Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7436186 | Method for generating a simulated sensor signal pattern for a marking gap in a signal-generating disk A method for generating a simulated sensor signal pattern for a marking gap of a signal-generating disk which is coupled with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, the signal-generating disk having a marking by the alternating positioning of teeth and tooth... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7030573 | High intensity discharge strobe lamp assembly and method for producing attenuated-EMI strobe illumination A high intensity discharge (HID) strobe lamp assembly including an HID lamp and circuitry arranged to maintain a current flow to the arc gap of the lamp throughout the powered operation of the lamp during strobing emissions as well as non-strobing operation. The lam... | 04/18/2006 |
| 6823275 | Fault tolerant apparatus and method for determining a revolution rate of a gear An apparatus comprises an edge detector, a memory and a pulse-input engine. The edge detector is configured to receive an input signal and a counter signal. The edge detector is further configured to send a set of time values based on the input signal and the counte... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6711513 | Fault tolerant apparatus and method for determining a revolution rate of a gear A measurement system and method for determining a revolution rate of a rotating gear is described. Such a rotating gear can be, for example, a turbine or compressor. The described measurement system and method, for example, can perform highly accurate measurements a... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6653840 | Ion current detecting device for internal combustion engine In an engine ignition unit, a transistor and a current detecting resistor are connected to primary and secondary windings of an ignition coil, respectively. The current detecting resistor is used for detecting a current flowing between the opposing electr... | 11/25/2003 |
| 6492818 | Apparatus and method for determining component fault conditions as a function of primary coil voltage in a capacitive discharge ignition system An apparatus for determining component fault conditions associated with a capacitive discharge ignition system for an internal combustion engine includes a number of AC coupling circuits connected to a spark detection circuit, wherein the combination is r... | 12/10/2002 |
| 6459267 | Cylinder identifying apparatus for combustion engine A cylinder identifying apparatus comprising a crank angle sensor 20 detecting a crank angle of a combustion engine 14 having a plurality of cylinders, a cylinder identifying means 31 identifying a cylinder to be controlled by an output signal from the cra... | 10/01/2002 |
| 6111413 | Digital degree wheel for testing ignition timing A digital degree wheel is provided including an engine sensor mounted to at least one of a camshaft, distributor and crankshaft of a vehicle for generating an activation signal after the detection of the rotation thereof. An ignition sensor connected to a... | 08/29/2000 |
| 6104195 | Apparatus for detecting a condition of burning in an internal combustion engine An apparatus for detecting a condition of burning in an internal combustion engine includes a pair of opposed electrodes provided in a combustion chamber of the engine, and an AC voltage applying device for applying an AC voltage between the opposed elect... | 08/15/2000 |
| 5883510 | Tachometer system picking up ignition signals from vehicle ground A ground pick-up tachometer for detecting a rotational speed of an engine in a vehicle includes a probe arranged for connection to a vehicular ground to detect signals emitted from an ignition system of the engine. A tachometer circuit is operatively conn... | 03/16/1999 |
| 5767681 | Timing light for automotive engines A timing light for adjusting an engine's timing has a stroboscopic lamp for illuminating the timing marks and a trigger circuit for causing the stroboscopic lamp to illuminate the timing marks at a desired time. The trigger circuit has an input circuit re... | 06/16/1998 |
| 5644491 | Self contained multi-function engine monitor and timer for providing engine running time, job time, service time and tachometer functions An engine monitor includes, in a self-contained preferably sealed unit, a spark sensor, inductively and capacitively coupled through the case to a spark pick up wire, a timer, and a running time detector, responsive to inputs from the spark pick up to pro... | 07/01/1997 |
| 5625143 | Misfire detector for internal combustion engine A misfire detector for an internal combustion engine is provided which, if any of a plurality of modification factors is replaced by a value out of the proper range, can prevent erroneous misfire detection from, continuing. The misfire detector comprises ... | 04/29/1997 |
| 5612620 | Inductive pickup sensor with enhanced cross-talk immunity An inductive pickup sensor employing an isolation transformer to achieve substantially improved immunity to capacitively-induced cross-talk signals is provided. A magnetic pickup coil is coupled to a spark plug wire to receive a spark signal. The spark si... | 03/18/1997 |
| 5610327 | Knock sensor-triggered timing light with visible laser retro-reflecting control A diesel timing light includes a flash circuit for flashing a xenon lamp in response to ignition events sensed by a knock sensor. A trigger circuit enables the flash circuit only in the presence of an enable signal, which is generated by a sensing circuit... | 03/11/1997 |
| 5293308 | Inductive power distribution system A contactless inductive power distribution system operating at 10 KHz has a self tuning resonant power supply connected to a resonant primary conductive path comprising a pair of parallel litz wire conductors each encapsulated within an insulated sheath a... | 03/08/1994 |
| 5194813 | Spark ignition analyzer A spark ignition analyzer comprising a probe having a first and second pick-up responsive to a voltage from an ignition wire, a high tension detector for detecting an absolute voltage increase from the first pickup and triggering a first visual signal for... | 03/16/1993 |
| 5189373 | Ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine with engine cylinder misfiring detector having an ionization current noise filter An ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine is provided in which malfunctions due to noise induced by a high ignition voltage can be avoided in a reliable manner. A controller controls the ignition timing of a cylinder of the engine in synchro... | 02/23/1993 |
| 5184080 | Test apparatus for opto-electronic time based generator of an ignition system A test and maintenance method and apparatus for an ignition system of an internal combustion engine, such as an outboard marine engine, which includes an advanced timing schedule, a nonadvanced timing schedule, and a circuit for switching between the two ... | 02/02/1993 |
| 5146168 | Variable sensitivity timing analyzer A timing analyzer for engine diagnostic testing includes a variable sensitivity knob for testing ignition timing for both a conventional four stroke engine and a DIS four stroke engine. The timing analyzer has a pickup which is adapted to be placed around... | 09/08/1992 |
| 5144560 | Control method for an internal combustion engine and apparatus therefor An engine control apparatus for shifting an ignition timing signal to an ignition coil (48) so that the engine produces optimum torque generates a pseudo random signal (26) which is preferably an M series signal and applies the pseudo random signal to a p... | 09/01/1992 |
| 5132625 | Distributorless ignition adapter for diagnostic oscilloscopes An ignition adapter for DIS four stroke engines provides conventional voltage waveforms for a diagnostic oscilloscope. Spark plug leads from a DIS four stroke engine are grouped together depending on their respective firing polarity. A first signal pickup... | 07/21/1992 |
| 5075627 | Circuit apparatus for measuring the primary voltage of an ignition coil The voltage developed by a primary winding of an ignition coil is supplied to a voltage divider for furnishing an analog signal of reduced amplitude for evaluation on an analog basis, which reduced amplitude analog signal is averaged by a capacitor connec... | 12/24/1991 |
| 4893085 | Ignition monitoring circuit for an ignition system of an internal combustion engine including an erroneous pulse eliminating circuit means An ignition monitoring circuit for an ignition system of an internal combustion engine of an automobile, which comprises, in addition to a pulse height and a pulse width shaper circuit, a circuit for eliminating an initial erroneous pulse which is generat... | 01/09/1990 |
| 4713617 | Digital timing light Engine timing apparatus includes a timing light and a pickup for producing a pickup signal in response to each ignition in a selected cylinder. The operator keys in the desired advance or retard angle in degrees in a range anywhere between +180° and -180... | 12/15/1987 |
| 4661778 | Ignition diagnostic monitor An ignition diagnostic monitor detects ignition malfunction. A first monostable multivibrator is coupled to an ignition module to receive the ignition signal and maintain a first logic state for a predetermined first time constant after detecting an ignit... | 04/28/1987 |
| 4658642 | Method and apparatus for detecting the ignition timing for a diesel engine A method for detecting the ignition timing for an engine comprising the steps of detecting the production in a crank angle range outside of the range where ignition can occur of a crank angle signal by a crank angle sensor at a first time point, detecting... | 04/21/1987 |
| 4594886 | Multipurpose timing light A multipurpose timing light which comprises a timing light, a tachometer and a flashlight housed in a gun shaped plastic shell which in appearance is similar to the prevailing timing gun and in addition has a flashlight underneath the gun barrel and a tac... | 06/17/1986 |
| 4575865 | System for determining time duration of angular rotation A rotating member produces a signal corresponding to a given value M of angular rotation thereof. A clock produces pulses at a given rate. A counter mechanism is responsive to the signal and to the clock pulses for generating a number related to the numbe... | 03/11/1986 |
| 4469952 | Adapter for diesel-engine-timing meter The adapter includes a housing containing a rectifier for supplying flash voltages to an LED. The rectifier rectifies inductive signals derived from an inductive pickup. The adapter can be used to enable a spark-ignited engine calibrator to calibrate a di... | 09/04/1984 |
| 4454475 | Light emission delay circuit A light emission delay circuit adjusts a light emission time of a timing light into conformity with a time when a piston in an engine cylinder reaches a top dead center in detecting an ignition time for the engine cylinder. The light emission delay circui... | 06/12/1984 |
| 4441360 | Engine timing instrument An engine timing instrument as disclosed which is particularly designed for use with diesel engines and which responds to the actual time of firing within a cylinder. A strobe may be flashed at the crankshaft angle at which firing occurs and the crankshaf... | 04/10/1984 |
| 4430647 | Monitor for detecting malfunction of a rotation-angle transducer In order to monitor the correct mounting of a rotation transducer on a rotary part, the output signal of the rotation of the indicator is caused to produce a first pulse at a particular angular position. An additional reference mark transducer is coupled ... | 02/07/1984 |
| 4417211 | Apparatus for determining the advance of a timing light A first pulse train is generated by a phase-locked loop circuit of which the frequency is adjustable to correspond to engine speeds of between 10 and 9,990 rpm. The pulse train is again divided to furnish a second pulse train for use in firing the timing ... | 11/22/1983 |
| 4409548 | Piezoelectric apparatus for generating electrically distinguishable bipolar signals This specification discloses an apparatus and method for providing electrically distinguishable signals occurring as a function of the position of a moving element. The electrical signals are generated by a piezoelectric apparatus and can be used to deter... | 10/11/1983 |
| 4395680 | Automobile timing light An automobile timing light for use with an internal combustion engine. The timing light includes a skip circuitry for regulating the time between flashes of a flash circuitry for permitting a sufficient charge to develop across a flash powering capacitor ... | 07/26/1983 |
| 4356447 | System and apparatus to determine the angular position, and speed of a rotating shaft, particularly crank shaft of an internal combustion engine To positively allocate output signals from a transducer scanning marker elements arranged at a uniform distance from the center of a rotating disk, the markers are located around the circumference of the disk in accordance with a predetermined pattern, fo... | 10/26/1982 |
| 4335599 | Device for generating a reference signal corresponding to a given operational state of a four-cycle internal combustion engine A reference signal corresponding to a predetermined state in the operation of a four-cycle internal combustion engine and especially an internal combustion engine with an odd number of cylinders, is produced by combining the pulses from a pulse generator ... | 06/22/1982 |
| 4305037 | Arrangement for measuring the conduction angle of an ignition coil in a battery-powered ignition system An instrument of the type employed to measure the conduction angle of the ignition coil of the battery-powered ignition system of an internal combustion engine comprises input connectors which are connected to terminals of such ignition system and an eval... | 12/08/1981 |
| 4262527 | Self-adjusting engine timing pickup probe A self-adjusting engine timing pickup probe adapted to be received in a tubular engine mounting bracket, the probe extending into close proximity with a position indicator on a rotating engine part to provide an air gap. An elongated sensor assembly exten... | 04/21/1981 |
