Abstract:
A fuel injector rail for supplying fuel to at least one fuel injector. The fuel injector rail includes a delivery pipe, an injector port, and a flow director. The delivery pipe defines a fuel passage therein. The delivery pipe defines an injector port that fluidly that couples the fuel passage to the at least one fuel injector. The flow director is located in the fuel passage at a surface opposite to the injector port. The flow director guides a flow of fuel to the injector port.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to a fuel injector rail. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. 
         [0003]    A typical vehicle combustion engine includes a plurality of fuel injectors, each of which sprays pressurized fuel from a fuel injector rail into a cylinder head of the engine. Each fuel injector may be connected to the fuel injector rail with a fuel cup. The fuel cup includes a column that defines an aperture extending therethrough and receives fuel from the fuel injector rail through the aperture. In order to store an adequate volume of fuel so as to meet the demand of the fuel injectors, the fuel is pumped by a high-pressure fuel pump. However, the high-pressured fuel may cause vibration and/or noise due to pumping pulsations from the high-pressure fuel pump and/or opening/closing of each individual fuel injector. There is more room to enhance performance and/or efficiency of the engine by directing the flow of the fuel in the fuel injector rail into the fuel injectors. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. 
         [0005]    The present teachings provide for a fuel injector rail for supplying fuel to at least one fuel injector. The fuel injector rail includes a delivery pipe, an injector port, and a flow director. The delivery pipe defines a fuel passage therein. The delivery pipe defines an injector port that fluidly couples the fuel passage to the at least one fuel injector. The flow director is located in the fuel passage at a surface opposite to the injector port. The flow director guides a flow of fuel to the injector port. 
         [0006]    Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a vehicle including a fuel system according to the present teachings; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a schematic drawing depicting fuel injector mounting assemblies of the fuel system; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a side view of a fuel injector with a fuel cup attached to a fuel injector rail in a first embodiment; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector attached to the fuel injector rail having a flow director in the first embodiment; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail having the flow director in the first embodiment; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail having a flow director in a second embodiment; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail having a flow director in a third embodiment; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail having a flow director in a forth embodiment; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view of a fuel injector rail in a fifth embodiment; 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view of a fuel injector rail in a sixth embodiment; 
           [0018]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a fuel injector rail in a seventh embodiment; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 12  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail in the seventh embodiment shown in  FIG. 11 . 
       
    
    
       [0020]    Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0022]    With initial reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a vehicle  10 , such as an automobile, that includes an internal combustion engine  12  that receives fuel from a fuel supply system  14  is illustrated. The fuel supply system  14  generally includes a fuel supply line  16 , a common rail or fuel injector rail  18 , and a plurality of fuel injectors  20 . The fuel injectors  20  are connected to the fuel injector rail  18 . A fuel pump module  22  may be mounted within a fuel tank  24  and submerged in or surrounded by varying amounts of liquid fuel within the fuel tank  24  when the fuel tank  24  contains liquid fuel. An electric fuel pump included with the fuel pump module  22  pumps fuel from the fuel tank  24  to a direct injection fuel pump  26 , which is a high-pressure pump, through fuel supply line  16 . The fuel supply line  16  carries fuel from the fuel tank  24  to the fuel injector rail  18 . During operation of the engine  12 , fuel passes from the fuel injector rail  18  into the fuel injectors  20  and is subsequently sprayed into the engine  12  through an intake manifold or a cylinder head  28  and into a combustion cylinder for combustion. 
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the fuel injector  20  including a fuel cup  32  attached (e.g. brazed) to a first embodiment of the fuel injector rail  18 . The fuel injector  20  includes an electrical plug  34  that electrically connects with a vehicle wiring harness interfaces with the fuel injector  20 . A fuel injector exit tip  36  of the fuel injector  20  may be placed directly into an engine combustion chamber. 
         [0024]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail  18  and the fuel injector  20  are illustrated. The fuel injector rail  18  includes a delivery pipe  38  having a cylindrical shape. The delivery pipe  38  defines a fuel passage therein and includes an injector port  40  and a flow director  42 . The injector port  40  is defined as a small hole by the delivery pipe  38 . The fuel supplied through the fuel passage of the delivery pipe  38  enters the fuel cup  32  by way of the injector port  40 . Fuel is preserved in the fuel cup  32  temporary and then sent to the fuel injector  20 . 
         [0025]    The flow director  42  is formed in a conical shape with a curved profile  44  and protrudes from an inner wall  46  of the delivery pipe  38  toward the injector port  40 . A tip portion  48  of the flow director  42  may be arranged within a width W corresponding to the diameter of the injector port  40 . One or more injector ports  40  and one or more flow directors  42  may be formed along the delivery pipe  38  depending on the number of the fuel injector  20  or the cylinder head  28 . 
         [0026]    With reference to  FIG. 5 , the flow director  42  has a flat bottom  50  which is spot welded to the inner wall  46  of the delivery pipe  38  by welds  52 . In this case, a gap  54  is defined between the inner wall  46  of the delivery pipe  38  and the flat bottom  50  of the flow director  42 . 
         [0027]    In the first embodiment, the fuel pumped by the direct injection fuel pump  26  flows along the fuel passage defined in the delivery pipe  38 . Some of the fuel is guided by the flow director  42  and directed into the injector port  40 . In other words, the flow director  42  changes the flow of the fuel to bias the flow towards the injector port  40 . As a result, pumping pulsations caused by the high-pressurized fuel from the direct injection fuel pump  26  and/or openings/closing of each individual fuel injector  20  is dissipated and thus the performance and/or efficiency of the engine may be enhanced compared to use of the delivery pipe  38  with a simple round tube. 
         [0028]    The flow director  42  may be formed in a variety shapes. For example,  FIG. 6  illustrates a second embodiment of a flow director  56 . The flow director  56  may have a curved bottom  58 . Unlike the flow director  42 , there is no gap between the inner wall  46  of the delivery pipe  38  and the curved bottom  58  of the flow director  56 .  FIG. 7  illustrates a third embodiment of a flow director  60 . The flow director  60  also may be formed in conical shape with a straight profile  62 . Furthermore,  FIG. 8  illustrates a fourth embodiment of a flow director  64 . The flow director  64  is a part of a delivery pipe  66 . For example, an outer surface  68  of the delivery pipe  66  may be punched press (e.g. dimpled) to form the flow director  64  along an inner surface  70  of the delivery pipe  66 . 
         [0029]    A fifth embodiment and a sixth embodiment illustrates other configuration between the delivery pipe and the fuel cup. 
         [0030]      FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view of the fuel injector rail  18  in the fifth embodiment. The difference between the first embodiment and the fifth embodiment is that a fuel cup  74  is partially installed inside a delivery pipe  72  instead of being attached to the delivery pipe  72 . The delivery pipe  72  defines a hole and the fuel cup  74  is disposed in the hole. A rim  73  of the fuel cup  74  abuts with an outer surface of the delivery pipe  72 . A tip  76  of a flow director  78  protrudes from an inner wall  80  of the delivery pipe  72  toward an injector port  82 . The injector port  82  is defined at a top  84  of the fuel cup  74 .  FIG. 10  illustrates the fuel injector rail  18  having a flow director  88  in a sixth embodiment. A tip  86  of the flow director  88  may be arranged close to or overlapped with the injector port  82 . Other details are the same as those in the first embodiment, which is omitted for the sake and brevity. 
         [0031]    In the fifth and sixth embodiment, the distance between the tip  76 ,  86  and the injector port  88  are closer than that of the first embodiment. Thus, the flow of the fuel may be guided by the flow director  78 ,  88  and directed into the injector port  88  more efficiently. 
         [0032]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the fuel injector rail in a seventh embodiment. The difference from the other embodiments is that the cylindrical body of a fuel cup  90  is attached to a side of a delivery pipe  92  instead of being attached under the delivery pipe  92 . As shown in  FIG. 12 , the delivery pipe  92  communicates with the fuel cup  90  through the injector port  94  defined by a side wall of the fuel cup  90 . The flow director  96  protrudes from the inner wall of the delivery pipe  92  toward to the injector port  94 . Other details are the same as those in the first embodiment, which is omitted for the sake and brevity. 
         [0033]    Any of the flow directors  42 ,  56 ,  60  and  64  described with respect to the first to fourth embodiment shown in  FIGS. 5-8  may be utilized in the delivery pipe and fuel cup arrangements shown in the fifth to seventh embodiment. 
         [0034]    The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.