COMBUSTION CHAMBER STRUCTURE OF ENGINE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a combustion chamber structure of an engine configured to inject fuel in a predetermined operation range in a period from a second half of a compression stroke until a first half of an expansion stroke to perform ignition after a compression top dead center. The combustion chamber structure includes: a piston including a cavity; a fuel injection valve provided at a middle portion of the piston; and a spark plug provided at a radially outer side of the middle portion of the piston and an upper side of the cavity. The cavity is formed by a curved surface having curvature that becomes larger as the curved surface extends toward the radially outer side. A tangential direction of an edge end portion of the curved surface intersects with a combustion chamber ceiling radially outward of the spark plug.

Claims

1. A combustion chamber structure of an engine configured to inject fuel in a predetermined operation range in a period from a second half of a compression stroke until a first half of an expansion stroke to perform ignition after a compression top dead center, the combustion chamber structure comprising: a piston including a cavity that is concave downward at a middle portion of an upper surface of the piston; a fuel injection valve provided at a position corresponding to a middle portion of the piston and configured to inject the fuel into the cavity of the piston in the period from the second half of the compression stroke until the first half of the expansion stroke; and a spark plug provided at a position located at a radially outer side of the middle portion of the piston and corresponding to an upper side of the cavity of the piston, the middle portion corresponding to a position where the fuel injection valve is provided, wherein: the cavity of the piston is formed by a curved surface having curvature that becomes larger as the curved surface extends toward the radially outer side; and a tangential direction of an edge end portion of the curved surface intersects with a combustion chamber ceiling located at the radially outer side of a position where the spark plug is provided.

2. The combustion chamber structure according to claim 1, wherein: the edge end portion of the curved surface forming the cavity of the piston is located at the radially outer side of the position where the spark plug is provided; and the tangential direction of the edge end portion of the curved surface extends in a direction along a center axis of the piston.

3. The combustion chamber structure according to claim 1, wherein the spark plug is arranged such that an electrode of a tip end portion of the spark plug is located along the combustion chamber ceiling.

4. The combustion chamber structure according to claim 2, wherein the spark plug is arranged such that an electrode of a tip end portion of the spark plug is located along the combustion chamber ceiling.

5. The combustion chamber structure according to claim 1, wherein: an opening portion of a first intake port and an opening portion of a second intake port are formed on the combustion chamber ceiling so as to be located at a radially outer side of a position where the fuel injection valve is provided; and the spark plug is arranged such that at least an electrode thereof is located between the first intake port and the second intake port.

6. The combustion chamber structure according to claim 1, wherein: an opening portion of a first exhaust port and an opening portion of a second exhaust port are formed on the combustion chamber ceiling so as to be located at a radially outer side of a position where the fuel injection valve is provided; and the spark plug is arranged such that at least an electrode thereof is located between the first exhaust port and the second exhaust port.

7. The combustion chamber structure according to claim 1, wherein a shape of the cavity when viewed from a cylinder axial direction is a perfect circular shape about a cylinder axis.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing one cylinder to which a combustion chamber structure of an engine according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, when viewed from a lower side in a cylinder axial direction.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a piston according to the embodiment of the present invention when viewed from an upper side in the cylinder axial direction.

[0021] FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view taken along line of FIG. 1 and showing the piston, a cylinder head, and the like according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 4 is a partially sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1 and showing the piston, the cylinder head, and the like according to the embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram for explaining operational advantages of the combustion chamber structure of the engine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Hereinafter, a combustion chamber structure of an engine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained in reference to the drawings.

[0024] First, before explaining details of the embodiment of the present invention, a premise configuration of the engine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be briefly explained. The engine according to the embodiment of the present invention drives at a high compression ratio such as a geometrical compression ratio of 14 or more (preferably 18 to 20) and also performs homogeneous-charge compression ignition called HCCI in a predetermined low-load range. Further, in a predetermined operation range (for example, a low-rotation high-load range), to suppress preignition and the like, the engine according to the embodiment of the present invention injects fuel (performs retarded injection) in a period from a second half of a compression stroke until a first half of an expansion stroke to perform ignition after a compression top dead center. Such premise configuration of the engine is realized by control of an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) in a vehicle.

[0025] Next, the combustion chamber structure of the engine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically explained in reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0026] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing one cylinder to which the combustion chamber structure of the engine according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied, when viewed from a lower side in a cylinder axial direction. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a piston according to the embodiment of the present invention when viewed from an upper side in the cylinder axial direction. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line of FIG. 1 and showing a part of the piston, a cylinder head, and the like according to the embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that FIG. 3 is a diagram when the piston is located at the compression top dead center.

[0027] In FIG. 1, a reference sign Z denotes a cylinder axis extending in a direction perpendicular to a paper surface, and a reference sign Y denotes a line segment extending in a paper surface upward/downward direction and corresponding to a crank axis. The engine according to the present embodiment adopts a combustion chamber including a combustion chamber ceiling located at the cylinder head and having a gable roof shape (pent roof shape) (also see FIG. 3). The line segment shown by the reference sign Y corresponds to a pent roof-shaped ridgeline (hereinafter suitably referred to as pent roof ridgeline) constituting the combustion chamber. Further, a reference sign X denotes a line segment extending through a center of the combustion chamber, i.e., a center axis of the cylinder and perpendicular to the pent roof ridgeline Y. It should be noted that FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a surface spreading along the line segment X perpendicular to the pent roof ridgeline Y and showing a part of the piston, the cylinder head, and the like.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, one cylinder includes two intake valves 1 provided at one of regions (i.e., a left region in FIG. 1) sandwiching the pent roof ridgeline Y. These two intake valves 1 are provided so as to be lined up in a direction along the pent roof ridgeline Y. Reference signs 5 in FIG. 1 denote intake ports that are opened and closed by the respective intake valves 1. Further, the cylinder includes two exhaust valves 2 provided at the other of the regions (i.e., a right region in FIG. 1) sandwiching the pent roof ridgeline Y. The two exhaust valves 2 are provided so as to be lined up in the direction along the pent roof ridgeline Y. Reference signs 6 in FIG. 1 denote exhaust ports that are opened and closed by the respective exhaust valves 2. Furthermore, one fuel injection valve 3 is provided on the cylinder axis Z. In addition, one of two spark plugs 4 is provided between the two intake valves 1, and the other of the two spark plugs 4 is provided between the two exhaust valves 2.

[0029] Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a cavity 11 that is concave downward is formed at a middle portion of an upper surface of a piston 10 (also see FIG. 3). Specifically, the cavity 11 is formed to have a substantially circular shape when viewed from a direction along the cylinder axis Z, and a mountain-shaped protruding portion 11a is formed at a middle portion of the cavity 11. A concave portion 11b having a lower height than the protruding portion 11a is formed at a radially outer side of the protruding portion 11a so as to surround the protruding portion 11a. The fuel injection valve 3 is arranged right above the protruding portion 11a of the cavity 11, and the two spark plugs 4 are arranged in the concave portion 11b of the cavity 11 (also see FIGS. 1 and 3).

[0030] Further, an upper portion of the piston 10 includes an annular portion 13 extending from an outer edge of the cavity 11 to an outer edge of the upper surface of the piston 10 and surrounding a radially outer side of the cavity 11. The annular portion 13 includes four valve recesses 15 each of which is concave downward by, for example, about 1 mm. These four valve recesses 15 are provided at positions corresponding to the two intake valves 1 and positions corresponding to the two exhaust valves 2. Further, portions 17 each located between the adjacent valve recesses 15 are not concave (i.e., are higher than the valve recesses 15) and are substantially flat. Hereinafter, the portion 17 between the valve recesses 15 is suitably referred to as a piston upper surface portion 17.

[0031] Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the fuel injection valve 3 is provided at a portion of a cylinder head 30, the portion corresponding to the middle portion of the piston 10. Specifically, the fuel injection valve 3 is provided such that a center axis of the fuel injection valve 3 coincides with the cylinder axis Z. The fuel injection valve 3 injects the fuel directly to the combustion chamber 20. The fuel injection valve 3 includes about ten to twelve injection holes (not shown), and the fuel is sprayed from the injection holes so as to form a conical shape that is symmetrical about the cylinder axis Z. In this case, an injection angle of the fuel injected by the fuel injection valve 3 is set such that the fuel injected based on the control of the ECU in the period from the second half of the compression stroke until the first half of the expansion stroke (for example, 60 after bottom dead center) gets into the cavity 11 of the piston 10 (see arrows A1 of FIG. 3), in other words, the fuel does not collide with the annular portion 13 of the piston 10 or a cylinder side wall (for example, a cylinder liner). Further, the injection angle of the fuel injection valve 3 is set such that a spray collision distance from a fuel injection position to a position of the cavity 11 with which the fuel collides is larger than a length (division length) from the fuel injection position to a position where an initial division of the fuel occurs.

[0032] It should be noted that the injection angle corresponds to a range in which the spraying of the fuel from the fuel injection valve 3 spreads, the range being defined based on the cylinder axis Z. The injection angle is set to, for example, about 100. Further, the fuel is supplied to the fuel injection valve 3 at relatively high fuel pressure (for example, 40 to 120 MPa).

[0033] Further, the two spark plugs 4 are provided at portions of the cylinder head 30, the portions being located at a radially outer side of the middle portion of the piston 10 and corresponding to an upper side of the cavity 11 of the piston 10. To be specific, each of the spark plugs 4 is provided at such a position that an electrode 4a of a tip end portion of the spark plug 4 is located within the cavity 11 in a radial direction. Further, each of the spark plugs 4 is arranged such that the electrode 4a is located along a combustion chamber ceiling 20a (in other words, along a lower surface of the cylinder head 30; The same is true in the following explanations). Specifically, each of the spark plugs 4 is provided at the cylinder head 30 such that an inclination direction of the electrode 4a is set along an inclination of the combustion chamber ceiling 20a while suppressing projection of the electrode 4a toward the combustion chamber 20 as much as possible.

[0034] Further, the cavity 11 of the piston 10 is formed by a curved surface 11c where the protruding portion 11a and the concave portion 11b are continuous with each other. As is clear from curvatures of surfaces of broken-line regions R1, R2, and R3 in FIG. 3, a curvature of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 increases as the curved surface 11c extends toward a radially outer side. For example, a transition curve such as a clothoid curve is applied to the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11. Further, the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 is formed such that a tangential direction TL of an edge end portion 11d of the curved surface 11c (specifically, a direction of a tangential line at a position of the edge end portion 11d in a sectional view of the curved surface 11c) intersects with the combustion chamber ceiling 20a located at a radially outer side of a position where the spark plug 4 is provided. More specifically, the edge end portion 11d of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 is located at a radially outer side of a position corresponding to the electrode 4a of the spark plug 4, and the tangential direction TL extends in a direction along a center axis CA (i.e., the cylinder axis Z) of the piston 10, in other words, the tangential direction TL extends in a substantially vertical direction.

[0035] It should be noted that in FIG. 3, an area shown by a reference sign SA denotes a squish area that is a space formed at a gap between the piston upper surface portion 17 and the combustion chamber ceiling 20a. The squish area SA is formed not only at the gap between the piston upper surface portion 17 and the combustion chamber ceiling 20a but also at a gap between the combustion chamber ceiling 20a and each of upper surfaces of the valve recesses 15 (see FIG. 2) provided at positions corresponding to the intake valves 1 and the exhaust valves 2.

[0036] Next, operational advantages of the combustion chamber structure of the engine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be explained in reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1 and showing a part of the piston 10, the cylinder head 30, and the like according to the embodiment of the present invention and is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 4, the fuel injected from the fuel injection valve 3 first collides with the cavity 11 of the piston 10 (see the arrows A1). Then, the fuel-air mixture containing the fuel moves along the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 toward the radially outer side (see arrows A2). In the present embodiment, the curvature of a radially inner side of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 is smaller than the curvature of a radially outer side of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 (in other words, the curve of the curved surface 11c becomes gentler from the radially outer side toward the radially inner side). Therefore, at an initial stage where the fuel-air mixture containing the fuel injected from the fuel injection valve 3 moves along the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 toward the radially outer side, the curvature of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 along which the fuel-air mixture moves is relatively small. On this account, a movement direction of the fuel-air mixture is not steeply curved by the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 while the fuel-air mixture is moving. Thus, attenuation of momentum of the fuel-air mixture can be appropriately suppressed. To be specific, at the initial stage where the fuel-air mixture containing the fuel injected from the fuel injection valve 3 moves along the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11, relatively large momentum of the fuel-air mixture can be appropriately secured, and the fuel-air mixture can quickly move along the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 toward the radially outer side.

[0038] As the fuel-air mixture moves along the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 toward the radially outer side, the curvature of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 gradually increases. During this movement of the fuel-air mixture, gasification of the fuel proceeds. With this, influence of the curvature of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 on the momentum of the fuel-air mixture gradually decreases. Therefore, the fuel-air mixture can be appropriately directed by the curved surface 11c having the relatively large curvature. With this, while maintaining the momentum of the fuel-air mixture moving as shown by the arrows A2, the fuel-air mixture can move through the edge end portion 11d of the curved surface 11c of the cavity 11 to collide with the combustion chamber ceiling 20a (see arrows A3).

[0039] When the fuel-air mixture collides with the combustion chamber ceiling 20a while securing the momentum, the fuel-air mixture disperses to move along the combustion chamber ceiling 20a toward the spark plugs 4 (see arrows A4) and the squish area SA (see arrows A5). In the present embodiment, the tangential direction TL (see FIG. 3) of the edge end portion 11d of the cavity 11 extends in a direction along the center axis CA of the piston 10, in other words, extends in a substantially vertical direction. Therefore, the fuel-air mixture can collide with the combustion chamber ceiling 20a in the substantially vertical direction. With this, distributivity of the fuel-air mixture moving toward the spark plugs 4 and the fuel-air mixture moving toward the squish area SA can be appropriately secured.

[0040] By moving the fuel-air mixture toward the spark plugs 4 as above (see the arrows A4), a thick part of the fuel-air mixture can be generated in the vicinity of the electrode 4a of the tip end portion of each spark plug 4, i.e., the fuel-air mixture in the vicinity of the electrode 4a of each spark plug 4 can be made rich. Thus, ignitability by the spark plugs 4 can be appropriately secured. Especially in the present embodiment, since the electrodes 4a of the spark plugs 4 are arranged along the combustion chamber ceiling 20a, the fuel-air mixture in the vicinity of the electrode 4a of each spark plug 4 can be effectively made rich by the fuel-air mixture moving along the combustion chamber ceiling 20a after colliding with the combustion chamber ceiling 20a.

[0041] Further, by moving the fuel-air mixture toward the squish area SA (see the arrows A5), homogeneity of the fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber 20 can be appropriately secured by utilizing air in the squish area SA. To be specific, by supplying the fuel-air mixture to the squish area SA, the fuel-air mixture in a substantially uniform state can be quickly generated in the combustion chamber 20. With this, deterioration of fuel efficiency by unburning or after-burning and deterioration of emission by smoke can be improved.

[0042] Next, modified examples of the above embodiment will be explained.

[0043] The above embodiment has explained the engine including the combustion chamber 20 having the pent roof shape (see FIG. 3, for example). However, the present invention is also applicable to an engine including a combustion chamber having a shape (such as a semispherical shape or a bathtub shape) other than the pent roof shape.

[0044] Further, the above embodiment has explained the engine including the two spark plugs 4. However, the present invention is also applicable to an engine including only one of the two spark plugs 4.

[0045] Furthermore, the above embodiment has explained the spark ignition type spark plugs 4. However, the present invention is also applicable to a laser ignition type spark plug.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0046] 3 fuel injection valve [0047] 4 spark plug [0048] 4a electrode of spark plug [0049] 10 piston [0050] 11 cavity [0051] 11c curved surface of cavity [0052] 11d edge end portion of cavity [0053] 15 valve recess [0054] 17 piston upper surface portion [0055] 20 combustion chamber [0056] 20a combustion chamber ceiling [0057] 30 cylinder head [0058] SA squish area