Abstract:
A device for and method of decarboning a combustion chamber and compression rings in an internal combustion engine. The device is a squid shaped container with a cylindrical body, a screw cap, and conduits depending from the body for transmitting cleaner to the combustion chambers on the engine. Once cleaner is transmitted to the combustion chambers, the engine is bumped to work the fluid into the compression rings. When the engine is bumped, the device allows the cleaner to be vented to the device to avoid hydrolocking the engine. The device also contains the cleaner so that it is not splashed outside the engine.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation and claims priority from non-provisional Application Ser. No. 09/952,792, filed Sep. 14, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,517, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the decarboning of the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine using a liquid cleaner. More specifically, the present invention relates to the cleaning of the compression rings on the piston associated with the combustion chamber. 
     The typical internal combustion engine has at least one combustion chamber associated with a piston. On the piston are a pair of compression rings. The compression rings serve to prevent the escape of gases from the chamber around the sides of the piston during the compression stroke of the engine. 
     The only known method of effectively cleaning compression rings is to overhaul the engine. Overhauling involves dismantling the engine, cleaning any carbon coated parts, putting in new rings, and then reassembling. It is extremely costly and time consuming. Further, some modern engines (i.e., the Cadillac Northstar®) cannot be overhauled because of the way they are constructed. Because they cannot be overhauled, carbon buildup on the compression rings in these kinds of engines is a major concern. If the buildup on the rings becomes so great that compression within the combustion chamber unacceptable, the engine must be replaced. This has resulted in these modern engines earning the nickname “throw-away engines.” 
     Even though overhauling is the only effective prior art method for cleaning the compression rings, liquid cleaners have been used to clean combustion chambers in the past. One such method involves manually pouring an alcohol based cleaner into the combustion chamber after removing the spark plug and leaving the spark plug hole open. 
     This method has two disadvantages. First, alcohol based products tend to cause the carbon deposits to break off rather than dissolve. When carbon deposits break off between the piston rings, they become trapped. These trapped particles can cause engine problems. 
     Second, the open spark plug hole does not allow the user to activate the pistons during the cleaning to work the cleaner into and between the compression rings in an effective manner. If the user were to activate the pistons under this prior art method, the cleaner would splash out of the open spark plug hole. Splashed engine cleaners can eat away at external parts of the engine causing irreparable damage. Splash can be prevented by capping the spark plug hole after the cleaner has been poured in. However, capping the hole also precludes the mechanic from activating the pistons while cleaner is in the chamber. The cleaner can become trapped when the piston is in the upper range of its motion in the chamber because it cannot escape out the spark plug hole. The trapped fluid is not compressible (as is air), so the back pressure resists the movement of the piston so that the engine will not turn over. This is called “hydrolocking.” Hydrolocking an engine can cause tremendous damage to the engine&#39;s pistons and rods. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a clean and simple method of inducing and maintaining cleaner in the combustion chamber during the cleaning process and an apparatus for enabling such. 
     It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a way of maintaining cleaning fluid in the combustion chamber at the same time as activating the piston that prevents fluid from being spilled onto other engine components or hydrolocking the engine. 
     It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a pressurized blowout procedure whereby fluid is forced through the exhaust system of the vehicle after cleaning by way of the application of pressurized air. 
     These objectives are accomplished using a new device. The device resembles and is hereinafter referred to as a “squid.” The squid has a cylindrical body with sub-cavities into which cleaner is poured. Each sub-cavity is associated with a conduit which is used to deliver the cleaner to a particular combustion chamber in an engine. Each conduit is connected to an adapter that screws into the engine block of the vehicle being serviced. The adapters are easily screwed into the spark plug opening in the combustion chamber after removing the spark plug. 
     The squid enables the user to clean the compression rings of the piston without overhauling the engine. Clean piston rings are essential for maintaining ideal compression ratios within the combustion chamber. The loss of compression within the combustion chamber is caused by a principle called blow-by. The build up of carbon deposits on the compression rings can cause these rings to not sit flush against the cylinder walls. This creates small gaps between the compression ring and the cylinder wall. These gaps cause the compressed air in the combustion chamber to inappropriately blow past the compression rings downwardly past the piston. This lowers engine compression ratios. Poor compression ratios can greatly reduce performance, increase harmful emissions and even completely disable an engine. Also, engine oil can enter the combustion chamber where it is burned and consumed, creating more deposits and increasing engine oil consumption. 
     The present invention is the only known solution to blow-by problems in a combustion chamber without overhauling the engine. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       The accompanying drawings form part of the specification and are to read in conjunction therewith. Reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various figures: 
         FIG. 1  is a fragmented perspective view of the squid in use on a vehicle with an eight-cylinder engine; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view at section  2 — 2  in  FIG. 1  from above; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded cross-sectional view at section  3 — 3  in FIG.  2  and also depicting the adaptor of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a combustion chamber arrangement within a typical internal combustion engine with an adapter attached. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention solves the prior art problems noted above by creating a cleaning fluid distributing and maintaining squid  10  shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . The more general aspects of the invention can be observed in FIG.  1 . The squid ring decarbonater  10  has four primary components: (i) a screw cap  12 , (ii) a cylindrical body  14 , (iii) a plurality of conduits  16 , and (iv) a plurality of spark plug adaptors  18 . Adaptors  18  are used to deliver cleaning fluid to an internal combustion engine  20  (see FIG.  4 ). 
     A suspension hook  22  is used to hang squid  10  from the open hood of the vehicle being serviced (not pictured) and is connected to body  14  by a bracket  23 . 
     Body  14  is sealed at its upper end when screw cap  12  is screwed on. Screw cap  12  is used to seal off the top of body  14 . The specific details of cap  12  can best be seen in FIG.  3 .  FIG. 3  shows that pressurized air can be delivered through cap  12  into the cylindrical body  14  by way of a cylindrical bore  24 . A snap-on connector  26  is used to connect to a pressurized air hose  28 . When connected, pressurized air travels from the pressurized air hose  28  through the snap on connector  26  through an elbow  30  down through the bore  24  and into body  14 . Cap  12  is secured by engaging a set of male threads  32  on cap  12  with a set of female threads  34  on body  14 . 
     As can be seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , body  14  is bored out to create a main cylinder cavity  36 . Bored out below main cylinder cavity  36  are a plurality of sub-cavities  38  which receive and hold cleaning fluid. Also part of body  14  are a plurality of threaded openings  40  which are used to receive mating threads  44  on each of a plurality of conduits  16 . 
     These conduits  16  are valved. The valves  42  on each conduit  16  have upper threads  44  and lower threads  46 . Each valve  42  is opened or shut using a valve control lever  48 . The valves themselves  42  may be common ball valves or any other type of valve known in the art capable of optionally opening up or shutting off flow. The upper threads  44  are used to mesh with the threaded openings  40  on the bottom of the cylindrical body  14  to secure the conduit  16  thereto and permit flow into the conduit from the main body. The lower threads  46  on the valve are received by threads on a first threaded connector that is connected to a translucent tubing  52 . Translucent tubing  52  should be constructed of nylon material capable of withstanding the chemicals transmitted through it. At the other end of the translucent tubing  52  is a second threaded connector  54 . The second threaded connector  54  is used to attach the spark plug adaptor  18 . 
     The spark plug adaptor  18  has a set of upper end threads  56  which are used to mate with the second threaded connector  54  of the conduit  16 . The adaptor  18  also has a set of header engaging threads  56  which are of the same pitch and size as the threads on an ordinary spark plug. The adaptor  18  is essentially a hollow tube which defines a metered compression rate controlling passageway  60 . Passageway  60  is used to control the compression rate through the adaptor  18  and conduit  16  during back flow of fluid through the system. This is done by boring passageway to a diameter that allows a limited amount of forced flow there through. 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , the spark plug receiving threads  62  on the spark plug holes  70  on the vehicle&#39;s header  20  are used to receive header engaging threads  58  on the adaptor  18 . This connects the adaptor  18  to the header  62  allowing the passage of fluid into the engine&#39;s combustion chamber  64 . The combustion chamber  64  is sealed at its lower end by a piston head  66 . At the top of the combustion chamber  64  are intake  67  and exhaust  68  valves and spark plug opening  70 . The typical piston head  66  has a pair of compression rings  72  at its upper end which are used to compressibly seal off the combustion chamber  64  from below. A single oil ring  74  is used to seal off the combustion chamber from the seepage up of oil from below during suction stroke of engine  20 . 
     The squid decorboning process has four steps. First, squid  10  must be filled with cleaner. Second, squid  10  is used to transmit the cleaner from the squid to fill the combustion chambers on the vehicle being serviced. Third, the engine is “bumped” in order to work the cleaner into the compression rings. Finally, the cleaner is blown out of the combustion chamber under pressure administered by the squid. Before beginning the decarboning process, engine  20  should be brought up to operating temperature (usually 195 to 200 degrees) so that the carbon deposits become softer. This makes them easier to be cleaned. It&#39;s also very important to disable the ignition coils to prevent electrical damage to the ignition system. 
     With respect to the first step of filling the squid, Cap  12  should be removed from the body  14  to expose main cavity  36  and eight sub-cavities  38 . The user should make sure that all of the valves  42  are closed. Next, each of the spark plugs on the engine  20  should be removed and replaced with adapters  18 . (See FIG.  4 ). Adapters  18  are attached by screwing header engaging threads  58  into each threaded spark plug opening  70  for combustion chamber  64  on engine  20 . As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , conduits  16  should then be secured to the conduit end threads  56  on each of the adaptors  18  that have been secured to the engine  20 . It is apparent that with engines with fewer than eight cylinders, some conduits  16  will be left over after all of the adaptors  18  have been hooked up to a conduit  16 . These left over conduits  16  will remain idle during the cleaning process. As can best be seen from  FIG. 3 , each conduit  16  is associated with a particular sub-cavity  38 . Next, sub-cavities  38  should be filled with cleaner. 
     The preferred cleaner of the present invention is a solvent offered by BG Products, Inc. located in Wichita, Kans. and sold under the name BG 211 Induction System Cleaning, BG Part 211. The composition of the solvent is readily ascertainable from the label of the product. This solvent is preferred over the alcohol based solvents used in the prior art methods described above because it dissolves the carbon particles rather than breaking them off. As described in the background section above, carbon particles can be problematic when they are trapped between the compression rings of a piston. While this BG 211 solvent is the preferred solvent of the system, it is to be understood that other solvents capable of dissolving carbon deposits may also be used and are within the scope of the present invention. 
     Only the sub-cavities  38  that are associated with attached conduits  16  should be filled. The sub-cavities  38  that are associated with idle conduits  16  should not. After filling the appropriate sub-cavities  38 , cap  12  should be screwed on to body  14 . The hood of the vehicle to be serviced (not pictured) should be opened up and suspension hook  22  used to hang the squid  10  from the hood. The underside of a typical car hood has an opening near the hood latch that can be used to receive the hook  22 . Once hung, squid  10  is ready to fill the combustion chambers with cleaner. 
     To fill the combustion chambers with cleaner, the valve control levers  48  on each of the hooked up conduits  16  should be turned to open position. This means that for an eight cylinder engines all eight will be opened up. However, for a smaller engine, such as a four-cylinder, only four of the valves would be opened up and the remaining four would remain closed. Once the appropriate valves  42  have been opened up, the cleaning solution will run down the conduits  16  through the metered compression rate controlling passageway  60  into the combustion chamber  64  of the engine  20 . The valves  42  should remain open during the steps that follow. 
     The third step involves bumping the engine. Bumping means that the user will briefly turn the ignition starter so that the pistons move up and down only a couple of inches. Since the cleaner is now in the combustion chambers  64 , the cleaner will be massaged into the rings. This bumping process is impossible with any of the prior art methods. As explained in the background section, the prior art methods involved either capping or uncapping opening  70 . Capping opening  70  while bumping the engine  20  results in hydrolocking the engine when the piston is in its up-stroke. Leaving opening  70  uncapped while bumping causes cleaner to spew out chamber  64  onto outside engine components causing them to decompose if they are susceptible to the harsh chemicals in most cleaners. 
     These prior art dilemmas have been overcome by the squid  10 . When the piston is in its up-stroke, squid  10  allows the cleaner to be vented up into the metered portion  60  of the adaptor  18  (see  FIG. 3 ) and through the conduit  16  back up into the body  14 . The metered section  60  of the adaptor  18  serves to control the pressurization rate of the fluid such that it can be safely delivered through the conduit  16  up into its respective sub-cavity  38 . The squid acts as a vent releasing the cleaner from the combustion chamber, while at the same time safely containing it. This prevents any damage to the piston or rods that could be caused by hydrolocking the engine. 
     On the down-stroke of piston  66 , however, the fluid will be drawn back down out of the sub-cavity  38  through the conduit  16  into adaptor  18  and back into chamber  64 . The cleaner moves in and out of the chamber  64  consonant with piston  66  position during bumping. 
     The bumping process works cleaner into the compression rings  72  thoroughly. This causes the carbon deposits on rings  72  to dissolve into the cleaner. The engine  20  should be bumped several times for optimal results. The user should ideally wait 15 minutes between each bumping in order to allow the cleaner to gradually dissolve the carbon deposits on the compression rings  72 . After the bumping process has been repeated every 15 minutes for the desired amount of time (usually 2 hours), it is time to blow out the cleaner. 
     The blowing out process is accomplished by attaching a pressurized air source  28  onto snap on connector  26 . Engine  20  should then be turned over continuously for 30 to 60 seconds while user observes the translucent tubes  52  for the presence of cleaner. The pressurized air from the hose  28  forces the cleaner from the sub-cavities  38  down through conduits  16  through adaptors  18  into combustion chambers  64  and then out the exhaust valves  68  of the engine  20  and then out the vehicle&#39;s exhaust system. Once tubes  52  are clear of cleaner, the user should continue turning the engine under pressure over for another 15 seconds. The pressure should be turned off. This completes the blow out process. 
     The valves  42  that were opened should now be closed, and adaptors  18  unscrewed and removed from spark plug holes  70 . New spark plugs should then be screwed into spark plug holes  70 . The disconnected ignition coils should also be reconnected. It is also important to note that the engine oil system should be chemically flushed within one hour of the completion of the squid service. This is done to remove any chemical and/or carbon deposits that may have reached the oil pan below the cleaned piston. The vehicle should never be allowed to sit overnight before performing such an oil flush because any cleaner within the fluid can damage components of the engine. 
     The removal of carbon deposits from the compression rings restores compression to the cylinders lost due to the buildup of carbon deposits. The effectiveness of compression restoration can be determined by performing a compression check on each cylinder after the cleaning. Besides the compression rings, the squid service also removes carbon deposits from the combustion chamber and valves. Oil ring  74  has been cleanable under prior art methods of power flushing oil systems. However, the squid of the present invention enables the cleaning of compression rings  72  without completely overhauling the engine—an impossibility prior to the present invention. The fact that oil ring  74  could be cleaned by prior art methods was of little significance before this invention because such cleaning would not improve engine performance because of the unremovable buildup of carbon deposits on the compression rings. Now that compression rings  72  can be cleaned along with the oil ring  74 , combined cleaning restores overall compression in the combustion chamber  64  with unprecedented effectiveness. This makes squid  10  an important tool in overcoming compression problems caused by carbon deposits on compression rings. This is especially true for modern engines such as the Ford Northstar® that cannot be overhauled. The squid essentially saves the mechanic from having to throw out the engine when carbon deposits cause compression ratios to become unacceptably poor. Now the mechanic can restore compression by merely servicing the engine with cleaner. 
     Though the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments, a latitude of modification, various changes, and substitutions are intended in this disclosure, and it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without department from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.