Patent ID: 7225791

Claim:
An internal combustion engine, comprising a control unit; a combustion space formed between a piston and a cylinder head; and a fuel injection device with an injection nozzle, which has a nozzle needle and a plurality of injection bores, wherein the injection nozzle is arranged to inject fuel into the combustion space in the form of a plurality of fuel jets as at least one of a main injection, pre-injection and post-injection, the nozzle needle is arranged to permit fuel injection selectively through at least two separate groups of said injection bores, the control unit is programmed to control an operating stroke of the nozzle needle as a function of at least one of a piston position and an operating point of the internal combustion engine, and the operating stroke of the nozzle needle is controlled by the control unit to form an unstable cavitating flow in the injection bores.