CAPILLARY FUEL INJECTOR WITH METERING VALVE FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

摘要

A fuel injector (10) for vaporizing a liquid fuel for use in an internal combustion engine (2110). The fuel injector includes at least one capillary flow passage (12), a heat source (20) arranged along the at least one capillary flow passage (12), the heat source (20) operable to heat the liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage (12) to a level sufficient to change at least a portion thereof from the liquid state to a vapor state and deliver a stream of substantially vaporized fuel from the outlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage (12); and a valve for metering fuel to the internal combustion engine, the valve located proximate to the outlet end (16) of the at least one capillary flow passage (12), the valve including a low mass member (18) for substantially occluding the stream of fuel to the internal combustion engine; wherein the low mass member (18) for substantially occluding the stream of fuel to the internal combustion engine (2110) is formed of a material having low mass and or a low coefficient of thermal conductivity. The fuel injector (10) is effective in reducing cold-start and warm-up emissions of an internal combustion engine (2110).