Federal-mogul Corporation

Tenneco Gmbh

Federal-mogul Ignition Company

Paul William Phillips

Kristapher I Mixell

James D Lykowski

William John Walker, Jr

Massimo Augusto Dal Re

Giulio Milan

Michael E Saccoccia

An igniter, such as a corona igniter for an internal combustion engine, and a method of manufacturing the igniter, are provided. The igniter includes an insulator with enlarged upper and lower end regions extending axially beyond opposite ends of a constrained, reduced diameter region of a shell through passage. The enlarged lower end region of the insulator is disposed axially outwardly of a lower end of the shell. The insulator is hermetically sealed to the shell and is permanently fixed against being removed axially outwardly from the shell. The method can include conforming the shell to the contour of the insulator by plastically deforming the shell, or casting the shell about the insulator. Alternatively, separate pieces of metal can be disposed around the insulator to form the shell which is conformed to the insulator.

Igniter assembly, insulator therefor and methods of construction thereof

A corona igniter assembly including an ignition coil assembly, a firing end assembly, and a dielectric compliant member is provided. The dielectric compliant member is compressed between a high voltage insulator of the ignition coil assembly and a ceramic insulator of the firing end assembly. During assembly of the corona igniter assembly, the dielectric compliant member pushes air outwards and forms a hermetic seal between the high voltage insulator and the ceramic insulation. The dielectric compliant member can have a rounded upper surface, which may improve the hermetic seal. Alternatively, or in addition to the rounded surface on the dielectric compliant member, the lower surface of the high voltage insulator can be rounded to push air outwards during assembly and provide a hermetic seal.

Air-free cap end design for corona ignition system

Methods of making an insulator for a condition sensing spark plug and tooling that can be used to perform the various methods, the tooling and methods involving machining one or more channels in the insulator body. The machined channels can be used to accommodate one or more wires from a sensing, display, or processing device. In one particular example, the wires are thermocouple wires used to sense temperature in an internal combustion engine while the spark plug is in use. The methods and tooling may result in channels that are formed more precisely, economically, and efficiently.

Method and tooling for making an insulator for a condition sensing spark plug

A corona ignition assembly comprising a plurality of different insulators disposed between an ignition coil assembly and firing end assembly is provided. A high voltage center electrode extends longitudinally between an igniter central electrode and the ignition coil assembly. A high voltage insulator formed of a fluoropolymer surrounds the high voltage center electrode, and a firing end insulator firing of alumina surrounds the igniter central electrode. A sleeve formed of a semi-conductive and complaint material, such as silicone rubber with conductive filler, is disposed radially between the electrodes and adjacent insulators. The sleeve fills air gaps and minimizes the peak electric field within the corona igniter assembly. The sleeve is able to prevent unwanted corona discharge, and thus extends the life of the materials and directs energy to the firing end.

Corona suppression at the high voltage joint through introduction of a semi-conductive sleeve between the central electrode and the dissimilar insulating materials

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Brighton, MI, United States of America

Paul William Phillips