Claims:We Claim:
1. A backflow connector (100) for a common rail (103), said backflow connector 100 comprising at least:
a rotatable adaptor (102) comprising an opening (104), said rotatable adaptor (102) designed to be fitted on a body (105) of said common rail 103 and co-axial to an axis of said common rail (103), said opening (104)of said adaptor (102) adapted to be aligned with respect to said back flow path; and
a ring element (108), said ring element (108) co-axial to said axis of said common rail (103), a first end (105) of ring element adapted (108) to be fitted onto said rotatable adaptor (102) and a second end (107) of said ring element (108) adapted to be fitted onto a groove provided on said common rail (103) for ensuring positional orientation of said rotatable adaptor (102) with respect to said backflow path (106).

2. The backflow connector (100) of connector of claim 1, wherein said backflow connector (100) further comprises a sealing element (110) located around said common rail 103.

3. The backflow connector 100 of connector of claim 1, wherein said sealing element 110 is an O-ring.

4. The backflow connector (100) of connector of claim 1, wherein said rotatable adaptor 102 comprises fins (112) along the circumference.

5. A common rail 103 in a fuel injection system, said common rail 103 comprising:
a body 105, said body 105 comprising at least one inlet, at least one outlet and a backflow path 106; characterized in that:

a rotatable adaptor (102) comprising an opening (104), said rotatable adaptor (102) designed to be fitted on a body (105) of said common rail 103 and co-axial to an axis of said common rail (103), said opening (104)of said adaptor (102) aligned with respect to said back flow path (106); and

a ring element (108), said ring element co-axial to said axis of said common rail 103, a first end 105 of ring element 108 fitted onto said rotatable adaptor (102) and a second end 107 of said ring element 108 adapted to be fitted onto a groove provided on said common rail (103) for ensuring positional orientation of said rotatable adaptor (102) with respect to said backflow path (106).

, Description:Complete Specification:

The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
Field of the invention
[0001]This invention relates to the field of backflow connector for a common rail.

Background of the invention
[0002]A common rail is used in a fuel injection system to store fuel under pressure before the fuel is sent to the injector for injection into the engine cylinder. The fuel is stored in the common rail at a pressure depending upon the injection requirements. In order to maintain this pressure in the rail, a pressure limiting valve (PLV) or a pressure control valve (PCV) is provided. The PCV or PLV relieves excess pressure by allowing the fuel to flow through a backflow path that is in flow communication with the fuel tank. In this way pressure is relieved from the common rail and the fuel is re-circulated back to the fuel tank. The common rail is forged component and depending upon the mounting requirement which varies from one engine manufacturer to another, there is need to change the position of the backflow connector. Forged components are inflexible in the sense that, once the position of the backflow path is fixed for a particular engine application, it becomes difficult to use the common rail for another engine application due to difference in mounting arrangements. This renders the common rail to be used only for applications that satisfy the mounting requirements.

Brief description of the accompanying drawing
[0003] Different modes of the invention are disclosed in detail in the description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a backflow connector for a common rail; and

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates a common rail.

Detailed description of the embodiments
[0006]FIG. 1 illustrates a backflow connector 100 for a common rail 103. The backflow connector 100 comprises at least a rotatable adaptor 102 comprising an opening 104, the rotatable adaptor 102 is designed to be fitted on a body 105 of the common rail 103 and is co-axial to an axis of the common rail 103, the opening 104 of the rotatable adaptor 102 is adapted to be aligned with respect to the back flow path 106. A ring element 108 is located co-axial to the axis of the common rail 103, a first end 105 of ring element 108 adapted to be fitted onto the rotatable adaptor 102 and a second end 107 of the ring element 108 adapted to be fitted onto a groove provided on the common rail 103 for ensuring positional orientation of the rotatable adaptor 102 with respect to the backflow path 106. The backflow connector 100 further comprises a sealing element 110 located around the common rail 103. In an embodiment the sealing element 110 may be an O-ring.

[0007]The construction of the backflow connector 100 will be explained in further detail. The backflow connector 100 disclosed herein is used to provide a connection between the backflow path 106 of the common rail 103 and a pipe 114 that connects the backflow path 106 and the fuel tank (not shown). The common rail 103 disclosed herein is designed to operate at a pressure depending upon factors but not limited to, injection quantity, number of cylinders, and injection pressure. The common rail 103 receives fuel from a high pressure fuel injection pump (not shown) and stores the received fuel under pressure before the fuel reaches the fuel injector (not shown) for injection into the engine cylinders. In order to maintain stability of the common rail 103, the pressure of the fuel stored in the common rail 103 needs to be relieved, during, for example when there is no fuel injection from the fuel injector. In order to relieve pressure of fuel in the common rail 103 the back flow path 106 is provided. The backflow path 106 may be created by drilling a hole on the body 105 of common rail 103. A pipe 114 is connected to the backflow path 106 ensures flow of fuel from the common rail 103 to the fuel tank (not shown). The connection between the backflow path 106 and the pipe 114 is through the backflow connector 100. The description of backflow connector 100 will now be enumerated.

[0008]The backflow connector 100 comprises a rotatable adaptor 102 comprising an opening 104. The opening 104 of the rotatable adaptor 102 may be aligned with respect to the backflow path 106. The axis of the rotatable adaptor 102 is co-axial to the axis of the common rail 103. Based upon the position of the backflow path 106 in the common rail 103, the rotatable adaptor 102 may be rotated in order to align the position of the opening 104 in the rotatable adaptor 102 with respect to the backflow path 106. The rotatable adaptor 102 may be made of copper or any other high temperature conducting material. In an embodiment the rotatable adaptor 102 comprises fins 112 along the circumference. The fins 112 help in transferring heat from the fuel that is flowing through the backflow connector 100. The ring element 108 is located co-axial to the axis of the common rail 103, the first end 105 of ring element 108 is adapted to be fitted onto the rotatable adaptor 102 and the second end 107 of the ring element 108 is adapted to be fitted onto a groove provided on the common rail 103 for ensuring positional orientation of the rotatable adaptor 102 with respect to the backflow path 106. The rotatable adaptor 102 may be rotated to any position with respect to the axis of the common rail 103 and then locked in position with the help of ring element 108. The backflow connector 100 comprises a sealing element 110 located around the common rail 103. The sealing element 110 prevents leakage of fuel from the rotatable adaptor. While, for the common rail 103 the position of the backflow path 106 is fixed with respect to the mounting arrangements of the common rail 103, it is now possible to use the above mentioned rotatable adaptor 102 in order to connect the backflow path 106 of the common rail 103 with the pipe 114. In case the position of the backflow path 106 in the common rail 103 is changed, the rotation of the rotatable adaptor 102 will cause the backflow path 106 whose position has been changed, to be aligned with the pipe 114. In other words the rotatable adaptor 102 may be rotated 360 degree with respect to the common rail 103. The rotatable adaptor 102 and the backflow path 106 may be located independent of their orientation with respect to the axis of common rail 103. The ring element 108 ensures that that the position of the rotatable adaptor 102 does not change with respect to the backflow path upon alignment of the backflow path 106 with the opening 104 of the rotatable adaptor 102.

[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a common rail 103. The common rail 103 comprises a body 105, the body 105 comprises at least one inlet, at least one outlet, and a backflow path 106. A rotatable adaptor 102 comprises an opening 104, the rotatable adaptor 102 is designed to be fitted on a body 105 of the common rail 103 and co-axial to an axis of the common rail 103, the opening 104 of the rotatable adaptor 102 is aligned with respect to the back flow path 106. A ring element 108 is co-axial to the axis of the common rail 103, a first end 105 of ring element 108 fitted onto the rotatable adaptor 102 and a second end 107 of the ring element 108 is adapted to be fitted onto a groove provided on the common rail 103 for ensuring positional orientation of the rotatable adaptor 102 with respect to the backflow path 106.

[0010]The working of the common rail 103 will now be explained in further detail. Fuel from the fuel injection pump (not shown) flows into the common rail 103. The fuel is stored under pressure and then gets distributed to different injectors. The pressure of the fuel in the common rail 103 needs to be maintained in dependence of the injection requirements. In order to maintain stability of the common rail 103, the pressure of fuel in the common rail 103 needs to be relieved, for example, when there is no injection from the fuel injector. In order to relieve the pressure in the common rail 103, the back flow path 106 is opened with the help of a pressure control valve or pressure relief valve 111. The opening 104 of the backflow path 106, creates a passage for the fuel to flow through the backflow path 106 and through the pipe 114 that is connected to the rotatable adaptor 102. The rotatable adaptor 102 along with the ring element 108 ensures positional orientation of the rotatable adaptor 102 with respect to the backflow path 106. This ensures that fuel flows from the backflow path 106 directly into the pipe 114 that leads to the fuel tank.

[0011]By using the above mentioned rotatable adaptor 102 it is now possible to use common rail 103 without being dependent on the position of the backflow path 106. The rotatable adaptor 102 serves in connecting the backflow path 106 with the pipe 114 irrespective of the location and orientation of the backflow path 106 with respect to the axis of the common rail 103.

[0012]. ‘Adapted’ or ‘arranged’, in the context of the instant disclosure, refers to the technical capability or the technical capacity of a component, in relation to which the term ‘adapted’ or ‘arranged’ is used, to carry out or executed a specified action or actions, upon the requirement of the specified action or actions to be carried out or executed. Moreover, the usage of the term ‘adapted’ or ‘arranged’ here, is in reference with the normal technical capability or technical capacity of the component, imparted by the design or the structure or the composition of the component, and not in reference with any special or extraneous capability or capacity, beyond the scope of the normal technical capability or technical capacity. Therefore there is a need to address this problem.

[0013]It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention in terms of the type of fuel injection pump used. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.