Edward LaForce -- Fuel vaporization System

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**Edward LaFORCE**

**Fuel Vaporization System**



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[**http://fuel-efficient-vehicles.org/FEV-energy-suppression-CBird.php**](http://fuel-efficient-vehicles.org/FEV-energy-suppression-CBird.php)

**Energy Suppression**   
**An Invisible Galaxy of Inventions**

**by Christopher Bird**

In the early 1970s, Edward La Force of Vermont and his brother,
Robert, designed a highly efficient engine that utilized the
usually wasted heavier gasoline molecules. The Los Angeles
Examiner  on December 29, 1974, reported that efficiency
was produced by altering the cams, timing, and so on, of stock
Detroit engines. These modifications not only eliminated most of
the pollution from the motor, but -- by completely burning all
the fuel -- produced double the usual mileage.

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**<http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/supressed_inventions/suppressed_inventions43.htm>**

**Amazing Locomotion and Energy Systems
Super Technology and Carburetors**

**by** **John Freeman**

**The LaForce Engine**

Edward La Force struggled for years in Vermont to get backing
to perfect his amazing engine. Ignored for years by the
automotive industry, Edward and Robert, his brother, survived on
the contributions of several thousand individuals who believed
in them. His engine design manages to use even the harder to
burn heavy gasoline molecules. Current engines are said to waste
these, and, since they make up to 25 percent of the current
fuels, the use of the heavy molecules was a great step forward.

According to a *Los Angeles Examiner* article (December
29, 1974), the cams, timing, and so on were altered on stock
Detroit engines. These modifications not only eliminated most of
the pollution from the motor, but, by completely burning all of
the fuel the mileage was usually doubled. One Examiner reporter
saw a standard American Motors car get a 57 per-cent increase in
mileage at the Richmond, Vermont, research centre. With such
publicity, the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] was forced
to examine the situation, and of course, they found that the
motor designs were not good enough.

Few persons believed the EPA, including a number of Senators. A
Congressional hearing on the matter in March 1975 still brought
nothing to light -- except silence. The LaForces were
interviewed by newspapers and auto manufacturers across the
world, and even though they only modified the basic Detroit
designs; Detroit was not interested. Anyone need 80 percent more
mileage?

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**<http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?KC=A&date=19770503&NR=4020811A&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP&CC=US&FT=D>**

**US4020811**   
**Recirculating Fuel Feed and Vaporization
Apparatus and Method**

1977-05-03   
Classification: - international:  F02M33/06; F02M33/00;
(IPC1-7): F02M31/00 - European:  F02M33/06

**Abstract** --  There is disclosed an apparatus for
ensuring maximum vaporization of fuel before entry into the
intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. The apparatus
comprises an extension of the carburetor which separates
vaporized fuel from droplets of fuel which remain unvaporized or
which are condensed before entering the intake manifold. The
unvaporized fuel is collected and subjected to heat generated at
the engine exhaust pipe. In particular, heated ambient air heats
and vaporizes the unvaporized fuel. The thusly vaporized fuel is
then re-introduced into the fuel-air mixture exiting the
carburetor, and subsequently enters the intake manifold.

**Description**

**BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION**

The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating fuel
prior to entry into the intake manifold of an internal
combustion engine, and more particularly to an apparatus for
gasifying that portion of the fuel which will not vaporize under
normal conditions, or which most readily condenses once
vaporized.

Unvaporized or ungasified portions of fuel normally do not burn
within the cylinder and are lost to the combustion process and
so wasted. The greatest portion of this unburned (wasted) fuel
is not sufficiently volatile to gasify in the time spent within
the cylinders. As the wasted fuel passes through the engine to
the exhaust, some marginal parts appear in an exhaust gas
analysis as partially burned carbon monoxide (CO). Other
marginal parts appear as unburned hydrocarbons (HC). While
detecting some of the unburned products ordinary exhaust gas
analysis procedures do not detect a great portion of these
unburned fuel constituents. The residual heavy varnishes and
tars associated with the unburned portions of fuel recondense
and drop out of the exhaust gas samples and thus fail to
register as pollutants which are normally discharged by the
exhaust pipe to the atmosphere.

Mechanical designers have long been concerned with developing
an efficiently operating internal combustion engine. In the
United States, the automobile is responsible for a significant
percentage of pollutants found in the atmosphere, and the
consumption of vast amounts of the petroleum available in this
country. Accordingly, automobile engine designers have expended
considerable efforts to reduce the fuel consumption and
pollution-developing characteristic of internal combustion
engines. This interest has led to various engine designs, many
of which have achieved some success. However, there remains the
need for more efficient engines.

In addition to the engine designs themselves, automotive
engineers have proposed various devices for use with internal
combustion engines to increase engine efficiency. This equipment
is frequently directed to improving the efficiency of the engine
combustion phase, such as ignition systems, pre-heaters, and the
like, Again, some of this apparatus has experienced success, but
none has made a significant advance in the field.

Other proposals for increasing combustion efficiency have
included the redesign of the combustion and/or the engine
carburetor. Redesign of the carburetor improves engine
combustion and mechanical efficiency by improving the uniformity
and quality of the fuel-air mixture entering the several engine
combustion chambers. For example, combustion efficiency has to
some extent been improved by increasing fuel vaporization by
means of devices such as centrifugal separators, charge
stratifiers, screens placed in the flow lines, etc. While there
may be some improvement in engine efficiency by using these
devices, other problems may arise such as unreliability and
non-uniformity of operation, especially during cold-engine
operation or during periods of high acceleration. Furthermore,
such devices are often difficult to control, making these
devices of marginal value at best.

A serious drawback to the above-discussed known fuel
vaporization device is the inability to adequately operate on
the heavy ends of modern fuels, that is, those fuel components
having the high molecular weight. Heavy ends atomize
sufficiently to pass through an engine but do not readily
vaporize. Therefore, unless specially handled, the heavy ends
will be entrained in the fuel-air mixture entering the engine
combustion chamber with resulting combustion inefficiencies. The
devices discussed above, often provide a mechanism for removing
some of the heavy ends from the fuel-air mixture, but do not
utilize these heavy ends when removed. Such known devices are
therefore wasteful and inefficient.

One known method for vaporizing heavy ends has been to heat the
fuel or the fuel-air mixture. While this method is potentially
effective, it has not been entirely successful because the
complex composition of modern fuels makes it difficult to
provide a simple device which vaporizes all of the heavy ends
present in a given fuel without overheating the air in which the
fuel is entrained. Furthermore, an engine may at different times
be used with a variety of fuels, thus making a fixed temperature
heating system inefficient. One known device operates at
temperatures high enough to vaporize all heavy ends in the fuel.
This device is at best wasteful of energy, and may even be
dangerous from a standpoint of risking a high temperature
explosion. As a compromise, devices have been developed which
generate a type of "average temperature", with a resultant
efficient vaporization of only some, but not all of the heavy
ends.

Other presently known vaporizing devices operate at less than
maximum performance as a result of heat loss in the vaporized
fuel flowing back into the mainstream of the engine fuel-air
mixture. Reliquification of the heavy ends due to such heat loss
would tend to negate the effect of the vaporizing device. There
could also result a fuel-air mixture which varies in quality
among the engine cylinders, with only those cylinders located
near the device receiving fully vaporized fuel and uniform
mixtures. Such non-uniformity in mixture would cause engine
control problems as well as engine efficiency losses.

Therefore, to assure efficient, safe engine operating, the heat
output of a fuel vaporizer must be carefully controlled so as to
heat the heavy ends in an atmosphere too rich to burn while
heating. It is this lack of control which is most likely
responsible for the inefficient, ineffective and potentially
dangerous operation of known devices. Such inefficiency and/or
ineffectiveness presents serious doubts to the future use of
these known fuel vaporizing devices as the solution to the
problem of improving the performance of internal combustion
engines.

Recently, strict exhaust pollution level constraints have been
placed on modern internal combustion engines in general, and on
automobile engines in particular. Most modern pollution control
devices treat engine exhaust and therefore are directed at
curing the symptoms of inefficient combustion rather than the
causes. Thus, while pollution levels are decreased, automobile
costs and fuel consumption are increased.

The exhaust from automobile engines generally contains
hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen such as
nitric oxide and nitrous oxide. Modern pollution control devices
such as the catalytic converter help to control the hydrocarbon
and carbon monoxide levels, but do not effectively control the
nitrogen oxide levels in engine exhausts. Therefore, pollution
from engine exhausts remains a serious problem.

The drawbacks of the piston-type internal combustion engine
which are discussed above have to some extent recently resulted
in the commercialization of the long-known rotary engine. Some
of the problems characteristic of the piston engine have been
overcome, yet the rotary engine suffers from its own drawbacks.
As an example, the piston engine runs relatively hot, and hence
nitrous oxide is formed. Yet the piston engine is low in its
carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon levels. The rotary engine, on
the other hand, runs cooler and hence the level of nitrous oxide
is low. However, the levels of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon
are high. Fuel consumption is also high due to low expansion
ratios. It should be apparent from the above, that the problem
of exhaust pollution has by no means been overcome.

While some presently known devices are directed to the problem
of providing efficient combustion, and other devices purportedly
provide exhaust pollution control, there are no known engines
and no known devices which provide efficient engine operation
under normal engine conditions. Therefore, a great need exists
for a device which effectively enhances both the operating
efficiency and the freedom from exhaust pollution in an internal
combustion engine.

The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine
provided with a recirculating fuel-feed mechanism for increasing
the efficiency of the combustion phases of the internal
combustion engine by ensuring complete vaporization of the fuel
entering the intake manifold. As such, the power developed by
the engine is increased, and the level of pollutants is reduced.

**SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION**

Briefly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for use
in an internal combustion engine for vaporizing fuel heavy ends
which would otherwise enter the intake manifold and hence the
cylinders in a liquid state. The apparatus comprises a
carburetor extension for delivering vaporized fuel to the intake
manifold and for directing the flow of unvaporized fuel toward a
heated collecting chamber which is energized by heat from the
engine exhaust. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, two
heater stages are provided to ensure total vaporization of the
fuel heavy ends, with the outlet of the recirculating fuel-feed
system feeding into the main stream of the carburetor fuel-air
mixture just prior to introduction to the intake manifold.

The mechansim for heat transfer utilized in the first heater
stage comprises a continuous spiral groove in an outer surface
of the engine exhaust pipe. The groove retains the unatomized
liquid fuel in intimate contact with the heat source until the
fuel is vaporized.

The second heater stage is downstream of the first, and is
positioned near a location where the atomized recirculated fuel
is introduced into the intake manifold of the engine. Thus, any
heat loss undergone by the vaporized fuel flowing from the first
to the second stage is replaced by the second heater stage. A
uniformly vaporized fuel is thus delivered to the cylinders of
an engine by way of the present invention. Additional heaters
can be strategically positioned in an engine to maximize the
uniformity of the fuel-air mixture flowing into the engine
intake manifold and to all engine cylinders.

The present invention also relates to the method of vaporizing
unvaporized heavy ends prior to entering the manifold of an
engine. The inventive method comprises the steps of separating
the unvaporized from the vaporized fuel, collecting the
unvaporized fuel, preheating the thus collected fuel in a first
heater stage using heat from the engine exhaust, directing the
vapor thus formed to flow through a further heater stage
downstream of the first to ensure complete vaporization, and
introducing the vapor into the fuel-air mixture exiting the
engine carburetor.

While the apparatus of the present invention can be used with
any internal combustion engine, it is contemplated that the
invention be used on an engine having a high expansion ratio.
Such a high expansion ratio engine is disclosed in co-pending
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 427,048, filed Dec. 21, 1973
now abandoned and entitled Internal Combustion Engines. The
present invention results in a rapid and substantially complete
fuel explosion. Such an explosion is best suited for use in the
high expansion ratio engine which operates most efficiently best
with rapid fuel explosion and which offers a rate of expansion
sufficiently rapid to hold combustion temperatures well below
the critical limits known to produce knock and the contaminant,
nitrous oxide.

An engine having a dual exhaust pipe is another advantageous
application for the apparatus of the present invention.
Scavenging is the process of removing burned gases from an
internal combustion engine. Therefore, efficient scavenging of
an engine will result in an increase in engine power and
performance. Exhaust from certain cylinders may interfere with
the functioning of other cylinders in single exhaust engines. A
dual exhaust manifold engine overcomes this drawback by
exhausting alternately firing cylinders in alternate sections of
the exhaust manifold.

With the present invention, substantially uniform fuel-air
mixtures are fed to all cylinders. As such, the richness of the
mixture need not be balanced to compromise engine performance, a
step necessitated by the common unevenness of mixture in
different cylinders. In addition, the uniform and fully
vaporized nature of the fuel-air mixture in the cylinders
results in substantially complete burning in the cylinders.
Therefore, the present invention brings about a low level of
nitrous oxide carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons as well.

It is accordingly a broad object of the present invention to
provide a mechanism to increase the efficiency of an engine.

A further object of the present invention is to efficiently
reduce the amount of unvaporized fuel entering the intake
manifold of an engine.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to improve the
operating efficiency of an internal combustion engine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide improved
control over the fuel-air mixture entering an engine intake
manifold.

Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the
level of pollutants found in the exhaust of an internal
combustion engine.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a
uniform fuel-air mixture to all cylinders of an internal
combustion engine.

Still a further object of the present invention is to vaporize
fuel heavy ends without producing excess heat in the carburetor
air or hot spots in the combustion chambers of an internal
combustion engine.

A further object of the present invention is to recycle
unvaporized fuel prior to entry into the intake manifold until
such fuel is fully vaporized.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to improve
engine scavenging.

These and other objects of the present invention, as well as
many of the attendant advantages thereof, will become more
readily apparent when reference is made to the following
description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

**BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS**

**FIG. 1** is a schematic representation of an apparatus for
use in an engine in accordance with the teachings of the present
invention;

![](fig1.jpg)

**FIG. 2** illustrates a mechanism for transferring heat
from an engine exhaust pipe to unvaporized fuel in accordance
with the teachings of the present invention;

![](fig234.jpg)

**FIG. 3** illustrates a heat conductor for transferring
heat from an engine exhaust to the walls of the engine exhaust
pipe;

**FIG. 4** illustrates a mechanism for transferring heat
from an exhaust pipe to a heat riser, useful in the apparatus of
the present invention; and

**FIG. 5** is a schematic representation of a firing
sequence in a split-manifold engine utilizing the apparatus
embodied in the present invention.

![](fig5.jpg)

**DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS**

Shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus for vaporizing unvaporized
fuel, such as fuel heavy ends. The apparatus is denoted
generally by the reference numeral 10 and is illustrated as
associating with a carburetor represented at 12. The carburetor
12 may be of the conventional type in which air travelling at
high velocity past a fuel intake jet results in a fuel-air
mixture for injection into an intake manifold 14 of an internal
combustion engine. An engine exhaust pipe is schematically
illustrated at 16, having portions 16a and 16b which will be
discussed in greater detail below.

Because the fuels for internal combustion engines contain
components having various molecular weights, some of the fuel
exits carburetor 12 without being vaporized. Related to this is
the problem of recondensation of the same portions of the fuel.
Such unvaporized fuel is likely to be constituted by heavy ends,
and can be seen in FIG. 1 by droplets 20. As above discussed,
this unvaporized fuel, or heavy ends, is an undesirable
component of the fuel-air mixture entering engine intake
manifold 14, because such droplets 20 do not readily burn in the
combustion chambers.

Removal of undesirable droplets 20 from the fuel-air mixture
entering intake manifold 14 is effected by the inventive
apparatus 10. Apparatus 10 comprises a carburetor extension 30
attached to the carburetor base and which is designed to deliver
droplets 20 to a collecting funnel 32. Collecting funnel 32 is
surrounded by a heat riser 34 similar to the known heat riser
used in conventional engines. Heat riser 34 is supplied with air
heated by the exhaust manifold through conduit 94, as will be
explained below. From collecting funnel 32, the fuel droplets 20
flow through a first conduit 36 and into a first stage heater 38
comprising a heater box 40 surrounding the hottest accessable
portion of engine exhaust pipe portion 16a. As shown in FIG. 1,
droplet flow is denoted by solid arrows and vapor or gas flow is
denoted by dashed arrows. The fuel droplets are vaporized in
first stage heater 38 in a manner to be described below. Fuel
which is vaporized in first stage heater 38 flows through a
second conduit 42 and into a second stage heater 44 comprising a
heater box 46 surrounding a region of exhaust pipe portion 16a.
While the vapor exiting second stage heater 44 may be fed to
still further heaters, only two are shown in FIG. 1. From heater
44, the vaporized fuel flows through a third conduit 48 and into
the carburetor extension 30 through a jet nozzle 50.
Substantially all of the fuel exiting nozzle 50 will be
vaporized, yet some of the fuel may condense prior to reaching
intake manifold 14. These condensed droplets are recycled as
shown by solid arrows until vaporized.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the collecting funnel 32 is in
communication both with the outlet of the carburetor 12 and with
the intake manifold 14. Therefore, two fuel paths are defined.
The first is from the carburetor extension 30 to the intake
manifold 14; vaporized fuel from the carburetor 12 and from
nozzle 50 takes this path. The second is from extension 30 to
the funnel 32; unvaporized and condensed fuel from carburetor 12
and nozzle 50 takes this path. As can be seen, the vaporized
fuel travels to the intake manifold 14 through a passage 54
defined between carburetor extension 30 and collecting funnel
32.

The carburetor extension 30 comprises a tubular body 60 having
an integral flange 61 at one end which associates with a flange
12 of the carburetor and which is mounted at boss 67 of the
intake manifold 14 by bolts 65. A knife edge 69 is provided at
the lower end of the tubular body 60, remote from flange 61. The
knife edge 69 prevents fuel from collecting on the bottom end of
the extension 30. The outlet end of the extension 30 is shown at
62. Nozzle 50 is located within extension 30 so that the
fuel-air mixture flowing through extension 30 develops a suction
nozzle 50, thereby drawing the vaporized fuel through the
conduits of the system.

The collecting funnel 32 takes the form of a cylindrical
section 70 surrounding carburetor extension 30 and converging
section 72 downstream of the outlet 62. Fuel droplets collected
in collecting funnel 32 flow through the converging section 72
under the influence of gravity and whatever dynamic forces are
developed at outlet 62. A fluid or droplet trap 74 is defined at
the bottom section 72. Trap 74 is associated with conduit 36 and
heat riser 34 in a fluid-tight fashion, as by threads 76, nut 78
and gaskets 80 and 81 as illustrated in FIG. 1. As can be seen,
gasket 81 is held between the base 82 of heat riser 34 and a
shoulder of the trap section 74.

The heat riser 34 surrounds the converging section 72 of the
collecting funnel 32, and comprises the base 82 to which trap 74
is attached and sides 84 to which the cylindrical section 70 of
funnel 32 is attached, as shown at 86. Another gasket 89 is
employed to ensure a fluid-tight joint between the sides of
defined riser 34 and a shoulder 91 defined integral with the
collecting funnel 72.

Heat for the heat riser 34 is supplied, if necessary, by a heat
source or collector comprising a cup 90 secured to the engine
exhaust manifold 16 by means of a bolt 96. Ambient air flows
into cup 90 through openings 92 between the cup and the exhaust
manifold, and is trapped in cup 90. The trapped air is heated by
the exhaust manifold and flows out of the cup through air
conduit 94 into heat riser 34. The heated air from the heat
source flows around collecting funnel 32 and out of the heat
riser 34 through air conduit 98 into fuel conduit 48. In some
applications, it may be unnecessary to add heat to cup 90. In
such case, the conduits 94 and 98 would be disconnected. FIG. 4
shows an alternative embodiment of the heat collecting
mechanism. There, air conduit 95 is connected to the atmosphere
through opening 93. The path between conduit 94 and opening 92,
in the form of conduit 97, is positioned inside exhaust manifold
16 by means of a bolt 96. Ambient air flows into cup 90 through
openings 92 between the cup and the exhaust pipe, and is trapped
in cup 90. The trapped air is heated by the exhaust pipe and
flows out of the cup though air conduit 94 into heat riser 34.
The heated air from the heat source flows around collecting
funnel 32 and out of the heat riser 34 through air conduit 98
into fuel conduit 48.

The heat riser 34 thus serves as a pre-heater for the fuel
droplets entering the recirculating assembly 10. By applying
heat to the fuel droplets in several stages, as is the case in
the preferred embodiment of the invention, a high degree of
control over the heat application can be accomplished.
Importantly, the temperature of each stage of such a multistage
heater system is lower than the temperature of a single stage
system. Therefore, the undesirable hot spots of known
atomization systems can be eliminated.

A further advantage is brought about by the inventive apparatus
as a result of the air flowing into conduit 48 from the heat
riser 34 being heated. The heated air passing from jet 50 into
the carburetor outlet enhances the combustion efficiency of the
engine by supplying hot fuel vapors to the fuel-air mixture
entering manifold 14. In addition, the highly enriched heated
air added to the vapor flow in conduit 48 acts as a final stage
heating point to maintain vapor temperature and to add heat to
the vapor flowing out of jet 50. Such heat addition replaces any
heat lost by the fluid while flowing in conduit 48 from the
second heater stage 44. The air conduits 94 and 98 can be
designed to provide any desired temperature air to the fuel
conduit 48, as for example, by adding heaters or insulation.

The vaporization of droplets 20 initiated by the heat riser 34
is continued in the first stage heater 38. The droplets flowing
into the heater stage 38 from conduit 36 are transferred by an
extension 100 of conduit 36 to a groove 102 surrounding in the
outer surface of engine exhaust pipe portion 16b. Groove 102
resembles a screw thread in that it is continuous around the
outer surface of pipe portion 16b for a preselected length of
that pipe. However, to maintain the liquid fuel in the groove
102, the bottom surface is tapered upwardly so as to define a
trough. Fluid flows in groove 102 around the exhaust pipe
portion 16b, thus being heated thereby. Gravity results in the
liquid fuel flowing downwardly around groove 102, and the
pressure gradients developed by jet 50 add to uniform flow in
groove 102. The unvaporized droplets remain in groove 102 until
vaporized, at which time the vapor fills the chamber defined by
the first stage heater 38. Vapor produced in first stage heater
38 flows through exit port 104 and into fuel conduit 42.

All of the unvaporized fuel entering groove 102 should be
vaporized in the first stage heater 38.

The groove 102 is best shown in FIG. 2 as having a modified
square shape. Top face 106 is essentially perpendicular to the
longitudinal axis of exhaust pipe 16 and back face 108 is
essentially parallel to the pipe centerline. Bottom face 110 of
the groove is skewed with respect to face 108 thereby forming a
V-shaped trough in the groove. This trough holds liquified fuel
in groove 102 forcing the fuel to remain in intimate contact
with the hot exhaust of pipe portion 16b. Therefore, the spiral
groove 102 serves to maintain the fuel in contact with the
exhaust pipe 16 and to increase the time the liquid fuel is in
contact with the pipe 16b thus maximizing the time for
vaporizing the fuel. The groove 102 also minimizes the effects
of hot spots in the inventive system.

The heat transfer rate between the hot exhaust gases flowing in
pipe 16b and the unvaporized fuel flowing in groove 102 can
further be increased by radiating vanes such as those
illustrated in FIG. 3. Vanes 114 are shown as extending across
the pipe 16b and intersecting at the centerline of the exhaust
pipe. The vanes serve as heat transfer paths between the exhaust
gases and the inner wall 112 of exhaust pipe 16b. It is
contemplated that the vanes extend the entire length of the
heater 38. A similar vane structure can be used in the second
stage heater. If desirable to control the transfer rate between
the hot exhaust gases in exhaust pipe 16b and the unvaporized
fuel flowing in groove 102, the vanes can be specially shaped or
of lengths other than those of their respective heaters.

Fuel vapor developed in first stage heater 38 flows through
fuel conduit 42 and into second stage heater 44. It is
understood that while only two are shown, any number of heater
stages can be used. Fuel vapor flows into the second stage
heater 46 through an opening 120 in conduit 42 which may be
equipped with an orifice to control the vapor flow into the
heater box 46. The vapor flows through the heater box 46 which
again effects contact between the vapor and the exhaust pipe
16a. However, as is evident from FIG. 1, the second heater stage
46 has no groove such as groove 102 of the first heater stage.
Reheated vapor flows out of the heater box 46 through an exit
port 122 and into the fuel conduit 48. A plurality of surfaces
such as baffles 124 and fins 126 may be provided to control the
vapor flow and/or the heat transfer rate. Preferably, the second
stage heater 44 is positioned near jet 50 to maximize heat
transfer.

To further compensate for heat lost by the vaporized fuel, fuel
conduits 36, 42 and 48 can be insulated. Flow through conduits
36 and 42 is in a downward direction thereby taking advantage of
gravity. The flow in conduit 48 may be upward due to the
proximity thereof to the jet 50. The flow rate in fuel conduits
36, 42 and 48 can also be adjusted to produce the most efficient
vaporization of the fuel.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cross-sectional
area of conduits 36 and 48 is four times that of the carburetor
jet cross-sectional area. Conduit 42, on the other hand, has a
cross-sectional area sixteen times that of the carburetor jet
cross-sectional area. Furthermore, the cross-sectional area of
the outlet 62 is equal to that of the carburetor base area, and
to that of passage 54.

From the foregoing, it should be evident that the inventive
apparatus 10 can provide significant improvement in the
performance of an internal combustion engine. By improving the
quality of the fuel-air mixture entering the engine intake
manifold, significant power increases may be realized without a
corresponding increase in the size of the engine. At the same
time, the substantially total atomization of fuel improves
combustion efficiency thus greatly increasing the miles per
gallon ratio important to modern-day automobiles. Furthermore,
by injecting a properly adjusted fuel-air mixture into the
engine intake manifold, engine vacuum spark advance may be
reduced.

Another significant advantage of the engine designed in
accordance with the present invention is the reduction in
pollutants exhausted by the engine. Internal combustion engines
equipped with the inventive apparatus 10 produce exhausts having
negligible levels of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. The
invention also reduces the level of nitrogen oxides such as
nitric or nitrous oxide in the exhaust of an engine. The
apparatus of the present invention inherently accomplishes
substantial pollutant reduction without the necessity for
pollution devices such as those used with existing automobile
engines. As discussed above, fuel droplets in the fuel-air
mixture inhibit combustion in the engine. To compensate for the
presence of fuel droplets, many engines operate at high
temperatures. As the aspirated air is composed of roughly 78
percent nitrogen, these high temperature explosions generate
dangerous oxides of the nitrogen. The invention avoids the
production of these pollutants since the combustion temperatures
of an engine designed in accordance with the present invention
are below those levels at which oxides of nitrogen are produced.

Thus it should be apparent that the apparatus of the present
invention not only increases engine efficiency in the way of
engine performance, but also develops an exhaust containing only
minimal pollutants, hence avoiding the necessity for external
pollution control devices.

The operation of the inventive apparatus is as follows.
Unvaporized fuel-ends which are in the form of droplets 20 are
separated out of the fuel-air mixture and are collected in
collecting funnel 32. The collected droplets are pre-heated in
heat riser 34, and flow through conduit 36 into first stage
heater 38. In heater 38, the liquid fuel is carried in groove
102 which transfers heat from exhaust pipe portion 16b to the
liquid fuel. The fuel is maintained in the groove 102 until the
heat from exhaust pipe portion 16b has vaporized the droplets.
The vaporized fuel then flows through conduit 42 into the second
heater stage 44 positioned in close proximity to carburetor
extension 30, so that heat transfers from pipe portion 16a to
the vaporized fuel. In this manner, the vaporized fuel is
reheated prior to flowing through conduit 48 and out of jet 50
into the carburetor exhaust stream. Finally, the vaporized fuel
is directed to the engine intake manifold 14. The method can
also include placing a plurality of heater stages at strategic
points throughout the engine, such as in close proximity with an
engine cylinder. Such placement will assure a thoroughly
vaporized fuel in the fuel-air mixture entering any engine
cylinder, even those cylinders located some distance from the
apparatus and/or engine carburetor. That fuel which is not
vaporized, or that fuel which condenses, is recirculated through
the inventive fuel feed system.

The vaporizing apparatus 10 is conveniently adapted for use in
the aforementioned dual exhaust system engine. For purposes of
illustration, the following discussion will be based upon a
six-cylinder engine having an exhaust manifold divided into a
front section of three cylinders and a rear section of three
cylinders. With such an engine, exhaust pipe portion 16a is
connected to the front three cylinders through the forward
portion of the exhaust manifold, and portion 16b is connected to
the rear three cylinders. In a six cylinder engine having a
firing order of 1-5-3-6-2-4, successive exhausting will thereby
occur in alternate manifold sections. Thus, cylinder 1 will
exhaust into portion 16a, cylinder 5 into portion 16b, then
cylinder 3 will exhaust into portion 16a, and so forth.
Successive exhausting into alternate manifold sections prevents
back pressure developed in a front cylinder from acting upon (or
through) an open back cylinder exhaust valve (and vice versa).
Such successive exhausting therefore results in the efficient
scavenging of all cylinders; and as is known, such efficient
scavenging improves engine power and efficiency. A single full
length exhaust manifold can be easily converted into the dual
exhaust manifold configuration shown in FIG. 1 by cutting the
manifold at the center, capping the ends thus opened, and adding
appropriate exhaust pipes. Such a dual manifold is shown in FIG.
5 with the original manifold shown in phantom lines. A
1-5-3-6-2-4 firing sequence is also illustrated in FIG. 5.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. For
example, the present invention may include electric heaters for
supplementing the heat added by the engine exhaust during cold
engine start-up. Or, if the engine temperature is low even long
after start up, it is possible to add heat to appropriate
portions of the engine to improve performance. In addition, it
has been discovered that with the high-expansion ratio engine,
the lower side of the engine block runs quite cool. Therefore,
to maintain the entire block at optimum temperature, water from
the top of the head may be extracted and recirculated into the
input side of the water pump for subsequent entry into the head.
Other modifications are possible. It is therefore understood
that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may
be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

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