JPH07332214A - Booster for igniting glow engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a booster for igniting a glow engine constituted in such a manner that the ignition starting of an engine is practicable by a low average pulse power, consumption of a glow plug is reduced, and an increased effective life is provided. CONSTITUTION:A booster for ignition is constituted in such a manner that a rectangular pulse voltage (C) is applied on output terminals 18a and 18b connected to the glow plug 24 of an engine and a starting current is intermittently fed to the filament of the glow plug 24. The booster for igniting a glow engine comprises output terminals 18a and 18b removably connected to the glow plug 24: a battery 27 connected to one end 18a side of an output terminal 18; an output circuit 30 to intermittently control energization to the glow plug 24 to the other end 18b side of the output terminal 18; and a pulse oscillator 28 a power source for which is fed from the other end 18b side of the output terminal 18 and by which a rectangular pulse is generated. The output circuit 30 is switched by means of the output (a) of the pulse oscillator 28.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a booster for starting an engine using a liquid fuel such as gasoline or alcohol via a glow plug to start the booster. For example, ignition of a glow engine of a model airplane or a helicopter by radio control. It is used as a booster.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional ignition booster for a glow engine of this type, for example, a booster unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used in the case of a model airplane. This booster unit 1 has 1.2 to 1.5
A battery E such as a manganese battery or a Ni-Cd battery having a voltage of about volt, and a power supply module 2 having a built-in resistor R connected in series with the battery E are mounted on the rear end side, and mounted on a model airplane 4 on the front end side. The electrode plug 3 connected to the glow plug 6 of the engine 5 is mounted. In the electrode plug 3, a sub ring 8 is housed inside a minus electrode 7 formed of a tubular body into which a glow plug 6 can be fitted, and a plus electrode 9 is attached to the tip of this spring 8. When the electrode plug 3 is connected to the glow plug 6, the filament of the glow plug 6 is energized and the filament glows red, which ignites the liquid fuel and starts the engine.

[0003]

In the case of the conventional booster described above, a DC current of about 3 amps continuously flows through the filament of the glow plug 6 when ignited.
There is a problem that the filament is consumed so much that the useful life of the glow plug 6 is short. In particular, in the case of a model airplane, if the filament of the glow plug 6 deteriorates during repeated start-up work, the rotation of the engine becomes unstable during flight and desired remote control cannot be performed, or the aircraft crashes due to disconnection. A serious accident occurs that damages the expensive aircraft. There is also a problem that the battery E of the booster unit 1 is significantly consumed, and the battery E needs to be recharged frequently. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a booster for ignition of a glow engine that can solve the problems of the conventional techniques.

[0004]

In a first glow engine ignition booster according to the present invention for solving the above problems, a rectangular wave pulse voltage is applied to an output terminal connected to a glow plug of an engine, and a filament of the glow plug is applied. The starting current is intermittently supplied to. In the second glow engine ignition booster according to the present invention, an output terminal detachably connected to the engine glow plug, a battery connected to one end side of the output terminal, and the other end side of the output terminal. An output circuit that is connected and intermittently controls the energization of the glow plug, and a pulse oscillator that generates a rectangular wave pulse that is supplied with power from the other end of the output terminal is provided, and the output is the output of the pulse oscillator. The circuit was switched. Further, in the ignition booster for the third glow engine according to the present invention, the pulse width of the rectangular wave pulse generated by the second pulse oscillator is varied to supply the optimum starting current to the filament of the glow plug. .

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A glow engine ignition booster according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. This booster is composed of a booster body 11 and a booster cable 12 used by connecting to the booster body 11 as shown in FIG. The booster body 11 includes a casing 13 in which a booster circuit described later is housed,
On the surface of this casing 13, the output adjusting knob 1
4, power switch 15, operation indicator 16, output indicator 1
7, an output terminal 18, and a charger outlet 19 are provided respectively. Reference numeral 20 is the booster body 11
Is a handle which is used when being used or carried with a predetermined inclination angle. The booster cable 12 has a connecting plug 21 which is inserted into one end of the booster cable 12 and connected to the output terminal 18.
However, on the other end side, for example, booster plugs 25 that are inserted and connected to the glow plugs 24 of the engine 23 mounted on the model airplane 22 are provided, and the connection plugs 21 and the booster plugs 25 are connected by the cable 12. is doing. As the booster plug 25, the same one as in the case of the above conventional example is used.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 3, the booster circuit is only for the battery when the power switch 15 is ON and the glow plug 24 is connected between the positive terminal 18a and the negative terminal 18b of the output terminal 18. 27
Is connected to the pulse oscillating circuit 28 and other circuit parts to supply power. A rechargeable nickel cadmium battery or the like is used as the battery 27, and when the voltage drops below a predetermined value, a charger is connected to the charging outlet 19 to perform timely charging. Pulse oscillation circuit 2
Reference numeral 8 is an astable multivibrator that self-oscillates to generate a pulse when power is applied through the rectifier circuit 29, and a pulse having a rectangular waveform of the voltage waveform (a) is output to the output circuit 30 as an oscillation output. Is output. Rectifier circuit 2
Reference numeral 9 removes pulse components and ripples superposed in the power source supplied from the battery 27 via the glow plug 24 and supplies only the DC component to the pulse oscillation circuit 28 so that a stable oscillation output can be obtained. I have to. The pulse width varying circuit 31 variably adjusts the output adjusting knob 14 connected to the pulse oscillating circuit 28 to vary the pulse width of the oscillating output in order to supply the glow plug 24 with the optimum starting current for ignition of the engine. It is a thing.

The output circuit 30 is power-switched by a rectangular wave pulse input from the pulse oscillating circuit 28 side, and the output side of the output circuit 30 has a voltage waveform (b) in which the rectangular wave pulse is superimposed on the DC potential E. ) Pulse is taken out. The output circuit 30 is composed of a switching element such as a field effect transistor (FET), and when the rectangular wave pulse input to the gate of the FET from the pulse oscillation circuit 28 side is at the high level H, the output terminal 18 has a minus voltage. The drain connected to the terminal 18b and the source connected to the ground side are electrically connected (ON), and the glow plug 24 is energized. By power-switching the FET with the pulse oscillation output in this way, the closed circuit from the battery 27 to the earth via the glow plug 24 and the output circuit 30 is energized, and thereby the plus terminal 18a and the minus terminal of the output terminal 18 are supplied. A rectangular wave pulse having a voltage waveform (c) is applied to the glow plug 24 mounted between 18b.

The energizing current and the rectangular wave pulse to the glow plug 24 have optimum values which vary depending on various conditions such as the liquid fuel used, the kind of the glow plug or the ambient temperature. To obtain the ratio between the pulse power and the peak pulse power, the ratio t of the pulse width t ₂ to the pulse period t _1
2 / t ₁ is set to determine the average current value by DC conversion. In this embodiment, the DC voltage is 7.2 volts and the pulse period t ₁ is 400 μm as shown in the voltage waveform diagram.
In s, a rectangular wave pulse having a pulse width t ₂ of 40 μs is superposed in a switching state, and a standard value is set so that a starting current of 3 amps in direct current conversion flows in the glow plug 24,
A variable width is provided before and after the output adjustment knob 14
The output can be variably adjusted with.

Next, the output detection circuit 32, the pulse stop detection circuit 33, and the operation detection circuit 26 provided as an auxiliary circuit will be described. The output detection circuit 32 detects the starting current supplied from the battery 27 to the glow plug 24 and causes the ammeter used as the output indicator 17 to display it as an average DC current value. The starting current is set while varying the pulse width with the output adjusting knob 14 so as to be supplied to the glow plug 24. This starting current value can be equivalently detected by, for example, the voltage drop of a resistor inserted between the battery 27 and the glow plug 24, but the pulse component superimposed on the DC level at that time fluctuates at high speed. The pointer of the ammeter cannot follow, and the average current value including the pulse component is displayed in analog.

The operation detection circuit 26 checks whether the charge amount of the battery 27 has dropped below a predetermined voltage required for ignition.
The operating state of the booster, such as whether or not a rectangular-wave pulse-shaped starting current is flowing through the glow plug 24, is detected and displayed by the light-emitting diode used as the operation indicator 16. For example, the operation detection circuit 26 uses the input I
When the DC potential E on the N side falls below the lower limit potential e, oscillation is started to generate a control pulse that periodically repeats HL on the output OUT side. The power supply voltage E is supplied from the rectifier circuit 29 side, and the output OUT side is connected to the cathode K of the light emitting diode whose anode A is connected to the pulse stop detection circuit 33. Further, the pulse stop circuit 33 rectifies the pulse component of the voltage waveform (c) of the rectangular wave pulse applied to the minus terminal 18b of the output terminal 18 after the DC component is cut by the capacitor, and then the glow plug is obtained. The presence or absence of a pulse component in the starting current of 24 is detected and a high potential H or a low potential L is applied to the anode A of the light emitting diode.

As a result, when the DC power source 27 is in a normal state in which the rectangular-wave pulse-shaped starting current required for ignition is flowing to the glow plug 24 at a predetermined voltage or more, the operation detection circuit 2
Since the oscillation of 6 is stopped and the potential between the anode A and the cathode K of the light emitting diode becomes HL, the light emitting diode which is the operation indicator 16 lights up to indicate that it is operating normally. Further, when the battery 27 drops below a predetermined voltage, the operation detection circuit 26 starts to oscillate, and a control pulse that periodically repeats H-L is generated on the output OUT side. Although the level is lowered, there is a pulse component, so that in the light emitting diode, the anode A has a high potential H and the cathode K has a potential H which is alternately high.
-L changes and flashes, indicating that charging is required. Further, when the rectangular wave pulsed starting current is stopped due to the oscillation stop of the pulse oscillation circuit 28, the filament disconnection of the glow plug 24, or the like, the anode A of the light emitting diode becomes a low potential and the light is turned off.

The booster according to the embodiment described above is
When the connecting switch 21 of the booster cable 12 is connected to the output terminal 18 and the power switch 15 is turned on with the booster plug 25 inserted in the glow plug 24 of the engine 23, the filament of the glow plug 24 is set to the DC potential. A starting current in which rectangular wave pulses are superposed flows to generate red heat, ignite the liquid fuel, and start the engine. According to the starting current of this rectangular wave pulse, the current with a peak value is applied to the filament and the filament is red-heated, and then the energization is temporarily stopped. Ignition is performed during the repetition. Thus, when the starting current is intermittently supplied to the glow plug 24 by the rectangular wave pulse,
The peak pulse power is large, but the engine can be ignited in a state in which the average pulse power is extremely small compared to the conventional booster that continuously flows DC, and the battery 27 is consumed less, resulting in a significantly longer effective life than before. Can be long. Further, since the optimum starting current for this ignition varies depending on the kind of the glow plug 24 and other conditions, the pulse width of the starting current is varied by the output adjusting knob 14 while visually observing the output indicator 17 and set. To do. Furthermore, the operation indicator 16 is used to confirm that the voltage of the battery 27 has dropped, the oscillation of the pulse oscillation circuit 28 has stopped, and the like.
You can take necessary measures such as recharging. In addition,
Since the closed circuit is configured by connecting the glow plug 24 to the output terminal 18 and the power supply voltage is applied to each part, the power switch 15 can be omitted.

[0013]

As is apparent from the above embodiments, the glow engine ignition booster according to the present invention can obtain the following effects. In the first booster, a rectangular wave pulse voltage was applied to the glow plug so that the filament was red-heated by the intermittent starting current. As a result, the filament is consumed less and the effective life of the glow plug can be extended as compared with the conventional booster in which a direct current is continuously supplied. Further, since the power consumption is low and the battery consumption can be reduced, the battery can be charged once and used for many times of engine ignition. Especially in the case of model airplanes, it is possible to reduce the instability of radio control caused by deterioration of glow plugs and to reduce crashes, and to carry out the desired number of times without carrying the charger each time. Can fly. In the second booster,
A battery is connected to one end of the output terminal that is detachably connected to the glow plug, and an output circuit that intermittently controls the energization of the glow plug and a pulse oscillator that generates a rectangular wave pulse are connected to the other end of the output terminal. The output circuit is switched by the pulse oscillator. This allows
Since the closed circuit is formed only by connecting the glow plug, there is no unnecessary power consumption, and a rectangular-wave pulse-shaped starting current can be easily supplied to the glow plug. In the third booster, the pulse width of the rectangular wave pulse generated by the pulse oscillator is varied so that the filament of the glow plug is supplied with the optimum starting current.
As a result, it is possible to supply an optimum starting current in accordance with conditions such as the type of glow plug, the type of liquid fuel to be used, the ambient temperature, etc., and to perform good engine ignition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a booster unit for ignition of a glow engine according to a conventional example.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a glow engine ignition booster according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a glow engine ignition booster according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Booster Main Body 12 Booster Cable 13 Casing 14 Output Adjustment Knob 15 Power Switch 16 Operation Indicator 17 Output Indicator (Pulse Indicator) 18 Output Terminal 19 Charger Outlet 20 Handle 21 Connection Plug 22 Model Airplane 23 Engine 24 Glow Plug 25 Booster plug 26 Operation detection circuit 27 Battery 28 Pulse oscillation circuit 29 Rectifier circuit 30 Output circuit 31 Pulse width variable circuit 32 Output detection circuit 33 Pulse stop detection circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A booster for ignition of a glow engine, characterized in that a rectangular wave pulse voltage is applied to an output terminal connected to a glow plug of an engine, and a starting current is intermittently supplied to a filament of the glow plug. 2. An output terminal detachably connected to a glow plug of an engine, a battery connected to one end side of the output terminal, and an intermittent connection of electricity to the glow plug connected to the other end side of the output terminal. 2. An output circuit for dynamically controlling, and a pulse oscillator for generating a rectangular wave pulse supplied with power from the other end side of the output terminal, wherein the output circuit is switched by the output of the pulse oscillator. Ignition booster for glow engine. 3. The ignition booster for a glow engine according to claim 2, wherein the pulse width of the rectangular wave pulse generated by the pulse oscillator is varied to supply an optimum starting current to the filament of the glow plug.