US4375799A — Fuel vaporization system

Claim 1

Independent Claim 354 words

In an internal combustion engine having an air intake system and means for delivering liquid fuel to said air intake means for introduction of the fuel into the air flowing into the engine, wherein the improvement of this invention comprises: a fuel pump for drawing liquid fuel from a supply of fuel in greater quantity than is required by the engine, for discharging liquid fuel under pressure for delivery to the engine, and for returning excess liquid fuel to said fuel supply, means responsive to the fuel demand of the engine for increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid fuel supplied by said fuel pump for said engine thereby to maintain the air/fuel ratio of the air and fuel mixture drawn into the engine within a desired range, means located contiguous to said intake system for heating said liquid fuel to be delivered to the engine and for discharging vaporized fuel directly into the intake system, said heating means including a housing defining a heat chamber into which liquid fuel from said fuel pump is delivered, and electrical resistance heating means for heating the surfaces of said housing defining said heat chamber to a temperature sufficient to vaporize substantially all of the liquid fuel as the liquid fuel is delivered thereto, said housing having a plurality of ports through which liquid fuel is delivered under pressure into said heating means thereby to finely divide said liquid fuel and to aid in the vaporization thereof, said chamber having an outlet in communication with said air intake system and being substantially free of obstruction whereby the vaporized fuel is discharged directly into the air intake system substantially without delay in response to the changes in the quantity of the air flowing through the air intake means, said heating means having means responsive to the fuel demand of the engine thereby to porportionately increase or decrease the amount of heat available so as to heat the liquid fuel to a temperature sufficient to vaporize substantially all of the liquid fuel prior to its being directly discharged into said intake system throughout the operating range of the engine.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 354 words

In an internal combustion engine having an air intake system and means for delivering liquid fuel to said air intake means for introduction of the fuel into the air flowing into the engine, wherein the improvement of this invention comprises: a fuel pump for drawing liquid fuel from a supply of fuel in greater quantity than is required by the engine, for discharging liquid fuel under pressure for delivery to the engine, and for returning excess liquid fuel to said fuel supply, means responsive to the fuel demand of the engine for increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid fuel supplied by said fuel pump for said engine thereby to maintain the air/fuel ratio of the air and fuel mixture drawn into the engine within a desired range, means located contiguous to said intake system for heating said liquid fuel to be delivered to the engine and for discharging vaporized fuel directly into the intake system, said heating means including a housing defining a heat chamber into which liquid fuel from said fuel pump is delivered, and electrical resistance heating means for heating the surfaces of said housing defining said heat chamber to a temperature sufficient to vaporize substantially all of the liquid fuel as the liquid fuel is delivered thereto, said housing having a plurality of ports through which liquid fuel is delivered under pressure into said heating means thereby to finely divide said liquid fuel and to aid in the vaporization thereof, said chamber having an outlet in communication with said air intake system and being substantially free of obstruction whereby the vaporized fuel is discharged directly into the air intake system substantially without delay in response to the changes in the quantity of the air flowing through the air intake means, said heating means having means responsive to the fuel demand of the engine thereby to porportionately increase or decrease the amount of heat available so as to heat the liquid fuel to a temperature sufficient to vaporize substantially all of the liquid fuel prior to its being directly discharged into said intake system throughout the operating range of the engine.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 50 words

In an engine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said intake system includes means for controlling the flow of air to the engine, this last-said means constituting said means responsive to the fuel demand of said engine for increasing or decreasing varying the flow of fuel to the engine.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 32 words

In an engine as set forth in claim 2 wherein said fuel pump includes means for maintaining the pressure of said fuel delivered to said heating means at a predetermined pressure level.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 37 words

In an engine as set forth in claim 3 including at least two fuel ports into said heating means, one for low speed operation of the engine, and the other for high speed operation of the engine.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 26 words

In an engine as set forth in claim 4 further comprising means for independently adjusting the flow of fuel through each of said fuel inlet ports.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 82 words

In an engine as set forth in claim 2 wherein said air flow control means includes a venturi in said air intake means and a throttle plate located downstream from said venturi, said throttle plate being rotatably mounted for movement between an open position in which the air flowing through said intake system is substantially free of obstruction from said throttle plate and a closed position in which said throttle plate substantially blocks the flow of air through said air intake system.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 37 words

In an engine as set forth in claim 1 further including means in said intake means for sensing the presence of a fire within said intake means and for terminating the flow of fuel in response thereto.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 240 words

In an internal combustion engine having air intake means and means for delivering liquid fuel to said air intake means for introduction of the fuel into the combustion air flowing into the engine, wherein the improvement of this invention comprises: a fuel pump for discharging liquid fuel under pressure for delivery to the engine, means responsive to the fuel demand of the engine for increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid fuel discharged from said fuel pump to said engine thereby to maintain the air/fuel ratio of the air and fuel mixture drawn into the engine within a desired range, means for vaporizing substantially all of said liquid fuel to be delivered to the engine from said pump and for discharging the vaporized fuel directly into the intake system, said vaporization means having an electrical heater responsive to the fuel demand of said engine so as to heat the liquid fuel to be delivered to the engine to a temperature sufficient to vaporize substantially all of the liquid fuel prior to its being discharged into the intake system throughout the operating range of the engine substantially without delay in response to the changes in the quantity of the air flowing through the air intake means, said vaporization means further having a plurality of ports through which liquid fuel is delivered under pressure into said heating means thereby to finely divide said liquid fuel and to aid in the vaporization thereof.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 240 words

In an internal combustion engine having air intake means and means for delivering liquid fuel to said air intake means for introduction of the fuel into the combustion air flowing into the engine, wherein the improvement of this invention comprises: a fuel pump for discharging liquid fuel under pressure for delivery to the engine, means responsive to the fuel demand of the engine for increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid fuel discharged from said fuel pump to said engine thereby to maintain the air/fuel ratio of the air and fuel mixture drawn into the engine within a desired range, means for vaporizing substantially all of said liquid fuel to be delivered to the engine from said pump and for discharging the vaporized fuel directly into the intake system, said vaporization means having an electrical heater responsive to the fuel demand of said engine so as to heat the liquid fuel to be delivered to the engine to a temperature sufficient to vaporize substantially all of the liquid fuel prior to its being discharged into the intake system throughout the operating range of the engine substantially without delay in response to the changes in the quantity of the air flowing through the air intake means, said vaporization means further having a plurality of ports through which liquid fuel is delivered under pressure into said heating means thereby to finely divide said liquid fuel and to aid in the vaporization thereof.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1986-03-07	1986-09-06	1987-03-08	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1990-03-07	1990-09-06	1991-03-08	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1994-03-07	1994-09-06	1995-03-08	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Fuel vaporization system

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