Good find Ralph. This does not surprise me, as I had heard that Renault was going with OCP. Further to this Nissan, whom is now doing gasoline engines for theRenault/Nissan Alliance (Renault will concentrate on Diesel), was told to forget HPDI and use OCP for all future Nissan/Renault Gasoline engines.
This particular patent(actal # is 20040123833) has several embodiments, several of which are just generic BS. The important one is the 2nd one, which is Orbital OCP.
"SECOND EMBODIMENT
[0077] Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, a direct fuel injection spark ignition internal combustion engine in accordance with a second embodiment will now be explained. In view of the similarity between the first and second embodiments, the parts of the second embodiment that are identical to the parts of the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals as the parts of the first embodiment. Moreover, the descriptions of the parts of the second embodiment that are identical to the parts of the first embodiment may be omitted for the sake of brevity.
[0078] FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an injection portion of the direct fuel injection engine of the second embodiment. Basically, the direct fuel injection engine of the second embodiment is identical to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, except that an air pump 14 is provided at the end of the intake camshaft, and a dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" is used as the fuel injection valve 11. The air pressurized by the air pump 14 is conveyed to the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" via an air conduit 15 and injected into the combustion chamber 4 along with the fuel by the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11". The dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11' is configured and arranged to inject the fuel and the air separately into the combustion chamber 4 in a predetermined ratio by controlling the lift of a needle valve of the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11". When the lift of the needle valve is small, the area of the opening of the air nozzle connected to the air pump 14 and facing the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11' is small or substantially zero (in other words, closed). Thus, the ratio of the mass of the air to the mass of the fuel between the air and fuel injected into the combustion chamber 4 is small. When the lift of the needle valve is large, the area of the opening of the air nozzle is large. Thus, the ratio of the mass of the air to the mass of the fuel increases. Accordingly, the fuel-air mass ratio between the fuel and air injected from the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" can be easily varied by varying the amount of air injected from the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11". The dual-fluid fuel injection valves are conventional components that are well known in the art. Since the dual-fluid fuel injection valves are well known in the art, these structures will not be discussed or illustrated in detail herein.
[0079] FIG. 7(a) is a diagrammatic chart illustrating the relationship between the engine operating load and the injected fuel- air mass ratio in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 7(b)-7(d) are diagrammatic cross-sectional views of the combustion chamber 4 illustrating distributions of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 4 under various engine operating regions shown in FIG. 7(a).
[0080] As seen in FIG. 7(a), the direct fuel injection engine is configured and arranged to increase the mass ratio of the fuel injected to the air when the direct fuel injection engine is operating in a low-load stratified combustion region A. By increasing the mass ratio of the fuel to the air, the fuel injection angle is increased. Thus, as seen in FIG. 7(b), a first air-fuel mixture having superior ignitability and combustion stability can be formed in the upper center portion of the combustion chamber 4 where the spark plug 12 is located before the fuel stream collides against the cavity 3a of the piston.
[0081] On the other hand, as seen in FIG. 7(b), the direct fuel injection engine is configured and arranged to decrease the mass ratio of the fuel to the air injected into the combustion chamber 4 when the direct fuel injection engine is operating in the high-load stratified combustion region B. When the mass ratio of the fuel to the air is decreased, the fuel injection angle becomes smaller. Thus, as seen in FIG. 7(c), comparatively large second air-fuel mixture mass can be formed from the interior to the exterior of the cavity 3a after the fuel stream collides against the bottom surface of the cavity 3a and the diffusion and mixing of the fuel stream is promoted. As explained above, the fuel-air mass ratio between the fuel and air injected from the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" can be easily varied by varying the amount of air injected.
[0082] In the homogeneous combustion region C, a homogeneous air- fuel mixture fills the combustion chamber 4, as seen in FIG. 7(d). In the second embodiment of the present invention, the fuel mass ratio to the air in the homogeneous combustion mode is preferably set to a relatively large as shown in FIG. 7(a) to achieve a relatively large fuel injection angle. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that the fuel mass ratio in the homogeneous combustion region C is not limited to the ratio shown in FIG. 7(a). Rather, the fuel mass ratio in the homogeneous combustion region C can be set to any value as long as the air-fuel mixture that achieves the homogeneous combustion can be formed in the combustion chamber as shown in FIG. 7(d) to carry out the present invention.
[0083] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the control executed in the ECU 13 of the direct fuel injection engine in accordance with the second embodiment. Steps S21-S23 in FIG. 8 are basically identical to steps S1-S3 in FIG. 5(a) of the first embodiment. When it is determined in step S22 to perform a homogeneous combustion or when it is determined in step S23 that the load is smaller than the prescribed load (when the direct fuel injection engine is operating in a low- load stratified combustion region A), the ECU 13 is configured to set the fuel injection angle to be a relatively large angle in step S26. Thus, in step S27, the lift of the needle valve of the dual- fluid fuel injection valve 11" is reduced to achieve the relatively large fuel injection angle by reducing the amount of air and increasing the mass ratio of the fuel injected from the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 1". When it is determined in step S24 that the load is greater than the prescribed load (when the direct fuel injection engine is operating in a high-load stratified combustion region B), the ECU 13 is configured to set the fuel injection angle to be a relatively small angle in step S24. Thus, in step S25, the lift of the needle valve of the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" is increased to achieve a small fuel injection angle by increasing the amount of air and decreasing the fuel mass ratio of the fuel injected from the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11".
[0084] Accordingly, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" is used as a fuel injection valve, and the injected liquid-air mass ratio (the mass ratio of fuel) is increased or decreased to control the fuel injection angle. Thus, the fuel injection angle can be varied merely by controlling the dual-fluid fuel injection valve 11" without increasing the complexity of the injection valve structure. "
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