Patent Publication Number: US-6901907-B2

Title: Air-stirring blade for an internal combustion engine

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation application of International Application Number PCT/IB01/01198, filed Jun. 29, 2001. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an inlet for air from the atmosphere into an internal combustion engine attached particularly before the engine air filter and after the combustion engine. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     In order to be leading in current technology, an internal combustion engine mounted in automotive vehicles should reveal a good performance. To have a good performance, an internal combustion engine should have a sufficient acceleration and an optimal use of fuel. These requirements can be met by improving quality of the combustion process of air-fuel mixture within the engine. 
     Another way of improving the quality of combustion process of air-fuel mixture within an automotive engine is to improve the quality of air-fuel mixture. A qualified combustion process of air-fuel mixture requires that an agitating effect should occur within the mixture. An agitating effect is a phenomenon triggered and left by a stirring effect in air before the air is mixed with the fuel. 
     The stirring effect is recently produced by providing auxiliaries such as grooves in the air inlet. The grooves are of many types and each has its own advantage and drawback. 
     The prior art related to this present invention is Air-Stirring Device for Automotive Vehicles (PCT/IB99/00029). 
     This invention thus improves the quality of air-fuel mixture by generating a twisting effect, maintain it as long as possible and increase the turbulency of the air-fuel mixture leaving the outlet-side of the air-stirring blade. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     As disclosed above, the subject of this invention is a device which enables the atmosphere to flow turbulently into the engine of automotive vehicles. Compared with the prior art cited above, i.e., PCT/1B99/00029, one of the advantages possessed by embodiments of the present invention is an increasing turbulency of the air-fuel mixture leaving the outlet part of this air-stirring blade due to lesser air-resistance or loss of head. 
     The location of this air stirring blade with carburetor within an automotive engine is shown schematically in FIG.  1 . Air-stirring blade (F) is mounted after or on air channel (B) and before carburetor (C).  FIG. 2  shows schematically the air-stirring blade if mounted within an internal combustion engine on channel (B) after air filter (A) and before engine combustion chamber (E) by means of an injection system. 
     The preferred embodiment of this invention (shown in  FIG. 3 ) comprises a cylindrical body ( 1 ) whose mid portion is provided with blade ( 2 ) constructed in such a way that the inner side of the blade ( 2   a ) takes the form of stirred grooves with dip angle ( 3 ) of about 10° to 80° or typically 30°. The shape of the outer side of the blade ( 2   b ) is the same with that of the inner side ( 2   a ) of the blade. There are four tangent lines between blade ( 2 ) and body ( 1 ). The four tangent lines form a channel with cap-shaped cross-section ( 5 ) which is twisted along body ( 1 ). 
       FIG. 3  is a preferred embodiment of this invention whilst  FIGS. 4 and 5  are its modifications. It can be seen from  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and S that the air flowing from this air-stirring blade is in stirred condition enabling the occurrence of an agitating effect within the air-fuel mixture. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows schematically the mounting of an air-stirring stirring blade within an internal combustion engine with carburetor where A, B, C, D, E are successively air filter, air channel, carburetor, intake manifold, engine combustion chanter, and air-stirring device; 
         FIG. 2  shows schematically the mounting of air-stirring device within an internal combustion engine using an injection system, where A, B, D, E and F are successively air filter, air channel, intake manifold, engine combustion chamber, and air-stirring device; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective cut-out view of a preferred embodiment of this invention where ( 1 ), ( 2 ), ( 3 ), ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) are successively body, blade, dip of twisting, tangent lines, and twisted channel; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective cut-out view of a modification of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  in the form blade only, without body; 
         FIG. 5   a  is a perspective cut-out view of yet another embodiment, showing an air-stirring device which is provided with lips on its body; 
         FIG. 5   b  is a perspective cut-out view of yet another embodiment, showing an air stirring device acting as a joint for air channel; 
         FIG. 5   c  is a perspective cut-out view of another embodiment, showing an air stirring device which is integrally constructed with an air channel; 
         FIG. 6  is a table showing performance of an internal combustion engine of standard type equipped successively with an air twisting device disclosed in PCT/1B99/00029 and an embodiment of the air-stirring device of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a experimentally-derived graph showing the relation between fuel consumed and power yielded by an internal combustion engine of standard type, equipped with air twisting-device disclosed in PCT/IB99/00029, and equipped with one embodiment of the air-stirring device of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     This invention improves the performance of an automotive engine without any significant changes in the previous design of the engine. A satisfied result in the form of a well stirred air flowing into the automotive engine can be performed by optionally attaching an air-stirring device on the engine. 
     Air-stirring device that can be attached without necessarily changing the engine construction has been disclosed in PCT/1B99/00029. 
     The turbulency of the air-fuel mixture leaving the outlet part of the air-stirring device disclosed in PCT/IB99/00029 is considerably lower than that of embodiments according to this invention. 
     Based on that fact, embodiments of this present invention ensures as well as increases the turbulency of the air-fuel mixture leaving the outlet part of the device disclosed in PCT/1B99/00029 by means of a twisted air channel ( 5 ) attached on the solid portion of the air-stirring device disclosed in PCT/IB99/00029. 
     The attachment of an embodiment of the air-stirring device presently invented on an internal combustion engine is shown in FIG.  1 . This air-stirring device (F) is attached after the air channel (B) or on the air channel (B) but before the carburetor (C). Such position of attachment is intended to provide an airflow which has been twisted before entering the carburetor (C). Since the air has been twisted before entering the carburetor (C), the air-fuel mixture entering the engine combustion chamber (E) will have been twisted as well as agitated. To achieve an optimal agitating effect, this air-stirring device (F) is attached in an internal combustion engines not in one place only, but in other places as well, such as on the air channel (B) or in the front of an intake manifold (D). 
     The preferred embodiment of this invention (shown in  FIG. 3 ) comprises a cylindrical body ( 1 ) provided with blade ( 2 ) which is shaped in such a way that the inner side of the blade ( 2   a ) takes the form of stirred grooves with dip angle ( 3 ) of about 10° to 80° or typically 30° with respect to vertical axis of the body. The outer side of the blade ( 2   b ) is of the same shape with the inner side ( 2   a ) thereof. The four tangent lines between blade ( 2 ) and body ( 1 ) form a channel of cap-shaped cross-section ( 5 ) which is twisted along the body ( 1 ). The number of tangent lines ( 4 ) between the body ( 1 ) and the blade ( 2 ) is dictated by the number of grooves formed on the blade ( 2 ). The number of tangent lines is not always four as cited above, and may vary in different embodiments. The minimum number of grooves is usually two but more grooves are allowed when needed. 
     Tests are conducted by comparing measured parameters of an internal combustion engine mounted on powered vehicles using an injection system on standard condition (without an air-stirring device), using an air-stirring device disclosed in PCT/1B99/00029, and using an embodiment of the air-stirring blade presently invented. The parameters were measured for each condition under specified rpms of the internal combustion engine. Parameters observed in the test are the time needed to use up 25 ml of fuel, the engine rpm at that time and the related power of the engine. Power is measured by dynamometer. 
     The data obtained are tabulated in FIG.  6 . The fuel consumed per second calculated from data shown in  FIG. 6  is then interrelated to the power of the engine. The graph produced is shown in FIG.  7 . 
       FIG. 7  shows that to produce the same power at all rpms, the internal combustion engine equipped with the air-stirring blade presently invented consumes less fuel than the same engine equipped with an air-stirring device disclosed in PCT/1B99/00029 and the internal combustion engine equipped with nothing. With respect to PCT/1B99/00029, at rpms below 3500, the internal combustion engine equipped with an embodiment of the air-stirring blade presently invented consumes less fuel to produce power at the same rate. However at an rpm of 1500, the internal combustion engine equipped with the embodiment of the air-stirring blade presently invented and the internal combustion engine equipped with the device disclosed in PCT/1B99/00029 consume fuel of the same amount. 
       FIG. 3  is a preferred embodiment of this invention whilst  FIG. 4 and S  show modifications thereof. The modification in  FIG. 4  is in the form of blade ( 2 ) only following the omission of the cylindrical parts of its body ( 1 ). Modification in  FIG. 4  can be made if the air-stirring blade acts as an inserting part, and body ( 1 ) of the air-stirring blade is of such construction to be integrated with the air channel within the internal combustion engine. 
       FIG. 5   a  shows another modification of this embodiment of the invention where the body ( 1 ) is equipped with an additional lip ( 6 ). 
       FIG. 5   b  is another modification of this embodiment of the invention in which the blade acts as a joint for an air channel, and  FIG. 5   c  is an air-stirring device which is integrally constructed with the body of an air channel. 
     In one embodiment, most of those modifications are made of nonmetal materials such as polymer. Only a few of them are made of metal. 
     It should necessarily be understood that the scope of this invention is not limited by the embodiments represented by the appended drawings. All modifications made by the people skilled in this art are still part of this invention as long as the principles underlying the modifications still exist within the scope of the invention.