A fuel injector, comprising a nozzle body having a proximal end and a distal end, an upper row of nozzle holes being equally spaced about a first circumference of the nozzle body, and a lower row of nozzle holes located between the distal end and the upper row of nozzle holes, wherein the upper row has a first number of holes that is greater than a second number of holes in the lower row and wherein one of the first number of holes and the second number of holes is odd.

An injection hole body has injection holes to inject fuel. A valve body forms a fuel passage with an inner surface of the injection hole body to communicate with inflow ports of the injection holes. The valve body opens and closes the fuel passage by being seated on and unseated from a seating surface of the injection hole body. An inflow port gap distance is a gap between the valve body and the inflow ports along a center axis of the valve body. An inter-injection hole distance is a distance between inflow ports, which are adjacent to each other, among the inflow ports placed around the center axis. The inter-injection hole distance is smaller than the inflow port gap distance in a state where the valve body is unseated from the seating surface and is at a farthest position in its movable range.

An injection hole body has an injection hole to inject fuel for causing combustion in an internal combustion engine. A valve body is unseated from and seated on a seating surface of the injection hole body. The injection hole body and the valve body form a fuel passage therebetween to communicate with an inflow port of the injection hole. The fuel passage is opened and closed by unseating and seating of the valve body. A resilient member generates a resilient force to urge the valve body toward the seating surface. A seat angle is an angle between two straight lines appearing in a cross section of the seating surface, the cross section including a center axis of the valve body. The seat angle is 90 degrees or less.

When it is determined that the igniting environment is out of the desired range, the variable valve mechanism is controlled so that the swirl ratio is increased. When the swirl ratio becomes high, the discharge spark and the initial flame move largely in the flow direction of the swirl flow SW and approach the closest fuel spray. Therefore, the discharge spark and the initial flame are attracted to the closest fuel spray and the initial flame enlarges by involving the closest fuel spray (middle stage of FIG. 7). Further, the initial flame enlarges further by involving surrounded fuel spray (lower stage of FIG. 7).

A throttle portion is defined between an upper end of a sac chamber and a conical portion of a needle to have a throttle opening area S1. Half of an area surrounded by the throttle portion, the needle, an inner wall of the sac chamber, and a lower end extended line in a cross section of the sac chamber taken along a sac center line is an injection hole upstream area S2. A lift amount, when the throttle opening area S1 is equal to an area which is calculated by multiplying an injection hole area S3 by the number of the injection holes, is a predetermined lift amount L. A viscosity coefficient of fuel is . An index value Sa, which is calculated in accordance with an equation as below, is set to 0.5 or greater. $S_a=\frac{}{2}{}_{h=0}^{h=L}{\left(\frac{S_1}{S_2-S_1}\right)}^2\mathrm{dh}$

A fuel and gas mixing structure for an engine is provided. This mixing structure includes a body configured to be positioned between a fuel injector and a cylinder of an engine. The body defines an interior volume that is configured to receive gas from outside the body and to receive one or more streams of fuel from the fuel injector in the interior volume. The body also defines one or more mixture conduits configured to conduct plumes of the fuel and gas, while mixing, from the interior volume to one or more exit ports and therethrough to the cylinder.

In a nozzle plate, a portion of fuel flowing out from a fuel injection port of the fuel injection device is atomized by impinging on an interference body. At the same time, the flow of the portion of fuel is sharply bent and impinges on fuel which straightly advances and passes through a nozzle hole and an orifice thus turning the flow of fuel into a turbulent flow. Further, both end portions of the orifice form non-rounded sharpened corner portions. Hence, a liquid film of fuel injected from the corner portions and areas in the vicinity of the corner portions of the orifice is formed into a thin sharpened and pointed state whereby an end portion of the liquid film of fuel injected from the orifice is easily atomized due to a friction between the end portion of the liquid film of fuel and air.

An engine includes: a piston including a cavity; a cylinder head configured so as to form a combustion chamber having a pent roof shape; a fuel injection valve configured to inject fuel from a second half of a compression stroke until a first half of an expansion stroke; and a spark plug arranged at a position corresponding to an upper side of the cavity. Injection openings which are arranged in a circumferential direction surrounding a longitudinal axis of the valve and through each of which the fuel is injected in a direction inclined relative to the longitudinal axis by a predetermined angle is formed such that when a height of a ceiling of the combustion chamber at a position corresponding to an edge end portion of the cavity in an injection direction of the injection opening is large, the injection angle of the injection opening is large.

An engine includes a piston movable in a cylinder and having a combustion bowl, and an annular rim forming a scoop extending axisymmetrically around a piston center axis. A fuel injector tip extends into the cylinder and includes a first orifice set and a second orifice set offset from one another and offset from the piston center axis. A plurality of orifice-rim distances are defined between orifices in the second orifice set and an annular rim of the piston. The orifices in the second orifice set having a range of orifice sizes varied in direct relation to the respective orifice-rim distances. Related methodology is also disclosed.

In a fuel injector 10, a first injection hole 155a and a second injection hole 155b having reference inside diameters Dn1, Dn2 different from each other are formed as a plurality of injection holes 155. In such a configuration, an L/D value obtained by dividing the flow channel length Ln1 of the first injection hole 155a by the reference inside diameter Dn1 of the first injection hole 155a agrees to an L/D value obtained by dividing the flow channel length Ln2 of the second injection hole 155b by the reference inside diameter Dn2 of the second injection hole 155b.