Patent ID: 7823565

Claim:
A fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a cylinder head; an injector pocket formed in said cylinder head, with said pocket having a lower wall and an outer wall; a fuel injector mounted within said injector pocket, with said injector having an injector base; and an isolator mounted between said injector and said lower wall of said injector pocket, with said isolator comprising: an isolator base in contact with said lower wall; a generally conical contact surface extending upwardly from said generally annular base, with said contact surface defining a radial clearance gap with said outer wall of said injector pocket; and a wedging injector contact surface for causing the isolator to expand radially outwardly into said clearance gap in response to axially directed force imposed upon the isolator by said injector base, with said isolator exhibiting an axially directed force/deflection characteristic having a lower value when a minimal amount of the conical contact surface has expanded into contact with said outer wall of said injector pocket, with said force/deflection characteristic having a greater value when a maximum amount of the conical contact surface has expanded into contact with the outer wall of the injector pocket.