PERFECTIONNEMENT DU ROTOR D'UN VEHICULE AUTOMOBILE

PERFECTING A ROTOR DISTRIBUTOR FOR MOTOR VEHICLE

Abrégé français

Cette invention concerne un rotor de distributeur amélioré qui produit une étincelle puissante à la bougie pour une combustion plus complète et plus propre offrant l'avantage d'un gain de puissance du moteur, d'une économie de carburant de 5 à 10 % et d'une réduction des émissions polluantes.

Abrégé anglais

This perfected rotor will produce a powerful spark
at the plug and thus the combustion will be such better
and cleaner and consequently it increases the engine's
horsepower and save fuel between 5% to 10% and also
reduces air pollution.

Revendications

I claim:
1. A rotor arm distributor for a spark-fired internal combustion engine, the rotor arm
comprising a conducting plate on a core support, characterized in that the conducting plate is
provided with a tin layer on at least the tip portion.
2. A rotor arm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conducting plate is of brass or of an alloy
of tin and brass.
3. A rotor arm as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the tin layer is between lmm and 2
mm thick.
4. A rotor arm as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ratio of tin to brass in the alloy is
substantially 50% tin and 50% brass.
5. A rotor arm as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tip portion of the rotor arm is
substantially 2 mm long and has a circumferential extension which is substantially the same as
that of a conventional rotor arm.
6. A rotor arm as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the tip portion of the rotor
arm is provided with an extension having a thickness of between 1.75 mm and at least 3 mm in
the axial direction of a core support of the rotor arm.
7. The use of a rotor arm distributor as claimed in any preceding claim, in an internal
combustion engine of a motor vehicle.

8. A rotor arm distributor for a spark-fired internal-combustion engine, said rotor arm
comprising:
a core support,
a conducting plate extending radially outwardly from said core support, said conducting
having a predetermined thickness, and
a free end tip of said conducting plate including a circumferential extension extending
axially and integral therewith and having a thickness greater than said predetermined
thickness, said extension being made of a combination of tin and brass so to increase a
contact area of said extension with a stationary metal contact to increase electrical current
conducted to said stationary metal contact and eventually to a spark plug resulting in a
stronger spark for improved combustion of fuel and increase in power output of an
engine.
9. A rotor arm as claimed in claim 8, wherein the ratio of tin to brass in the free end tip is
substantially 50% tin to 50% brass.
10. A rotor arm as claimed in claim 8, wherein a thickness at the free end tip is between 1.75
mm and at least 3 mm.

Description

20687 1 2
Title of the Invention
PERFECTING A ROTOR DISTRIBUTOR
FOR MOTOR VEHICLE
o
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in a rotor arm of a distributor of a spark-fired
internal combustion engine which is intended to increase the horsepower of the engine and at the
5 same time to economize on the fuel consumption of the engine.
Back~round of the Invention
A distributor rotor ffinctions to distribute electrical current to spark plugs of an intçrn~l
combustion engine c~llsin~ them to ignite fuel vapor in the cylinders of the engine and put the
engine in motion. The rotor is usually made of a plastic core and a conducting plate (usually a
brass plate) secured thereto. Generally, the thickness of the conducting plate is less than 1.7
millimeters and its design has changed little over many years.
The rotor arm rotates within a ring of stationary contacts (usually one for each cylinder of
the engine) whereby current at high voltage fed to the axis of the rotor arm can spark between
the outer tip of the conducting plate and each stationary contact in turn as the rotor arm turns
during operation of the engine.
With the widespread use of spark-fired internal combustion engines in motor vehicles,
any improvement in power output and/or fuel economy of the engine is desirable. Use of this
invention offers improved performance of a spark-fired internal combustion engine by means of
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20687 1 2
o a simple but unobvious modification of the distributor rotor by a cheap, readily-changeable spare
part of such engines.
Summary of the Invention
The invention concerns the provision of an increased edge area of the tip of theconducting plate of the rotor arm. Conveniently the edge of the tip includes a layer of tin or an
alloy of tin and brass. According to the invention, the area of the conducting plate available for
current tr~n~mission, when the rotor arm revolves within the ring of stationary metal contacts in
the distributor cap, is increased thus allowing a stronger electrical current to be conducted to the
o spark plugs. This additional layer may be about 1.5 millimeters thick.
A rotor arm improved in accordance with this invention has been found to produce a
more powerful spark at the plug and thus better combustion and cleaner engine running with a
consequent increase in engine horsepower and between 5% to 10% improvement in fuel
combustion and reduced air pollution from the engine exhaust gases.
Brief Description of the Drawin~s
The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to the
accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a view of a conventional rotor arm,
Figure 2 is a view of a rotor arm in accordance with this invention.
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20687 1 2
Detailed Description of the Preferred
Embodiment
The conventional rotor arm 10' shown in FIG. 1 consists of an electrically-insulating core
s support 11' (e.g. of ebonite) carrying an electrically-conducting radial plate 12' (e.g. of brass)
having a tip 13'. High voltage for firing each spark plug is led to the radially irmer end of the
plate 12' and passes through the plate to spark across from the tip 13' to a stationary contact (not
shown) as each spark plug is energized in turn as the rotor arm 10' rotates about the axis 14'.
The plate 12' would typically be of about 1.5 millimeters thickness at the tip.
The rotor arm according to the invention shown 10 in FIG. 2 differs from that shown in
FIG. 1 only by the provision of an extension 15 to the tip 13. The extension 15 is of tin or a
tin/brass alloy which is at least as thick as the plate 12 at the tip 13 and has a radial extension of
between 1 and 2 millimeters and has an extension in the circumferential direction of travel of the
15 arm which substantially matches that of the tip 13. The ratio of tin to brass in the alloy can be
about 50:50%.
In a modification, the extension 15 is of brass but has a thickness in the axial direction of
the core SUppOlt 1 1 between 1.75 millimeters and at least 3 .0 millimeters.

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