US1466232A - Spark indicator and amplifier - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 28, 1923.

3,466,232 B. JoNEs ET AL SPARK INDICATOR AND AMPLIFIER Filed March 12. 1920 Y1/Mmes, BASSETT 10A/] and :A4/YES 7THOLMES.

ratei-nea Aug. 28, 1923.

UNITED STATES BASSETT JONES, F MAAR, AND JAMES T. HOLMES, 0F BOGOTA, NEW JERSEY.

SPARK INDICATOB AND AMPLIFIER.

Application led March 12, 1920. Serial No. 365,267.

T 0 all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, BAssE'rr JONES and JAMrs T. HOLMES, citizens of the United States, and residents of the villa e of Mahwah, county of Bergen State of ew Jersey, and town of Bogota, ergen County, State of New Jersey, respectively, have jointly invented certain new and useful mprovements in Spark Indicators and Amplifiers, l@ of which the following is a description Our invention relates to spark producing a'p aratus. l

f t is well known that the larger the eective current through a spark gap, such as a spark lug of an internal combustion engine, t 'e hotter or fatter the-spark and the better the results obtained from the engine We have found that in l:all of the wiring arrangements between the timer and the spark plugs, a certain amount of inductanee is present which, in many conditions, tends to reduce the effective current and hence' the temperature of the spark. Moreover, it is desirable that the person in 'charge of the apparatus be able to readiiy determine conditione in the branch circuits leading from. the timen.

lt is the principal object of our` invention to provide a device which shall serve as an indicator of conditions in the circuit in which it is connected and which shall also serve to increase the edective current in such circuit.

The novel features of our invention are pointed out with vparticularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, with further objects and advantages, will best be understood from a perusal of the "10 following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a. perspective of the portion of an automobile having our invention applicr thereto, the ignition system of the antoniobile engine being indicated diagrammaticfally in this figure;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through a device embodying our invention of the kind appearing on the dash-board of the auto- 5@ mobile in Fig. 1, and taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 7 g

Fig. 3 is a. section on the line 3 3 o Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a. perspective view of one of the condenser plates in the device appearing plan.

l the in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 andillustrating the arrangement of the spark points thereon;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the insulating blocks used between the plates in the device shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 'of Fig. l7;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the device appearing in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a modiication embodyin our invention, taken on the line 8--8 of Fig. 9. and

.Fig 9 is a sectional vieW of the device 'shown in Fig. 8, Fig. 9 being taken 'at right angles to Fig. 8. 70

eferring to the drawing more in detail, 1 is the dash-board of an automobile on which is fixed a box 2, containing a plurality of aligned ark-indicating and amplifyi devices, .sue as 3, therebeing as man o the individual devices 3 as they are spar plugs, such as e, for the internal combustion engine of the automobile. A high tension magneto or other source of high tension current 1s indicated at 5, the circuit of the magneto 5 being grounded at 6 and connected to the moving arm 7 of the usual timer or distrib uter, which has fixed contacts, such as 8. Leading from the xed contactfs, 8, to the spark plugs, 4, are branch circuits, such as 9, in each of which is connected any one of the devices, 3, according to our invention. Each of the devices 3 comprises two or more condenser plates, such as 10,` eaclil two adjacent plates 10 being separated by 90 insulating plates or disks, such as 11, of suitable dielectric material, the plates 10 and 11 being substantially the same dimensions in The plates 11 are cut away at points in their edges to orm recesses,v such as 12, and we iprovide tungsten spark points 13, preferab y silver soldered to the plates 10, cinte 13 pro'ecting into the recesses 12 in e plates 11, ut the points on adjacent plates being se arated, as indicated at 14, to provide s ar r ga s between the plates of the device. gVe pre er that the plates 10 and 11. be of cylindrical form so that when one or more sets of plates are assembled in one device, such as 3, they may be readily en- 'closed in a transparent insulating envelope,

such as 15, preferably of glass. The case l or envelope 15 is preferably made open at each end 'and in assembling the ends of the cases are closed by caps, such as 16, of inlos v sulating material.

Suitable connections, such as l?, are provided that extend through apertures in the end caps 16 to enable the devices 3 to be connected into any circuit, such as 9, in which it may be desired to use them. The spark gaps 14. are readily visible through the casing 15 so that any onecan tell if the current 1n the circuit in which the device is used is of normal stren h. The observation of the spark gaps is acilitated by placing them adjacent to the casing 15, as shown in' Fig. 2. Y'

`We prefer to enclose a plurality of devices, such as 3, Within a box or casing, such as 2, such box being provided with windows, such as 18, through which the action at the spark gaps 14 may be observed. y

In Figs. 8 and 9, we have illustrated a device 3 according to our invention in which the condenser plates 10 instead of being separated by disks or solid dielectric, as in the form shown in lFig. 2, arespaced at their edges by rings, such as 19, of transparent insulating material, such as glass, the plates 10 having spark points, such as 18, secured thereto in the same manner as in the case of the plates l0 and points 13. However, the majority of the portions of the surfaces of adjacent plates 10 being separated only by air, as a dielectric, spark points, such as 13', may be placed at any point on the surface of the plates l0 and in Figs. 8 and 9 they are shown as being placed at the centers of these plates.

ln use, the individual indicators, such as 3 or 3', may be numbered according to the numbers of the cylinders of the engine or other circuit in which the device is used, and the sparking in the amplifiers or indicators will indicate the order in which the spark plugs in the cylinders are Working.

Should a cylinder begin to miss it will be observed at once that the sparking in the indicator for this cylinder has ceased and the driver will know at once which cylinder is missing. He can also observe the sequence in which it misses and this will tell him something of the reason for the missing and he will be able to go at once to the proper plug for investigation. rlhis will be a particular advantage because frequently a cylinder will miss when the car is in motion and the engine doing Work, but will cease to miss when the car has been stopped for the purpose of examining the spark plugs.

Should an open circuit occur in any of the Wiring or leads it will be indicated at once by the cessation of the sparking in the indicator. lf ythe open circuit is in the main leads to the timer, the sparking would cease in all of the indicators.

Should a short-circuit occur in any of the leads it will be indicated at once by the fattening up of the spark in the indicator, for then the entire energy will be consumed in the indicator.

lt will be understood that while we have illustrated and specifically described our invention as being used in the ignition circuit of an internal combustion engine, that our invention is not limited to such use.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim is;

1. A combined spark intensifier and 1nw dicator comprising in combination a coniid..

denser having plates and a solid dielectric between adjacent plates thereof, and visible spark points fixed to said adjacent plates and lying in the spacedeined by extensions of the surfacesl of said with said adjacent plates.

2. A combined spark indicator and intensifier comprising in combination a condenser having plates andV a solid dielectric between adjacent plates thereof, said dielectric being cut away near the edges of said plates, and spark points xed to said plates lying in the space where said-dielectric is cut away.

BASSE'llT JONES. JAMES T. HOLMES.

dielectric in contact,l

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