Patent 7798430 was granted and assigned to Denso on September, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A fuel injection nozzle is formed with a nozzle hole group including at least two individual nozzle holes, which are disposed close to each other. Fuel is injected through the nozzle hole group. In at least one combination of two adjacent individual nozzle holes included in the same nozzle hole group, at least one of the two adjacent individual nozzle holes is configured such that each of the at least one of the two adjacent individual nozzle holes has a diameter, the diameter increasing only toward a corresponding adjacent one of the two adjacent individual nozzle holes along a direction from an inside to an outside of the each of the at least one of the two adjacent individual nozzle holes, and the diameter being maximized at an outer opening of the each of the at least one of the two adjacent individual nozzle holes.