Fuel preheater for internal combustion engines

Claim 1

In the fuel system of an internal combustion engine including a fuel pump for supplying fuel to a carburetor and a fuel heater imposed in the fuel line, said fuel heater comprising: (a) a hollow housing having a fuel inlet in communication with said fuel pump, said housing having upper and lower ends, (b) a fuel atomizer means in operative communication with said fuel inlet for atomizing fuel supplied thereto by said fuel pump, (c) a valve means between said fuel inlet and said atomizer means for interrupting the supply of fuel to said atomizer means upon a predetermined level of fuel in said housing being present at the lower end of said housing, (d) a fuel heating means in said housing below said atomizer means for heating the atomized fuel, (e) said housing having an air inlet for permitting ambient air to enter said housing for mixture with said heated and atomized fuel, (f) said housing having a fuel discharge in operative communication with said carburetor for supplying the heated and atomized fuel to said carburetor, (g) float means mounted in the lower end of said housing and connected to said valve means for closing said valve means when said predetermined level of fuel in said housing is present, said fuel inlet being mounted in the upper end of said housing and having an open lower end, said fuel inlet having a valve seat formed therein above its open lower end, said valve means comprising a valve member vertically movably mounted in said open lower end of said fuel inlet and having an upper end capable of seating upon said valve seat to close said fuel inlet, said valve member having a fuel passageway formed therein extending from a location below said upper end to its lower end; said atomizer means being mounted on the lower end of said valve member; said float means being operatively connected to said valve member for moving said valve member to its seating position on said valve seat.