Abstract: A fuel pump module constructed to be disposed exteriorly of a vehicle fuel tank carries, as a single unit, an electric motor fuel pump and a pressure control device which controls the pressure of fuel delivered to an internal combustion engine from the fuel pump. Fuel supplied from the fuel tank to the module is drawn into the fuel pump which increases the pressure of the fuel and then discharges the fuel under pressure from an outlet of the fuel pump which communicates with the pressure control device carried by the module and an outlet of the module which in turn, communicates with the engine. The pressure control device may be either a pressure relief valve, which functions to limit the maximum pressure of the fuel delivered to the engine, or a fuel pressure regulator, such as a bypass pressure regulator, which bypasses to a point upstream of the fuel pump inlet fuel delivered from the fuel pump in excess of the engine's fuel demand.

Abstract: A fuel pump module constructed to be disposed in a vehicle fuel tank has a primary fuel pump with a fuel inlet disposed adjacent the bottom of the module and a fuel outlet which delivers pressurized fuel to an engine and also a jet pump disposed in a recess of the module and closely adjacent the bottom of the fuel tank to draw fuel into the module from the fuel tank in response to fuel flow through the jet pump. Disposing the jet pump in the recess of the module and closely adjacent to the bottom of the fuel tank enables the jet pump to draw substantially all of the fuel from the fuel tank into the module to ensure that the primary fuel pump can deliver an adequate supply of fuel to the engine even during extremely low fuel level conditions in the fuel tank.

Abstract: A fuel pressure regulator and fuel filter module constructed to be connected to a vehicle fuel tank has a body with an integral, radially extending flange constructed to overlie and to be attached to the fuel tank and an integral depending skirt constructed to contain a fuel filter and to define in part an integral fluid passage communicating a fuel pump through the filter with a fuel line attached at one end to the module and through which fuel is delivered to an operating engine. Fuel discharged from the fuel pump flows through the fuel filter before entering the fuel line for delivery to the engine. An inlet of the fuel pressure regulator communicates with the fuel downstream of the fuel filter to bypass excess fuel delivered from the fuel pump through a bypass outlet of the regulator and into the fuel tank.

Abstract: A high flow rate fuel vapor vent valve assembly has a delayed fall away fill level control float responsive to the level of fuel in the fuel tank and constructed to control the closing of an outlet passage through which fuel vapors are vented from the fuel tank when a desired maximum fuel level is reached within the fuel tank during refueling of the tank. The fill level float is constructed to sink after refueling of the fuel tank is completed, and preferably several minutes thereafter, to control the opening of the outlet passage and permit fuel vapors to once again vent from the fuel tank. Staggered openings in the housing of the valve assembly permit the fuel vapor to vent from the fuel tank through the outlet passage when it is open but prevent splashing or sloshing fuel within the fuel tank from flowing through the outlet passage and to a vapor canister downstream of the outlet passage.

Abstract: A carburetor having a fuel pump, a fuel metering diaphragm defining a fuel chamber on one side of the diaphragm and an air chamber on the opposite side of the diaphragm vented to the atmosphere, and a second diaphragm defining a first chamber on one side of the second diaphragm in communication with the carburetor fuel pump and a valve actuated by the second diaphragm to control the application of engine crankcase pressure pulses to the fuel metering diaphragm in response to the pressure at the carburetor fuel pump. The second diaphragm is yieldably biased to position the valve in a first position and upon cranking for initially starting the engine, pressure pulses from the engine crankcase are communicated to the air chamber of the fuel metering diaphragm. The pressure pulses from the engine crankcase act on the fuel metering diaphragm causing it to fluctuate and thereby increase the quantity of fuel mixed with the air flowing through the carburetor to facilitate staring the engine.

Abstract: A carburetor having an idle nozzle and a main nozzle each with a fixed flow area and an idle speed single adjustment screw adjustable by the user. The idle and high speed fuel flows are controlled by the idle nozzle and the main nozzle, respectively. The user can adjust the engine speed only by adjustment of the idle speed adjustment screw which changes the position of the carburetor throttle valve to control the flow through the carburetor. This provides a more consistent fuel and air mixture to improve the performance of the engine and better control engine emissions by preventing the user from changing the fuel and air ratio to a mixture which is either too lean or too rich for the steady and low level exhaust emission operation of the engine.

Abstract: An electric motor turbine-type fuel pump having an impeller with a plurality of circumferentially spaced vanes disposed about the periphery of the impeller with each vane being inclined relative to a plane defined by the axis of rotation of the impeller and a radius of the impeller extending to a leading face of that vane with the leading face of each vane having a generally concave or cup shape. The vanes have a base connected to a main body of the impeller and a free end or tip radially outwardly of the base. Preferably, the vanes are inclined such that the tip trails the base as the impeller rotates and are generally arcuate along both their axial and radial extent. This orientation of the vane and the concave or cup shape of each vane improves the circulation of the fuel about the periphery of the impeller to improve the efficiency of the fuel pump.

Abstract: An electric fuel pump module includes a fuel pump driven by an electric motor. The motor has an armature provided with a commutator having a flat face. Brushes engage the flat face of the commutator to supply current to the armature. A groove in the flat face of the commutator provides relief preventing fuel from becoming trapped between the brush and the commutator face. The groove extends in a circular loop around the axis of rotation of the armature and may be centered on or laterally offset from the axis of rotation.

Abstract: An electric motor fuel pump has an inner gear rotor and an outer gear rotor each with a plurality of radially opposed intermeshing teeth each having a pair of driving surfaces and defining circumferentially disposed expanding and ensmalling pumping chambers through which fuel is drawn and then discharged under pressure. The inner gear rotor is coupled to a motor armature journalled for rotation within a fuel pump housing to drive the inner gear rotor and the associated outer gear rotor. The teeth of each gear rotor have a step formed thereon providing a pair of offset driving surfaces on at least each driving face of each tooth and preferably offset trailing surfaces on each trailing face of each tooth. The stepped tooth profile permits greater eccentricity between inner and outer gear rotors which increases the fuel displacement of the gear rotors.

Abstract: A positive displacement gear rotor fuel pump with a plurality of spaced apart outlet ports through which fuel is discharged from a fuel pumping assembly and a valve which prevents any fuel downstream of the outlet ports which is at outlet pressure, from reentering portions of the pumping assembly which are at a lower pressure to prevent the higher pressure fuel from rapidly compressing and collapsing the fuel vapor in the pumping assembly to greatly reduce the noise of the operating fuel pump. This reduces the magnitude of the cavitation noise in the fuel pump which is the noise caused by the collapsing of the fuel vapor in the pump. The outlet ports are also constructed and arranged to prevent adjacent pumping chambers of the pumping assembly from communicating with each other to prevent the fuel at an increased pressure in a downstream pumping chamber from flowing into a lower pressure pumping chamber upstream thereof to also reduce cavitation noise in the fuel pump.

Abstract: An electric motor regenerative or turbine type fuel pump has a fuel pumping channel with a cross sectional area which decreases from adjacent its inlet to at least midway through the pumping channel to improve the efficiency and vapor handling capability of the fuel pump. Preferably, the pumping channel generally continuously decreases in cross-sectional area from its inlet to its outlet. In one form, the pumping channel is defined between a pair of plates or caps and a split ring received between the caps and surrounding an impeller having a plurality of vanes formed about its periphery and disposed within the pumping channel. Each of the caps preferably has a groove therein forming a portion of the pumping channel with each of the grooves having a greater cross sectional area adjacent the inlet of the pumping channel compared to the outlet of the pumping channel.

Abstract: A fuel dosing system to provide a controlled level of cereum additive from an additive tank either within or external to a diesel powered vehicle's fuel storage tank. The present invention maintains a concentration of cerium that is optimized to assure proper regeneration of a particulate trap used to control particulate emissions from the vehicle's exhaust. The present invention determines the additive dosage required by monitoring the fuel added to the tank during refueling of the vehicle and responds with a proper dose of an optimized amount of additive. The present invention is self contained and imposes a minimum encroachment on the vehicle fuel and electrical system and may also provide appropriate alarm signals to warn of additive depletion and other possible malfunctions.

Abstract: A multi-level fuel pickup system has a float valve in communication with a first fuel passage having an open end disposed at a first height within the fuel tank spaced from the bottom of the fuel tank to prevent fluid flow through the first fuel passage when liquid fuel is absent adjacent its open end. A second fuel passage communicates adjacent the bottom of the fuel tank and below the first height and fuel is drawn through this fuel passage when a low level of fuel remains in the fuel tank. A fuel control valve is manually adjustable to control through which of the fuel passages fuel is drawn. Preferably, each of the fuel passages is at least partially formed in a valve body mounted within the fuel tank and the float valve comprises a spherical float received in a bore in the valve body and is responsive to the level of fuel within the bore.

Abstract: A fuel pump module with an inlet fuel filter has a vapor inlet in communication with the interior of the filter and constructed to reduce the size of larger vapor bubbles trapped within the filter before they are ingested by the fuel pump downstream of the filter to limit the amount of fuel vapor ingested by the fuel pump at one time. Preferably, a tubular inlet sleeve is integrally connected with the fuel filter and press fit onto the inlet of the fuel pump as a subassembly with the vapor inlet passage formed in the inlet sleeve. The vapor inlet passage may be a slot formed in the inlet sleeve providing a reduced area flow path through which vapor in the interior of the filter may pass before entering the fuel pump.

Abstract: A two-stroke internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder with a combustion chamber defined between the cylinder head and a reciprocating piston, and a carburetor which delivers a rich fuel and air mixture to a compressor with a reciprocating piston driven by the engine to compress the mixture until the mixture is under sufficient pressure to open a differential pressure injection valve and thereby inject the mixture directly into the engine combustion chamber. The mixture is ignited by a spark plug to drive the engine piston through its power stroke and rotate its associated crankshaft which is connected to a crankshaft of the compressor to reciprocate its piston and thereby compress the fuel and air mixture and inject it into the cylinder in timed relation with the engine piston.

Abstract: An electric motor turbine-type fuel pump has an impeller driven to rotate by the motor and received between opposed faces of a first body and a second body defining a pumping channel about the periphery of the impeller, each face has a plurality of circumferentially spaced and separate cavities disposed radially inwardly of the pumping channel and constructed to contain pressurized fuel adjacent the impeller to balance the axial forces across the impeller and center the impeller between the first body and second body. If desired, to ensure communication between a cavity and the pumping channel, a shallow groove or flow passage can be provided extending between the cavity and the pumping channel. The cavities in both the first body and second body are complementarily sized and arranged to provide a surface area adjacent the impeller and a pressure therein sufficient to balance the forces acting on each side of the impeller.

Abstract: An internal combustion engine has a fuel and air mixing device which utilizes an open bore venturi to draw fuel from the device and deliver a rich fuel and air mixture to a compressor driven by the engine for direct injection of the rich fuel and air mixture into the engine. An engine air throttle body uses an engine throttle linkage and valve to control air flow into the engine crankcase and provides a positive air pressure signal, especially at small throttle openings, to assist the metering of fuel within the fuel and air metering device. The positive air pressure signal is preferably provided by a small port in the engine air throttle body slightly downstream of the throttle valve when closed and is communicated with the fuel and air metering device to cause additional fuel to be delivered from the device.

Abstract: A main fuel tank in an automotive vehicle contains a reservoir in which is located a two-stage electrically operated pump. The first stage is a rotary side lateral pump which draws fuel from the main tank and delivers it to the reservoir. The second stage is a rotary turbine pump which draws fuel from the reservoir and delivers it to the vehicle engine. The reservoir has overflow restriction means which allows air to vent while the reservoir is filling with fuel but which restricts fuel flow when the reservoir is full. This creates pressure in the reservoir to create back pressure against and shut down fuel flow from the first stage pump and also increase pressure on the fuel inlet of the second stage pump thus increasing the efficiency of the second stage fuel pump.

Abstract: A capacitor discharge type ignition system for an internal combustion engine has a secondary charge coil mounted on a ferromagnetic core adjacent to a primary charge coil and an ignition coil, and means for selectively providing current from a battery to the secondary charge coil to increase the charging of a capacitor with the fly back voltage of the secondary charge coil when the current supplied to it from the battery is interrupted or terminated to increase the charge stored by the capacitor at low engine speeds and thereby facilitate starting an engine at very low engine speeds. The battery provides additional energy necessary to provide ignition and starting of the engine at very low engine speeds and can also be used to provide power for other functions, such as to electric starting of the engine, or to power other auxiliary features of the machine powered by the engine.