Distributor with sliding contacts
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsHiroshi Endo, Kousaku Baba
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to prevent a plasma jet energy from discharging through a spark plug of an internal combustion engine prior to the proper ignition timing, an ignition distributor with a plurality of sliding contacts is proposed. A plasma jet energy as well as a spark energy is selectively delivered to the spark plugs at a predetermined ignition timing through a plurality of contact surfaces mounted on a shaft rotatable in synchronous with the engine crankshaft, thereby an irregular discharge of the plasma jet energy is eliminated.
Claims6
An ignition distributor for an ignition system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a shaft formed of electrically insulating material rotatable about its axis;
- a rotor output terminal disposed within said shaft, said rotor output terminal including a plurality of contact surfaces extending to an outer surface of said shaft;
- a plurality of stationary brushes circumferentially disposed about the axis of said shaft and arranged to slidingly contact with the corresponding one of said contact surfaces, respectively, said brushes each being disposed within an insulating housing defined at the end of a high tension cord;
- and
- a plurality of separators mounted on said shaft, each separator being arranged to extend from said shaft so as to terminate between two adjacent insulating housings to thereby separate the points of contact between said brushes and said contact surfaces.
A plasma ignition system for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a spark energy storage system;
- a plasma jet energy storage system;
- a plurality of spark plugs arranged to produce a plasma jet discharge;
- and
- a distributor connected to said spark energy storage system and said plasma jet energy storage system for delivering a spark energy from said spark energy storage system and a plasma jet energy from said plasma jet energy storage system therethrough to each of said spark plugs in accordance with a predetermined ignition timing, wherein said distributor has sliding contacts and comprises;
- a shaft formed of an electrically insulating material rotatable about its axis;
- a rotor output terminal disposed within said shaft and electrically connected to said spark energy storage system and said plasma jet energy storage system, said rotor output terminal including a plurality of contact surfaces which extend to an outer surface of said shaft;
- a plurality of stationary brushes respectively connected to said spark plugs, circumferentially disposed about the axis of said shaft and arranged to slidingly contact said contact surfaces, respectively, said brushes each being disposed in an insulating housing formed at the end of a high tension cord;
- and
- a plurality of insulating separators mounted on said shaft, each separator extending from the shaft and terminating between adjacent insulating housings.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.