Internal-combustion engines – High tension ignition system – Having auxiliary spark gap in series or parallel with the coil
Patent
1992-03-12
1993-05-04
Dolinar, Andrew M.
Internal-combustion engines
High tension ignition system
Having auxiliary spark gap in series or parallel with the coil
1231795, F02P 1512
Patent
active
052072096
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a motor vehicle with spark ignition internal combustion engine.
To start a motor vehicle with a spark ignition engine it is necessary to generate an ignition spark in the cylinder using a spark plug. However, in doing so, problems can arise.
In the delivery of exported new vehicles which have been transported by ship, it often occurs that there is a bypass on the spark plug which diverts the high voltage on the anode to ground before a high enough voltage can form to generate an ignition spark. It can be assumed that humidity and salty sea air contribute to this situation. It is a fact established by experience that when vehicles are driven off ships their starting behavior is clearly much worse than under other circumstances.
A generic motor vehicle is known from DE-C 369 673; in this document the activation of a series spark gap is proposed to improve starting behavior. The series spark gap is integrated into the spark plug and can be adjusted manually by the driver during the starting process or even while driving. To do this control cords are provided which run to the individual spark plugs and which when pulled swivel a lever which adjusts the length of the series spark gap, depending on how much it swivels. In addition, a thumb screw is assigned to the lever; the thumb screw makes it possible to fix the amount of swivel in order that the series spark gap be activated even while driving.
Thus it is proposed by this document that the driver can always activate the series spark gaps with maximum ease as soon as he needs them.
Ignition systems with series spark gaps are furthermore known from the state of the art; U.S. Pat. No. 1,484,335 proposes a spark gap which can be bridged with a bimetallic strip which short circuits the poles of the series spark gap when the engine is warm. U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,924 proposes a series spark gap between the coil and distributor which can be adjusted by remote control; CH-A-213997 describes a series spark gap which is directly assigned to the spark plug.
Additional state of the art can be taken from U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,523,522, 2,684,451 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,127.
For motor vehicle operation it is undesirable that the driver can activate the series spark gap at will; operation of a modern ignition system with series spark gap is problematical. However, it is desirable to propose a possibility for starting motor vehicles which can be activated only in the special case in which exported vehicles must be transported by sea and as a result start poorly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is consequently to provide an improvement of the starting behavior by inserting a series spark gap which cannot be activated by the driver and which is not accessible when the vehicle is moving.
According to the invention the series spark gap known from the state of the art is implemented in a pushbutton switch which cannot be actuated by the driver himself, but a mechanic is needed to operate this switch. Thus, this series spark gap can only be activated for starting alone, since as soon as the vehicle is moving, the operator cannot operate the switch which is located preferably in the engine compartment. Hence, the series spark gap is shut down. Here there is a definite distance between the two electrodes of the spark gap, and adjustment is not possible since the size of the series spark gap is designed for this one time application.
when starting, the high voltage which builds upon the spark plug is brought to bear suddenly, i.e. a sparkover, by means of the spark gap and thus at the same time, due to the sudden application of the voltage. In this case the spark gap is adjusted such that the high voltage transferred to the spark plug in the sparkover is higher than the high voltage sufficient to generate an ignition spark. Under these conditions the spark plug is thus operated with a higher voltage than usual.
This spark gap is installed on the path between the ignition coil and distributor.
In normal operation this spark gap is short circuit
REFERENCES:
patent: 1063556 (1913-06-01), Kratz
patent: 1484335 (1924-02-01), Kerrigan
patent: 1523522 (1925-01-01), Graf
patent: 2684451 (1954-07-01), Castongay
patent: 3244924 (1966-04-01), Berg et al.
patent: 4046127 (1977-09-01), Almquist et al.
Audi AG
Dolinar Andrew M.
LandOfFree
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