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US 8,274,204 B2Granted
Spark plug with platinum-based electrode material
AssigneeFederal-Mogul Ignition Company
InventorShuwei Ma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spark plug for an internal combustion engine has one or more electrodes with an electrode material of a platinum (Pt) based alloy. The alloy includes aluminum (Al) and one or more refractory metals selected from the group containing nickel (Ni), rhenium (Re), ruthenium (Ru), tantalum (Ta), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W). In at least some of the disclosed alloys, the aluminum contributes to the formation of an aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer on a surface of the electrode material.
Claims19
A spark plug, comprising:
- a metallic shell having an axial bore;
- an insulator having an axial bore and being at least partially disposed within the axial bore of the metallic shell;
- a center electrode being at least partially disposed within the axial bore of the insulator;
- and
- a ground electrode being attached to a free end of the metallic shell;
- wherein the center electrode, the ground electrode, or both includes an electrode material having about 50 to 99 atomic %, inclusive, of platinum (Pt), having about 5 to 10 atomic %, inclusive, of aluminum (Al), and having no more than about 30 atomic % of a refractory metal selected from the group consisting of:
- nickel (Ni), rhenium (Re), ruthenium (Ru), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), or a combination thereof, wherein the electrode material limits locally excessive oxidation and re-deposition of platinum (Pt) at a surface of the electrode material.
4 more elements
A spark plug electrode, comprising:
- an electrode material having about 50 to 99 atomic % of platinum (Pt), having about 5 to 20 atomic % of aluminum (Al), having no more than about 30 atomic % of a refractory metal selected from the group consisting of:
- nickel (Ni), rhenium (Re), ruthenium (Ru), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), or a combination thereof, and having no more than about 10 atomic % of titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), or a combination thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.