A method of controlling an engine is provided, the method including the steps of injecting main fuel by a fuel injector during an intake stroke or a compression stroke, providing a mixture gas containing fuel and air inside a cylinder, applying by an ignition device a high voltage between electrodes of a spark plug at a timing when the mixture gas is not ignited, detecting a parameter related to a current value of an electric-discharge channel generated between the electrodes, determining whether the detected parameter is within a range between a first threshold and a second threshold to determine a flowing state of a vortex inside the cylinder, injecting supplemental fuel by the fuel injector after the main fuel injection when the parameter is determined to be outside the range, and igniting the mixture gas by the ignition device using the spark plug after the supplemental fuel injection.

A fuel injection control device for an engine is provided. A swirl generator generates a swirl flow inside a combustion chamber. A fuel injector with multiple nozzle holes injects fuel into the combustion chamber, and forms a lean mixture gas inside the combustion chamber. An spark plug ignites the lean mixture gas to cause the mixture gas to start combustion accompanied by flame propagation, and then combust by self-ignition. A first atomized fuel spray injected from a first nozzle hole and a second atomized fuel spray injected from a second nozzle hole separate from each other by the swirl flow. The fuel injector sequentially performs first and second injections in an intake stroke. A ratio of an injection amount of the second injection to the entire amount of fuel required per cycle is increased as an engine load increases.

Methods and systems are provided for a pre-chamber. In one example, a pre-chamber comprises a plurality of slots fluidly coupling it to a primary combustion chamber. The plurality of slots comprising a plurality of corresponding flaps configured to direct gases through the plurality of slots.

An internal combustion engine is provided with a pre-chamber provided inside a main combustion chamber. The pre-chamber includes an ignition plug, and a casing provided to a ceiling part to cover the ignition plug, the casing isolating an internal space formed therein from the main combustion chamber. A tumble flow of a mixture gas is formed inside the main combustion chamber. A plurality of communicating holes are formed in the casing, and include a first communicating hole opening to an intake port side and a second communicating hole opening to an exhaust port side. The tumble flow flowing into the pre-chamber through the first communicating hole forms in the pre-chamber a vortex flowing in the opposite direction from the tumble flow. The main combustion chamber is provided with a structure configured to suppress a flow opposing the vortex flowing into the pre-chamber through the second communicating hole.

A fuel injection control device for an engine is provided. A swirl generator generates a swirl flow inside a combustion chamber. A fuel injector with multiple nozzle holes injects fuel into the combustion chamber, and forms a lean mixture gas inside the combustion chamber. A spark plug ignites the lean mixture gas to cause a portion of the mixture gas to start combustion accompanied by flame propagation, and then combusts by self-ignition. The fuel injector has first and second nozzle holes, and a first atomized fuel spray injected from the first nozzle hole and a second atomized fuel spray injected from the second nozzle hole separate from each other by the swirl flow. The fuel injector performs the fuel injection in an intake stroke, and retards a start timing of the injection when an engine load is high compared to that when the load is low.

In a combustion cycle in which fuel for forming a homogenized air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber is injected from the first fuel injector, ignition-use fuel for forming an ignition-use air-fuel mixture in the vicinity of the electrode part is injected from the second fuel injector, and lean combustion is performed by an excess air rate of 2.0 or more, the ignition-use fuel is injected by at least an injection rate of 1.0 mm.sup.3/ms or more for a duration of 250 μs or more in an interval from a crank angle advanced by exactly 20 degrees from an ignition timing of the spark plug to the ignition timing, and the quantity of the ignition-use fuel is 2.0 mm.sup.3/st or less.

A combustion chamber structure in which an installation hole of the injector is improved to realize a rapid combustion and to reduce an unburned hydrocarbon. In the combustion chamber, a leading end of an injector is withdrawn from an upper end of an opening of an installation hole, and an additionally expanded surface area is formed on an upper inner surface of the installation hole from a portion to which the leading end of the injector is situated to an opening end of the installation hole. An angle between the additionally expanded surface area and a joint surface of a cylinder head is narrower than an angle between a center axis of the installation hole and the joint surface.

Disclosed are an apparatus of injecting fuel for an engine and a method thereof.

The apparatus of injecting fuel for an engine includes: a main injector positioned adjacent to an exhaust valve and injecting the fuel into a combustion chamber of the engine; and an auxiliary injector positioned adjacent to an intake valve and injecting the fuel into the combustion chamber of the engine later than injection time of the main injector, wherein the fuel injected from the main injector and the fuel injected from the auxiliary injector are injected into the combustion chamber in a tumble direction.

An engine is provided, which includes a combustion chamber defined by a piston crown surface, an inner wall surface of a cylinder, and a pentroof ceiling surface formed in a cylinder head, and an ignition part of a spark plug disposed at the ceiling surface to achieve flame propagation combustion inside the combustion chamber. A cavity recessed in a spherical cap shape is formed in a central area of the crown surface. An opening of an intake port is formed in the ceiling surface (intake side) and an opening of an exhaust port is formed in the ceiling surface (exhaust side). When seen in a cross-sectional view taken along a cylinder axis, the ignition part is located above the cavity to be offset toward the exhaust side with respect to a cylinder axial line whereas a cavity center point is located to be offset toward the intake side.

The present invention relates to a gas intake pipe (2) for a cylinder of a thermal engine. The pipe comprises means for diverting the gas so as to generate a tumble type aerodynamic motion of the gas within the cylinder. The diversion means comprise at least a “ramp” shape (6) on the lower profile (12) of the pipe and a concave zone on the upper profile (10) of intake pipe (2).