US1303771A - Ignition device - Google Patents

Description

M. M. (EASIER.

IGNITION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 25: I917v SJWL Patented. May13,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET II WITNESSES: IN VEN TOR.

A FTC-R N E Y.

M. M. CASTERI IGNITION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25. m1.

- 1,3032%? 1 Patented May13, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES:

MELVIN M. CASTER, 0F LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

IGNITION DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 13, 1919. J

Application filed June 25, 1917. Serial No. 176,782.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN M. (l ASTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition Devices, of'which' the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electrical ignition devices for internal combustion engines wherein sparking devices such as spark plugs are used to ignite the charge. For the urpose of producing current for such spar ing devices, direct current batteries were first used in connection with a spark coil, but more recently electrical generators known as magnetos have been used. Frequently both are used together, the battery for starting the motor and the magneto after it has started.

vices wherein a battery and magneto are used, but wherein the spark coil is omitted and the current from the battery is passed through a commutator into the primary winding of the armature of the magneto.

The particular'purpose of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive conneotion between the battery and the magneto, whereby. in starting. the battery current can be manually switched through the magneto and after the engine has started running. it can be manually cut out so that the battery'will not run out.

With my device I can start the motor by turning it over slowly. If there is a combustion charge in the right cylinder, it is possible to start the motor without turning it over. 7

My device can be easily attached and is very simple. can be reached from the outside. Tt is compact. uses less wire. and requires less current than most other devices. and is therefore less expensive.

I substitute for the short circuiting switch It has few parts. and these frequently used, and for the automatic switch which is also sometimes used, a single manually operable switch which serves all purposes.

My commutator can be readily attached to any magneto having either a permanent or temporary magnet and a revolving armature with a primary and secondary winding and which carries an interrupter, especially if the interrupter has a contact block which is at'the outside. My battery and switch can easily be wired to my commutator.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a magneto with a common form of interrupter and my commutator attached thereto, together with the wiring shown diagrammatically. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sec tion from the right on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the interrupter with the commutator removed. Fig.

4 is an enlarged sectional elevation on the line 4l of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a diagram of the wiring. I

M represents a magneto with a revoluble armature indicated by A. in Fig. 5, having a secondary winding 10. which connects with the spark plugs such as S, S. and a primary winding. the terminals of which are 11 and 12. One of these terminals, shown as 12. usually connects with a condenser and shaft 20. Condenser C, together with the armature A, is carried by shaft 20. -The other terminal 11 of the primary winding communicates with a ring 30 also carried by shaft 20'. but insulated therefrom by insulation 31. Terminal 11 may also connect with condenser C.

The interrupter F is of any well known type. It includes a case 39, which is usually partly revoluble by means of a handle such as 40; whereby the spark may be advanced or retarded. and .two or more fixed contact plates 41 and 42. It includes also a body 38 revoluble with shaft 20 which carries the interrupter lever 43 which. as it revolves. engages plates 41 and 42 in such a manner that the contact between its other end 44 is made and broken with a contact screw 45 carried by an insulated contact block 46. The usual spring 47 for the interrupter levcn is shown. and this lever 43, while insulated fromQthe contact block. is electrically connected with ring 30. and thus with one terminal 11 of the primary armature winding through body 38, frame 13, balls 14, and brush 83.

The contact-block 46 is attached to the rest of the interrupter body 38 by' means of the screw 48, which passes through an insulating thimble 49. This thimble and an t insulating plate 50 insulate block 46 from body 38 in a well known manner.

' Instead of the usual arrangement, wherein I the} contact block is directly connected with the armature shaft by a screw orbolt which w is insulated from the interrupter lever, I

ing of the armature, that .I interpose my commutator circuit.

My commutator P includes a housing shown as a cap 60 of insulating materia such as hard rubber, which carries brushes 2 0 61 and. 62, and is carried by the interrupter casing 39 with which it is caused to move by iently' held in position, if necessary, by

means of a post 55 attached to the magneto,

and a spring 56, which can be swung aside allowing them to be separated and removed.

The revoluble part of my commutator comprises a body 64, which may be of insulating material with a neck 65, which rests on the contact block- 46, and carries the oppositely disposed insulated curved plates 66 and 67, which are separated by insulation 68 and 69 as shown. There is also a central depression 70 through which passes a central contact member 71, shown as an attaching and contact screw, which is electrically connected with plate 66, but is insulated from "plate 67. lhis screw 71 is kept out of con- "tact with any otherpart of the commutator the armature primary winding terminal 12.

4 By means of a pin 73, the other curved plate .67 is electrically connected with the contact block 46.

The armature A, interrupter body 38, and

movable commutator parts, all revolve together, and as brush'61 is electrically connected with one pole of battery H by wire 80, and the other brush 62 by wire 81, switch K and wire 82 with the other pole,

55 it is clear that such battery current will be reversed as the commutator spins around, brmgmg first one plate 67 and then the other in contact with opposite brushes. The I dlrect battery current is thus transformed to into an alternating current, which, of

course, must be timed so as to work in series with the magneto current. induced in the armature.

In the electrical connections 81 and 82 between brush 62' and the battery, I have inte'rposed a two-way switch K which can be moved to engage contact 83, thus clo'sing the battery circuit,'or can be moved to a neutral point, as shown in Fig. 1, or can in moved to engage contact 84, which is the terminal of a bridge connection made by Wire 85 from brush 61.

When starting, the circuit from the battery is closed by the switch directly to brush 62, and after the motor has startedrunnmg fast enough to allow the magneto to produce sufiicient current Without the assistance of the battery, the switch is thrown so as to close the bridge connection between wires 81,

85, and contact 84 between the brushes 61' and 62. When this is done, the effect is the same as if the contact screw 71 made the.

connection directly between the contact block and the armature shaft, as is the case in most magnetos to which my invention is adapted to be applied.

a p1n'100 which passes-into both. This andthe interrupter casing may be conventhe circuit will be kept open by the action of the interrupter arm and the contact plates 41 and 42 of the interrupter. The-correct relation of the parts is shown in Fig. 2, when the armature. and commutator revolve in the direction shown by the arrow. The current must be broken by the interrupter before such time as itwould otherwise be broken by the insulation 68 or 69, as otherwise, a second break would be'made.

where it would not be convenient nor profit- My device is especially useful on old cars able to 'atta'ch self starters, as my device can i be attached by altering the old parts slightly.

It is necessary only to bore out the passage through body 38 to receive thimble 72 and through contact block 46 to keep clear and insulate screw 71, to bore a hole in 46 for pin 73 and to lengthen post 55 to allow for theFt hickness of cap 60.

he movable parts of my commutator can then be attached,'cap' 60 put in placeand the brushes wired to a switch and battery placed in any convenient locations.

By passing the battery currentthrough the primary winding of the armature, even with the armatureibeing turned very slowly, I can secure a sufficient spark, and the faster the magneto is turned over, the more eifective is the spark produced.

I have shown my device attached to a twocylinder engine, but it can as readily be attached to an en 'ne with more cylinders by the use of any 0 the well known forms of distributing devices. My device does not interfere with the movements of the interrupter when accelerating or retarding the spark and my switch by which the battery current through the commutator is closed and by which the bridge connection is made for closing the circuit through the commutator when the battery circuit is cut out is positive in action and manually operable by the operator. The switch is naturally placed in a convenient position for the operator to reach.

I claim:

1. The combination with an electrical generator having a revoluble armature with a primary winding and a secondary winding which is electrically connected with the spark producing means, and an external interrupter which revolves therewith and has an insulated central contact member electrically connected with one pole of the primary winding of thevarmature and a contact block which is insulated therefrom and is in operative relation with an interrupt-er lever, said interrupter lever being electrically connected with the other pole of the primary winding of the armature, of a commutator attacl'led to and insulated from the interrupter and revoluble therewith, such commutator having oppositely disposed curved plates insulated from each other, one of such plates being electrically connected with the contact block, and the other being electrically connected with the central contact member, and oppositely disposed brushes in operative relation with said plates, a battery, a direct electrical connec tion between one brush and one pole of the battery, an electrical connection between the other brush and the other pole of battery, a bridge connection between the first named brush and the last named electrical connection, and a switch in the last named electrical connection adapted to close the circuit between the brushes, to open it and close the circuit through the battery or to open both circuits.

2. The combination of an electrical generator having a revoluble armature with a primary winding and secondary winding which is electrically connected with the spark producing means,-an interrupter outside of the generator which is revoluble with the armature and has an insulated contact block in operative relation with an interrupter lever which is electrically connected with one pole winding of the armature,

of the primary winding of the armature, a battery, electrical connections between the battery and a commutator, and said commutator which is revoluble with the interrupter and is interposed in the electrical connections 'between the other pole of the armature and the contact block and is adapted to transform the direct battery current into an alternating current through the primary with a bridge connection and a switch whereby the battery current through the commutator can be closed or opened, and the current between the commutator poles can be closed or opened.

3. The combination of an electricalgen erator having an armature with a primary winding and a secondary windingwhich is electrically connected with the spark producing means, an interrupter, a battery, a commutator, and electrical connections whereby the battery current passes through the commutator by which it is transformed into an alternating current through the interrupter and through the primary winding of the armature, with a manually operable switch and a bridge connection whereby the battery may be cut out and the primary circuit closed through the commutator.

4. The combination of an electrical generator having a revoluble armature with a primary winding and a secondary winding which is electrically connected with spark producing means, an interrupter, a battery, a commutator revoluble with the armature, and electrical connections whereby the battery current passes through the commutator by which it is transformed into an alternating current synchronous with the current produced in the generator when the armature is revolved, which current passes through the interrupter and through the primary winding of the armature, with a manually operable switch and a bridge connection whereby the battery may be cut out and the primary circuit closed through the commutator.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature. I

MELVIN M. oasrnn.

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