Method and apparatus for determining the timing angle in internal combustion engines

A method of revealing the average timing angle over all the cylinders of an internal combustion engine with reference to a single predetermined top dead center position, said engine including a distributor, a plurality of cylinders each having a piston, a spark plug, and a crankshaft connected to said piston, said method including running or rotating the engine and producing, with the aid of an oscillator, voltage pulsations of a predetermined frequency, counting said pulsations for two full and exact revolutions of the engine from top dead center to top dead center from said predetermined top dead center position, determining simultaneously with the counting of pulsations for said two revolutions of the engine the timing advance for each individual cylinder in the engine with reference to said predetermined top dead center position by determining the difference between the number of pulsations occurring during the time the engine takes to rotate from the time of occurrence of the spark firing closest preceding the time the engine was last at a top dead center position to the spark firing in each individual cylinder being measured, and the number of pulsations occurring from the time the engine was last at a top dead center position until said spark firing, summing the count of pulses so obtained for each cylinder, dividing said sum by the number of individual cylinders in said engine, determining from the number of pulses just counted for two revolutions the number of pulses occurring during one degree of engine rotation, and dividing the number of pulses just obtained by said division by the number of pulses occurring during one degree of engine rotation, thereby determining the true average timing angle over all the cylinders in said internal combustion engine as related to said predetermined top dead center position.

A method of revealing the timing angle of a V-8 internal combustion engine running in the advanced spark condition including a distributor, a coil, a plurality of cylinders each having a piston, a spark plug, and a crankshaft connected to said piston, said method including running or rotating the engine and producing with the aid of an oscillator, voltage pulsations of a predetermined frequency, producing with the aid of a wire loop, coil, or clip around the coil wire, a signal each time a spark firing occurs within a cylinder of said V-8 engine, producing with the aid of a magnetic pickup a signal each time the piston of a predetermined cylinder of said engine is at its top dead center position, counting said pulsations for two full and exact revolutions of said engine beginning from a predetermined top dead center signal, continuing through a first subsequent top dead center signal and ending at a second subsequent top dead center signal, having said predetermined top dead center signal simultaneously start a counting device to continuously count and record the number of pulsations being produced since the occurrence of said predetermined top dead center signal, recording the reading on said device each time a spark firing signal is produced, thereby recording the number of pulses occurring for the first four spark firings, at said first subsequent top dead center signal turning on a second counting device to count and record the number of pulsations being produced, recording the reading on said second counting device each time a spark firing signal is produced and thereby obtain the number of pulses occurring between said spark firing and the last occurring top dead center pulse for each cylinder in said V-8 internal combustion engine, and subtracting each value so obtained from the time interval elapsed from the time of occurrence of the spark firing closest preceding the time the engine was last at a top dead center position, to the occurrence of the respective spark firing, thereby obtaining the spark advance of each cylinder in said engine, summing the individual count of pulses so obtained for each individual cylinder, dividing the value so obtained by the number of cylinders in said engine to obtain an average count of pulses, converting said count of pulses into a time value, determining the time the engine takes for one degree of rotation, and dividing said average time just obtained by the time the engine takes to rotate one degree, thereby obtaining the true average timing angle of all the cylinders of said engine.

A method of revealing the timing angle of a V-8 internal combustion engine running in the retarded spark condition and including a distributor, a coil, a plurality of cylinders each having a piston, a spark plug, and a crankshaft connected to said piston, said method including running or rotating the engine and producing with the aid of an oscillator, voltage pulsations of a predetermined frequency, producing with the aid of a wire loop, coil, or clip around the coil wire, a signal each time a spark firing occurs within a cylinder of said V-8 engine, producing with the aid of a magnetic pickup a signal each time a piston of a predetermined cylinder of said engine is at its top dead center position, counting said pulsations for two full and exact revolutions of said engine beginning from a predetermined top dead center signal and ending at a second subsequent top dead center signal, having said predetermined top dead center signal simultaneously start a counting device to continuously count and record the number of pulsations being produced since the occurrence of said predetermined top dead center signal, recording the reading on said device each time a spark firing signal is produced by a spark plug firing, thereby recording the number of pulses occurring for the first four spark firings, at said first subsequent top dead center signal turning on a second counting device to count and record the number of pulsations being produced, recording the reading on said second counting device each time a spark firing signal is produced, and thereby obtaining the number of pulses occurring between said spark firing and the last occurring top dead center pulse for each cylinder in said V-8 internal combustion engine, and subtracting each value so obtained from the interval elapsed from the time of occurrence of the spark firing closest succeeding the time the engine was last at a top dead center position to the occurrence of the respective spark firing, thereby obtaining the spark advance of each cylinder in said engine, summing the individual count of pulses so obtained for each individual cylinder, dividing the value so obtained by the number of cylinders in said engine to obtain an average count of pulses, converting said count of pulses into a time value, determining the time the engine takes for one degree of rotation, and dividing said average time just obtained by the time the engine takes to rotate one degree, thereby obtaining the true average timing angle over all the cylinders of said engine.

A device for measuring the average timing angle of a V-8 internal combustion engine, said device including an oscillator adapted to produce by means of a frequency divider, electrical pulsations of a uniform frequency, means to produce an electrical signal at the moment of spark occurrence for each individual cylinder in said engine, means to produce an electrical signal at the moment the piston of a predetermined cylinder reaches its top dead center position, means responsive to said electrical signal to begin a first count of said pulsations from the moment said piston reaches its top dead center position and continuing said first count through a first subsequent top dead center signal and ending at a second subsequent top dead center signal, thereby continuing said first count for two full and exact revolutions of said engine, a first counting means responsive to said top dead center signal to continuously count the number of pulsations being produced since the occurrence of said top dead center signal, means responsive to said spark firing signals to record the reading on said first counting means each time a spark firing signal is produced, a second counting means, means responsive to said first subsequent top dead center signal to turn on said second counting means, means responsive to said spark firing pulses to record the reading on said second counting means each time a spark firing signal is produced, and thereby obtaining the number of pulses occurring between said spark firing signal and the last occurring top dead center pulse for each individual cylinder in said internal combustion engine, means to obtain a summation of the values so obtained for each individual cylinder, means to multiply said summation by the number ninety and divide the result of such multiplication by the number of pulses counted for two full and exact revolutions of the engine, and means to subtract from the number 225 the result of such division, thereby obtaining the true average timing angle of said engine in degrees.