pressure stroke to pump fuel under high pressure from the pumping chamber
Implementation Method 5
The outlet check valve is positioned along the outlet fuel circuit downstream from the pumping chamber and upstream from the high-pressure fuel outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A high-pressure fuel pump for an internal combustion engine. The high-pressure fuel pump includes an improved configuration that beneficially simplifies certain features of the high-pressure fuel pump. The fuel pump possesses an inlet check valve positioned along an inlet fuel circuit and an outlet fuel circuit of the high-pressure pump that provides a path for a low-pressure inlet fuel flow to and a path for a high-pressure output fuel flow from a pumping chamber of the fuel pump. Because of the configuration of the inlet check valve and the outlet check valve, the complexity of high-pressure fuel pump is beneficially reduced, decreasing the cost of components and assembly and improving the life and reliability of high-pressure fuel pump.