Spark plug boot assembly
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorsMichael Wayne Rea, Vincent James Tura, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spark plug boot assembly providing for simplified assembly of a tubular boot and an ignition cable having a terminal with a circumferential rib or protuberance thereabout, wherein the tubular boot includes a plurality of aligned bottom stops spaced along the longitudinal boot axis from a plurality of aligned flexible arms reaching into a central boot bore, with a bi-directional locking position formed between the bottom stops and the flexible arms for locking, upon full insertion of the ignition cable through the bore, the rib or protuberance in the locking position.
Claims9
A spark plug boot assembly for receiving an ignition cable terminating in a terminal circumscribed by a protuberance, and for bi-directionally securing the ignition cable terminal within the assembly, the assembly comprising:
- a hollow boot having an interior surface surrounding a central bore;
- a plurality of aligned tangs spaced about the interior surface, each of the plurality having a base portion attached to the interior surface of the boot and having a body portion extending at an angle from the corresponding base portion into the central bore and terminating in an end portion opposing the base portion;
- a plurality of bottom stops spaced about the interior surface of the boot and aligned at a first position along the longitudinal axis of the boot, the plurality of bottom stops extending into the central bore;
- the end portion of the plurality of tangs aligned at a second position along the longitudinal axis of the boot spaced a predetermined length from the first position;
- and
- wherein the predetermined length exceeds the width of the protuberance, thereby providing a bi-directional protuberance locking position between the first and second positions wherein insertion of the ignition cable into the central bore sufficient to locate the protuberance between the first and second locking positions provides for substantially a bi-directional locking engagement of the ignition cable within the boot.
A spark plug boot assembly for receiving and securing an ignition cable having a terminal around which is secured a circumferential rib having parallel first and second circumferential rib edges, the boot assembly comprising:
- a tubular boot having a central bore therethrough defined by an interior boot wall, the bore terminating, at an upper boot end, in an upper aperture for receiving the ignition cable and terminating, at a lower boot end, in a lower aperture for receiving a spark plug;
- a plurality of spaced rigid bottom stops extending from the interior boot wall into the central bore and aligned about a first boot cross-section;
- a plurality of spaced flexible arms, each having a base end fixedly attached to the interior boot wall and each having a flexible arm portion extending from its base end at an angle into the central bore and toward the first boot cross-section, each arm portion terminating in a flexible end opposing its corresponding base end;
- and
- each of the flexible ends of the plurality of arms aligned along a second boot cross-section spaced a predetermined distance along a longitudinal boot axis from the first boot cross-section, the predetermined distance exceeding the distance between the first and second circumferential rib edges;
- thereby forming a bi-directional rib locking position between the flexible ends of the plurality of flexible arms and the plurality of bottom stops, for bi-directionally securing the ignition cable terminal in the bore.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.