US1216793A

US1216793A - Ignition-controlling apparatus.

Info

Publication number: US1216793A
Application number: US5014015A
Authority: US
Inventors: Valere Alfred Fynn
Original assignee: WAGNER ELECTRIC Manufacturing CO
Current assignee: WAGNER ELECTRIC Manufacturing CO
Priority date: 1915-09-11
Filing date: 1915-09-11
Publication date: 1917-02-20
Anticipated expiration: 1934-02-20

Description

vV| AFYNN.

IGNITION CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mio sEPT.11.1915.

IlNITED STATES VAIREl ALFRED FYNN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T WAG't-T MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPGRTMJQ.; u'.

SOITEI.

Application filed September 11, 1915.

.To all 'Lv/tom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VALRE A. FYNN, a subject of the King of England, residing in the city et St. Louis, State of Missouri,

United States of America, have invented a i proved means for automatically timing the spark, so as to take care of all speed and load conditions.

irrespective of the load on the engine, the ignition spark should be advanced With increasing speed, and this advance should compensate for all mechanical and electromagnetic lags due to the constitution of the ignition system. Irrespective of the speed, the ignition spark should be retarded with increasing' load, that is, With increasing engine torque. In a perfect spark-control system the rate of Haine propagation should also be fully taken care oi". N ovv this rate depends in the main- (l) On the quality of the mixture; in other Words, on the proportion of air to fuel;

(2) On' the quality of the fuel;

(3) @n the degree of mechanical compression Within the cylinder;

(4) On the cylinder temperature; and

(5) 0n the location of the spark gap with reference to the main body of the compression chamber.

In carrying out my invention I make the timing or" the ignition spark dependent on the speed ot the engine, for instance by means of a centrifugal device operated by the engine, and I simultaneously make it dependent on the opening of the fuel valve.

The quality of the explosive mixture depends on the construction of the carburetor, on the opening of the fuel vulve, and on the speed'of the engine. The cylinder temperature and the location of the spark may usually be taken as constant. The degree of compression is directly dependent on the.

fuel valve opening, and depends to some extent on the speed of the engine. I therefore prefer to so adjust the in'fiuence of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 191?.

Serial No. 50,140.

centrifugal device, or the like, on the timing of the ignition spark, that all mechanical and electromagnetic lags will be taken care of, as Well as theK influence of the speed on the quality of the mixture and on the degree of compression, in other Words, on the rate of flame propagation, and I further v prefer to so adjust the iniiuence of the fuel valve opening on the timing of the ignition spark that it Will take care of all torque conditions and also make the necessary correction required by the change in the rate of llame` propagation due to a change in the quality of the mixture consequent on the degree to which the valve is opened and the manner in which the carburetor acts under such conditions.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, which diagrammatically represents one embodiment of my invention in connection with a battery ignition system. The primary circuit of this ignition system comprises the storage battery 13, the primary 14 of an ignition coil, and an interrupter mounted on a base 2, freely movable about the enginedriven shaft 7. To the shaft 7 is keyed the cam l2 adapted to cooperate with the lever 8 of the interruptor and thus break the primary ignition circuit at the contacts l0, 11, against the opposition of the spring 9. The spring 9, the lever 8, andthe stationary contact il are all ixed to the movable base 2, which base is normally under the control oi' a spring 3. The movement of the base 2 in the direction in which itis impclled by the spring 3, is limited by the stop 6 coperating with the projection 5 of said base.

The secondary or high tension ignition circuit comprises the high tension Winding l5 of the ignition coil, one end of which is grounded While the other 'is connected to the engine-driven member of the distributor, the stationary contacts of which are connected to the insulated terminals of .the various spark gaps, 16, l?, i3 and 19". The other terminals of 'these spark 'gaps are grounded.

The base 2, on which the interruptor contacts are located, is provided Witha pulley 2l integral therewith and to which is fixed, at the point 22, a cable 23 connected by Way of the pulley 24 to a iion-revoluble member 25. This member 25 is under the influence of a centrifugal device located on the shaft 29 and driven from the engine by means of the shaft 26 and the gear wheels 2l, 23. 'llhis centrifugal device'comprises the

sleeves

30 and 32 and the weights 3l connected thereto. rlhe sleeves are longitudinally movable along the shaft 29, but are forced to revolve therewith because of the feather 36.y 'lhe sleeve 32 is maintained in the same position along the feather 3G by means of a pin formed integral with a lever 37 pivoted at 33 and controlled by a handle 'llliis pin engages a fork 34 attached to a ring 33 controlling the longitudinal movement of the sleeve 32 but leaving saine free to revolve. The weights 3l of the centrifugal device are pivotably connected to the

sleeves

30 and 32 by means of'suitable rods and joints, to permit their distance from shaft 29 to vary under the influence of centrifugal force. The member 25 leaves the sleeve 30 free to revolve, lout is forced to follow the longitudinal movements of said sleeve. With the sleeve held in a certain position by the handle 35, the position of the base 2 and therefore of the interrupter lever 8 with relation to the cam 12, will be dependent on the position of the weights 3l of the centrifugal device, in other words, on the speed of the engine, and will occupy the position shown in the ligure, when the engine is at rest. The lever 37, under the control of the handle 35, is movably connected at its other end to a rod 3f), which controls the fuel valve of the engine. In the position of the handle 35 shown in the ligure, the fuel valve is supposed to be wide open. A clockwise movement of the base 2, away from the stop G, advances the ignition s arks. A movement in the opposite direction therefore retards the ignition sparks.

The mode of operation of this device is as follows:

llt is seen that the position of the base 2 carrying the interrupter contacts l0 and ll, is dependent on the position of the handle 35 controlling the fuel valve, and on speed of the engine which causes sleeve 30 to` move independently of sleeve 32. 'llhe movement of the handle 35 controlling the sleeve 32, is able,` at any time and quite irrespective of the speed at which the engine is running, to n determine a certain amount of advance or retardation of the ignition spark. Quite irrespective of the position of the handle 35 andtherefore of the openingof the fuel valve, the centrifugal device'controlled by the weights 31' is also, at all times, able to impart a certain movement to the base 2 corresponding to an advance or a retardation of the ignition sparks. Assuming now that the handle 35 be moved in a counterclock direction, as indicated by the arrow 40, so as to almost close the fuel valve, then the sleeve 32 willl be raised to its highest position, and the base 2, together with the relevos interrupter contacts 10 and 1l, will be moved to a corresponding degree in a clockwise direction. lf the engine be now started, weightsl 31 will fly out, raise the sleeve 30, and thus propel the base 2 far-` ther in a clockwise direction,` against the action of the spring 3, until the ignition sparks have been advanced to a degree which will yield best results at the speed corresponding to the position then occupied by tlie weights 3l. lf the engine is not called upon to perform o-utside work, lout the fuel valve is opened wider by moving handle 35 in a clockwise direction, then-this movement will cause the base 2 to move in a counterclock direction, thuscausing the, ignition sparks to lag to an amount corresponding to the increased torque developed by the engine; but this increased torque will increase the speed, the weights 3l will fly out and turn the base 2 in a clockwise direction, thus causing the ignition sparks to be advanced to an extent corresponding to the increase in speed. Should the engine be loaded at this stage, then its speed willdecrease, the weights 3l will push the sleeve 30 downward, and correspondingly retard the ignition sparks. lf the speed of the engine is brought back to its original value by moving the handle 35 in a clockwise direction and thus opening the fuel valve a little wider, then the Weights 31 will resume their original position with respect to sleeve 32, but the latter will not now produce as large a spark advance as was previously the case, becausey of the now lower position of the sleeve32.

Summing up the operation of my improved means for controlling the timing'of the sparks, it will be seen that, with the engine running light, at its slowest speed, the' fuel valve will be nearly closed and will produce as great a spark advance as it is able to, whereas the centrifugal device will retard the spark as much as lies within its power. With the engine running light, at its highest speed, the fuel valve will be open to a larger extent and will produce somewhat less than the maximum spark advance which it is able to control. Simultaneously, the centrifugal device will produce the maximum spark adl vance within its power. WV ith the engine developing its maximum torque and running at its slowest speed, the fuel valve will be fully open, or nearly so, and will 'produceI the maximum spark retardation itl-is able to produce, while at the same time the centrifugal device will do likewise. ll ith the engine developing the highest possible torque, at the highest speed, the fuel valve will be fully open, producing its inaiimuin of spark retardation, whereas the centrifugal device will be responsible for the maximum spark advance it is able to produce. lln all cases the actual timing of the spark will depend on the position of the interrupter contacts 10 and ll resulting from the combined influences of the fuel valve controlling lever and of the speed of the'engine. `In order to achieve the best possible results over thev whole range ofthe operation of a given type of engine, this apparatus must, of course, be adjusted to take care of the peculiarities of said engine. It will seldom, if ever, be suiiicient to make the movement of the interrupter contacts 10 and 11 directly proportional to the speed or directly proportional to the fuel valve opening. The necessary adjustments can be made in a manner well understood, by suitably designing the centrifugal device itself. Another Way of making the ldesired adjustment is to suitably vselect the mechanical interconnection between the actuating member of the centrifugal device and the timer, for instance, by making the pulley 21 of a shape differing from the circular. Similarly, the influence of the valve opening on the timing; can be made to depart from proportionality to any desired extent by suitably selecting the mechanical means and their relative locations for transmitting the movement of the fuel valve to the timer, irrespective of the manner in which this fuel valve is actuallycontrolled. The means shown in the figure are of this nature.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination with an internal combustion engine, of a fuel controlling lever, a timer provided with a movable member for varying the time of occurrence of the ignition sparks, and a centrifugal device driven by the engine and having two parts whose relative position changes in response to speed variation, one of said parts being connected to the fuel controlling lever and the other to the movable member of the timer.

2. The combination with an internal combustion engine, .olf means for varying the time of ignition, fuel valve controlling means, a shaft driven by the engine, two;

sleeves slidingly mounted on said shaft, a

centrifugal device connecting and adapted to vary the distance between the said sleeves, means connectlng one of said sleeves to the l fuel valve controlling means, said means being adapted to produce motion of said sleeves in non-proportional relation to the movement of the fuel valve, and means connecting the other sleeve to the means for varying the time of ignition.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

unimi: ALFRED rrNN.

lVitnesses:

lV. A. ALEXANDER, M. C. HUGHES.

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