A fuel injection system is provided. The fuel injection system can have a fuel injector having a check valve with a plurality of fuel output ports, and a fuel injector body with an outer surface and an inner surface. The fuel injector body defines an inner volume to accommodate bi-directional movement of the check valve. The fuel injector body includes at least a first row of injection ports and a second row of injection ports extending from the inner surface to the outer surface. The check valve is bi-directionally controllable in the inner volume, during a single cycle, to output from the fuel injector body any one of a plurality of predefined pulse injection patterns.

Methods and systems are provided for injecting fuel through three different rows of injector nozzles, where each row of the injector nozzle is arranged along a different vertical plane of the injector body. In one example, an injector needle housed movably inside the injector body may supply high-pressure fuel to each of the rows of injector nozzles sequentially to deliver up to five fuel injections in one actuation cycle of the fuel injector. In another example, a fuel injector may include three injector needles, where movement of each injector needle inside a respective chamber of the fuel injector body may supply high-pressure fuel to the chamber from where the fuel may be injected through the coupled fuel injector nozzles.

The present invention is a compression-ignition direct-injection internal-combustion engine comprising at least a cylinder (10), a cylinder head (12) carrying fuel injection means (14), a piston (16) sliding in this cylinder, a combustion chamber (34) having on one side an upper face (44) of the piston comprising a projection (48) extending in the direction of the cylinder head and located at the center of a concave bowl (46). The engine comprises an injector projecting fuel in at least two fuel jet sheets with sheet injection angles (A1, A2), a lower sheet (36) of jet axis C1 and an upper sheet (38) of jet axis C2, at least two mixing zones (Z1, Z2) of the combustion chamber. According to the invention, one of the zones comprises a toroidal volume (64) of center B into which fuel jets (40) of the lower jet are injected in such a way that axis C1 of the lower jet is contained between center B and projection (48).

An object of the present invention is to further improve the characteristic of the fuel spray of a fuel injection valve which has a plurality of stepped injection holes having a hole diameter of an outlet side injection hole larger than a hole diameter of an inlet side injection hole and which injects fuel from the stepped injection holes into a cylinder of an internal combustion engine. A cutout portion, which guides a flow of gas flowing into an outlet side injection hole from a lateral position of a fuel outlet of the outlet side injection hole during fuel injection, in a circumferential direction of the outlet side injection hole, is provided for at least one of both lateral portions between which the fuel outlet is interposed along with an arrangement direction of a plurality of injection holes, on a circumferential edge of the fuel outlet of the outlet side injection hole, in relation to at lease some of the injection holes of a fuel injection valve having the plurality of stepped injection holes.

A fuel injector assembly in one embodiment includes a nozzle, at least one needle, and at least one actuator. The nozzle includes at least one cavity in fluid communication with nozzle openings. The at least one needle is movably disposed within the at least one cavity, and prevents flow through the nozzle openings in a closed position. The at least one actuator is configured to move the at least one needle within the cavity. The at least one actuator is configured to move the at least one needle to at least a first fuel delivery configuration and a second fuel delivery configuration. A first amount of fuel is delivered through the nozzle openings with the at least one needle in the first fuel delivery configuration, and a second amount of fuel is delivered through the nozzle openings with the at least one needle in the second fuel delivery configuration.

Systems and methods are provided for operation of fuel injectors within an applied-ignition, direct-injection internal combustion engine. In one example, a needle of a fuel injector is moved from a retracted position to an extended position relative to a plurality of injection holes of a nozzle of the fuel injector, with at least one injection hole being separated from a fuel supply system earlier than each other injection hole. In a partially retracted position, fuel flow along a first side of the needle is decreased relative to fuel flow along a second side of the needle.

An internal combustion engine includes a cylinder receiving air during operation through an intake air fluid passage, an engine component that at least partially forms a section of the intake air fluid passage, and a gas diffuser having a tip disposed within the intake air fluid passage. A gas injector housing is connected to the body portion of the gas diffuser. The gas diffuser is structurally interchangeable with other gas diffusers such that gas dispersion in various engine applications can be modified by installing an appropriate gas diffuser and otherwise maintaining common engine parts.

A variable orifice fuel injector has an inward opening needle valve and an outward opening needle valve and has means to directly inject two types of fuels independently and collectively. Both needle valves are fully contained in a nozzle body, with a co-axial smaller needle valve at least partially being contained in a larger needle valve.

Methods and systems are provided for moving an injector needle of a fuel injector assembly from a first position to a second position to provide a first fuel injection at the first position, and moving the needle from the second position to the third position to provide a second fuel injection at the third position, and moving the needle back to the first position via the second position, and providing a third fuel injection at the second position. In this way, three fuel injections may be performed during a single actuation cycle of the injector during a single combustion cycle.

The present invention is a compression-ignition direct-injection internal-combustion engine comprising at least a cylinder, a cylinder head carrying fuel injection, a piston sliding in the cylinder, a combustion chamber limited on one side by upper face of the piston comprising a projection extending in the direction of the cylinder head and in the center of a concave bowl (46) with at least two mixing zones. The fuel injection projects fuel in at least two fuel jet sheets with different sheet angles, with a lower sheet having a jet axis C1 for one zone and an upper sheet having a jet axis for the other zone.

The injection feeds fuel into the combustion chamber with a different flow rate for each sheet for dedicated targeting in the mixing zones of the combustion chamber.