Other

International Engine Intellectual Property Company, LLC

Smart Muffler Corporation

Ming Zheng

Shui Yu

Kelvin Xie

Meiping Wang

William De Ojeda

Mengzhu Liu

Graham T Reader

Liguang Li

Edward A Mirosh

A spark plug includes an insulator body and a central electrode having a spark-end and a terminal-end. The central electrode is disposed within the insulator body, with the spark-end and the terminal-end protruding from the insulator body at opposite ends thereof. A metal electrode surrounds the insulator body and extends to form a gap with the central electrode at the spark-end. A capacitor with metalized inner and outer surfaces is provided, with the metalized inner surface being connected to the central electrode and the metalized outer surface being connected to the metal electrode. A first resistive component is embedded within the central electrode between the capacitor and the terminal-end, and a second resistive component embedded within the central electrode between the capacitor and the spark-end.

High-power breakdown spark plugs and related methods

A method is disclosed for producing a corona discharge for igniting an air/fuel mixture in an internal combustion engine. An igniter is provided having a discharge tip that protrudes into a combustion zone. During a first stage of a combustion process, a first primary winding of a RF transformer is driven at a first predetermined voltage level and at a first resonant frequency that is based on a first impedance in the combustion zone prior to onset of combustion, for generating a corona discharge at the tip of the igniter. During a second stage subsequent to the first stage, a second primary winding of the RF transformer is driven at a second predetermined voltage level and at a second resonant frequency that is based on a second impedance in the combustion zone at a time that is subsequent to onset of the combustion process.

Active-control resonant ignition system

An igniter for a spark ignition system includes a support body fabricated from an electrically insulating material and a metal casing disposed outwardly of and at least partially surrounding the support body. The metal casing has a structure for connecting the metal casing to ground. At least two rod-shaped first electrodes are supported one relative to another by the support body and are electrically isolated one from the other by the support body. Each first electrode has a first end that protrudes from a first end of the support body at a spark forming end of the igniter. The support body is disposed at least partly within an axial channel of a generally cylindrically-shaped second electrode. The second electrode projects past the support body at the spark forming end of the igniter and cooperates with the first ends of the at least two first electrodes to define at least two spark gaps. The second electrode is electrically isolated from the metal casing by an air gap. During use the first electrodes receive a first voltage that is higher than ground and the second electrode receives a second voltage that is lower than the first voltage. A first spark is formed within a first one of the at least two spark gaps and a second spark is formed within a second one of the at least two spark gaps.

Multi-coil spark ignition system

An ignition system includes an ignition coil with a primary winding and a secondary winding having a terminal for providing a high voltage (HV). An electrode arrangement of an igniter includes first and second HV electrodes coupled to the terminal of the secondary winding. The igniter also has at least one ground electrode. A first spark gap is defined between the first HV electrode and the at least one ground electrode, and a second spark gap is defined between the second HV electrode and the at least one ground electrode. A first capacitor is disposed in-line between the first HV electrode and the terminal of the secondary winding and a second capacitor disposed in-line between the second HV electrode and the terminal of the secondary winding of the ignition coil. The ignition system includes a driver module coupled to a terminal of the primary winding, for driving the ignition coil.

System and method for elastic breakdown ignition via multipole high frequency discharge

An ignition system for an internal combustion engine includes an igniter having at least two high voltage (HV) electrodes and a low voltage (LV) electrode. The at least two HV electrodes are electrically isolated one from the other and the at least two HV electrodes are electrically isolated from the LV electrode. The system includes a coil assembly having at least one primary winding and at least two secondary windings, each secondary winding having a terminal for providing a HV signal. A driver module is provided for energizing the coil assembly. A high-tension cable, comprising at least two resistive wires, connects the at least two HV electrodes to the terminals of respective ones of the at least two secondary windings. The high-tension cable further comprises a non-resistive wire connecting the LV electrode to the driver module.

A premixed charge of air and a low reactivity fuel is created in a combustion chamber space by the time at which a piston comes substantially to top dead center at which time a high reactivity fuel is directly injected into a central zone of the combustion chamber space which is bounded partially by a central bowl cavity in the piston head which is itself surrounded by an upright intermediate wall. The high reactivity fuel combusts by conventional diesel combustion and creates a flame front which propagates into an outer zone of the combustion chamber space which is bounded partially by the upright intermediate wall and an outer bowl cavity in the piston head to initiate combustion of the premixed air-fuel charge in the outer zone of the combustion chamber space.

Internal combustion engine operating on different reactivity fuels

A compact reversing flow catalytic converter with protection from overheating includes a valve unit which directs exhaust gases through a container filled with catalytic material to permit a bypass of catalytic material when a temperature of the material exceeds a predetermined threshold. The container defines a U-shaped gas passage that communicates with two ports at the top of the container. The valve unit is mounted to the top of the container and includes an intake and an exhaust cavity. The valve unit includes a valve disk having two openings therethrough. The valve disk rotates around perpendicular central axis between a first, a second and third positions. When overheating of the catalytic material is predicted, a controller relinquishes control of the valve disk and a center return mechanism rotates the valve disk to a third position, in which each of the openings communicates with both ports so that the exhaust gas flow bypasses catalytic material. The catalytic material is thus protected from damage due to overheating. The advantage is a compact, reliable, highly efficient catalytic converter that is inexpensive to manufacture, durable, and adapted for extended service life. An alternate version of the compact reversing flow controller is also described wherein the valve unit and container are essentially as described above but the valve disk is a four position disk with the fourth position blocking communication between the valve housing and the container isolating the monolith so that maximum heat is retained during engine shut down. The valve is driven by a stepper motor that moves and holds the valve to its four positions including block, bypass, forward and reverse flow. The alternate version also replaces the oxidizing flow-through monolith with an oxidizing filter trap and adds a fuel injection system under control of the controller so that measured amounts of fuel can be injected into the valve inlet to enhance oxidation.

Growing community of inventors

Windsor, CA, United States of America

Ming Zheng