Internal-combustion engines – High tension ignition system – Specific coil location
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-23
2003-12-02
Mohanty, Bibhu (Department: 3747)
Internal-combustion engines
High tension ignition system
Specific coil location
C123S634000, C123S647000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655368
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-128095 filed on Apr. 30, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an ignition coil device for an engine of, for example, an automobile and more specifically to an ignition coil assembly that includes a plurality of ignition coils, which are connected to corresponding spark plugs securely installed in plug holes of the engine.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-250437 discloses an integrated connector block, in which connectors for supplying electricity to corresponding ignition coils are integrated. The integrated connector block includes a connector block main body, which is formed as an elongated body made of a resin material. Coil connectors are integrally formed in a lower surface of the connector block main body. Each ignition coil, which is secured to a corresponding spark plug installed in an engine, is installed to and is thus engaged with a corresponding one of the coil connectors in an axial direction of the corresponding ignition coil, i.e., in an axial direction of the corresponding spark plug.
Furthermore, in order to allow installation of the ignition coils to the plug holes of the engine in a single step, an ignition coil assembly, which includes a plurality of ignition coils arranged at predetermined intervals, has been proposed. For example, as shown in
FIG. 7
, one such ignition coil assembly
21
includes a resin base member
13
that holds a plurality of ignition coils
12
at corresponding positions, which correspond to positions of plug holes
131
of an engine
130
. Each ignition coil
12
may be threadably secured to the base member
13
through use of a bolt. Alternatively, each ignition coil
12
and the base member
13
may be integrally molded using a resin material. In either way, each ignition coil
12
and the base member
13
are integrated together. Thereafter, the ignition coil assembly
21
is installed to the engine
130
by axially installing the ignition coils
12
into the corresponding plug holes
131
, and longitudinal ends of the base member
13
are secured to the engine
130
by bolts
13
c.
In the previously proposed ignition coil assembly
21
, all of the ignition coils
12
need to be simultaneously removed from the corresponding plug holes
131
of the engine
130
when one or more spark plugs need to be examined or replaced. This results in difficult work. That is, each ignition coil
12
is connected to the corresponding one of the spark plugs through a plug cap
12
d
. When all of the ignition coils
12
are simultaneously removed from the corresponding plug holes
131
, the force required to remove all of the ignition coils
12
is equal to the product of the force for removing one ignition coil
12
multiplied by a number of the ignition coils
12
. Thus, the removal operation of the ignition coils
12
becomes difficult, and, in some cases, it is impossible to remove the ignition coils
12
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the above disadvantage. Thus, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an ignition coil assembly, which has a structure that allows easy removal of a base member from each ignition coil to allow easy maintenance work.
To achieve the objective of the present invention, there is provided an ignition coil assembly for an engine. The engine includes a plurality of plug holes, each of which receives a corresponding one of a plurality of spark plugs. The ignition coil assembly includes a plurality of ignition coils and a base member. The ignition coils are arranged to be electrically connected to the spark plugs, respectively. The base member detachably engages and holds the ignition coils at corresponding positions, which correspond to positions of the plug holes of the engine. Disengaging force for disengaging each ignition coil and the base member from each other is set to be smaller than disengaging force for disengaging each ignition coil and the corresponding one of the spark plugs from each other.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6543430 (2003-04-01), Moga et al.
patent: A-9-250437 (1997-09-01), None
Mohanty Bibhu
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
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