Patent ID: 7712684

Claim:
A fuel injection valve which injects fuel from a nozzle hole, the fuel injection valve comprising: a cavitation generation flow path in which a cavitation bubble is generated in fuel flowing inside the injection valve; a nozzle hole disposed downstream of the cavitation generation flow path at an outermost portion of a flow path formed within the fuel injection valve along the direction of flow; and a bubble storage flow path which is connected to the cavitation generation flow path and the nozzle hole and which stores the cavitation bubble generated in the cavitation generation flow path, wherein a flow path is rapidly expanded in transition from the cavitation generation flow path to the bubble storage flow path, the bubble storage flow path, in which a wall bordering the bubble storage flow path is provided to oppose a direction of a fuel jet flowing in the cavitation generation flow path, is directly connected to the cavitation generation flow path and the nozzle hole in a state where an exit to the nozzle hole is offset in the same direction as the flow path is rapidly expanded in a transition from the cavitation generation flow path to the bubble storage flow path with respect to a direction of a fuel jet flowing in the cavitation generation flow path, and the fuel injection valve injects, from the nozzle hole, fuel containing the cavitation bubble stored in the bubble storage flow path in a state wherein the cavitation generation flow path has a flow path area which is smallest in the flow path from the cavitation generation flow path to the nozzle hole.