Patent ID: 7047946

Claim:
A method for forming an ignitable fuel/air mixture in a combustion chamber of a direct-injection internal combustion engine, having a fuel injector with an injection nozzle including an outwardly opening conical closing member for controlling the flow of fuel injected into the combustion chamber in the form of a hollow cone, said method comprising the steps of moving the closing member of the fuel injection nozzle from a closed position to an operating position in a controlled manner, wherein the operating stroke of the closing member and the fuel injection duration is variably adjusted in that, during a fuel injection process, the closing member is moved between the closed position and the operating position with a variably controlled acceleration at variably controlled speeds until the predetermined operating stroke is reached, whereby the impulse of the fuel droplets in the hollow cone is increased upon discharge from the injection nozzle and the disintegration of the fuel droplets upon leaving the injection nozzle is enhanced.