The present invention refers to the reducers for combustible gases or l.p.g. used for feeding internal combustion engines and housed in bottles. These combustible gases are employed for feeding internal combustion engines for motor transport or for stationary equipment:

Since the pressure of the gas housed in the bottle decreases progressively with its consumption from a value of several hundreds of bars to zero, the uncontrolled forces to which the lever in the pressure regulator is subjected vary from some hundreds of Nevvtons (or N. x m.) to zero. In the first case, the uncontrolled forces are.equal to the forces which the lever receives from the controlling diaphragm of the flow rate and the outlet pressure of the gas; in the second case they are zero. The precise degree of ad¬ justment is negatively affected to a marked degree by the progressively decreasing varia¬ tion of these forces. As a result of the lack of precise adjustment and particularly when the pressure of the gaseous fuel is high, irregularities occur in the idling speed of the motor, con¬ sumption is higher than usual, and there is an uncontrollable emission of pollutants.

The irregularities in the slow running of the engine, the increased consump¬ tion and emission of polluting gases are aggravated by the differences in the amount of heat , which in standard water heat exchangers installed in the traditional pressure reduc¬ ers is transmitted to the outflowing fuel emitted in a gaseous state by the reducer. The purpose of this invention is to obviate these disadvantages. The invention, as claimed, solves the problem by creating a pressure reduction unit which is self-compensating and electrically heated for compressed gases or l.p.g., by means of which the resulting thrust or the consequent momentum arising from the thrusts on the regulation lever, due to the pressure of the fuel contained in the bottle, are reduced to zero whatever the pressure, and the fuel which is emitted in a gaseous state from the reducer is heated to the same amount of heat per unit of mass of fuel supplied in every thermic state of the engine. The advantages of the present invention lie in the possibility of controlling the

pressure and maintaining constant the temperature of the fuel which is fed by the pressure reducer for every value of the pressure of the fuel contained in the bottle. This is achieved by means of the diaphragm and of the specially placed electrical resistors in the regulator. In this way, the regular idling speed of the engine, a measured consumption of fuel and a limited and controlled emission of pollutants may be obtained.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the self-compensating electrically heated reducer for compressed gases and l.p.g. comprises a supporting body, a chamber connected to an inlet and an outlet, a diaphragm, which, at each variation of the internal pressure of the chamber owing to the different amounts of gas fed, controls the closing mechanism of an opening inlet to keep the pressure inside the chamber constant between the entrance which connects with a bottle for compressed fuels or l.p.g. and the outlet, which connects with an internal combustion engine, in response to the vacuum caused by the engine; the opening inlet being situated between the inlet and the chamber and the closing mechanism for the iopening controlling the flow rate of fuel owing to the action of manoeuvering elements kinematically connected with the diaphragm; in addition, there is a mechanism which acts on at leqast one of the manoeuvering elements tp cancel the re¬ sultant or the momentum risultant from the stress due to the pressure of the fuel coming from the bottle on the manoeuvering elements; in addition, there are electrical resistors which are connected to an electrically operated feeding system in the motor and placed in thermic contact with the walls of the body near the inlet opening. Preferably, the resis¬ tivity of the resistors varies in inverse proportion to the temperature so as to maintain the fuel which enters the engine at a constant temperature.

In a particularly preferred emdodiment, the diaphragm in the reducer is con¬ nected with a first arm of the manoeuvering lever by means of a connection rod which engages with a second arm of the same lever; the closing mechanism is situated at the end of a first plunger, which acts on the second arm by means of the thrusting action brought about by the pressure of the fuel in the first channel; in addition, there is a sec¬ ond channel between the entrance and the chamber which receives a thrusting element in a sliding coupling; the lever presents a third arm opposite the first arm with reference to the pivot on which it rotates, and the thrusting element urges on this third arm to negate

the momentum of the first plunger's thrust with a thrust due to the pressure of the fuel in the second channel.

Further advantages, details and salient features of the invention will be out¬ lined in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the reducer as in the pre- sent invention, with reference to the accompanying Figure, which is a vertical section view of a reducer as in the present invention.

The reducer illustrated in the Figure forms a part of a feeding system of an in¬ ternal combustion engine fed by compressed gases or l.p.g., comprising known struc¬ tures and components, which are not illustrated. The reducer as illustrated consists of a supporting body 1 which has an inlet 2 connected with a ^' bottle (not shown) and containing a compressed gas like methane _. acetylene, hydrogen or l.p.g.

The inlet 2 is connected with a first rectilinear channel 3 having a first diameter Φl and a second channel 4 having a second diameter Φ2 which is greater than the first diamter Φi, channels 3 and 4 being cut in the body 1. Channel 3 leads into a chamber 5 by means of an opening 6 controlled by a closing mechanism 7; the closing mechanism 7 opens and closes the opening 6 according to the axial movements of a first plunger 8, which moves within a guiding perforation 9 coaxial to the first channel 3. The plunger 8 is integral with a push rod 10 which rests on a first arm 1 1 of a manoeuvering lever 12 pivoting in a pivot 13, the pivot 13 being supported by body 1.

The function of the push rod 10 is to reduce the dimensions of the plunger 8 and to reduce its weight so as to reduce its inertia.

In use, the piston 8 is free 10 move in direction F4 owing to the thrust of the pressure of the fuel which is emitted from the openingό when the lever turns in a clock- wise direction; the piston moves in the direction F3 of the lever 12, which rotates in an anti-clockwise direction to close the opening 6 by means of the closing mechanism , the lever 12 maintaining the closing position of plunger 8 in this position.

A second arm 14 of the lever 12 presents an end 15 which is kinematically connected to a connecting bushing 16 integral with an end 17 of a manoeuvering rod 18. The manoeuvering rod 18 is connected to a diaphragm 19 by means of two rigid plates

20 and 21; a spring 25 presses on plate 20.

In the embodiment illustrated in the Figure, the end 15 is introduced into a spherically jointed housing 22 situated in the bushing 16 to transmit the movements of the latter with lever 12; the coupling between the housing 22 and end 15 is a free coupling permitting the the rotation of end 15 around the centre of the housing 22.

The manoeuvering rod 18 moves with the diaphragm 19 in the two directions indicated by the arrows Fi and F2 which, respectively, permit the diaphragm 19 to in¬ crease and reduce the volume of the chamber 5.

A channel 23 connects the chamber 5 to an outlet 24 which, in its turn, is con- nected to other components of the feeding system (not shown).

On the basis of this explanation and the accompanying illustration, and if we were to consider the second channel to be inexislent, the disadvantages of traditional re¬ ducers may readily be understood.

The actions which operate on lever 12 are due both to the movements of the diaphragm 19 and to the thrust resulting from the pressure of the fuel on the closing mechanism 7. The first actions are controlled by the characteristics of the membrane 19 and by the preloading of the adjustment of the spring 25; the actions are therefore capable of being controlled.

The actions due to the thrust of pressure of the fuel cannot be controlled, and their intensity varies from several newtons, to zero according as to whether the bottle is full or empty. It is obvious that a thrust of several N. would have an adverse effect on the precise adjustment by the diaphragm 19 of the flow rate. In fact, when the diaphragm moves in direction Fj_, the closure of the opening 6 by the closing mechanism 7 is pre¬ vented by the thrust of pressure of the fuel on the same element 7; when the diaphragm 19 moves in direction F2, the opening of the inlet 6 by the closing mechanism 7 is facili¬ tated by the same pressure. These actions caused by the pressure of the fuel are uncon¬ trollable and vary ^' from an intensity which approximates closely to the intensity of the ac¬ tion of the diaphragm 19. When the bottle is full, and during the opening of the opening 6, these actions are added to the diaphragm; when the bottle is empty, the same actions are zero.

To correct these disadvantages, a second plunger 26 is housed in the channel 4 which moves in a part 27 of the channel 4 in the directions F3 and F4. Since the part 27 is parallel with the channel 3, the directions F3 and F4 of the movements of the plunger 26 are parallel with the direction of the movements of the first plunger 8. In ad- dition, an end 28 of the plunger 26 is in contact with the end 29 of a pusher 30 fitted with a sliding housing in a cylindrical cavity 31 coaxial to part 27 of channel 4. The move¬ ments of the pusher 30 occur in the directions F3 and F4; a second end 32 of the pusher 30 rests on a third arm 33 of the lever 12, arm 33 being opposite the first arm 11 in rela¬ tion to pivot 13. , The pusher 30 placed between the plunger 26 and the arm 33 serves to articu¬ late the thrusting means formed by the piston and the pusher 30.

Sealing means to prevent an unchecked flow of fuel towards the chamber 5 through the channel 4 and part 27.have been provided. These consist of an elastic ring 34 and a metallic ring 35 , respectively, being housed in a cavity 36, in which the piston 26 moves, and in which part 27 of channel 4 terminates.

As may be seen from the Figure, it is evident that the lever 12 receives two thrusts owing to the pressure of the fuel in channels 3 and 4; the first thrust has the ef¬ fect of rotatating the lever 12 in a clockwise direction; the second thrust rotates lever 12 in an anti-clockwise direction, so as to cancel the movement due to the first thrust and to maintain the lever 12 under the control of the diaphragm 19.

Since the second piston 26 encounters friction owing to the presence of the blocking devices 34 and 35, an advanage in a preferred embodiment is that the diameter of channels 4 and 27 should be greater than the diameter Φi of channel 3 in order to negate the momentum of the thrusts caused by the pressure of the fuel.on lever 12. As shown in the figure, the walls 38 which enclose the area of body 1 next to the opening 6 present a cavity which houses the electrical resistors 37 connected with the electrically operated feeding system of the engine. These resistors are placed in thermic contact with the walls 38 to heat the fuel which, when flowing out from the inlet, ex¬ pands and cools; they are electrically isolated from the body 1 by means of isolators (not shown).

The resistors 27 have the advantage of being type P.T.C., the resistivity of which varies according to the temperature to which they are subjected, the purpose being to give quantities of heat for units of time which decrease in duration as the temperature rises. In the heating phases, when the heat which is required to heat the fuel as it emerges in an expanded form from the inlet is greater, the resistivity of the resistors 37 diminishes, and the amount of heat given per unit of time by the resistors is greater; in the working phases of the engine at a stabilized temperature, when the amount of heat re¬ quired to heat the fuel is generally less, the resistivity of the resistors 37 increases so that they can give smaller amounts of heat per each unit of time. Since, generally speaking, heat absorbed by the fuel which passes though the epening 6 depends on the flow rate, the resistors maintain the temperature of the fuel constant, changing their electrical resis¬ tivity according to the temperature, so as to give greater amounts of heat per unit of time in direct proportion to the flow of the fuel. In this way the temperature of the fuel at the outlet of the reducer is virtually constant during any working condition and whatever the thermic stale of the engine.

From the above information and illustration, we conclude that a self-compen¬ sating reducer has been constructed for compressed gases or l.p.g., in which the adjust¬ ment of the mass flow of the fuel during the different working states of the engine does not depend on the pressure and temperature of the fuel in the bottle, nor on the thermic state of the engine. The idling speed of the engine, the consumption of fuel and the emission of polluting gases can therefore be accurately controlled, whatever the working state of the engine. The resistors 37 provide the walls of the body 1 in the proximity of the opening 6 with amounts of heat which are sufficient for the instantaneous flow of the fuel, they keep the fuel at a constant temperature downstream from the opening, and co- operate with the diaphragm to establish the correct mass flow of the fuel from the engine.