Patent ID: 6953158

Claim:
A fuel injector for performing a direct injection of a fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, comprising: a valve-seat surface; one of a piezoelectric actuator and a magnetostrictive actuator; a valve-closure member actuatable by the one of the piezoelectric actuator and the magnetostrictive actuator, the valve-closure member cooperating with the valve-seat surface to form a sealing seat, a compensation gap being present in an actuation path between the valve closure member and the one of the piezoelectric actuator and the magnetostrictive actuator; and a measuring element provided in at least one of the actuation path and the one of the piezoelectric actuator and the magnetostrictive actuator, wherein: the measuring element measures a force exerted by the one of the piezoelectric actuator and the magnetostrictive actuator on the valve-closure member, and the one of the piezoelectric actuator and the magnetostrictive actuator is regulated in such a way that the compensation gap is held closed.