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:
Apr. 01, 2008
Filed:
Jun. 29, 2006
Andy Scarisbrick, Brentwood, GB;
Stephan Carroll, Wadhurst, GB;
Robert Dodd, Clayton, GB;
Tom Shenton, Manchester, GB;
Geoff Dearden, Liverpool, GB;
Steve Keen, Rugby, GB;
Roy Clissold, Wickford, GB;
John Mcculloch, Wirral, GB;
Andy Scarisbrick, Brentwood, GB;
Stephan Carroll, Wadhurst, GB;
Robert Dodd, Clayton, GB;
Tom Shenton, Manchester, GB;
Geoff Dearden, Liverpool, GB;
Steve Keen, Rugby, GB;
Roy Clissold, Wickford, GB;
John McCulloch, Wirral, GB;
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A distributor is described for a multi-cylinder laser ignited internal combustion engine. The distributor includes a shaft rotatable by the engine and a plurality of flat reflective surfaces on the shaft. The surfaces lie in planes normal to the axis of rotation of the shaft and are axially staggered from one another along the length of the shaft. An optical transmitter directs light from a laser source to impinge at an angle sequentially on the reflective surfaces as the shaft rotates, and a plurality of optical receivers spaced from one another each receive the light reflected from a respective one of the mirror surfaces and direct the reflected light to a respective one of the engine cylinders.