In-cylinder injection internal combustion engine

Claim 2

A 4-cycle in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine, comprising: a combustion chamber formed between a top wall of a reciprocating piston fittedly inserted in a cylinder and a lower wall of a cylinder head; a single fuel injection valve for injecting fuel directly into said combustion chamber; and a spark plug facing on said combustion chamber, wherein said fuel injection valve performs an injection of fuel into said combustion chamber in the form of a spray evenly spreading out in a conical shape from a spray nozzle as a vertex in a direction of an axis of said fuel injection valve, and wherein, when said engine is in an operation state in which fuel is required in a large quantity, performs said injection of fuel in an intake stroke of said engine and, when said engine is in an operation state in which fuel is required in a small quantity, performs said injection of fuel so that fuel is fed in a latter half of a compression stroke of said engine in which an internal cylinder pressure is higher than that in said intake stroke.

Claim 3

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein, when fuel is required in a small quantity, said fuel injection valve performs said injection of fuel into said combustion chamber where an atmospheric pressure has reached 2 atm or higher.

Claim 4

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein said spray of fuel injected from said fuel injection valve has a shape conically spreading out at a predetermined injection angle toward a leading end of said spray when fuel is required in a large quantity, and, when fuel is required in a small quantity, has a shape that toward said leading end of said spray, a degree of diametrical spreading of said spray becomes progressively smaller and said shape is then gradually reduced in diameter.

Claim 5

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 3, wherein a recess is formed at a part of said top wall of said piston and said spark plug is arranged at a position opposite said recess, whereby, when fuel is required in a large quantity, said leading end of said spray spreads out of said recess and diffuses in said combustion chamber and, when fuel is required in a small quantity, said leading end of said spray is guided toward said spark plug by said recess while being reduced in diameter so that, when said leading end of said spray reaches said top wall of said piston, said leading end of said spray is received in said recess and is locally positioned in a vicinity of an ignition point of said spark plug.

Claim 6

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 3, wherein said fuel injection valve is a swirl-type fuel injection valve provided with an injection valve main body having said spray nozzle, open/close means arranged within said injection valve main body having said spray nozzle, and swirl-producing means arranged in said open/close means for forming fuel, which flows through said injection valve main body, into a cone-shaped swirl.

Claim 7

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 5, wherein said engine is further provided with: an intake port formed in said lower wall of said cylinder head on one side of a reference plane, in which a central axis of said cylinder is contained, and an intake valve arranged in said intake port to open or close an opening of said intake port to said combustion chamber; a curved wall recess formed in said top wall of said cylinder at a position facing said opening of said intake port on said one side of said reference plane so that said recess is set back relative to said top wall of said cylinder to promote vertical swirl of inducted air advanced from said intake port into said combustion chamber; a raised portion formed on said top wall of said cylinder on an opposite side of said reference plane with a top portion of said raised portion being arranged near said reference plane so that said raised portion rises from said recess and approaches close to said lower wall of said cylinder head at a top dead center of said piston; and a spark plug arranged on said lower wall of said cylinder head at a position near said central axis of said cylinder; and wherein said spray nozzle of said fuel injection valve is arranged so that said spray nozzle is directed toward said recess.

Claim 8

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein said shape of said spray is composed of a core spray, which has a small spray angle so that said core spray concentrates in a vicinity of said axis of said fuel injection valve, and a conical peripheral spray having a greater spray angle than said core spray and spaced apart from said core spray to surround an outer periphery of said core spray.

Claim 9

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 7, wherein said fuel injection valve is a swirl-type fuel injection valve provided with an injection valve main body having a spray nozzle, open/close means arranged within said injection valve main body for opening/closing said spray nozzle, and swirl-producing means arranged in said open/close means for forming fuel, which flows through said injection valve main body, into a cone-shaped swirl.

Claim 10

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein said shape of said spray of fuel injected from said fuel injection valve is set so that, when said fuel is injected in a former half of an intake stroke, said spray has a shape progressively enlarged in diameter at an angle equal to or greater than a predetermined angle toward a leading end of said spray and, when said fuel is injected in a latter half of a compression stroke, said spray has a shape progressively reduced in diameter at an angle smaller than said predetermined angle toward said leading end of said spray; and wherein a recess is formed in said top wall of said piston at a part thereof, and an outer edge of said recess is set smaller than a spray contour of said outer end of said spray reaching said top wall of said piston when said fuel is injected from the fuel injection valve during said former half of said intake stroke and said piston is at a certain position, and said outer edge of said recess is set greater than a spray contour of said outer end of said spray reaching said top wall of said piston when said fuel is injected from said fuel injection valve during said latter half of said compression stroke and said piston is at about said certain position.

Claim 11

The in-cylinder injection internal combustion engine of claim 1, wherein said fuel injection valve is a swirl-type fuel injection valve provided with an injection valve main body having said spray nozzle, open/close means arranged within said injection valve main body and having a contact portion, which can be brought into close contact with an inner peripheral wall forming said spray nozzle at a free end thereof, and swirl-producing means arranged right above said contact portion for guiding fuel, which flows inside said injection valve main body, toward said spray nozzle so that a swirling component is imparted to said flowing fuel to produce a swirl; a ratio (L/D) of a length (L) from said contact portion to a free end of said spray nozzle to a smallest inner diameter (D) of said spray nozzle is set within a range of from 1 to 3 so that an angle of a horizontal flow rate distribution centroid of fuel injected from said fuel injection valve, as obtained by measuring a horizontal flow rate distribution, falls within a range of from 40 to 70 degrees; and a value (Re/√P) having a unit of {1/MPa 0 .5 } and obtained from a swirling Reynolds number (Re) at said spray nozzle, said swirling Reynolds number being defined based on a swirling diameter (Ds) of said swirl, a swirling velocity (Vs) of said swirl and a kinematic viscosity (ν) of fuel in accordance with a formula {Re=Ds·Vs/2ν)}, and an injection pressure (P) of said fuel injection valve is set within a range of from 10,000 to 20,000.