Fluid mixing apparatus

A fluid mixing apparatus introduces a controlled amount of gas into a liquid flowing through a conduit. The fluid mixing apparatus incorporates a flow control device which is constructed to produce a variable impedance to fluid flow through the control device. The impedance varies in a pre-planned relationship to the pressure differential across the flow control device and to an acceleration of the flow within the control device. The control device has an outlet connected to the interior of the liquid carrying conduit and has a gas inlet for supplying the gas to the interior of the control device. In a specific embodiment, the flow control device is a vortex chamber which produces rotation of the gas flowing through the gas inlet. This rotation produces a self-choking effect on the gas flowing from the inlet to the outlet. A varying ratio of air to liquid is produced in the liquid conduit downstream of the connection to said outlet with changes in the pressure differential across the control device, and the amount of liquid in relation to the amount of air increases greatly with relatively small increases in the pressure differential across the control device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a fluid mixing mechanism for introducing a 
controlled amount of gas into a liquid flowing through a conduit. 
A siphon break is a well-known prior art construction which can function, 
within limits, to provide some mixing of a gas with a liquid until the 
siphon break interrupts all liquid flow at a certain level of suction on 
the liquid line or conduit. In a siphon break an air line (having a fixed, 
inner restriction) is connected into the interior of a fluid conduit. The 
conventional prior art siphon break serves the primary function of 
breaking or stopping the flow of liquid through the conduit under certain 
circumstances. Thus, in a case where the liquid flow through the conduit 
is produced by a siphoning action and it is desired to interrupt the 
siphoning flow when the suction decreases to a certain amount, the air 
tube can incorporate a fixed orifice which will permit air to bleed in to 
the interior of the liquid tube faster than the suction will draw the 
liquid through the tube, so that the suction or siphoning of the liquid is 
broken at that amount of suction (or at lower amounts of suction). 
This prior art type of siphon break incorporates a fixed orifice that does 
not have any changing characteristics. The fixed orifice must be made 
large enough, or small enough, to do a particular job; but the fixed 
orifice might then be completely unsatisfactory for operation at any, or 
all, other conditions. 
In many applications, there is a need to provide a controlled mixing of 
liquid and gas over a wide range of suctions (or other pumping of fluid 
flow) through the liquid conduit. The prior art, fixed orifice siphon 
break type constructions can not provide a controlled variation of the 
mixing of gas and liquid flow because the prior art fixed orifice type of 
siphon break construction cannot provide the required large variation in 
the ratios of gas to liquid flow with changing flow conditions. 
It is a primary object of the present invention to control the mixing of a 
gas with a liquid flowing through a conduit in a way which avoids the 
problems of the prior art fixed orifice siphon break construction. 
It is a related object of the present invention to introduce a controlled 
amount of gas into a liquid flowing through a conduit by a control 
mechanism which is constructed to produce a variable impedance to fluid 
flow through the control mechanism and to cause the impedance to vary in a 
non-linear relationship to the pressure differential across the flow 
control mechanism and to an acceleration of the flow through the control 
mechanism. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In the present invention, a variable impedance flow control device has an 
outlet connected to the interior of a liquid carrying conduit. The control 
device has a gas inlet for admitting air (or other gas) to the interior of 
the control device; and the control device is constructed to produce an 
acceleration of the flow from the inlet to the outlet and to produce by 
the acceleration and impedance which varies in a controlled relationship 
to the pressure differential across the control device. 
In a specific embodiment, the control device is a vortex chamber. The 
vortex chamber produces a rotation of the gas flowing through it so that 
the vortex flow produces a self-choking effect by its own flow. As the 
pressure differential between the inlet and outlet of the vortex chamber 
increases, the incoming gases are forced to spin faster and thereby to 
produce a greatly increased impedance to gas flow through the vortex 
chamber. Since less gas can flow through the vortex chamber, less gas is 
mixed with the liquid in the liquid conduit; and the ratio of liquid to 
gas in the conduit downstream of the outlet connection to the vortex 
chamber increases substantially with relatively small increases in 
pressure differential between the inlet and outlet of the vortex chamber. 
In another embodiment of the present invention, a second, liquid inlet is 
connected to the vortex chamber. The second, liquid inlet includes a tube 
which has one end connected to the liquid carrying conduit at a point 
upstream of the outlet connection to the vortex chamber. The other end of 
the liquid inlet tube is disposed within the interior of the vortex 
chamber at a location where it is subjected to a suction by the swirl of 
gases produced within the vortex chamber. Increased gas flow to the vortex 
chamber produces greater suction on the end of the liquid inlet tube and 
at a certain level of suction draws liquid from the inlet tube into the 
vortex chamber. This added liquid produces a further choking effect on the 
total flow through the vortex chamber to further reduce the amount of 
gases that are mixed with the liquid in the liquid carrying conduit. 
Fluid mixing mechanisms and techniques which incorporate the structural 
features noted above and which are effective to function in the ways 
described above constitute further, specific objects of the present 
invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a combustion control system 21 for an 
internal combustion engine, incorporating a fluid mixing apparatus 35 
constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
The entire combustion control system 21 is illustrated, and will be 
described, to show one particular embodiment in which the fluid mixing 
apparatus 35 can be incorporated. The fluid mixing apparatus of the 
present invention is, however, useful in applications other than 
combustion control systems for internal combustion engines. 
Considering first the construction and mode of operation of the entire 
combustion control system 21, the system 21 is constructed to inject a 
mixture of liquid vapor, or in some cases liquid droplets, air, exhaust 
gases and PCV gases through an opening 21 which is the existing PCV 
entrance to the manifold below the carburetor butterfly 25. 
As used in this specification, PCV gases means the gases produced by 
positive crank case ventilation. 
The major components of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 comprise an air 
vortex chamber 27, a liquid vortex chamber 29, an exhaust gas and PCV gas 
vortex chamber 31, a liquid reservoir 33, and a fluid mixing apparatus. 
In a particular embodiment, the smallest vortex chamber is the vortex 
chamber 29, which is about one-half the diameter of the vortex chamber 31, 
and the vortex chamber 31 is two-thirds the diameter of the vortex chamber 
27. 
One purpose of the fluid mixing apparatus 35 is to disconnect the liquid 
reservoir 33 from the liquid vortex chamber 29 on three conditions--engine 
off, engine idle, and engine deceleration. The way in which the apparatus 
35 performs these functions will be described in more detail below. 
The apparatus 35 also provides another function. It aids in controlling the 
rate of increase of fluid flow in relation to increase of engine power, 
and this will also be described in greater detail below. 
The apparatus 35 also serves as protection against liquid lock. When the 
engine is off, the apparatus 35 physically breaks the siphoning effect of 
the conduit 59 with respect to the liquid in the reservoir 33 so that no 
liquid can flow through the conduit 59 when the engine is off. 
The present invention incorporates a number of additional protections 
against liquid lock. 
The outlet end 61 of the conduit 59 is disposed within the water vortex 
chamber 29 at a level which is below the level of entrance 23 so that, 
even in the event of some failure of the apparatus 35, liquid cannot flow 
upward from the outlet end 61 to the inlet 23 when the engine is not 
operating. 
Engine exhaust gases are conducted from a PCV outlet fitting connected to 
the exhaust gas manifold 39 of the engine immediately adjacent to one of 
the cylinders, so as to obtain the highest exhaust gas temperatures. These 
exhaust gases are conducted through a conduit 41 to a branched fitting 43 
which provides one conduit 45 for conducting a portion of the exhaust 
gases to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 and which provides a second 
conduit 47 for conducting some of the exhaust gases to the liquid vortex 
chamber 29. 
In a preferred form of the invention, the vortex chambers are insulated by 
thermal insulation (indicated by the dashed outline in FIG. 1) to preserve 
the heat of the exhaust gases used in the vortex chambers. 
The structural part of the system 21 containing the vortex chambers 27, 29, 
and 31 is preferably located as closely as possible to an exhaust valve in 
the exhaust manifold 39 to maximize the amount of heat which is 
transmitted to these vortex chambers. 
The PCV gases are conducted to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 by means 
of a PCV fitting connected to the rocker box cover of the engine in the 
normal manner. This PCV fitting 49 is connected to the rocker box cover of 
the engine in the usual manner. A tubular conduit 51 carries the exhaust 
gases to a control orifice 53, and the control orifice 53 regulates the 
flow of the PCV cases to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31. 
Bleed or additional air for combustion control is also admitted to the 
exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 through an opening 55 formed in a sidewall 
of the conduit 57 leading axially into the interior of the exhaust gas 
vortex chamber 31. 
Liquid from the reservoir 33 is conducted to the water vortex chamber 29 
through a conduit 59. The liquid conducted through the conduit 59 can be, 
for example, water alone, or water plus alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, 
ammonia, upper cylinder lubricants, or solvents or other additives as 
desired. 
The outlet end 61 of the conduit 59 is located within the interior of the 
liquid vortex chamber 29 on the axial center line of the air vortex 
chamber 29. The extent to which the end of the inlet tube 61 extends into 
the vortex chamber provides a control variable regulating the amount of 
suction exerted on the liquid inlet 61 of the conduit 59. 
A second control parameter for regulating the amount of suction is the 
diameter of the inlet tube 61, particularly in relation to the overall 
diameter of the interior of the vortex chamber. 
Thus, moving the outlet end 61 further into the interior of the vortex 
chamber 29 (upward as viewed in FIG. 1) increases the suction, and 
providing a smaller diameter for the inlet tube 61 increases the suction. 
Further, any liquid flowing through the conduit 59 in the event of the 
failure of the apparatus 35 has a large number of outlets so that it could 
never accumulate to a point where it could overflow into the opening 23. 
For example, the water flowing from the outlet 61 has a free path through 
the conduit 47 and conduit 41 to the interior of the exhaust manifold 39. 
The fluid also has a free outlet from the outlet end 61 through the 
conduit 62 and out the opening between the liquid vortex chamber 27 and 
the inlet 63 of the air vortex chamber 27. There are also outlets through 
the slots 67. 
Air is admitted to the air vortex chamber 27 through a curved opening 63. 
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the curved opening 63 has a generally 
conical shape so that the diameter of the opening 63 decreases with 
nearness to the interior of the air vortex chamber 27. 
The air comes into the opening 63 both through the space 65 between the 
outlet of the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the inlet to the curved opening 
63 and also through slots 67 formed in the sidewall of the curved opening 
63 and disposed tangentially to the inner surface of the curved opening 63 
at the upper, inner end of each slot 67. See FIG. 7. 
Air coming into the curved opening 63 is transmitted to the interior of the 
air vortex chamber 27 through a throat 69. The throat 69 comes in 
generally tangential to the interior of air vortex chamber 27. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a branch conduit 71 interconnects the interior of 
the curved opening 63 with a tapered passageway 73 for conducting the 
exhaust gases from the conduit 45 to the interior of the exhaust vortex 
chamber 31. 
The tapered passageway 73 has formed, at the upper end as viewed in FIG. 1, 
a throat 75 of minimum diameter at the point of connection to the interior 
of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31. This throat 75 is aligned 
tangentially with the interior of the vortex chamber 31 in the same way as 
the throat 69 is aligned tangentially with the interior of the vortex 
chamber 27. 
The end 77 of the conduit 71 which connects to the tapered passageway 73 is 
connected tangentially to the inside surface of the passageway 73 for a 
control purpose which will be described in more detail below. 
The other end 79 of the conduit 71 connected to the interior of the curved 
opening 63 is also aligned tangentially with the interior of that opening, 
but in opposition to the tangency of the slots 67, and the control purpose 
for this alignment will also be described in greater detail below. 
The outlet of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 comprises a tapered tube 81 
which extends completely into the interior of the air vortex chamber 27. 
The extent to which the outlet tube 81 extends into the interior of the 
air vortex chamber 27 provides a control parameter for regulating the 
amount of air and liquid introduced through the air vortex chamber 27 as 
the power of the engine increases depending upon the length of the tube 
81. That is, to maximize the amount of air and liquid transmitted through 
the air vortex chamber 27, the length of the tube 81 is increased to give 
an ejector like action at the outlet of the vortex chamber 27, as 
illustrated in FIG. 1. The tube 81 may extend completely through the 
length of the air vortex chamber 27 so that the outlet end 83 is so 
disposed with respect to the outlet 85 of the air vortex chamber 27 as to 
give an ejector like action for increasing the flow through the air vortex 
chamber 27. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the outlet 85 is preferably formed as a true 
Venturi so that the outlet end is of an expanding shape so that a true 
Venturi action is provided to minimize restriction to flow through the 
opening 85 at all conditions of flow encountered in normal operation. 
However, to increase the turbulence at the end of the outlet 85 of the air 
vortex chamber, the inside surface of the end of the outlet 85 can be 
formed with serrations or grooves 84 extending parallel to the axis of the 
outlet 85. These serrations or grooves can also be located at the minimum 
throat area of the exit Venturi 85 and serve to produce an ultrasonic wave 
form in the fluids flowing through this outlet. 
The existing PCV opening 23 in the inlet manifold is a convenient point for 
introducing the mixture of air, liquid, exhaust gases, and PCV gases of 
the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 for a number of reasons. This opening is 
present in most conventional automobile engines, it is easy to make a 
connection to, and the pressure below the butterfly valve 25 does have a 
relationship to the amount of additional air and liquid that it is desired 
to introduce through the opening 23 at the various engine operating 
conditions. 
However, the relationship is an inverse relationship. That is, the highest 
vacuum below the butterfly valve 25 at the opening 23 exists at idle and 
the lowest vacuum exists at full throttle. At idle and at engine 
deceleration, it is desirable that no water or other liquid or liquid 
vapor be introduced; and the maximum amount of liquid and additional air 
should be introduced through the opening 23 at full throttle. Thus, the 
relationship between the pressure differential across the air vortex 
chamber 27 produced by various conditions of engine operation is inversely 
related to the amount of materials to be injected through the opening 23 
at the various engine operating conditions. 
It is a general principle of operation of a vortex chamber that the flow 
through the vortex chamber varies as the square root of the pressure 
differential across the vortex chamber. The effect of the vortex chamber 
27, by itself, and disregarding for the moment the configured inlet 63 to 
the vortex chamber, is therefore to reduce the effect of the pressure 
differential across the vortex chamber in relation to the flow through the 
vortex chamber by a factor which can be as great as 5:1 or even somewhat 
greater, depending upon the actual amount of the vacuum below the 
butterfly valve 25. 
The vortex chamber 27, again standing by itself, therefore acts as a 
variable impedance device whose impedance to flow increases with an 
increase in the differential across the vortex chamber. 
The system 21 of the present invention also incorporates a fluidic valve at 
the entrance to the air vortex chamber 27 which also functions as a 
variable impedance device but whose impedance can be controlled and varied 
by the structural features incorporated in or associated with the 
entrance. 
Thus, the fluidic valve formed at the entrance to the air vortex chamber 27 
acts to further choke off flow, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, at idle 
and on engine deceleration to achieve substantially a complete cut off of 
flow through the air vortex chamber 27 under these conditions of engine 
operation. 
The impedance of this fluidic valve is controlled by the slots 67 which 
increase the spinning effect to increase the choke effect as the pressure 
differential across the vortex chamber 27 increases. 
The slots 67 thus act to increase the impedance with increasing pressure 
differentials (with increasing vacuum in the engine inlet manifold below 
the butterfly valve 25). 
In the embodiment of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 the liquid vortex 
chamber 29 and the branch conduit 71 are normally arranged to reduce the 
impedance of the fluidic valve at the inlet to the air vortex chamber 27 
which increasing exhaust gas pressure produced by higher power levels of 
operation of the engine. 
Thus, the liquid vortex chamber 29, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, 
injects the liquid and exhaust gases into the curved inlet 63 with a 
direction of spin that is opposite to the direction of spin produced by 
the slots 67; and the branch conduit 71 transmits pressurized exhaust 
gases from the conduit 43 to the curved inlet 63 in a direction of spin 
which is also opposite the direction of spin produced by the slots 67. The 
water vortex chamber 29 and the branch conduit 71 thus reduce the 
impedance of the fluidic valve at the inlet to the air vortex chamber 27 
as the engine power increases and this tends to increase the amount of 
materials which flow through the air vortex chamber 27 as the engine power 
goes up, even though the vacuum below the butterfly valve 25 is decreasing 
as the engine power goes up. 
It should be noted, however, that the direction of spin at the outlet of 
the liquid vortex chamber 29 can be aligned to be in the same direction as 
the direction of spin imparted by the slots 67 to provide an increased 
choking effect in the inlet 63 with increasing engine power if this is 
required for a particular engine application. 
The main reversal effect of the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 (that is the 
increase of injected liquid, air, exhaust gases and PCV gases with 
increased engine power and decreased vacuum below the butterfly valve 25) 
is however provided by the ejector effect of the outlet end 83 of the tube 
81 at the outlet 85 of the air vortex chamber. 
As the engine power goes up, the pressure of the exhaust gases transferred 
through the conduit 41 and the shaped inlet 75 to the exhaust gas vortex 
chamber 31 increases, and this increases the flow through the exhaust gas 
vortex chamber 31. 
The shaped inlet 73 to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 in combination 
with the branch conduit 71 provides a step function change in the 
operation of the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 to accomplish both a 
choking effect on the inlet to the exhaust gas vortex chamber at idle and 
deceleration and at low rpm (to desirably restrict the flow of exhaust gas 
to the intake manifold under these conditions of engine operation) and 
also to remove the choking effect and thereby to permit increased flow 
through the exhaust gas vortex chamber at higher rpm all the way up to 
maximum power. 
These results are produced as follows. 
At idle and at low rpm and under deceleration conditions, the pressure at 
the end 79 of the branch conduit within the shaped opening 63 is enough 
greater than the pressure at the end 77 of the branch conduit within the 
inlet 73 so that the flow through the branch conduit 71 is from the 
opening 79 to the opening 77, and this causes the spin within the inlet 73 
to cause a choking effet to restrict the flow of exhaust gases through 
this inlet 73 to the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 at idle and below, for 
example at 900 rpm and below. As the exhaust gas pressure is increased, 
however, at higher engine rpms, the pressure at the end 77 becomes greater 
(between 900 and 1500 rpm) than the pressure at the end 79 so that the 
direction of flow of gases through the conduit 71 reverses; and this 
decreases the choking effect in the inlet 73 (while simultaneously 
decreasing the choking effect in the opening 63 also because of the 
direction of spin); and the effect on the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 is 
to permit a substantially increased amount of exhaust gases to flow into 
and through the vortex chamber 31. This in turn draws in more air through 
the air inlet opening 55, draws in a greater amount of PCV gases through 
the control orifice 53 and acts through the ejector effect at the outlet 
end 83 of the tube 81 to augment or draw more air and entrained liquid 
from the air vortex chamber 27 (providing the reversal effect with 
relationship to the decreasing vacuum below the butterfly valve 25 with 
increased engine power as described above). 
The exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 in combination with the shaped inlet 73 
and branch connector 71 thus provide the desired mode of operation of 
restricting the flow of exhaust gases and PCV gases to the engine at idle 
and deceleration. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the inlet 47 to the liquid vortex chamber 29 may 
also be provided with a tapered configuration as illustrated, and with an 
air bleed hole 48 which comes in tangentially to the tapered inlet. The 
combination of the tapered configuration and the tangential air bleed 48 
further restricts the amount of exhaust gases admitted to the liquid 
vortex chamber 29 (and thus the air vortex chamber 27) at idle and on 
deceleration. This restriction on the inlet to the vortex chamber 29 also 
cuts down the amount of liquid which can flow out of the vortex chamber 29 
at idle and on deceleration. 
On acceleration, the increased pressure of the exhaust gases removes the 
choking effect by eliminating the swirling effect to provide the full, 
desired amount of liquid from the liquid vortex chamber 29 on 
acceleration. 
The system 21 substantially reduces the amount of PCV gases transmitted 
through the inlet 23 at engine idle, deceleration, and low rpms (over what 
would be introduced without the choking effect of the shaped inlet 73) 
while permitting greater amounts of PCV gases to be transmitted through 
the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31 to the inlet 23 at higher engine rpm and 
exhaust gas pressures; but the overall result is a substantially 
stabilized and moderate increases of PCV gas glow with increasing engine 
power over the entire range of engine operating conditions. This results 
from the combination of the choking and de-choking of the entrance 73 and 
the basic principle of operation of the vortex chamber 31 (which basic 
principle is to provide a mass flow which is related to the square root of 
the pressure differential across the vortex chamber. 
The total flow through the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31, however, 
increases substantially with the increased exhaust gas pressures to 
produce an increased ejector effect at the outlet end 83 for providing 
increased mass flow of fluid through the air vortex chamber 27 with 
increased power levels of operation of the engine. 
The stabilized effect on the regulation of the flow of the PCV gases 
produced by the system of the present invention permits the conventional, 
existing PCV valve to be eliminated, is desired; or the system 21 can be 
used with the conventional PCV valve in place. 
The liquid vortex chamber 29 is, in most respects, effectively de-coupled 
from the curved entrance 63 to the air vortex chamber 27. This is achieved 
by the space 65 between the outlet of the liquid vortex chamber 29 and the 
entrance 63 and also by the effect of the slots 67 which, as described 
above, provide a spin which is in opposition to the direction of the 
materials flowing out of the liquid vortex chamber 29. 
The slots 67 thus provide a substantial choke effect which effectively 
de-couples the liquid vortex chamber 29 under idle conditions, 
deceleration, and low rpm operation of the engine. 
It should be noted, however, that the outlet of the air vortex chamber 29 
can be utilized to produce an ejector effect, like the output end 83 of 
the exhaust gas vortex chamber 31. The extent of this ejector effect is 
dependent upon the location of the outlet end 62 with respect to the 
curved opening 63. Thus, by extending the outlet end 63 higher into the 
tapered opening 63, a greater ejector effect is obtained; and this ejector 
effect can also be utilized to provide, in effect, a reversal of the mass 
flow through the air vortex chamber 23 with respect to the normal flow of 
material through the air vortex chamber 27 which would be produced by the 
pressure differential resulting from the changing vacuum conditions below 
the butterfly valve in the inlet manifold. 
A further control parameter for controlling the mass flow of the material 
introduced through the opening 23 is obtained by making the outlet 85 in 
the shape of a Venturi having a smaller minimum diameter than the minimum 
diameter of the outlet of the air vortex chamber 27, so that the Venturi 
throat itself provides a choking effect on the outlet of the air vortex 
chamber 27. The choking effect, in a preferred embodiment of the present 
invention, is made a variable choking effect by providing counter rotation 
for the materials flowing out of the outlet end 83 with respect to the 
materials flowing through the outlet of the air vortex chamber 27. That 
is, in a preferred embodiment, the directions of spin are opposite and 
changing mass flows provide changes in the choking effect. In another 
embodiment, the directions of spin can be in the same direction, but this 
provides less response of change in choking effect with changes in more 
flows, but it has the advantage of creating greater turbulence. 
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention at low power, the 
primary spin is provided by the spinning mixture from the outlet of the 
air vortex chamber 27, while at high power the primary spin is provided by 
the spinning mixture leaving the outlet 83 of the exhaust gas vortex 
chamber 31. 
At full power, it is desirable that the energies of these two rotating 
mixtures be balanced to minimize the choking effect. Therefore, the 
relative sizes of the inside diameter of the outlet tube 83 and the 
diameter of the outlet end 85 of the air vortex chamber 27 are so related 
that the mass flows and directions of spin of these two mass flows balance 
each other out. 
The vortex chambers 27, 29, and 31 act in a beneficial way in conjunction 
with the pulsed, peaked characteristic of the exhaust gas pressure 
produced by picking up the exhaust gas pressure near the exhaust valve. 
This is, the pressure of the exhaust gas transmitted through the conduit 
41, 45, and 47 varies in a cyclic way with alternate pressure peaks rather 
than remaining at a steady state, uniform pressure level at any given 
condition of engine operation. The vortex chamber provides a stabilizing, 
de-sensitizing effect because the flow through the vortex chamber is 
dependent upon the square root of the pressure differential across the 
vortex chamber, rather than being linearly proportional to the 
differential pressure across the vortex chamber. 
The vortex chamber thus acts somewhat like a rectifier with respect to the 
pulses in the exhaust gas pressure. 
In another embodiment of the present invention, as noted above, the two 
mass flows are permitted (as illustrated in FIG. 1) to spin in the same 
direction. While this provides an increased choking effect, it also 
provides increased turbulence of the flow going through the opening 23 and 
into the inlet manifold thereby to provide better mixing with the air and 
fuel. In this embodiment of the present invention, the other control 
parameters can be and are utilized to provide the desired relationship of 
increased liquid and injected air flow within increasing engine power 
levels. That is, there are enough control variables in the system 21 shown 
in FIG. 1 to permit the desired relationship of mass flows with changing 
suction below the butterfly valve 25 to be realized, even though the 
directions of spin at the outlets 83 and 85 are in the same direction. 
For this particular embodiment of the present invention, the opening 85 
need not be a Venturi, but can be a straight tubular opening since a 
choking effect and change in the choking effect is not relied on at this 
point. 
In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the system 21 has been 
installed on a Dodge Dart slant six cylinder 225 cubic inch displacement 
engine. 
In this embodiment, the system 21 shown in FIG. 1 incorporates the specific 
structural features having the dimensions and particular relationships 
described below. 
The ported vent opening 23 has a diameter of 0.250 inch. 
The minimum diameter of the exit Venturi 85 is 0.128 inch. 
The diameter d-1 shown in FIG. 1 is 0.4375 inch; and, in this specific 
embodiment, the tube end 83 terminates at the location indicated by the 
diameter d-1 (rather than extending further into the outlet Venturi 85, as 
illustrated in FIG. 1). The tube 83 is 3/8 inch long, measured from the 
point at which it enters the vortex chamber 27 to the end of the tube. 
The air vortex chamber 27 imparts a counterclockwise direction of spin to 
the air and liquid (as viewed from a direction looking from the back of 
the vortex chamber 27 toward the ported vent 23). 
The maximum diameter d-2 of the air vortex chamber 27 is 0.575 inch. (See 
FIG. 2.) 
The equivalent maximum diameter of the exhaust gas-PCV gas vortex chamber 
31 is 0.45 inch. 
The equivalent maximum diameter of the liquid vortex chamber 29 is 0.37 
inch. 
The diameter of the orifice 55 is 0.052 inch. 
The diameter of the restricter 53 is 0.092 inch. 
The minimum diameter of the throat 75 is 0.120 inch. 
The inside diameter of the tube 83 is 0.215 inch. 
The inside diameter of the tube 71 opening into the throat 73 is 0.08 inch. 
The length of the space 65 between the housing for the liquid vortex 
chamber 29 and the inlet of the curve opening 63 is 0.04 inch. 
The conduit 59 has a 1/32 inch inside diameter. 
The slots 67 are 0.062 inch wide. There are twelve slots 67. 
The inside diameter of the conduit 41 is 0.29 inch. The outside diameter of 
this conduit is 3/8 inch and the fitting 37 is a 3/8 inch flare pipe 
fitting the standard 1/8 inch fitting illustrated to enter into the 
sidewall of the exhaust manifold 39. 
The conduit 59 has a 3/32 inch outside diameter and a 1/32 inch inside 
diameter. The inside diameter of the outlet 62 is 0.125 inch. 
The minimum diameter at 69 is 0.165 inch. 
The maximum width and depth of the slots 84 is approximately 0.02 inch. 
The minimum diameter of the throat 47 is 0.116 inch. The inside diameter of 
the air hold 48 is 0.062 inch. The maximum diameter of the throat 47 is 
0.25 inch. 
The minimum diameter of the inlet 93 for the siphon break vortex chamber 35 
is 0.055 inch. The maximum internal diameter of the chamber is 0.355 inch. 
The inside diameter of the outlet 95 is 0.055 inch. 
As noted above, a fluid mixing apparatus 35 is incorporated in the conduit 
59 between the reservoir 33 and the outlets 61. A primary purpose of this 
apparatus 35 is to prevent flow of liquid through the conduit 59 when the 
engine is in an off, idle, or decelerated condition of operation. 
The apparatus 35 actually breaks the connection to prevent siphoning of 
fluid under these conditions of operation. The fluid mixing apparatus 35 
includes a vortex chamber 91 having an air inlet 93 and an outlet 95 for 
introducing a variable amount of air into the conduit 59, depending upon 
an indirect relationship to the amount of vacuum seen by the outlet end 61 
of the conduit 59. 
Thus, at engine idle, there is little flow of exhaust gas through the 
conduit 47 and therefore almost no suction at the outlet end 61 of the 
conduit 59. 
However, even though there is low suction around the outlet 61 at low 
power, there can be enough suction to produce some flow through the 
conduit 59 at idle, if the apparatus 35 were not incorporated in the 
system 21. 
The vortex chamber of the apparatus 35 provides a variable impedance which 
makes the apparatus practical and useful for insuring the cut-off of 
liquid flow through the conduit 59 at idle and at low power. 
This is best understood by reference to FIG. 2, showing a conventional, 
prior art type of siphon break comprising just an opening 97 in a side 
wall of the conduit 59. With this prior art type of siphon break, the 
opening 97 must be made so small (to permit liquid to be siphoned through 
the conduit 59 during operation of the engine at high power levels) that 
the opening 97 could not provide any insurance against some flow of liquid 
through the conduit 59 at engine idle. The required small size of the 
opening 97 is also compounded by the capillary effect which can have the 
result of closing off the opening 97 by the capillary action of the fluid 
itself in the conduit 59. Clogging of the small orifice by dirt or other 
foreign matter can also be a problem with the prior art siphon break shown 
in FIG. 2. 
In contrast, the fluid mixing apparatus 35 shown in FIG. 1 and 
incorporating a vortex chamber 91 utilizes a relatively large opening 95 
opening in the conduit 59 and is effective to restrict air bleed into the 
conduit 59 at low vacuums or under conditions of engine operation at 
higher power levels, because the vortex chamber 91 provides a high enough 
impedance to flow of air from the inlet 93 to the outlet 95 to effectively 
block off enough of the air flow so that the ratio of air to liquid in the 
conduit 59 is a quite low ratio when the engine is operating at higher 
rpm. 
Thus, at higher power levels, the exhaust gas pressure in the conduit 41 is 
higher, producing increased rates of flow through the water vortex chamber 
29, and this in turn produces increased suction at the outlet 61. The 
increased higher suction at the outlet 61 provides a greater pressure 
differential across the vortex chamber 91 and increases the impedance to 
flow through the vortex chamber 91. This in turn decreases the amount of 
air in relation to the amount of liquid which is permitted to flow through 
the conduit 59. The vortex chamber 91 thus creates its own increases 
impedance to flow with increased pressure differential across the vortex 
chamber, which is the result that is desired for the fluid mixing 
apparatus in this system. 
As best shown in FIG. 6 the inlet 93 is preferably a shaped inlet of 
decreasing internal diameter so that a swirl can be produced in the 
inflowing air to provide a controlled choking in the inlet 93. A number of 
slots 94 extend through the sidewall of the inlet 93 and open tangentially 
to the inner surface of the inlet 93 to produce the swirl in the same was 
as the slots 67 in the inlet 63 as described above. 
FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of another embodiment of a fluid mixing 
apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 3 
the fluid mixing apparatus is indicated generally by the reference numeral 
36. 
In the FIG. 3 embodiment, the liquid is brought into the vortex chamber on 
axis (that is, aligned with the axis of spin of the air within the vortex 
chamber) and for the purpose of increasing the impedance to flow in the 
exit of the vortex chamber to draw high-density fluid into the system. 
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the fluid is conducted to the interior of the 
vortex chamber 36 by a branch conduit 101 feed into the main fluid conduit 
59. The branch conduit 101 has an end 103 which, in a preferred form of 
the invention, extends inwardly down to and within the cone of rotating 
air formed within the vortex chamber 36. 
Air is admitted to the interior of the vortex chamber by a shaped opening 
105, which tapers to a throat 107. 
The air and entrained liquid exit from the vortex chamber by an outlet 109 
which connects back to the interior of the conduit 59. 
The spin imparted to the incoming air by the inner surface of the vortex 
chamber 36 produces a suction at the tube end 103, and the liquid drawn 
into the spinning air acts to block partially the outlet opening 109 to 
increase the total impedance of the vortex chamber 36, and the overall 
result is to provide less air in relation to the fluid flowing in the 
conduit 59 downstream of the opening 109 than is produced with the vortex 
chamber 91 of the FIG. 1 embodiment. The vortex chamber 35 of the FIG. 1 
embodiment produces a substantially increased ratio of liquid to entrained 
air in comparison to the ratio produced by the prior art siphon break 
shown in FIG. 2, and the FIG. 3 embodiment produces a substantially 
greater ratio of liquid to air than the FIG. 1 embodiment. This is 
illustrated diagrammatically in the FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 drawing views where 
the spaces 111 indicate air and the spaces 113 indicate fluid. 
The ratios of air to water in the different embodiments shown in the 
drawings are approximately as follows: 
FIG. 2 about 90% air and 10% liquid; 
FIGS. 4 and 5 about 10% air and 90% water; 
FIG. 3 about 95% liquid or water and 5% air. 
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of another embodiment of a fluid mixing 
apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 4 
the fluid mixing apparatus is indicated generally by the reference numeral 
38. 
The apparatus 38 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 incorporates a vortex chamber 
having two tangential air bleed inlets with restricted openings 115 for 
providing a higher impedance device than that illustrated in FIG. 1 or 
FIG. 3. The apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 can also be constructed 
inexpensively from a plastic molding. 
The FIG. 4 vortex chamber is, in effect, an alternate form of the FIG. 1 
apparatus 35 with the FIG. 4 embodiment having two air inlets with 
restricted openings. 
While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my 
invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and 
modification and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise 
details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and 
alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.