Ion Sensing Method for Capacitive Discharge Ignition
AssigneeHoerbiger Kompressortechnik Holding GmbH
InventorsPeter Steinrueck, Gerhard Ranegger, Joseph M. Lepley, Steven B. Pirko
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Abstract
A method of ion sensing in a CD ignition system for an internal combustion engine comprises: a) closing the controllable switch in synchronism with the internal combustion engine for a period of time to transfer energy to the ignition coil primary to cause a spark breakdown across the spark plug; and b) observing the current in the secondary winding circuit indicative of ionization in the vicinity of the spark plug electrodes.
Claims13
A method of ion sensing in a CD ignition system for an internal combustion engine having a storage capacitor for being connected to a power supply in series with the capacitor, an ignition transformer having primary and secondary windings, and a controllable switch in series with the storage capacitor and the primary winding of the ignition transformer, an electronic circuit for controlling the controllable switch, a spark plug having electrodes in series with the secondary winding of the ignition transformer comprising the steps of:
- a) initially closing the controllable switch in synchronism with the internal combustion engine for a period of time to transfer energy to the ignition coil primary to cause a spark breakdown across the spark plug;
- b) subsequent to the initial period of closing, repeatedly opening and closing the switch setting or adjusting the ratio of the opening and closing periods to achieve a desired bias voltage across the spark plug electrodes;
- and
- c) observing the current in the secondary winding circuit indicative of ionization in the vicinity of the spark plug electrodes.
A method of ion sensing in a CD ignition system for an internal combustion engine having a storage capacitor for being connected to a power supply in series with the capacitor, an ignition transformer having primary and secondary windings, and a controllable switch in series with the storage capacitor and the primary winding of the ignition transformer, an electronic circuit for controlling the controllable switch, a spark plug having electrodes in series with the secondary winding of the ignition transformer comprising the steps of:
- a) closing the controllable switch in synchronism with the internal combustion engine for a period of time to transfer energy to the ignition coil primary to cause a spark bread down across the spark plug;
- and
- b) observing the current during the secondary winding circuit indicative of ionization in the vicinity of the spark plug electrodes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.