Internal-combustion engines – High tension ignition system – Piezoelectric voltage generator
Patent
1996-08-29
1998-02-10
Argenbright, Tony M.
Internal-combustion engines
High tension ignition system
Piezoelectric voltage generator
315 55, 315209PZ, F02P 312
Patent
active
057158010
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a compact and lightweight ignition system for an internal combustion engine.
BACKGROUND ART
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 63-314366 discloses an ignition system for an internal combustion engine in which a high voltage is generated by applying a mechanical pressure to a piezoelectric element. Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 58-34722 discloses an ignition system in which such a piezoelectric element is combined in series with a booster coil.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 62-33408 discloses an ignition system in which an ignition coil is integrated with a plug cap; and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 4-143461 discloses a similar ignition system used for a double overhead camshaft (DOHC) type engine including a pair of camshafts provided on a cylinder head, in which a plug cap is inserted in a plug hole obliquely formed between the camshafts.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,098 discloses an ignition system in which an ignition coil is integrated with a spark plug.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 60-190672 discloses a CDI type ignition circuit for generating a secondary voltage using discharge of an ignition capacitor.
The above system using the piezoelectric element, however, has a disadvantage. Namely, the system requires a mechanical pressing means, and also a distributor and a high tension cord for carrying a high voltage, and thereby the entire system is made larger in size and weight and is also complicated in structure, resulting in increased cost.
The above system using the ignition coil is also inevitably made larger in size and weight. Moreover, the system having the ignition coil integrated with the plug cap is made larger in size and is further accompanied by heat generation, so that it has a difficulty in the layout for direct mounting on a small sized internal combustion engine for a motor-bicycle.
In particular, when the system including the plug cap integrated with the ignition coil is used for a DOHC type engine, an ignition coil portion can be disposed between the camshafts and thereby the plug cap can be disposed not to protrude from a cam cover so much only in such a limited condition that a valve included angle is large and an interval between the camshafts is wide; however, in this case, the ignition coil is exposed to high-temperature heat of an engine.
On the other hand, in the case where the valve included angle is small and the interval between the camshafts is narrow, the ignition coil portion is difficult to dispose between the camshafts, and thereby the plug cap tends to largely protrude from the cam cover to the outside, leading to a difficulty in the layout of the engine.
In addition, the use of a piezoelectric element as a booster of an ignition circuit requires a special and advantageous primary voltage generating means for applying a primary voltage to the piezoelectric element.
An object of the present invention, therefore, is to solve the above-described problems.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an ignition system for an internal combustion engine, characterized in that a booster is provided, which is composed of a piezoelectric transducer for generating a secondary high voltage by an electrostrictive effect of a piezoelectric element applied with a primary voltage; and a primary voltage generating means is provided to generate a primary voltage for vibrating the piezoelectric element at its natural resonance frequency.
In this system, the booster is composed of the piezoelectric transducer capable of outputting a secondary high voltage on the basis of a primary voltage. Accordingly, electrical input as well as electrical output can be performed in spite of using the piezoelectric element, to thereby eliminate the necessity of provision of a mechanical pressing means as a conventional input means and a distribution mechanism.
As a result, the system can be made smaller in size and weight as a whole, and thereby it can be mounted in a simp
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patent: 5144935 (1992-09-01), Taruya et al.
patent: 5146906 (1992-09-01), Agatsuma
Katayama Mutsumi
Murasawa Naoki
Ogawa Sumitaka
Argenbright Tony M.
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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