Ignition apparatus

Abstract

An ignition apparatus is provided which ignites a mixture of air and fuel gas by plasma to generate an initial flame. The apparatus includes: a spark plug that includes an inner conductor, a cylindrical outer conductor that holds the inner conductor thereinside, and a dielectric that is provided between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, and that generates plasma in a plasma formation space between the inner conductor and the outer conductor; an electromagnetic wave power supply that generates an electromagnetic wave to apply electromagnetic wave power to the spark plug; an evaluation section that evaluates a state of formation of the plasma; a determination section that determines a matching object of the electromagnetic wave based on an evaluation result by the evaluation section; and a coupled state control section that controls a matching condition of the electromagnetic wave so that the electromagnetic wave matches the matching object.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.