Patent ID: 7516611

Claim:
A secondary air injection system for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a secondary air injection pump; a first air conduit coupled to said secondary air injection pump; a valve for selectively passing on or restricting airflow, said valve coupled to said air conduit downstream of said secondary air injection pump; a flexible connector directly coupled to said valve for receiving in an internal volume said airflow passed on by said valve; at least two reed-type non-return valves arranged to substantially only allow an airflow in the downstream direction, said reed-type valves arranged at the downstream side of said flexible connector, where said flexible connector further transports said airflow passed on by said valve to each of said reed-type non-return valves; and a second air conduit arranged at the downstream side of each respective said reed-type non-return valve for communicating any airflow passed through each respective reed-type non-return valve to an associated exhaust bank of said internal combustion engine, where each exhaust bank receives exhaust gases from a plurality of cylinders, and where said airflow passed through each respective reed-type non-return valve is communicated to downstream of the plurality of cylinders; wherein said flexible connector is arranged such that as said shut-off valve is brought from passing on to restricting said airflow during operation of said internal combustion engine said internal volume of said flexible connector is arranged to decrease such that an under pressure is created at the upstream side of said reed-type non-return valves, as said flexible connector strives to regain its original internal volumes thus forcing said reed-type non-return valves to close and thereafter remain closed.