A combustion chamber structure for an internal combustion engine includes a recessed portion formed in a pent roof of a cylinder head on an upstream side of a tumble flow with respect to a spark plug.

Embodiments of apparatus are disclosed for affecting working fluid flow in a system that delivers material between two locations by carrying the material in the working fluid. For example, embodiments of the disclosed apparatus may be used in an internal combustion engines to carry fuel droplets to a combustion area using air as the working fluid. The apparatus may include a passage including a funnel portion and tumble area that direct working fluid into a stratified stream. The stratified stream may include an outer boundary flow having a toroidal and/or helical flow characteristic and an inner flow carrying injected material that is bound by the outer flow.

An in-cylinder injection engine includes: a cylinder head that includes a gasket surface stacked on a seating face of a cylinder block and defines a combustion chamber between a piston and a ceiling surface gradually receding from an imaginary plane including the gasket surface in going toward a center of the cylinder head; two intake ports disposed side by side and opened in the ceiling surface of the cylinder head; and a fuel injection valve mounted to the cylinder head and having an injection port facing the combustion chamber at a position between an opening of the intake port and the gasket surface. The intake port is formed to have a shape of introducing an airflow laterally into the combustion chamber along the imaginary plane. Accordingly, the in-cylinder injection engine can reduce attachment of injected fuel to a wall surface of a cylinder bore.

The present invention relates to a combustion chamber of a combustion engine. The combustion chamber comprises a single intake valve (2), a single exhaust valve (3), a fuel injector (5) and two plugs (4). According to the invention, the combustion chamber is substantially elliptical (6) and the components of the combustion chamber are arranged as follows: valves (2, 3) are located at the ends of the major axis (8) of ellipse (6), plugs (4) are located close to the minor axis (9) of ellipse (6), fuel injector (5) is located on the periphery of ellipse (6) between intake valve (2) and a plug (4).

Embodiments of apparatus are disclosed for affecting working fluid flow in a system that delivers material between two locations by carrying the material in the working fluid. For example, embodiments of the disclosed apparatus may be used in an internal combustion engines to carry fuel droplets to a combustion area using air as the working fluid. The apparatus may include a passage including a funnel portion and tumble area that direct working fluid into a stratified stream. The stratified stream may include an outer boundary flow having a toroidal and/or helical flow characteristic and an inner flow carrying injected material that is bound by the outer flow.

In a spark-ignition internal combustion engine in which a protrusion including an intake-side inclined surface and an exhaust-side inclined surface is formed on a top surface of a piston, and a cavity is formed in the protrusion at a position associated with a spark plug, the intake-side inclined surface and the exhaust-side inclined surface are formed in such a way that an inclination angle of the exhaust-side inclined surface is smaller than an inclination angle of the intake-side inclined surface, and a difference in inclination angle between the intake-side inclined surface and the exhaust-side inclined surface is 4 degrees or larger.

Provided is an in-combustion chamber flow control device used in an engine having an intake passage connected to an intake opening formed in a ceiling surface of a combustion chamber, at an angle inclined with respect to a direction of an axis of a cylinder. This in-combustion chamber flow control device comprises a plasma actuator (28) disposed inside the combustion chamber (16). The plasma actuator comprises: a dielectric body (38) disposed along the ceiling surface (16a) of the combustion chamber, at a position closer to a center of the ceiling surface than the intake opening (18a); an exposed electrode (40) disposed on one side of the dielectric body facing the combustion chamber; and an embedded electrode (42) disposed on a side opposite to the exposed electrode across the dielectric body. The embedded electrode is disposed at a position closer to the intake opening than the exposed electrode.

An intake system for an internal combustion engine has at least one inlet channel through which air can flow and by which the air flowing through the inlet channel is to be conducted into at least one combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine. The inlet channel is, on the bottom side thereof, of flat form at least in one length region, wherein the flat bottom side extends as far as a tumble edge by which a tumbling flow of the air flowing into the combustion chamber can be effected.

In a spark-ignition internal combustion engine in which a protrusion including an intake-side inclined surface and an exhaust-side inclined surface is formed on a top surface of a piston, and a cavity is formed in the protrusion at a position associated with a spark plug. The cavity includes a bottom surface and a tubular peripheral surface, and is formed in such a way that a ratio of a depth of the cavity with respect to a diameter of the cavity is 0.3 or smaller.

An ECM determines a failure exist and a failure site in a control valve device from first and second failure diagnoses. In the first failure diagnosis, a failure is determined to have occurred if an opening amount that represents an absolute value of a difference between a detected opening amount and a target opening amount of a valve body is greater than a preset threshold when the target opening amount of the valve body is constant for a predetermined time. In the second failure diagnosis, a failure is determined to have occurred if an opening amount that represents the absolute value of the difference between the opening amount of the valve body when fully open or fully closed and the detected opening amount is greater than the preset threshold when a portion rotating integrally with the valve body has been pressed against a stopper continuously for a predetermined time.