Patent ID: 7464688

Claim:
An active radical initiator (ARI) for an internal combustion engine comprising: a housing having an interior chamber and nozzle means for supplying fuel, a plunger reciprocable within the interior chamber, the plunger adapted to define a pilot fuel metering chamber and a mixing and compression chamber, the plunger being movable between extended and retracted positions, such that when in the retracted position, the plunger defines a pilot fuel metering chamber within the interior chamber of the API, wherein fuel is capable of being introduced to the pilot fuel metering chamber through the means for supplying fuel, and when the plunger is moved toward its extended position, the plunger is operable to reduce the volume of the pilot fuel metering chamber and to block the means for supplying fuel, to thereby force pilot fuel from the pilot fuel metering chamber into the mixing and compression chamber, the plunger comprising a plume ejecting end oriented toward the nozzle of the interior chamber, an interior passageway between the pilot fuel metering chamber and mixing and compression chamber.