A fuel injector may include a housing, a pintle nozzle assembly and an actuation assembly. The housing may define a longitudinal bore, a high pressure fuel duct in communication with the longitudinal bore and a valve seat including a valve seat surface and an aperture. The pintle nozzle assembly may include a stem and a pintle and may be at least partially disposed within the longitudinal bore and be variably displaceable between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the pintle nozzle assembly may abut the valve seat to seal the aperture. In the second position, the pintle nozzle assembly may be displaced from the valve seat to open the aperture. The actuation assembly may be coupled with the pintle nozzle assembly and operate to move the pintle nozzle assembly to a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position.

A center body assembly for a fuel injector is disclosed. The center body assembly defines a primary liquid passage, a liquid gallery, swirl slots, and a prefilm passage. The primary liquid passage supplies liquid fuel to the liquid gallery. The liquid gallery includes a gallery discharge end and a gallery inlet end that aligns with the primary liquid passage. The liquid gallery tapers down from the gallery inlet end to the gallery discharge end. The swirl slots extend from the liquid gallery to the prefilm passage in a helical pattern. The prefilm passage includes an annular shape that turns inward towards an assembly axis of the center body assembly.

An atomizing injector comprises a body having a central bore with a valve situated in the bore, leading to a chamber. An actuator moves the valve between closed condition and open conditions, selectively exposing the chamber to a flow of pressurized liquid. A discharge port extends from the chamber to a discharge orifice. A swirl element is situated in the chamber, while leaving a free space in the chamber immediately above the discharge port. When the valve is opened, liquid flows into the chamber, through the swirl element into the space, forming a whirl in the space before passing through the discharge port and exiting the discharge orifice as an atomized whirling spray.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for injecting and igniting a fuel using corona discharge for combustion. In one aspect, a method to ignite a fuel in an engine includes injecting ionized fuel particles into a combustion chamber of an engine, and generating one or more corona discharges at a particular location within the combustion chamber to ignite the ionized fuel particles, in which the generating includes applying an electric field at electrodes configured at a port of the combustion chamber, the electric field applied at a frequency that does not produce an ion current or spark on or between the electrodes.

A metering valve or an injector includes: a valve-seat member which closes a valve chamber and has a central valve opening, and a spray orifice disk downstream from the valve-seat member in the flow direction of the fluid, which has at least one spray orifice. The spray orifice disk has a swirl chamber concentric with the spray orifice and at least one swirl duct leading from the swirl chamber to beneath the valve opening, and the swirl chamber and swirl duct are integrally formed as recesses into the disk surface of the spray orifice disk facing the valve body. The swirl duct has a duct cross section and the spray orifice has an orifice cross section such that the ratio of the duct cross section to the orifice cross section is equal to or greater than 1.5.

A fuel injection valve includes: a needle valve including a seat portion on a tip side thereof; a nozzle body including a seat surface on which the seat portion is placed, and a swirl stabilization chamber on a downstream side of the seat surface, the nozzle body having an injection hole formed so as to have an inlet in the swirl stabilization chamber; a swirl flow generating portion having swirl grooves configured to give a swirling component to fuel to be introduced into the swirl stabilization chamber; and a fuel collision portion provided in a tip portion of the needle valve, the fuel collision portion being configured such that, in a state where the needle valve is opened, the fuel collision portion intersects with a virtual surface extended toward the injection hole from the seat surface included in the nozzle body. This allows dead fuel to be retained in the swirl stabilization chamber and to be introduced into the injection hole in a state where a swirling component has been given to the dead fuel from fuel having the swirling component.

A fuel injection valve includes: a needle valve with a seat surface at a distal end; a nozzle body with a seat section on which the seat surface rests and with an injection opening disposed downstream of the seat section; and a swirl flow generating section with a spiral groove for causing fuel injected via the injection opening to swirl. The seat surface includes a first contact point. The first contact point contacts a second contact point included in the seat section during valve closing. A line segment that is drawn by connecting the first contact point and the second contact point during valve opening intersects a virtual straight line passing a bottom of a first groove section that appears the most downstream side of a cross section of the swirl flow generating portion in a plane including a central axis of the needle valve and a bottom of a second groove section that appears one step upstream side of the first groove portion. Thus, the fuel that is contracted as it passes through the spiral groove can avoid collision with the needle valve, so that a decrease in a flow velocity of the fuel as it swirls through the spiral groove is suppressed.

A fuel injection valve realizing improved circumferential uniformity of swirling fuel is provided. The fuel injection valve includes a swirling chamber having an inner peripheral wall whose curvature is gradually larger from upstream to downstream, a path for swirling which, having a fuel flow-in region formed along a valve axis direction, guides fuel to the swirling chamber, and a fuel injection orifice open into the swirling chamber. In the fuel injection valve, the path for swirling is inclined toward the fuel injection orifice formed on a downstream side of the swirling chamber.