Patent ID: 7481205

Claim:
A fuel injector system for vaporizing and metering a liquid fuel to an internal combustion engine, comprising: (a) at least one fuel injector having at least one capillary flow passage, said at least one capillary flow passage having an inlet end to admit liquid fuel from a fuel rail and an outlet end; (b) a heat source arranged along said at least one capillary flow passage, said heat source obtained by passing current through the walls of said capillary and operable to heat the liquid fuel in said at least one capillary flow passages to a level sufficient to change from the liquid state to a vapor state and deliver vaporized fuel from said outlet end of said at least one capillary flow passage; (c) a solenoid operated valve for metering vaporized fuel to the internal combustion engine, said valve located proximate to said outlet end of said at least one capillary flow passage; and (d) a system for operating said metering valve while delivering vaporized fuel at an opening and closing frequency of at least 60 Hz, wherein the vaporized fuel forms an aerosol prior to combustion with a mean particle size distribution less than about 25 microns.