Patent ID: 8887483

Claim:
A rocket engine comprising: a combustion chamber for combustion of two components, of which one is a fuel and the other is a comburent and of which at least one is in an initial liquid state; an exhaust nozzle disposed at one end of the combustion chamber for discharging combustion products from the combustion chamber; an injection head disposed at another or at an opposite end of the combustion chamber, the injection head comprising an injection plate having a plurality of holes to enable fluid communication between the injection head and a frustoconical intake chamber; a feed valve interposed between a container tank and the combustion chamber to control a supply of the liquid component from the container tank to the combustion chamber, wherein the feed valve comprises: a tubular valve body defining the frustoconical intake chamber disposed on one end of the feed valve, a sliding cylinder defined by the tubular valve body and having a longitudinal axis, the sliding cylinder comprising a restricted portion, a widened portion and an annular end stop shoulder defined between the restricted portion and the widened portion, at least one inlet for the liquid component to move into the sliding cylinder, an outlet for the liquid component to move from the sliding cylinder into the combustion chamber, a slide valve slidably engaged in the sliding cylinder, the slide valve comprising an annular end flange projecting radially outwards from an outer surface of the slide valve, and a spring, at least a portion of which is disposed within a portion of the slide valve, the spring acting axially on a first side of the slide valve to move and retain the slide valve into a closed position to close the inlet, wherein the slide valve is stopped in the closed position by engagement of the flange with the end stop shoulder; and a primer device mounted through a side wall of the combustion chamber and projecting within to supply a pressurized fluid acting axially on a second side of the slide valve, the second side being opposite to the first side, to move the slide valve against the action of the spring from the closed position into a first open position, where the inlet is partially open for enabling the liquid component to enter the sliding cylinder, to axially act on the second side against the action of the spring, and to move the slide valve from the first open position to a second open position, where the inlet is completely open; wherein the spring is shaped so as to exert on the first side of the slide valve a thrust lower than a thrust exerted by the pressurized fluid on the second side of the slide valve.