Patent Publication Number: US-6336443-B1

Title: Injection pump

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an injection pump for generating high fuel pressure in fuel injection systems of internal combustion engines, having a pump piston, which can reciprocate in a cylinder having a control bore in order to aspirate fuel from a suction chamber into a high-pressure chamber and act upon the fuel with high pressure. A supply onset of the injection pump is defined by when an upper control edge, which is embodied on the pump piston and is oriented toward the high-pressure chamber passes the control bore, and the end of supply by the injection pump is defined by when a lower control edge, which is embodied on the pump piston and is remote from the high-pressure chamber, passes the control bore. 
     In conventional in-line injection pumps, the supply onset is defined by the closure of the control bore by the piston control edge located at the top. If the piston control edge is embodied obliquely and located at the top, the supply onset can be defined by rotating the pump piston as a function of a motion of a control rod. In this so-called load-dependent injection adjustment, the control path for the injection quantity and the supply onset is fixedly assigned. It is known that a shift in the injection onset closer to top dead center of the engine piston brings about a marked reduction in NOx emissions. However, this also causes a slight increase in fuel consumption. 
     OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to furnish an injection pump in which the supply onset can be set freely for two different operating modes of the engine. 
     This object is attained in an injection pump for generating high fuel pressure in fuel injection systems of internal combustion engines. The system includes a pump piston, which can reciprocate in a cylinder having a control bore in order to aspirate fuel from a suction chamber into a high-pressure chamber and act upon the fuel with high pressure. A supply onset of the injection pump is defined by when an upper control edge, which is embodied on the pump piston and is oriented toward the high-pressure chamber passes the control bore and the end of supply by the injection pump is defined by when a lower control edge, which is embodied on the pump piston and is remote from the high-pressure chamber, passes the control bore. The cylinder has a second control bore, which cooperates with a plunge cut in the cylinder and with a piston stop groove that extends longitudinally along the pump piston from the upper control edge. The end of supply by the injection pump is always controlled by the lower control edge. By means of the second control bore, a second supply onset is made possible. Once the upper control edge has closed off the associated control bore, the fuel positively displaced by the pump piston can still flow out through the second control bore until such time as the end of the piston stop groove has moved past the top edge of the cylinder plunge cut. 
     A particular embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the two control bores can be made to communicate in the cylinder with one another and with the suction chamber via a 3/2-way valve. With the 3/2-way valve, a switchover from the first supply onset to the second supply onset can be made. This expands the optimal operating range of the engine. Via a governor, automatic switching from the “economy” operating mode to the “low NOx emissions” operating mode is possible. 
     A further particular embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the lower control edge is embodied obliquely. The oblique embodiment of the lower control edge that defines the end of supply offers the advantage, over a control edge extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the piston, that by means of a defined rotation of the pump piston, the same useful stroke can nevertheless be attained despite a different supply onset. 
     The invention will be better understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the drawing. The characteristics recited in the claims and in the description can each be essential to the invention individually or in arbitrary combination. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 shows a detailed cross sectional view of a pump element of an in-line injection pump. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In FIG. 1, a detail of a pump element  1  of an in-line injection pump is seen. A pump piston  3  is received in a cylinder  2  which is fixed in a housing  2 ′ in such a way that the piston can reciprocate. The pump piston  3  is moved in the pumping direction by a camshaft driven by the engine and is retracted by a piston spring  4 . The stroke of the pump piston  3  is invariable. One opportunity for regulating the supply quantity is obtained by varying the useful stroke, which is brought about by simultaneously rotating all the pump pistons using a displaceable control rod. The pump piston  3  upon each revolution executes the full stroke, including an intake stroke and a compression stroke. The metering of the supply quantity is effected by the edge control at the pump piston  3 . The fuel to be pumped is pumped out of a fuel tank  5  by a prefeed pump  6  into a reservoir  7 . 
     A control bore  8  is disposed transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cylinder  2 . Cooperating with the control bore  8  is an upper control edge  9 , which is embodied on the pump piston  3 . The upper control edge  9  controls the supply onset. Once the upper control edge  9  has moved past the upper edge of the control bore  8 , the fuel contained in the high-pressure chamber  30  is acted upon by pressure until such time as an oblique lower control edge  10  reaches the lower edge of the control bore  8 . The lower control edge  10  controls the end of supply. 
     If a valve  12 , electronically controlled by a governor  13 , opens, then fuel flows via the reservoir  7  to a 3/2-way valve  16 . In the closed state of the 3/2-way valve  16 , a conical seat  17  embodied on a valve piston  14  is held in contact with the valve housing by the prestressing force of a valve spring  18 . In the closed state of the 3/2-way valve  16 , no fuel can flow out of a second control bore  22  into a drainage bore  23  that communicates with the suction chamber  29 . When the piston face  15  of the valve piston  14  is acted upon by the fuel pressure, the 3/2-way valve  16  opens, and the valve piston  14  comes into contact with a stop  19 . In the open state of the 3/2-way valve  16 , the second control bore  22  communicates with the suction chamber  29  via the drainage bore  23 . In this state, the fuel located in the high-pressure chamber  30  can flow, via a piston stop groove  24  embodied on the circumference of the pump piston  3 , into the second control bore  22  and from there can flow via the 3/2-way valve  16  into the drainage bore  23 , which communicates with the suction chamber  29 . A cylinder plunge cut  25  is embodied in the cylinder  2  at the orifice point of the second control bore  22 . The fuel from the piston stop groove  24  passes via the cylinder plunge cut  25  into the second control bore  22 . The time when the end  26  of the piston stop groove  24  moves past the upper edge  27  of the cylinder plunge cut  25  represents the supply onset. The end of supply is controlled by the oblique lower control edge  10 . 
     In the “economy” mode, the 3/2-way valve  16  remains closed, thanks to the valve spring  18 . The upper control edge  9  of the pump piston  3  controls the supply onset, while the lower control edge  10  controls the end of supply. 
     In the “low NOx emissions” mode, the valve piston  14  of the 3/2-way valve  16  is acted upon, on its face end  15 , by the fuel pressure as a result of the opening of the electronically controlled valve  12 . The valve piston  14  is moved as far as the stop  19 . In this process, the conical seat  17  opens. The 3/2-way valve  16  remains in pressure equilibrium in the open state as well, because the diameters  20  and  21  of the valve piston  14  are the same. 
     The supply onset by the pump is controlled in this position of the valve piston  14  by the lengthened piston stop groove  24  and by the cylinder plunge cut  25 . Although the upper control edge  9  has in fact already closed the control bore  8 , the fuel positively displaced by the pump piston  3  still flows back into the suction chamber  29  through the bores  22  and  23  until the end  26  of the piston stop groove  24  has moved past the upper edge  27  of the plunge cut. 
     The end of supply is also controlled with the lower control edge  10 . In the adjustment of the supply onset, the pump piston  3  is rotated in a suitable way, so that the same useful stroke can be attained despite a different supply onset. The optimal operating range of the large diesel engine is expanded by this simple “switch function”. 
     The foregoing relates to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, it being understood that other variants and embodiments thereof are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention, the latter being defined by the appended claims.