This is still using ignition timing and spark plugs. Additionally, the connecting shim and the timing advancer/retarder introduce not one, but two points of failure.
Thanks, but no thanks: I'll just stick to my simple (by comparison) direct injected turbo diesel cars.
When there is a gasoline engine which can ignite the fuel without spark plugs and ignition timing, that'll be the right solution. mazda experimented with this (see "VCCI"), but it never made it into production, because it's not a trivial problem to solve. This Nissan patent is a mechanical engineer's equivalent of a duct tape hack.
Or we could just ditch this entire nonsense with pistons and optimize the Chrysler's super simple turbine car engine until it matches today's exhaust emission regulations. This was a tough problem to solve in 1978, but should be doable now with a particulate filter. And that engine isn't picky: since it's a turbine, it'll run on anything that's combustible, from filtered cooking oil to cologne.
Disesl engines have very fine control of ignition timing via injection timing which is now very complex. There are tiny pilot injections and multiple short injections over a carefully controlled length of time so I don't agree that needing to time a spark makes spark ignition a more complex and by implication worse solution.
First of all, timing by injection is still simpler than timing by spark: in gasoline engines, the computer must time both the injection and the ignition.
Second, timing by spark means that spark plugs are necessary, so that is more parts, and more parts means higher probability of failure.
Third, spark plugs are needed to start a chain reaction of igniting fuel, because gasoline fuel is volatile enough as not to be combustible. Gasoline fuel is not flammable, but the vapor is, did you know that? That's what makes it volatile as far as combustibility, otherwise we would have self igniting gasoline engines by now.
I'd say that modern disel injector problems were more common than spark plug problems, so I guess we'll have to agree disagree :) I could also draw your attention to the cost and ease of replacement of a spark plug vs a diesel injector, or all the extra emissions treatment equipment that modern diesels need that petrol doesn't, but I don't think we're going to convince each other here :)
How long have you worked on diesels in order to be able to claim that?
How many cases of diesel engines with injector problems have you had during your career as a mechanic?
How much does, on the average, a diesel injector cost?
How often do they have to be replaced?
I've worked on diesel engines since I was a little kid, and have yet to work on one with injector problems.
The following are ultramodern mazda injectors, for instance; if you look at the spray pattern and the capability of these programmable injectors, it's pretty obvious it's going to be tough for them to experience problems:
modern piezoelectric technology is wonderful, isn't it? And wouldn't you know it, all modern diesel engines sport piezoelectric injectors.
But let's suppose for a moment that you are correct, and that I'm wrong. Your logic has one flaw, and that is that in a diesel engine, I will (and have) get three times the kilometrage that you will get with a gasoline engine. Even if I had to replace all of the injectors, I will still have come out ahead. How?
Assuming that you are running the simplest, ultramodern gasoline V8 (I picked V8 in particular because that is the most reliable of the gasoline engines), if you maintain it according to the extreme maintenance schedule, you might get about 460,000 km out of it before requiring a rebuild. By that time, I will have gotten almost 1,300,000 km on the diesel and maybe need an engine rebuild, and that engine rebuild might not even need new injectors, if I changed my fuel filter every 15,000 km (which I do), and every 30,000 km added one liter of biodiesel to my tank!
Thanks, but no thanks: I'll just stick to my simple (by comparison) direct injected turbo diesel cars.
When there is a gasoline engine which can ignite the fuel without spark plugs and ignition timing, that'll be the right solution. mazda experimented with this (see "VCCI"), but it never made it into production, because it's not a trivial problem to solve. This Nissan patent is a mechanical engineer's equivalent of a duct tape hack.
Or we could just ditch this entire nonsense with pistons and optimize the Chrysler's super simple turbine car engine until it matches today's exhaust emission regulations. This was a tough problem to solve in 1978, but should be doable now with a particulate filter. And that engine isn't picky: since it's a turbine, it'll run on anything that's combustible, from filtered cooking oil to cologne.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2A5ijU3Ivs