Patent attributes
An internal combustion engine fuel injector (1) has a rod (10) movable along an axis (3) to open/close a nozzle, and a servovalve (7) having a control chamber (23) with a discharge passage (26, 48) which is opened/closed by a shutter (17) movable axially under the control of an electro-actuator; the servovalve also has a fixed axial rod (33) having an outer lateral surface (34) through which the discharge passage (26, 48) comes out; the shutter (17) is fitted to the axial rod (33) to slide axially in substantially fluidtight manner, and, when closing the discharge passage (26, 48), is subjected to substantially zero resultant axial pressure by the fuel; and a calibrated portion (42, 52) of the discharge passage (26, 48) is formed close to the outlet of the discharge passage to produce swirl and/or cavitation in the fuel outflow near to the closing area between the shutter (17) and the axial rod (33).