Solid state ignition system

In an ignition system for an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft, said system including a member rotatable about an axis in unison with said crankshaft, a single permanent magnet having an outwardly extending flux field and carried by said member to create a flux field rotating in a given annular path concentric with said axis, a circuit for creating a sparking voltage upon a rapid change in current in at least a portion of said circuit, said circuit including means for storing electrical energy and switching means for causing said rapid change in current caused by said stored energy upon actuation thereof;

• the improvement comprising:
• said switching means including a solid state device and means for actuating said device upon receipt of a firing signal, a non-regulated Hall Effect switch activated by a flux field of an intensity determined by a D.C. biasing voltage across said switch and having a switchable output means shiftable from a second condition to a first condition upon actuation of said switch for directing said firing signal to said solid state device when said switch output is in said first shifted condition;
• means for mounting said Hall Effect switch in a selected location in said path for switching said output to said first condition when said rotatable member is at a given angular position, a capacitor means for controlling said D.C. biasing voltage and connected across said switch;
• and, a coil means fixedly mounted in said path for creating the D.C. biasing voltage for said Hall Effect switch by charging said capacitor to a biasing voltage representing the speed of said rotating flux field.

In an ignition system including a member rotatable about an axis, a single permanent magnet having an outwardly extending flux field and carried by said member to create a flux field rotating in a given annular path concentric with said axis, capacitor means for storing electrical energy, at least one spark gap, a transformer with a first winding and a second winding, means for connecting said first winding in series with said spark gap, and switching means for discharging said stored energy through said second winding upon actuation of said switching means, the improvement comprising:

• said switching means including a solid state device and means for actuating said device upon receipt of a firing signal, a non-regulated Hall Effect switch activated by a flux field of an intensity determined by a D.C. biasing voltage across said switch and having a switchable output means shiftable from a second condition to a first condition upon actuation of said switch for directing said firing signal to said solid state device when said switch output is in said first condition, means for mounting said Hall Effect switch in a selected location in said path for switching said output to said first condition when said rotatable member is at a given angular position, and coil means in said path for varying said D.C. biasing voltage of said Hall Effect switch with variations of the rotational velocity of said rotatable member.

A solid state ignition system for creating a sparking voltage across the electrodes of a spark plug, said system comprising a member rotatable about an axis;

• a single permanent magnet having an outwardly extending flux field and carried by said member to create a flux field rotating in a given annular path concentric with said axis, a transformer with a first winding and a second winding;
• means for connecting said first winding in series with said spark gap;
• means for mounting said second coil with relation to said path for inducing a sparking current flow in said second winding at a selected angular position of said member;
• a Hall Effect switch having a selected output condition when subjected to a magnetic flux field and a selected D.C. biasing voltage;
• control means for directing a voltage at least equal to said selected D.C. biasing voltage to said switch;
• means for interrupting current flow in said second winding in response to said selected output condition;
• means for mounting said switch in said path for subjecting said switch to said flux field at said selected angular position;
• and, said control means includes a coil means and means for mounting said coil means in said path for induction of a voltage at least equal to said selected D.C. biasing voltage in said coil means.