Air charger

A continuous flow stream of combustion products conducted through a chamber, is mixed with moisture-laden ambient air and ignited by discharge from a spark plug connected to the high voltage terminal of a secondary winding in an ignition coil assembly having a primary winding connected between a source of d.c. voltage and a terminal exposed to a gaseous mixture in the chamber. The high voltage applied to the spark plug is induced by intermittent interruption of the flow of current through the ionized gaseous mixture grounded in the chamber, resulting from restricted inflow of said moisture-laden air into the chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to the treatment of combustion products discharged 
from different sources such as internal combustion engines and industrial 
processes and is an improvement over the type of anti-pollution devices 
disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,854. 
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,854, an ignition coil and spark plug within 
a suitable protective housing are installed within a heat resistant 
chamber through which a mixture of exhaust gas and moisture-laden air is 
conducted. The low voltage terminals of the ignition coil are connected to 
a d.c. voltage source and a high voltage is induced by a conventional 
circuit breaker to generate a spark through the spark plug within the 
chamber. To be effective under varying conditions, voltage regulation and 
spark discharge timing controls are necessary for operation of the 
foregoing type of anti-pollution devices. However, such controls are not 
only costly but introduce other problems and involve certain sacrifices in 
the efficiency of the anti-pollution device. It is therefore an important 
object of the present invention to provide an improvement to the 
antipollution device of the aforementioned type which is self-regulatory 
with respect to voltage and timing and thereby more effective under 
varying conditions in a less costly manner. 
PRIOR ART STATEMENT 
Aside from my prior U.S. patent aforementioned and the other prior patents 
listed and made of record therein, I and those substantively involved in 
preparing this application are not aware of any other pertinent prior art. 
The present invention as claimed is believed to be patentable over the 
foregoing prior patents referred to. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, an ignition coil device and a 
spark plug may be protectively mounted on and/or isolated from a heat 
resistant enclosure for a chamber through which a flow stream of 
combustion products is conducted, in a physical arrangement similar to 
that disclosed in my prior U.S. patent aforementioned. However, no 
mechanical circuit breaker is utilized to induce the high voltage 
necessary to generate the spark for igniting the exhaust gases. Instead, 
the negative low voltage terminal of the ignition coil device is merely 
exposed to the atmosphere within a non-conductive enclosure. Accordingly, 
the voltage induced in the ignition coil device will be controlled by the 
changes in the electrically conductive state of the grounding atmosphere 
within the enclosure chamber. The conductive state of the chamber 
atmosphere will depend on the composition of the combustion products, the 
effect of the spark plug discharge thereon, and the restricted inflow of 
moisture-laden ambient air through an anterior opening in the enclosure 
closely spaced from the inlet for the combustion products. A vent opening 
provided adjacent the outlet from the enclosure, permits escape and/or 
draining of excess water resulting from the reaction caused by the spark 
plug discharges. 
These, together with other objects and advantages which will become 
subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation 
as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to 
the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals 
refer to like parts throughout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional 
type of automotive tractor vehicle 10 propelled by an internal combustion 
engine from which combustion products are ordinarily discharged through a 
muffler 12 to atmosphere. In accordance with the present invention, an 
anti-pollution device generally referred to by reference numeral 14 is 
installed between the tail pipe 16 of the engine and the muffler 12 for 
treatment of the combustion products. A less polluting exhaust gas is 
thereby discharged from the muffler. 
A heat resistant conical enclosure 18 has an inlet section 20 connected to 
one axial end to which the engine tail pipe is connected. Combustion 
products from the engine are thereby conducted into the chamber 22 
enclosed by the enclosure 18. An outlet section 24 connects the opposite 
axial end of the enclosure to the muffler so that a flow stream of 
combustion products is continuously conducted through the chamber 22 
during engine operation. 
An anterior vent opening 26 is formed in the enclosure at the inlet end 
spaced from the inlet section 20 so as to accommodate the inflow of 
moisture-laden ambient air into chamber 22. Inflow of air is induced by 
the flow of combustion products through the chamber 22 at a relatively 
high velocity producing a suction pressure therein. The size of opening 26 
is such as to meter the quantity of ambient air mixed with the combustion 
products in chamber 22 so as to obtain a desired degree of electrical 
conductivity for the gaseous mixture. The inflow of ambient air will also 
have a cooling effect on the enclosure 14, augmented by the outflow, 
escape, venting or draining of excess water either in liquid form or as 
vapor through a posterior vent opening 28 formed in the outlet end of the 
enclosure spaced from outlet section 24. The excess water is produced by 
the reaction caused by sparking of a unit 30 mounted at the inlet end of 
the enclosure within chamber 22. 
The unit 30 includes a conical housing 32 made of an electrically 
nonconductive material having a base flange 34 received between the end 
wall of enclosure 18 and arcuate retainer elements 36 mounted exteriorly 
thereon. The housing 32 projects through an opening in the end wall of the 
enclosure into chamber 22 terminating at an apex portion 38 from which the 
electrodes of a conventional type spark plug 40 project. The spark plug is 
electrically and physically connected to the high voltage terminal 42 of a 
conventional type of automotive ignition coil device 44 protectively 
wrapped in aluminum foil. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the housing 
32 is dimensioned to hold the spark plug 40 and ignition coil device 44 in 
assembled relation to each other with one of the low voltage power 
terminals 46 of the ignition coil device connected by lead 48 to a source 
of d.c. voltage through an external terminal 50. The other low voltage 
terminal 52 of the ignition coil device is capped with a rubber or plastic 
cover within chamber 22 which communicates with the interior of housing 32 
through opening 54. Current from the voltage source is conducted to the 
external terminal 50 by a graphite or resistive wire cable 55 to avoid 
deterioration and limit charging current. The cable 55 may have a 
reistance of approximately 1.35 ohms. 
FIG. 6 diagrammatically shows the spark plug 40 within chamber 22 and 
connected to the high voltage terminal 42 of the secondary winding 56 
associated with the ignition coil device 44. The low voltage terminal 52 
exposed to the gaseous mixture in chamber 22 is shown connected to the 
primary winding 58. The primary and secondary windings are connected to 
the d.c. source through low voltage power terminal 46. As shown, the low 
voltage source is a grounded vehicle battery 60 in the case of an 
automotive vehicle installation. The ignition switch 62 connects the 
battery to the low voltage terminal 46 to render the anti-pollution device 
operative only during engine operation. 
It will become apparent from FIG. 6 that the d.c. voltage applied to the 
coil device 44 will establish an electric field within chamber 22 in view 
of the grounding of its moisture laden atmosphere through the muffler 
shell, for example, to ionize the gaseous mixture when in an electrically 
conductive state and thereby complete an electrical circuit through the 
primary winding 58. The inflow of ambient, moisture-laden air into chamber 
22 alters the electrically conductive state of the gaseous mixture 
including de-ionization to produce a change in the volt drop across the 
windings so as to induce a high voltage across the secondary winding 56 
and intermittently discharge across the gap between the electrodes of the 
spark plug within chamber 22. The spark so generated ignites and causes a 
reaction of the combustion products in chamber 22 with a frequency and 
voltage dependent on the inflow of ambient air, its moisture content and 
the composition of the combustion products. A 4:1 flow ratio of combustion 
products to air was found suitable for an automotive engine installation. 
A modification of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4, is shown in FIG. 
5, wherein the enclosure 18' is provided with an inlet section 20' and 
anterior vent 26' at the inlet end wall on which a conical housing 32' is 
mounted to enclose an aluminum wrapped ignition coil device 44 alone. The 
housing 32' and the low voltage terminal 52 is capped as in the case of 
the anti-pollution device 14 shown in FIG. 4. The low voltage terminal 46 
is directly connected to the d.c. voltage source through the resistance 
wire 55. The high voltage terminal 42 is connected by a carbon conductor 
64 to the spark plug 40 which is mounted on the inlet end wall of 
enclosure 18' separately from the housing 32'. Operation of the 
anti-pollution device shown in FIG. 5 is otherwise the same as device 14 
as described with respect to FIG. 6. 
In FIG. 2, an anti-pollution device 14' similar to device 14 shown in FIG. 
4, is installed at an industrial site where a high sulfur coal is being 
burned, for example. In such an installation, the moisture content of the 
inflowing ambient air is insufficient so that a plurality of spray heads 
66 are mounted in the enclosure 18" to which water is fed from a suitable 
source through pipe 68. A pollution free exhaust is accordingly fed to the 
chimney stack 70. In this embodiment of the invention, a larger quantity 
of excess water is drained from the enclosure 18" through drain outlet 72. 
A recirculating pump 74 recycles the drained water through pipe 76 to the 
spray heads 66 through which misted water is injected into the exhaust 
treating chamber. 
In FIG. 3, the anti-pollution arrangement shown comprises a plurality of 
units 30', similar to the unit 30 described with respect to FIG. 4. The 
units 30' are installed in an enlarged conduit 78 through which combustion 
products are conducted to a chimney stack 80. The units 30' operate to 
ignite the combustion products with a frequency and voltage that is 
self-regulated as hereinbefore described with respect to FIGS. 4 and 6. 
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the 
invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily 
occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the 
invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and 
accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, 
falling within the scope of the invention.