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:
May. 08, 2018
Filed:
Nov. 26, 2014
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (US);
Jess W. Gingrich, San Antonio, TX (US);
Manfred Amann, San Antonio, TX (US);
Barrett W. Mangold, Hondo, TX (US);
SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, San Antonio, TX (US);
Abstract
An igniter system for measuring gas velocity and/or gas composition within the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. The igniter has an insulator body and conductive shell around the top portion of the insulator body, configured so that the igniter can be installed in place of a conventional spark plug. The igniter has two pairs of electrodes, each pair of electrodes providing a spark gap and operable to generate a spark within the combustion chamber. An activation and measurement unit is operable to generate a sustained arc in each spark gap, and to measure the voltage, current and capacitance in a measurement circuit associated with each spark gap. From various electrical measurements, the velocity and composition of the gas in the combustion chamber can be determined.