Claims
- 1. An ion current sense ignition bias circuit comprising:an energy storage device operatively connected in series with a spark gap and an ignition coil secondary winding, said energy storage device charged by a spark current of said ignition coil secondary winding said energy storage device acting as an ion current generating source; a first voltage control device operatively connected in parallel with said energy storage device, said first voltage control device limiting a voltage to be charged onto said energy storage device by said spark current to within a specified value; a diode in series with said first voltage control device; a first resistor operatively connected in parallel with said diode; said energy storage device, said first voltage control device, said diode, and said first resistor are located in proximity to said ignition coil secondary winding; a second resistor operatively connected in series with said first resistor, via an electrical harness wire, a voltage across which corresponds to a measured ion current; a second voltage control device operatively connected in parallel with said second resistor, said second voltage control device oriented and configured allow a selected magnitude of voltage to be generated across said second resistor by said ion current without voltage limiting; and said second resistor and said second voltage control device located in proximity with a remote module for measurement and processing of said measured ion current.
- 2. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said energy storage device, said first voltage control device, said diode, and said first resistor are integrated into said ignition coil.
- 3. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said second voltage control device and said second resistor are integrated into said remote module.
- 4. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said electrical wire harness separates said diode and first resistor from said second voltage control device and said second resistor.
- 5. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said first voltage control device is a zener diode.
- 6. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said second voltage control device is a zener diode.
- 7. The circuit of claim 1 further including a second energy storage device, said second energy storage device operatively connected in parallel with said second resistor.
- 8. The circuit of claim 7 wherein said second energy storage device is sized and configured to provide filtering of said measured ion current.
- 9. The circuit of claim 7 wherein said second energy storage device is a capacitor.
- 10. An ion current sense ignition bias circuit comprising:an energy storage device operatively connected in series with a spark gap and an ignition coil secondary winding, said energy storage device charged by a spark current of said ignition coil secondary winding said energy storage device acting as an ion current generating source; a first voltage control device operatively connected in parallel with said energy storage device, said first voltage control device limiting a voltage to be charged onto said energy storage device by said spark current to within a specified value; a diode in series with said first voltage control device; a first resistor operatively connected in parallel with said diode; said energy storage device, said first voltage control device, said diode, and said first resistor are located in proximity to said ignition coil secondary winding; a second resistor operatively connected in series with said first resistor, via an electrical harness wire, a voltage across which corresponds to a measured ion current; a second voltage control device operatively connected in parallel with said second resistor, said second voltage control device oriented and configured allow a selected magnitude of voltage to be generated across said second resistor by said ion current without voltage limiting; said second resistor and said second voltage control device located in proximity with a remote module for measurement and processing of said measured ion current; and wherein said first resistor and said first voltage control device are located between said ignition coil secondary winding and a circuit leakage impedance.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/214,568, filed Jun. 28, 2000 the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/214568 |
Jun 2000 |
US |