Capacitor discharge ignition and alternator auxiliary power system

Abstract

In a combined capacitor discharge ignition and alternator auxiliary power system for an internal combustion engine, voltage pulses for charging a capacitor, other voltage pulses for triggering an SCR, and still other voltage pulses for producing an alternating auxiliary power output are provided by a single generator having an engine driven rotor providing an array of magnetic pole faces regularly spaced and of alternating magnetic polarity along a circular path of movement. A stator carries a charge coil, a trigger coil, and at least one auxiliary power coil adjacent the circular path so that a repetitive series of charge pulses, a repetitive series of trigger pulses, and a repetitive series of auxiliary power pulses are induced respectively in the charge coil, the trigger coil, and the auxiliary power coil each time the array passes said coils. The rotor also includes a space, along the circular path, within which no magnetic pole face appears. When this space passes the trigger coil, at least some of the pole faces of the array pass the charge coil to produce charging pulses which charge the capacitor. The capacitor is then discharged, to fire the associated spark plug, by the first trigger pulse of the next series of such pulses induced in the trigger coil. Subsequent trigger pulses of the series occur with the capacitor in a discharged state and therefore do not fire the spark plug. Thus, the same magnet pole faces which excite the trigger and charge coils of the ignition portion of the system also excite the auxiliary power coils of the alternator portion of the system without creating a ripple problem common to other combined ignition and alternator systems wherein the alternator magnets generate ripple voltages in the trigger coil which may result in spurious triggering of the SCR.