Batteryless starting and ignition system and method for internal combustion engine

A batteryless starting and ignition system for a conventional automotive internal combustion engine includes a battery replacement circuit which simulates the effect of an operational automotive lead-acid battery in the engine electrical circuit while the engine is running. A jumper cable connector is wired across the replacement circuit to facilitate jump starting of the engine. The system is particularly useful to replace automotive batteries in irrigation systems in which automotive engines are adapted to drive irrigation pumps continuously for periods up to six months.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention is directed to a batteryless starting and ignition system 
for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to such a system 
including a battery replacement circuit which is connected in place of a 
conventional automotive lead-acid battery. A jumper cable connector is 
wired across the replacement circuit and a compatible jumper cable 
connector is provided to jump start the engine from an external power 
source. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
In portions of the western United States, massive agricultural irrigation 
systems often use standard automobile internal combustion engines to drive 
irrigation pumps. It is estimated that there are upwards of 100,000 of 
these automobile engines pumping water through irrigation systems in 
Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado alone. Generally the engines have been 
converted to run on natural gas, which is distributed to the engines via 
gas pipelines often paralleling the irrigation systems. 
A typical operating cycle for these engines includes starting them up in 
the spring months and leaving them running continuously until the growing 
season is over in September or October. Thus, the engines are often in 
continuous operation for six months or more. 
Although such engines are usually started only once or twice per year, it 
has been customary to provide a dedicated automotive lead-acid battery for 
each engine, with the batteries generally hauled out to the engines in the 
spring and removed in the winter. The batteries generally just sit beside 
or beneath the engines and are constantly exposed to the weather. This 
constant exposure to the elements, plus the fact that the batteries are 
continuously charged for months at a time, tends to severely shorten the 
effective battery life, with batteries often having to be replaced each 
season, or, at best, after two seasons. Furthermore, the irrigation 
systems are usually in remote locations and battery theft and/or vandalism 
is a constant problem. Of course, if a battery is removed or destroyed 
while an engine is running, the engine will shut off. The net effect is 
that each automotive battery is generally used for, at best, eight or so 
engine starts before it is discarded or stolen. 
It would be desirable to simply omit the automobile batteries from 
irrigation system engines and just jump start the engines each spring from 
a service vehicle. To accomplish this, since all such engines include an 
electrical system with a conventional alternator and voltage regulator, 
the lead-acid battery would need to be replaced with a circuit which 
"fools" the voltage regulator and alternator by simulating the closed 
circuit effect of a lead-acid battery. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In the practice of the present invention, a typical lead-acid battery for 
an internal combustion automotive engine, such as those used to drive 
irrigation pumps in large agricultural irrigation systems, is replaced by 
a circuit which simulates the closed circuit effect of the missing 
lead-acid battery to the voltage regulator and alternator. A female jumper 
cable connector physically forms a part of the circuit such that the 
engine can be easily jump started by a service vehicle. Once the engine is 
started, the jumper cable can be removed and the engine will continue to 
run. The invention is particularly useful in irrigation systems where such 
engines are placed in remote locations and typically run continuously for 
a period of several months each growing season. 
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION 
The principle objects and advantages of the present invention include: to 
provide an improved batteryless ignition and starter system for internal 
combustion engines; to provide such a system with a circuit which replaces 
a conventional automotive lead-acid battery and simulates the electrical 
effects of the missing lead-acid battery to a conventional voltage 
regulator and alternator; to provide such a system in which the 
replacement circuit includes a jumper cable connector which allows the 
engine to be easily started by a service vehicle; to provide such a system 
in which the associated engine will continue to run after the jumper cable 
is removed; to provide such a system which is simple and economical to 
produce, yet very durable and reliable; and to provide such a starter 
system which is particularly well suited for its intended purpose. 
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from 
the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying 
drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, 
certain embodiments of this invention. 
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary 
embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and 
features thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
I. Introduction and Environment 
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed 
herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are 
merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. 
Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are 
not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims 
and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to 
variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately 
detailed structure. 
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for 
convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. For example, the 
words "upwardly", "downwardly", "rightwardly" and "leftwardly" will refer 
to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words 
"inwardly" and "outwardly" will refer to directions toward and away from, 
respectively, the geometric center of the embodiment being described and 
designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words 
specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of a similar import. 
Referring to the drawings in more detail the reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 
generally designates an engine driven irrigation pumping station equipped 
with a battery replacement circuit 2 instead of a conventional automotive 
lead-acid battery. In FIG. 1, a conventional automotive internal 
combustion engine 3 is connected to drive an irrigation pump (not shown) 
via a drive shaft 4. The irrigation pump pushes water through an 
irrigation pipeline 5 and the engine 3 is cooled by water pulled from the 
pipeline 5 via an intake 6. The cooling water is returned to the pipeline 
via a return 7. 
As is typical in such irrigation systems, the engine 3 has been modified to 
run on natural gas supplied through a pipe network or remote tanks. The 
natural gas for the engine 3 is supplied through a pipe 11 and a regulator 
12. A hand operated clutch 13 is adapted to connect or disconnect the 
drive shaft 4 from a conventional automotive transmission 14. A gauge and 
control panel 15 includes a number of monitoring gauges 21 and starter 
control 22. Elevated exhaust systems 23 and manifolds 24 are provided to 
disperse engine exhaust. 
BATTERY REPLACEMENT CIRCUIT 
The battery replacement circuit 2 includes a housing 25, to which is 
attached a female Jumper cable connector 31. In FIG. 1, the circuit 2 is 
shown mounted on a support plate 32, which can be grounded to the pipeline 
5. A positive lead 33 runs from the circuit 2 to an engine starter 34. A 
jumper cable 35, which preferably incorporates matching male connectors 36 
at each end, is shown plugged into the female connector 31. A service 
vehicle 41 includes a jumper cable pigtail 42 which incorporates an 
additional female connector 43. 
The circuit 2, which is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2, includes a 
capacitor 44 connected in series on one side to a ground lead 45 including 
a safety fuse 46. The capacitor 44 is series connected on the other side 
to a positive lead 50 including a circuit with a pair of parallel opposed 
diodes 51 and 52, with the diode 52 connected in series with a resistor 
53. The positive lead 50 and the ground lead 45 are directly connected to 
respective sides of the female connector 31, as well as to the starter 34 
and ground, respectively, of the engine 3. 
OPERATION 
During the initial start-up of the irrigation system in the spring, service 
vehicles such as the truck 41 make the rounds of the irrigations pumping 
stations 1, and plug the cable 35 into the electrical system of the truck 
41 and into the female connector 31 on the circuit 2. The starter control 
22 is then pushed, engaging the starter 34 of the engine 3 with the truck 
battery. Once the engine 3 is started and running smoothly, the clutch 
lever 13 is thrown and the engine 3 starts driving the drive shaft 4, and 
thus driving the connected pump. The jumper cable 35 is then unplugged 
from the connector 31, leaving the circuit 2 connected with the 
conventional alternator and voltage regulator circuits of the engine 3. 
The voltage across the capacitor 44 will settle at approximately 12-14 
volts, and the resistance 53 simulates the typical impedance of a 
connected lead-acid battery, thus "fooling" the voltage regulator into 
assuming that a fully charged lead-acid battery is in the circuit. In one 
preferred embodiment of the invention, the capacitor 44 is 1000 
.mu.Farads, the resistor 53 is 1K Ohm, the diodes 51 and 52 are each 3 amp 
capacity and the fuse 46 is rated at 3/4 amp. Using these values for 
circuit components, the circuit 2 has been experimentally found to perform 
flawlessly in place of a typical automotive lead-acid battery continuously 
for many hours. 
The advantages of using the inventive battery replacement circuit 2, 
particularly in irrigation applications, such as the one described above, 
are manifold. All of the following undesirable traits of the conventional, 
lead-acid battery based systems are avoided, i.e. the high initial and 
ongoing costs of the batteries themselves, the labor costs of installing 
and removing them each season, the deterioration of batteries and cables 
from repeated battery installation and removal, the shortened battery 
life, the possibility of theft, and the lead-acid battery storage costs 
and hazards. By contrast, the use of the inventive system involves a low, 
one-time start-up cost, no chemical hazard or storage problems, no or 
extremely low maintenance and long useful life. 
It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention 
have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the 
specific forms or arrangement of parts described and shown.