US1382338A - Intensifier - Google Patents

Description

v c, J. BROSNAN.

INIENSIFIER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 111920.-

1,382,338. atented June 21, 1921.

WITNESS:

, INVENTOR. .7 BY y, 4 a;

ATTORNEY.

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CORNELIUS J. BRGSIIAN, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETT$.

INTENS IFIER.

Application filed July 1,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ConNnLrUs J. Bnos- NAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Intensifier, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in electric intensifiers or spark-gap devices which are attachable to sparlcplugs, and consists essentially of a perforated clip, a screw-threaded member attached to said clip but insulated therefrom, and provided with binding means for the conductor which brings the electric current to the spark-plug with which the intensifier is associated, and means to confine the spark produced with the aid of this device so that such spark cannot escape into the inclosing hood for the.

engine which has said spark-plug mounted thereon or therein, together with such other parts and members as may be necessary or desirable in order to render the device complete, all as hereinafter set forth.

It is a fact well known to those skilled in the art that the intensity of the spark produced when a curr nt of electricity is passed through a spark-plug is materially increased by forming in the circuit back of such spark-plug a spark-gap, and the primary object of my invention isto provide such a spark-gap, and to utilize as one of the spark-gap forming members a clip such as is commonly used to connect the conductor or wire from the source of electrical energy with the spark-plug. By thus utilizing the clip I am able to produce an intensifier which is very simple in construction, convenient, and comparatively inexpensive. The efiiciency of the clip is in no wise decreased when the same is utilized as an element in my intensifier, inasmuch as it can without difiic'ulty be connected with the conductor and attached to the spark plug. 7

A further object is to provide an intensificer which is safe, inasmuch as the spark produced thereby cannot escape therefrom into the engine hood.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of thefollowing description.

I attain the objects and secure the advan tages of my inventlon by the means illus trated. in, the accompanying drawings, in which Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 393,248.

Figure l is a side elevation of an intensiher which embodies a practical form of my invention, showing the same connected with a spark-plug, the upper portion only of whlch appears, however, as being sufiicient tor the present purpose; Fig. 2, a central, vertical section through said intensifier; F 1g. 3, a top, plan of the clip, and, Fig. at a top plan of the lowermost insulating men1- ber of the devlce.

bnnilar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the first view is illustrated the upper portion of a spark-plug, such portion consisting of the upper terminal of a porcelain 1, the corresponding portion of a central electrode 2, a pair or" nuts 3 mounted on said electrode above said porcelain, and a cap 4 between which latter and the upper nut 3 is received the conductor for the electric current which supplies the spark-plug. Said conductor, or that part of the same-directly involved in this invention, in the present case, and in very many cases, consists of a metallic clip, as 5. r I

The clip 5 may vary more or less in con struction, so long as it is adapted to be con ne'cted with the spark-plug, and to enter asan element into the structure of my intensifier. In the present case the clip 5 has 1n one terminal thereof an opening 6 to receive the upper end of the electrode 2, when the cap 4 is removed from said electrode, and an opening 7 in the other terminal. The clip'5 is attached to the spark-plug by placing it on the upper nut 3, with the central electrode 2 in the opening 6, while the cap 4 is dis onnected from said electrode, and then replacing said can on said electrode and screwing the same down tightly on top of said clip. A good electrical contact is thus formed between said clip and electrode.

In addition to the clip 5, the intensifier consists, in its present embodiment, of a screw 6 positioned with its head clownward; a metallic washer 9 on said screw above said head; a perforated disk 10 of insulating material also on said screw and between said washer and the under-side of said clip, which latter is placed in position after said disk is placed in position, the opening 7 in said clip permitting this to be done; a thin disk or washer 11 ofinsulating material on said screw above said clip; a hollow, cylindrical member 12 of glass or pther suitable insulating mammal (prefers ably the former) on said last-named washer, said member surrounding the adjacent portion of said screw and forming an insulating cage for the sparks; a metallic washer or perforated disk 13 having on the under side a washer or perforated disk 14L of insulating material, these parts also belng mounted on the screw and said disk lat hearing on top of said member or cage 12; a nut 15 threaded to the screw above said disk 13; and abinding nut 16 threaded to the screw above said. first-named nut. A conductor or wire, which is represented at l? in l, is received between the nuts 15 and J8, and held securely therebetween when said nut 16 is tightened on said wire, so that a good and suflicient electrical connection is insured between said wire and the screw 8.

The diameter of the opening 7 in the clip 5 is considerably larger than the diamete. of the-screw 8, ans the disk 10 has on the upper side thereof a periorated boss or hub 18 which enters said opening and fills the whole or a part of the space between the edges thereof and the adjacent sides of said screw. Thus it is seen that the current, passing through the wire 17 to and through the screw on its way to the clip 5, is interrupted by reason of the fact that said screwis entirely insulated from the clip 5 by the insulating members 10, 11., 12 and 14, the distance between the screw 8 and the edges of the opening '7 in said clip, however, is not so great as to prevent the current from jumping or sparking across the gap, when it continues on through said clip to the central electrode 2 of the sparkplug. In spanning the gap, of which mention has just een made, to complete the circuit, the current forms a spark and this tends greatly to intensify the spark 'iorincd or produced at the lower or inner end of the spark-plug, as hereinbefore stated or intimated. I

The dish 10 with its hub id is of sufficient thickness to prevent any possibility of the spark escaping therethrough in a downward direction, and should the spark escape upwardly through the washer 11, as is usually the case, it is received in the cage 12 and confined therein and thus prevented from coming into contact with anysurrounding gases which might be inflammable or com bustible. T he primary object of the washer 11 is toprovide a cushion or seat for the bottom of the cage 12. c

The parts and members confined between the head of the screw 8 and thenut 15 are tightly and securely held together by means ofsald nut when the latter is screwed down into place. If it be desired for any reason to disassemble the intensifier, it can be easily 15 and separating the parts below from each other and said screw.

In practice, the intensifier, after being first connected with the wire or conductor, may be and is attached to and detached from the spark-plug at will, all in the vmanner hereinbefore described in detail.

When the cage 12 is made of glass the spark can be seen therein, So that means is thus afforded for ascertaining at all times whether or not the intensifier is functioning satisfactorily.

More or less change may be made in the shape, size, construction, and arrangement of some or all of the parts of this device without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed- 7 7 What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An intensifier comprising a metallic clip which is adapted to be attached to a spark-plug, a screw-threaded memberextending through said clip and provided with attaching means for a conductor, and means to attach said member to said clip, and to insulate the same therefrom so that a sparkgap is formed between said member and said clip. 7

2. The combination, in an intensifier, with a perforated metallic clip adapted to be connected with a spark-plug, of a screw passing through the perforation in said clip and provided with means for attachment thereto of a conductor, the arrangement being such that a spark-gap is formed between said clip and said screw, an insulator located on said screw on one side of said clip, and insulating means located on and surrounding said screw on the other side of said clip, said insulator and insulating means, with said clip, being confined between the head of said screw and said conductor-attaching means.

3. The combination, in an intensifier, with a perforated metallic clip adapted to be connected with a spark-plug, of a screw passing through the perforation in said clip, and provided with means for attachment thereto of a conductor, an insulator located on said screw on one side of said clip, and having a thickened part to enter said perforation, and insulating means located on said screw on the other side of said clip, whereby said screw is insulated from said clip and a spark-gap is formed therebetween, saidinsulator and insulating means with the clip, being confined between the head of said screw and said conductor-attaching means.

.4. An intensifier comprising a metallic clip which is adapted to be attached to a spark-plug, a screw-threaded member extending through said clip and provided with attaching means for a conductor, and means to attach said screw to said clip, and to insulate the same therefrom so that a sparkgap is formed between said member and said clip, said attaching and insulating means consisting in part oi a cage.

5. The combination, in an intensifier, with a perforated metallic clip adapted to be connected with a spark-plug, of a screw passing through the perforation in said clip, and provided with attaching means for a con ductor, the arrangement being such that a spark-gap is formed between said clip and said screw, a metallic washer and an insulating disk mounted on said screw on one side of said clip, a cage mounted on the other side of said clip and su rounding the adjacent portion or" said screw, an insulating washer interposed between said cage at one end and said last-named side of said clip, and an insulating disk over the other end of said cage, said insulating disks, cage, and clip being confined between the head of said screw and said conductor-attaching means.

6. The combination, in an intensifier, with a perforated metallic clip adapted to be connected with a spark-plug, of a screw passing through the perforation in said clip, and provided with means for attachment thereto of a conductor, the arrangement being such that a spark-gap is formed between said clip and said screw, an insulator located on said screw on one side of said clip, and insulating means located on and surrounding said screw on the other side of said clip, said means consisting in part of a cage, and said insulator and insulating means, including said cage, and with the clip, being confined between the head of the screw and said conductor-attaching means.

CORNELIUS J. BROSNAN, Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS.

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