The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 22, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 19, 1997
Mark A Ruman, Fond du Lac, WI (US);
Douglas R Potratz, Oshkosh, WI (US);
Brunswick Corporation, Lake Forest, IL (US);
Abstract
A two-stroke direct fuel injected internal combustion engine has an ignition coil dwell time control system. An electronic control unit controls switching of electronic ignition coil drivers in a manner to minimize ignition coil dwell times at medium and high engine speeds where low ignition coil dwell times can be used without sacrificing engine performance. The electronic control unit also implements an intermittent spark plug cleaning strategy to remove carbon deposits from fouled spark plugs. Intermittent cleaning is accomplished during engine operation by periodically raising the ignition coil dwell time to an exaggerated cleaning level for a relatively short period of time (e.g. one minute) after it is determined the spark plug cleaning should occur (e.g. 10 to 20 engine operating hours since previous cleaning).