Abstract: A fluid pump includes an inlet plate and an electric motor. The electric motor has a shaft that rotates about an axis. A pumping arrangement is rotationally coupled to the shaft. The pumping arrangement includes an rotating element. The fluid pump further includes a thrust bearing driver including a disc-like plate having first and second faces, and two posts extending perpendicularly from the first face. The shaft has a terminal end including a pair of slots that cooperate with the posts of the thrust bearing driver. The inner gear rotor has an inner surface including a pair of slots that cooperate with the posts of the thrust bearing driver. The posts of the thrust bearing driver are received in the slots of both the shaft and the rotating element, and the thrust bearing driver is sandwiched between the shaft, the inlet plate, and the rotating element.

Abstract: An impeller for a fluid pump includes a hub having an outer surface; an outer ring which is concentric with the hub and having an inner surface; and a plurality of blades extending from a root at the outer surface to a tip at the inner surface. Each of the blades has a first leg and a second leg which meet at a vertex such that a concave side of the blades faces toward a rotational direction and such that a convex side of the blades faces away from the rotational direction. The concave side of each one of the plurality of blades forms a draft angle with the convex side of another one of the plurality of blades which is immediately adjacent thereto in the rotational direction. The draft angle at the inner surface is less than or equal to 10% of the draft angle at the outer surface.

Abstract: A determination method of opening characteristics of a fuel injector in an internal combustion engine comprising a knock sensor capable of generating a signal representative of vibrations. The knock sensor is used to determine the opening characteristics of the fuel injector. The determination method comprises acquiring the knock sensor signal over a predetermined measurement window synchronised on an injection control signal; and analysing the sensor signal over the measurement window in order to determine a first alternation of a first wave train and to determine the local maximum of the first alternation. The fuel injection is controlled based on the opening characteristic of the injector determined based on this local maximum.

Abstract: A fuel pump assembly comprises a plunger arranged to reciprocate within a plunger bore via a drive shaft, to perform a pumping cycle comprising a pumping stroke and a return stroke, the pumping stroke comprising movement of the plunger from a bottom dead centre (BDC) position to a top dead centre (TDC) position, and the return stroke comprising movement of the plunger from the TDC position to the BDC position. The fuel pump assembly comprises a spring assembly including a return spring that is cooperable, at a first end, with a first member coupled to the plunger and movable at a first speed dependent on the speed of rotation of the drive shaft and, at a second end, with a second member which is movable at a damped speed relative to the first speed.

Abstract: A fuel injector includes a housing extending along an injector axis. A pintle has an axially extending pintle shaft and a radially projecting annular collar with a collar surface, the pintle being axially moveable between an open position and a closed position. An armature is axially guided in the housing between a proximal position and a distal position, the armature having an axial through-hole in which the pintle shaft is guided and an armature surface which engages the collar surface, thereby moving the pintle into the open position when the armature moves to the proximal position. A first resilient member biases the pintle in the distal direction and a second resilient member biases the armature in the distal direction. The armature surface and the collar surface are slanted with respect to the injector axis and one of the armature surface and the collar surface is convex curved.