FUEL INJECTOR SERVOVALVE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a fuel injector servovalve.

BACKGROUND ART

Known to the art are servovalves comprising a fixed cylindrical stem and an open/close element defined by a sleeve, which is fitted on the stem in an axially slidable way for opening/closing the outlet of a discharge duct that starts from a control chamber of the servovalve and exits on the cylindrical lateral surface of the stem. These servovalves are of the so-called "balanced" type in so far as the sleeve is subject to a substantially zero axial force exerted by the -pressure of the fuel when the outlet of the discharge duct is closed. Thanks to such constructional characteristics, the sleeve requires only relatively small forces for it to be displaced into the opening position.

The sleeve is subject to the opposite forces of a spring, which pushes the sleeve towards its closing position, and of an electric . actuator defined by an electromagnet that acts on a disk-shaped armature coupled to the sleeve.

The document No. EP2025921 describes a servovalve in which the armature is separate from the sleeve and is coupled to the sleeve itself in a fixed position. A lamina of non-magnetic material is set between the armature and the magnetic core of the electromagnet. Such lamina defines a gap that limits the residual electromagnetic forces due to the hysteresis of the material of the magnetic core to cause the ensemble defined by the sleeve and the armature to move immediately towards the closing position when the electromagnet is de-energized.

On account of the high pressures of the fuel and of the high forces of. actuation of the electromagnet, during the

displacements into the opening position, the armature with the sleeve moves towards the magnetic core of the electromagnet at high speeds. In the known solutions, the lamina is defined by a ring of constant thickness located between the armature and the magnetic core, on the other side; at the end of the travel of the armature towards the magnetic core, the fuel compressed between the magnetic core and the lamina and/or between the lamina and the armature encounters a certain difficulty in flowing radially. This difficulty results in a damping effect on the displacement of the armature.

In general, such damping effect is advantageous in so far as the armature does not rebound against the lamina at the end of its travel. However, at relatively low temperatures, the fuel, i.e., diesel oil, has a high viscosity (in fact, the viscosity increases as the temperature decreases) so that it encounters even more difficulty in flowing radially. In these conditions, in general, the armature does not manage to complete its opening travel in the direction of the magnetic core. Heating of the diesel oil requires relatively long times for the injector to function normally: in this heating step, on account of the improper operation of the injector, the engine exhaust fumes contain excessive and undesirable pollutant emissions .

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The aim of the invention is to provide a servovalve of the type described above that will solve the problems outlined previously and will have a high reliability and limited cost.

According to the invention, the above aim is achieved by a fuel injector servovalve as defined in Claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIOM OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the invention described herein is a preferred embodiment, provided by way of example with the

aid of the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a partial median section of a fuel injector servovalve according to the present invention; and

Figures 2 to 5 illustrate in plan view and at an enlarged scale respective variants of a component of the servovalve of Figure 1.

-'BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE IWENTION With reference to Figure 1, designated as a whole by 1 is a fuel injector (partially illustrated) for an internal- combustion engine, in particular a diesel engine. The injector 1 comprises a hollow body or casing 2 (partially illustrated) , which extends along a longitudinal axis 3 and terminates axially ^' with a nozzle or nebulizer (not visible in the figure), for injecting diesel oil at high pressure into a combustion chamber of the engine.

The casing 2 has an axial cavity 34, which houses a dosage servovalve 5 comprising a valve body 7 having an .axial hole, slidable in which is a rod for control of the injection (said rod and such axial hole are not visible in Figure 1) . Such rod is controlled by the pressure of the diesel oil in a control chamber, defined by the valve body 7 and not visible in Figure 1 either. An electric actuator 15 is housed in a portion of the cavity 34 and comprises an electromagnet 16 designed to control an armature 17 having the shape of a notched disk. In particular, the electromagnet 16 comprises a core 19 made of ferromagnetic material, which has a polar surface 20 perpendicular to the axis 3 of the casing 2 and is held in position by a support or jacket 21 (partially illustrated) .

A thin lamina 13 (which will be described in detail in what follows) is set between a plane top surface 17a of the armature 17 and the polar surface 20 .of the core 19. Preferably, the material of the lamina 13 is non-magnetic in order to guarantee a certain gap between the armature 17 and

the core 19.

The electric actuator 15 has an axial cavity 22 in communication with a discharge of the injector 1 for recirculation of the diesel oil towards a tank. A helical compression spring 23 is housed in the cavity 22. The spring 23 • has a pre-loading, which, via interposition of a body 12a, pushes the armature 17 in the direction opposite to the attraction exerted by the electromagnet 16. The body 12a comprises: a pin 12 defining a centring element for one end of the spring 23; and an outer annular portion ^' defining a flange 24 made of a single piece with the pin 12.

The valve body 7 comprises a flange 33 housed in the cavity 34 and kept fixed, in a fluid-tight way, against a shoulder (not visible in Figure 1) by a threaded ring nut 36, screwed on an internal thread 37 of the cavity 34.

The armature 17 is coupled to a. sleeve 41, which is axially guided by a- stem 38 made of a single piece with the flange 33 of the valve body 7.

The stem 38 extends in cantilever fashion from the flange 33 towards the cavity 22 and has a cylindrical side surface 39, which guides axial sliding of the sleeve 41. In particular, the sleeve 41 has a cylindrical internal surface 40, coupled to the side surface 39 of the stem 38 substantially in a fluid-tight way, for example, with a diametral play of less than 4 μm, or else by interposition of annular seal elements (not illustrated) .

The diesel oil exits from the control chamber of the body 7 through a discharge duct 43, made inside the flange 33 and the stem 38. The duct 43 comprises at least one substantially radial portion 44, defining the outlet of the duct 43 on the side surface 39. Advantageously, two or more portions 44 are

provided, at the same angular distances apart. In the particular example illustrated in Figure 1, two portions 44 are provided inclined towards the armature 17. The portions 44 exit from the side surface 39 into an annular chamber 46, defined by a groove made on the side surface 39 itself. The annular chamber 46 is adjacent to the flange 33 and is opened/closed by a terminal portion of the sleeve 41: such terminal portion defines an open/close element 47 for such annular chamber 46 and hence also for the outlet of the duct 43 defined by the portions 44. Preferably, the open/close element 47 άs made of a single piece with the remaining part of the sleeve 41 and co-operates with a. corresponding arrest for closing the servovalve 5. In particular, the open/close element 47 has an internal surface shaped like a truncated cone 45, which is flared towards the end edge and is designed to stop against a joining 49 shaped like a truncated cone between the flange 33 and the stem 38.

Advantageously, the joining 49 comprises two portions of surface shaped like a truncated cone 49a and 49b, separated by an annular recess 50, which has a cross section substantially forming a right angle; i.e., it • comprises an internal cylindrical stretch and an external stretch orthogonal to the axis 3 of the casing 2. The surface shaped like a truncated cone 45 of the open/close element 47 engages in a fluid-tight way the portion of surface shaped like a truncated cone 49a, against which it stops in the closing position. On account of the wear between the surfaces 45 and 49a, after a certain time, the closing position of the open/close element 47 requires a greater travel of the sleeve 41 towards the joining

49, but the diameter of the fluid-tight surface at most remains defined by the diameter of the internal cylindrical stretch of the annular recess 50.

The armature 17 is at least in part made of a magnetic material, and is constituted by a distinct piece, i.e.,

separate from the sleeve 41. The armature 17 comprises: a central portion 56 having a plane bottom surface 57; and a notched outer portion 58, with a section tapered towards the outside. The central portion 56 defines an axial hole 59, by means of which the armature 17 engages with radial play and axial play along a guide portion 61.

The guide portion 61 forms part of the sleeve 41 and projects axially with respect to a flange 60 of the sleeve 41.

The sleeve 41 carries, in a fixed position, a first element for axial arrest of the armature 17 : such first element is a shoulder 62 that is located at the bottom of the guide portion 61 and, in the particular example illustrated, is defined by the flange 60.

The body 12a comprises an axial pin 63 for connection with the sleeve ^' .41: the pin 63 is made of a single piece with the flange 24, projects axially from the flange 24 in a direction opposite to the pin 12, and is inserted into an axial seat 40a of the sleeve 41. The seat 40a has a diameter slightly greater with respect to the internal surface 40 in order to reduce the portion to be ground to provide fluid tightness with the surface 39 of the stem 38.

Notwithstanding the fluid tightness between the surface 39 of the stem 38 and the internal surface 40 of the sleeve 41, there is in general a certain leakage of diesel oil towards a compartment 48, between the end of the stem 39 and the pin 63. To enable discharge of the diesel oil from the compartment 48 into the cavity 22, the body 12a is provided with an axial hole 64.

As has been mentioned above, the shoulder 62 constitutes the first .of two elements provided for axial arrest of the armature 17 and is located in a position such as to allow the

armature 17. a pre-set travel greater than the travel of the open/close element 47, i.e., a relative axial displacement between the armature 17 and the sleeve 41.

The sleeve 41 is provided with a terminal portion 71, fitted on which is a ring 73. The terminal portion 71 has an outer diameter smaller than that of the intermediate collar 61 so as to form an axial step or shoulder 72. The ring 73 defines a spacer between the flange 24 and the shoulder 72, is welded to the end of the terminal portion 71, and has a plane base surface 74 set in contact against the shoulder 72. On the opposite side, the ring 73 is in contact against a plane surface 65 of the flange 24. The ring 73 has an outer diameter greater than that of the guide portion 61 so that an outer annular portion of the surface 74 projects radially outwards with respect to the intermediate collar 61 and faces axially the surface 17a so as to define the second of the two elements provided for axial arrest of the travel of the armature 17 with respect to the sleeve 41. In other words, the axial distance between the surface 74 and the shoulder 62 is greater than the axial thickness of the portion 56 of the armature 17; the difference between such axial distance and such axial thickness constitutes the play or maximum relative displacement in the axial direction between the armature 17 and the sleeve 41.

When the electromagnet 16 is not energized, the open/close element 47 is held resting with its surface shaped like a truncated cone 45 against the portion shaped like a truncated cone 49a of the joining 49, by the thrust of the spring 23, which acts through the flange 24 and the ring 73 so that the servovalve 5 is closed. In the annular chamber 46 there is set up a pressure of diesel oil, the value of which is substantially equal to that of the supply pressure of the injector 1. Preferably, the lamina 13 is floating so that in this operative condition the armature 17 is resting against

the shoulder 62 and- the lamina 13 is resting by gravity on the surface 17a of the armature 17; since the weight of the lamina 13 is negligible with respect to ^' that of the armature 17 and of the sleeve 41, for simplicity it is assumed that the lamina 13 is in contact with the surface 20, as represented in Figure 1, in so far as this hypothesis does not jeopardize the operation described.

Considering this operative condition, the travel, or lift, of the open/close element 47 is defined by the axial distance between the surface 74 of the ring 73 and the lamina 13. When the electromagnet 16 is energized for opening the servovalve 5, the- core 19 attracts the armature 17, which at the start carries out a loadless travel, or pre-travel, without affecting the displacement of the sleeve 41, until it brings its surface ^' 17a into contact with the surface 74 of the ring 73. At this point, the action of the electromagnet 16 on the armature 17 overcomes the force of the spring 23, via the interposition of the ring 73 and of the flange 24, and the armature 17 draws the sleeve 41 axially towards the core 19, to cause the open/close element 47 to perform its opening travel: consequently, also on account of the pressure of the diesel oil in the chamber 46, the open/close element 47 rises, and the servovalve 5 opens .

It is thus evident that the armature 17 performs a greater travel than the sleeve 41; i.e., in opening it performs along the- guide portion 61 a pre-travel equal to the play between the surface 17a of the armature 17 and the surface 74 of the ring 73.

As may be seen in Figure 1, the lamina 13 is defined by two plane faces 81, 82 orthogonal to the axis 3, by an external edge 83, and by an internal edge 84.

In the variants shown in Figures 2 to 4, the edge 84 has a

. circular portion 84a and a plurality of teeth 84b facing the axis 3 , which are the same as one another and are set at the same angular distances apart. In this embodiment, the diameter of the internal circumference tangential to the teeth 84b is greater ^' than the diameter of the ring 73; hence the lamina 13 is of the *floating" type; i.e., it is characterized by a certain play in a radial direction. The thickness of the lamina 13 has in any case a value greater than the play between the surface 17a and the surface 74 (said ^■ quantities ■ are not represented in scale in Figure 1) so as to prevent the lamina 13 from setting itself between these two surfaces during operation of the electro-injector.

The lamina 13 has a size and/or shape such as to optimize the level of damping caused by compression of the diesel oil between the polar surface 20 and the lamina 13 and/or between the lamina 13 and the surface 17a, at the end of the travel of the armature 17 towards the polar surface 20 of the core 19. According to the invention, in ^' fact, in the axial direction ^' gaps are present for the diesel oil between the surfaces 17a and 20 when the armature 17 is completely raised at the end of its opening travel against the lamina 13. Such gaps can be defined along the edge 83 (as illustrated in Figure 1) , and/or along the edge 84, and/or on the faces 81, 82.

In particular, given that the thickness of the lamina 13 is extremely contained, for example, comprised between 30 and • 90 μm (as mentioned above, the thickness of the lamina 13 in Figure 1 is illustrated not in scale, for reasons of clarity) , such gaps have a depth equal to the distance between the surfaces 17a, 20 when the armature 17 is completely raised. In this case, the extent of such gaps is evaluated with respect to a reference annulus , which has : its outer diameter Dl equal to the smaller value between the outer diameters of the surface 17a and of the surface 20; and

its inner diameter D2 equal to the larger value between the inner diameters of the' surface 20 and of the surface 17a.

By setting the lamina 13 coaxial to such reference annulus, on account of the presence of the aforesaid gaps, the area of the faces 81, 82 covers only partially the reference annulus: by the term "coverage" is indicated the percentage of area of the reference annulus that is occupied by the lamina 13.

By making the lamina 13 so as to obtain the aforesaid gaps between the surface 17a and 20, the damping effect caused by the diesel oil on the armature 17 tends to decrease, in particular when the temperature of the diesel oil is relatively low, for example, at engine starting, in so far as a part of the diesel oil manages to flow into such gaps . Such part of diesel oil remains in any case ^' constrained and compressed in such gaps so that it continues to exert a damping effect when the armature 17 terminates its opening travel,- but in a calibrated way according to the shape and size of such gaps.

This reduction of damping with respect to the known solutions where the coverage is equal to 100% tends to facilitate reaching of the end-of-travel position by the armature 17 against the lamina 13 and can be calibrated so as to obtain the desired dynamic response for the displacement in opening of the armature 17.

Figure 2 shows a lamina 13a where the coverage is slightly less than 100%.

Thanks to a cut-out 85 the lamina 13a is shaped like an open ring. The cut-out 85 extends in such a way that it passes through the faces 81, 82 and is continuous from the edge 84 as far as the edge 83. In particular, the edge 84 is circular, and the cut-out 85 is defined laterally by two edges 86, which

are rectilinear and parallel to a radial direction.

The cut-out. 85 guarantees the planarity of the lamina 13a during operation in so far as the distance between the edges 86 enables recovery of dimensional variations in a circumferential ^• direction due to differences of temperature during operation, without bringing about internal stresses in the material of the lamina 13a, which would cause, instead, a curving of the faces 81, 82 with respect to the flat shape defined in the design stage.

In addition, the cut-out 85 has the function of preventing formation of parasitic currents, which, circulating in the plane of the lamina, could induce formation of an undesirable magnetic field: for this purpose, the distance between the two edges 86 must be at least 1 mm.

Figure 3 shows a lamina 13b in which the coverage ^' is approximately 75%. In particular, in addition to the cut-out 85, the reduction of the coverage is due to a plurality of slits 87, which extend in such a way that they pass through the faces 81, 82 and radially starting from the portion 84a of the edge 84 up to an intermediate portion of the lamina 13b. The slits 87 are consequently blind outwards and are delimited by radial rectilinear edges 88. The slits 87 and the cut-out 85 define respective passages that are set at the same angular distances apart about the axis 3 and favour the flow of diesel oil in a radial direction inwards, i.e., towards the sleeve 41.

Figure 4 shows a lamina 13c, in which the coverage is equal to approximately 50%. In particular, the reduction of the coverage is due not only to the slits 87 and to the cut-out 85, but also to slits 89, which extend so that they pass through the faces 81, 82 and radially inwards starting from the edge 83, and are alternated with the passages defined by

the slits 87 and by the cut-out 85. The slits 89 are delimited by radial rectilinear edges 90, are blind inwards, and consequently favour the flow of diesel oil in a radial direction outwards .

Figure 5 shows a lamina 13d in which the coverage is approximately 25%. The reduction in coverage is provided not only by the cut-out 85, but also by a plurality of empty sectors 91 made along the edge 83, whilst the edge 84 remains circular. In other words, the lamina 13d comprises an outer annular portion 92, open in an area corresponding to the cutout 85, and a plurality of elongated tabs 93, which extend radially from the portion 91 inwards and are set at the same angular distances apart about the axis 3.

According to variants not illustrated, as mentioned above, the gaps for the diesel oil between the surfaces 17a, 20 can be recesses with closed boundary, for example, small circular holes made in the faces 81, 82, instead of deriving from indentations of the edge 83 and/or of the edge 84; preferably, given the limited thickness of the lamina 13, such recesses pass axially through and hence define a reduction of the coverage . Experimentally it has been found that an excessive reduction of the coverage entails an excessive reduction in the damping effect ,at the end of the opening travel of the armature 17 towards the core 19. In these conditions, the armature 17 tends to rebound against the lamina 13 at the end of its travel. Such behaviour causes, on the one hand, a variation in the actuation times and, hence, in the times of injection defined in the design stage, and, on the other hand, a fast deterioration and, hence, early failure of the lamina 13.

Experimentally it has been found that the coverage must preferably be comprised between 35% and 75% (extremes included) in order to cause the armature 17 to reach its own

opening, end-o-f—travel -position and, at the same time, not to rebound against the lamina 13 , in any operative condition

(i.e., both in steady-state running conditions and during heating of the diesel oil) and irrespective of the weight of the armature 17.

Preferably, in order to achieve the best compromise on the damping values and, hence, obtain an operation with an optimal dynamic response- in terms of times of opening of the armature 17 and of the sleeve 41, the value of the coverage is equal to 50%.

With reference to Figure 1, as regards closing of the servovalve, in use, when the energization of the electromagnet 16 ceases, the spring.23, via the body 12a and the ring 73, causes the sleeve 41 to perform the travel towards the closing position. During at least one first stretch of this closing travel,- the surface ^' 74 remains in contact with the surface 17a of the armature 17, which moves away from the polar surface 20, moving substantially together with the sleeve 41. At the end of its closing travel, the open/close element 47 impacts with its conical surface 45 against the portion of surface shaped like a truncated cone 49a of the joining 49 of the valve body 7. On account of the type of stresses, of the small area of contact, and of the hardness of the open/close element 47 and of the valve body 7, after impact the open/close element 47 rebounds, overcoming the action of the spring 23. Instead, the armature 17 continues its travel towards the valve body 7, i.e., towards the shoulder 62, recovering precisely the play that had formed between the plane surface 57 of the portion 56 of the armature 17 and the shoulder 62 of the flange 60.

After a certain time from impact of the open/close element 47, the plane surface 57 of the portion 56 impacts against the shoulder 62 of the sleeve 41, which is rebounding. On account

of this impact between the armature 17 and the sleeve 41, the subsequent rebounds of the sleeve 41 are reduced sensibly or even vanish as compared to the case in which the armature 17 were fixed with respect to the sleeve 41.

By sizing appropriately the weights of the armature 17 and of the sleeve 41, the travel of the armature 17, and the travel of the open/close element 47, the impact of the armature 17 against the sleeve 41 is obtained during the first rebound, immediately following upon de-energization of the electromagnet 16 so that both such first rebound and the possible next rebounds are attenuated. In particular, the impact between the armature 17 and the shoulder 62 of the sleeve 41 can occur upon return of the open/close element 47 into the closing position, i.e., at the end of the first rebound. In this case, the rebounds of the open/close element 47 subsequent to the first are blocked.

From what has been said above the advantages of the servovalve according to the invention as compared to the known art are evident.

In particular, the design of the size and shape of the lamina 13 enables the armature 17 to reach always its end-of-travel position against the lamina 13 itself. In particular, it enables calibration of the damping action exerted by the diesel oil during the travel of the armature 17 towards the core 19 so as to achieve a compromise that will prevent also the rebounds of the armature 17 against the lamina 13 and that will hence optimize the response times of the sleeve 41 and, in general, operation of the injector in any operating condition, reducing the times necessary to reach the steady- state running conditions of the electro-injector.

It is understood that various modifications and improvements may be made to the servovalve described above, without thereby

departing from the scope defined by the annexed claims .

For example, the mode of connection of the armature 17 to the sleeve 41 could be different from the system with ring 73 indicated by way of example, and/or the armature 17 can be defined by a disk of constant thickness, and/or the flange 60 can be eliminated so that the shoulder 62 is obtained in the thickness of the sleeve 41, and/or the shoulder 62 can be replaced by a given arrest element fixed on the remaining part of the sleeve 41, and/or the open/close element 47 could be a separate piece fixed to the remaining ^" part of the sleeve 41, and/or a spring could be set between the surface 57 of the armature 17 and the flange 33 so as to keep the surface 17a of the armature 17 in contact against the ring 73 when the electromagnet 16 is not energized (said possible spring must have a stiffness and a pre-loading that are much lower than those of the spring 23 in order not to affect the dynamics of impact of the armature 17 against the sleeve 41) .

Instead of being of a balanced type, the servovalve could envisage an open/close element that provides axial tightness, for example an open/close element of a spherical type that provides tightness against a conical seat made in the valve body and that is supported by a pin having the function of the bushing 41.

In addition, the servovalve could be without systems for control of the rebounds of the armature; i.e., the armature 17 could be fixed on the bushing 41 (or on the pin mentioned above in the case of an open/close element of a spherical type) . , In fact, the benefits deriving from a partial coverage continue to be valid.

Instead of being floating, the lamina 13 could be fixed; for example, it could be fixed in contact with the surface 20 of the core 19 or else be constrained radially and centred on the

collar 61: in the latter case, if the system for control of the rebounds of the armature 17 is envisaged, the axial dimension of the space between the surfaces 62 and 74 must be increased by an amount equal to the thickness of the lamina 13 to guarantee the desired axial play for the armature 17.

The material and/or the thickness of the lamina 13 could be different from the ones indicated. If the lamina 13 is made of non-magnetic material, as indicated in the above description, it is understood' that its thickness will have to be sized according to the gap that it is intended to obtain between the surfaces 20 and 17a.