Abstract: An engine fuel injection system includes a conventional fuel rail with a top feed fuel injector connected thereto. The overall length of the injector is able to be shortened by the application of compact fuel inlet filter mountings in which a well (deep cup) shaped filter element is positioned to overlap one or both of (1) an adjusting tube within the injector body and (2) a space between the end of the injector fuel inlet tube and the interior of the associated fuel rail. The filter may be fixed within the injector to the adjusting tube or the inlet tube or may be fixed externally of the injector to the fuel rail. Various exemplary embodiments are shown and described.

Abstract: A device comprises an armature movable in a first direction and a second direction for causing a needle to contact and separate from a seat assembly. Stop means provide a motion stop in at least the first direction. Damping means are applied to the needle for reducing bounce of the needle when the needle contacts the stop means, by altering spring rates and vibration modes of the needle.

Abstract: A noise attenuating device is disclosed combined with the air induction system of a multicylinder internal combustion piston engine, which includes an expansion chamber connected into the air induction system with an inlet and outlet. A first and a second tuning tube is concentric with the inlet and outlet, respectively, and are axially movable relative each other to assume either an underlapped or an overlapped configuration. The tubes are relatively driven axially to be shifted between the overlapped configuration at low engine speeds (under 2500 rpm) and an underlapped configuration at higher engine speeds to more effectively attenuate the characteristic harmonic orders of induction noise at these respective engine speed ranges.

Abstract: A low cost method for manufacturing and aligning the upper and lower guide members in a fuel injector reduces manufacturing cost and improves durability. The method teaches the use of an alignment tool to axially align both guide members before the guide members are rigidly secured to the valve body of the injector. The dimensional tolerances on the guide members are loose with the sole exception of the alignment aperture which is closely held.

Abstract: A fuel rail has a series of contact strips extending along each side of a molded plastic inner fuel rail, each contact strip having a hook shaped end engaging a contact pocket in a fuel injector to establish an electrical connection. Oppositely located pairs of hook ends retain each fuel injector within a seat in the fuel rail. An overmold over the fuel rail encloses the inner fuel rail and the contact strips, and is formed with openings, each receiving an injector which is hermetically sealed therein.

Abstract: A coupling element or attachment device mechanically and electrically mates a fuel injector to a plastic fuel rail. The attachment device electrically couples the male electrical connector to integral wiring within the fuel rail. The attachment device is preferably slidably engaged upon ribs or grooves on the fuel rail and slidably engaged to the male electrical connector. The device secures the fuel injector to the fuel rail without the necessity of a metal clip. The device may be manufactured from a unitary plastic molding. A plurality of attachment devices may be utilized to secure two or more fuel injectors to the fuel rail.

Abstract: An air filter housing including top and bottom housing portions joined by a catch. The housing portions each include a plurality of walls joined together to define an enclosure with and opening circumscribed by an edge. The edge of each portion includes a surface for contacting a seal disposed between the surfaces when the housing portions are joined to form the filter housing. The portions are joined by a hinge assembly and a catch which extends along a side of the filter housing to compress the seal between the portions to form a generally air tight seal therebetween. Typically the seal is integral with a filter element which is in an air flow path between openings in the housing portions.

Abstract: A releasable connection for attaching a cover to a molded intake manifold including a series of projections on the cover received into recesses in a flange molded into the manifold. Tapered recesses in the projections and adjacent sloping surfaces in the flange define opposing spaced surfaces, with a key pin inserted between the opposing surfaces to lock the cover to the flange.

Abstract: A bottom feed engine fuel injector is provided with a valve spring calibration adjuster such as an adjusting tube, which permits fuel flow from the top of the injector during manufacturing calibration and run in. The upper end of the injector is capped in the last manufacturing step after calibration to prevent fuel passage through this opening in normal engine use where bottom fuel feed is used in conventional fashion. Several exemplary adjusters and top feed closing embodiments are illustrated and described. The modified injector structure and manufacturing process reduces costs by allowing both top and bottom feed injectors to be assembled and calibrated on the same manufacturing equipment.

Abstract: The atomizer is a cap-shaped shroud that contains a flat stamped metal insert. When assembled onto the nozzle of a fuel injector, the atomizer causes the insert to be axially sandwiched between the shroud's end wall and the exterior end of the nozzle. In the zone of sandwiching, the insert has six channels of circumferential discontinuities that in cooperation with the nozzle end and the shroud's end wall define air assist openings for the assist air to flow radially inwardly toward the injected fuel that has just been injected from the nozzle. The six channels are divided into one set of two each angularly spaced channels that are directed to one of the two axis of fuel flow; another set of two each angularly spaced channels that are directed to the other of the two axis of fuel flow; and two diametrically opposed channels lie along a diameter of the disk that is normal to and bisects a diameter that passes through the two axis of the fuel flow.

Abstract: A method for retaining and recalling technical data associated with a solenoid-operated fuel injector improves engine emissions. Each fuel injector is tested to generate technical data specifications relating to the fuel injector. The technical data specifications are then transferred to a memory means, such as an EEPROM memory chip, which is attached to the fuel injector. The injector then carries its unique technical data specifications. The technical data specifications can then be read from the fuel injector and the recalled technical data specifications are provided to a vehicle computer. The vehicle computer adjusts for variations between fuel injectors to collapse variability of injectors to a single, centered injector flow.

Abstract: A high pressure fuel system includes a combination bypass and safety pressure release valve across the high pressure fuel pump. The combination valve allows the feed pump to directly provide fuel to the system before the high pressure pump reaches full output pressure. The valve also releases overpressure in the system when the high pressure pump is deadheaded. The combination valve includes a check ball which allows fuel to flow from its input to its output when the pressure is greater at its input than at its output.

Abstract: A typical solenoid-operated fuel injector comprises a housing forming an enclosure which contains a solenoid coil that is selectively energized by electric current to operate the fuel injector. An inlet connector tube extends into a stator to convey liquid fuel into the enclosure, to a valve via which fuel is ejected from the enclosure. A valve needle is disposed within the enclosure between the stator and the valve and is operated by the solenoid coil acting through a spring-biased armature to open and close a flow path through the enclosure between the inlet connector tube and the valve. The stator forms a portion of a magnetic circuit path that directs magnetic flux across a working gap that is disposed within the enclosure between an end of the stator and on one side of the armature wherein the one side of the armature causes impact forces to be exerted axially on the stator during the opening and closing of the flow path.

Abstract: Multiple orifice disks are stacked and include one or more swirl disks. The effect of the stack of disks is to impart swirl to the fuel stream being ejected from the injector in a relatively short axial length. The geometry of the disks in the stack are such that the fuel from the top disk enters the bottom disk at the end of a pattern which operates to impart a swirl component to the fuel. The pattern in the bottom disk is typically a two layered pattern wherein the top layer is one half the thickness of the thin disk and the bottom layer is the second half of the thickness of the thin disk.

Abstract: A fuel rail including an electrical strip is utilized to electrically couple fuel injectors to an external electrical connector situated on an outside surface of the fuel rail. The fuel rail is preferably made from plastic and includes injector cups situated in fuel injector attachments for mechanically receiving the fuel injectors. The fuel injectors are electrically and mechanically coupled to the fuel rail by an upward mechanical motion. The fuel injectors include clip-like electrical connectors which receive connector fingers of the electrical strip which are disposed in the injector cups. The fuel rail was preferably molded in a manifold.

Abstract: An expandable multi-level intelligent vehicle highway navigation system 11 for a motor vehicle having an input device 34 that is adapted to load the segments 21 of a route into a memory means 32. A controller 30 receives a wheel pulse input 28 for distance and electric power 36 from the vehicle and controls the memory 32 and a plurality of displays 13 for displaying the segments 21 of the route, graphic symbols for vehicle direction and segment distance. The controller 30 may be adapted to control additional units such as infrared transceivers 58, RF transceivers 44, GPS devices 52, routing computers 48, map data bases 50, compass 56, etc. and various miscellaneous inputs 54 to build the basic unit into a more complex routing system.

Abstract: A transceiver for transmitting and receiving coded light through a motor vehicle windshield from an in-vehicle computer. The coded light is binary encoded data that is first transmitted through the windshield by light emitting diodes in the red, green, or yellow light range or a similar light range that is not attenuated by the windshield. A photo diode receives the transmitted encoded light and operates a transistor switch amplifier means to activate one or more infrared light emitting diodes connected in parallel. A power supply comprising a light source on the inside of the vehicle and a solar cell on the outside of the windshield provides the necessary power to activate the circuitry on the outside of the windshield. The complete unit is mounted on the windshield in an area which is out of the driver's normal vision.

Abstract: An adapter for mounting an air-assisted fuel injector on an engine is a one-piece molded plastic part that includes an integral assist-air supply tube through which assist air enters the adapter and integral attaching catches.

Abstract: A ferromagnetic housing that encloses the electromagnetic coil to form part of the stator is fabricated from uniform thickness sheet metal to have a cylindrical neck that fits onto the ferromagnetic fuel inlet tube of a top feed fuel injector, a shoulder extending outwardly from the neck and a cylindrical body extending from the shoulder to circumferentially bound the electromagnetic coil. A single through-hole is provided in the housing to provide for passage of both electrical terminals from the electromagnetic coil.

Abstract: A method of making a solenoid coil assembly comprises the steps of providing a bobbin made of an insulated magnetic material. A pair of electrical terminals is mounted on the bobbin for connection with a separable electrical connector. A two-piece stator assembly is comprised of an inner pole disposed on the interior of the bobbin and an outer pole disposed on the exterior of the bobbin. The bobbin is then molded over the inner pole core. The insulated magnetic material of the bobbin comprises a plurality of magnetic granules, each of the plurality of magnetic granules being coated with a layer of insulating material, thereby preventing an electrical path from granule to granule.