Sparkplug/pressure sensor device

Abstract

A pressure transducer suitable for use in measuring the pressures created by the combustive events that occur in internal combustion engines. The transducer utilizes the magnetostrictive effect to measure stress waves present in magnetized metallic components associated with sparkplug devices typically placed in apertures into internal combustion engine cylinders. The present invention includes a replacement sparkplug device that incorporates a pickup coil for measuring magnetostrictive events within the magnetized metal components of the sparkplug device and alternatively a sparkplug boot cover that separately incorporates a removable pickup coil for measuring the stress waves. In either embodiment, the present invention utilizes the magnetostrictive sensor signals measured as a basis for identifying internal combustion cylinder pressures and for identifying the characteristics of the ignition events within the cylinder. The invention incorporates electronic components appropriate for multiplexing, amplifying, and filtering signals from a number of cylinders within a engine and analyzing and processing this information in a manner that allows both the identification of problems associated with combustion in the engine and, in some cases, the correction of these problems on a realtime feedback basis.