This invention relates to a means of attaching a fuel rail to an engine component.
A fuel rail is a conduit that delivers fuel from the engine""s fuel tank system to its fuel injectors and cylinders. There is generally a fuel rail for each bank of fuel injectors and cylinders. For example, an inline six-cylinder engine requires only one fuel rail while a V-6 engine requires two fuel rails.
Due to the proximity of the air intake manifold to the engine, manufacturers generally mount the fuel rail to the manifold. Frequently, such a rail is mounted on the engine""s manifold by use of a bracket, rigid screw, and rigid fitting that receives the rigid screw. The rigid fitting is typically formed of a metal, such as brass, and embedded into the plastic manifold by heating the brass fitting to a temperature sufficient to melt the plastic and embed the fitting into the plastic. Each bracket of the fuel rail is then placed over each brass fitting and attached to the fitting by turning the screw for each bracket into each brass fitting.
This manner of attaching the fuel rail to the manifold, however, is time-consuming. Each brass fitting must be heat installed into the manifold and a screw turned into each fitting. Moreover, the use of a metal screw and metal fitting makes the recycling of the plastic from the manifold costly as each metal screw and metal fitting must be removed prior to recovery of the plastic.
A need therefore exists for a means of quickly and conveniently connecting the fuel rail to the manifold while permitting the recycling of the plastic of the manifold.
In a disclosed embodiment of this invention, the fuel rail assembly comprises a fuel conduit, at least one support connected to the conduit, an engine component body, and a resilient connector attaching the support to the engine component body. The resilient connector can be a resilient insert while the engine component body is preferably an air intake manifold. The support may also be a bracket. The fuel rail assembly further includes at least one fuel injector connected to the fuel conduit. The resilient connector, manifold, and fuel conduit are all preferably plastic.
If a resilient insert is used, then the manifold and support may each have a hole to receive the resilient insert. The hole of the manifold may be on a flange of the manifold. The resilient insert has a non-flexed dimension greater than the hole and a flexed dimension smaller than the hole.
Preferably, the fuel rail assembly is attached by first inserting the resilient insert into a hole in a flange of the manifold. The insert is then vibration welding into place. The support, either molded as part of the fuel conduit or assembled with the conduit, receives the resilient insert through its hole. Because the resilient insert has non-flexed dimension greater than the hole of the flange and the support, the insert must be forced through the hole with sufficient force to reduce the insert to its flexed dimension, which is smaller than the hole. The assembly is thus xe2x80x9csnappedxe2x80x9d into place. Once in place, the insert expands locking the bracket and conduit into place.
In this way, the fuel rail assembly may be quickly attached to the engine""s manifold. No brass fitting need be embedded into the manifold and no screw is required. Moreover, because the insert, bracket, fuel rail, and manifold are all polymer, they may be all recycled together.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds