Patent Publication Number: US-8994257-B2

Title: Spark plug for internal combustion engine and method for manufacturing same

Description:
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-41452 filed on Feb. 28, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a spark plug for use in an internal combustion engine of an automobile, a cogeneration apparatus, a gas feed pump, etc., and to a method of manufacturing the spark plug. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Generally, a spark plug for use in an internal combustion engine includes a center electrode, an insulator disposed around the outer periphery of the center electrode, a mounting bracket disposed around the outer periphery of the insulator, and a ground electrode disposed so as to extend from the mounting bracket and form a spark discharge gap with the center electrode. It is known to provide such a spark plug with a highly durable noble-metal chip at the spark discharge gap thereof. For example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-34826. 
     Incidentally, since the joining between the noble-metal chip and the center electrode or ground electrode as a base material electrode is performed by welding, a weld portion is formed therebetween. Accordingly, to achieve high durability thanks to the noble-metal chip, the reliability between the noble-metal chip and the base material electrode through the weld portion has to be sufficiently high. 
     SUMMARY 
     An exemplary embodiment provides a spark plug for an internal combustion engine comprising: 
     a center electrode; 
     an insulator disposed around an outer periphery of the center electrode; 
     a mounting bracket disposed around an outer periphery of the insulator; 
     a ground electrode disposed so as to extend from the mounting bracket and form a spark discharge gap with the center electrode; and 
     a columnar noble-metal chip having a diameter of D and joined, through a weld portion, to a distal end of at least one of the center electrode and the ground electrode as a base material electrode, 
     wherein, when 
     Q designates a central axis line of the noble-metal chip, 
     P 0  designates an intersection point in a cross-section of the noble-metal chip passing through the central axis line Q at which the central axis line Q intersects with a boundary line designated by D/4 between the weld portion and the noble-metal chip, 
     P 1  designates an intersection point at which a phantom axis line designated by Q 1  which is radially distant from the central axis line Q by D/4 intersects with the boundary line S 1 , 
     P 2  designates an intersection point at which a phantom axis line designated by Q 2  which is radially distant from the central axis line Q by 3D/8 intersects with the boundary line S 1 , 
     P 3  designates an intersection point at which a phantom axis line designated by Q 3  which is radially distant from the central axis line Q by D/2 intersects with the boundary line S 1 , 
     an angle which a straight line joining the intersection points P 0  and P 1  makes with the central axis line Q is θ 1 , 
     an angle which a straight line joining the intersection points P 1  and P 2  makes with the central axis line Q is θ 2 , and 
     an angle which a straight line joining the intersection points P 2  and P 3  makes with the central axis line Q is θ 3 , 
     the angle θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3  are all larger than or equal to 70 degrees, 
     and wherein, when 
     an axial thickness along the central axis line Q of the weld portion is B, 
     X designates an intersection point at which an extension of a contour line of the base material electrode in the vicinity of the weld portion intersects with a boundary line designated by S 2  between the weld portion and the base material electrode, and 
     an axial distance along the central axis line Q between the intersection points P 3  and X is A, 
     relational expressions of B≧0.7A and 0.3 mm≦A≦0.6 mm are satisfied. 
     The exemplary embodiment also provides a method of manufacturing the spark plug recited in claim  1 , comprising the steps of: 
     laying the noble-metal chip on a distal end surface of the base material electrode; and 
     applying a pulsed laser beam to a boundary portion between the base material electrode and the noble-metal chip while shifting a point of application of the pulsed laser bean in a circumferential direction of the boundary portion, 
     wherein 
     an angle of application of the pulsed laser beam to the boundary portion is in a range from ±10 degrees from a 90-degree angle with respect to the central axis line Q, and 
     emission energy of the pulsed laser beam is maximum at a first pulse emission, and thereafter is gradually decreased with the increase of the number of times of pulse emission. 
     According to the exemplary embodiment, there is provided a spark plug including a noble-metal chip joined to abase material electrode which is excellent in the reliability in the joining between the noble-metal chip and the base material electrode, and can be manufactured at low cost. 
     Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description including the drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the accompanying drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a partially cut longitudinal cross-section of a spark plug according to Embodiment 1 of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram explaining the shape in the longitudinal cross-section of a weld portion between a center electrode (base material electrode) and a noble-metal chip of the spark plug according to Embodiment 1 of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram explaining definition of angles θ 1  to θ 3  in the shape in the longitudinal cross-section of the weld portion; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram explaining a welding method between the center electrode (base material electrode) and the noble-metal chip; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram showing the structure of a laser beam emission apparatus used for welding between the center electrode and the noble-metal chip; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram showing a temporal variation of energy of a pulsed laser beam emitted from the laser beam emission apparatus; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram showing a temporal variation of the temperature of the weld portion due to application of the pulsed laser beam; 
         FIG. 8  is a photograph showing the longitudinal cross-section of the weld portion between the center electrode and the noble-metal chip of the spark plug according to Embodiment 1 of the invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram showing the structure of a laser beam emission apparatus used for welding between a center electrode (base material electrode) and a noble-metal chip of a spark plug as comparative Example 1; 
         FIG. 10  is a photograph showing the longitudinal cross-section of the weld portion between the center electrode and the noble-metal chip of the spark plug of Comparative Example 1; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram showing, as a first model shape, a modeled version of the spark plug according to Comparative Example; 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram showing, as a second model shape, a modeled version of the spark plug according to Embodiment 1; 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram showing, for different thicknesses of the weld portion, values of the thermal stress occurred in the first and second model shapes; and 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram showing a relationship between the angles θ 1  to θ 3  and the maximum thermal stress in the spark plug according to Embodiment 1 of the invention. 
     
    
    
     PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiment 1 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a spark plug according to Embodiment 1 of the invention includes a center electrode  4 , an insulator  3  disposed around the outer periphery of the center electrode  4 , a mounting bracket  2  disposed around the outer periphery of the insulator  3  and a ground electrode  5  disposed so as to extend from the mounting bracket  2  and form a spark discharge gap G with the center electrode  4 . 
     The mounting bracket  2  includes a mounting thread section  20  at its outer periphery. The insulator  3  accommodated in the mounting bracket  2  includes an insulator distal end portion  30  projecting more toward the front side of the spark plug  1  than the mounting bracket  2 . A noble-metal chip  40  of a columnar shape having a diameter of D (mm) is joined to the distal end of the center electrode (base material electrode)  4  held inside the insulator  3  so as to project from the insulator distal end portion  30 . 
     The ground electrode  5  disposed extending from the mounting bracket  2  is bent in an L-shape so as to face the noble-metal chip  40  of the center electrode  4  at its distal end. The ground electrode  5  is formed with a projecting portion  50  at a position facing the noble-metal chip  40  of the center electrode  4 . The gap between the noble-metal chip  4  and the projecting portion  50  makes a spark discharge gap G. In this embodiment, the projecting portion  50  is made of the same material as the ground electrode  5 . Alternatively, the projecting portion  50  may be made of a noble-material chip joined to the ground electrode  5 . 
     The center electrode  4  and the ground electrode  5  are made of a Ni-based alloy having good heat resistance. The noble-metal chip  40  is made of an alloy containing Ir, Rh or Ru. 
     In this embodiment, the noble-metal chip  40  is joined by welding to the distal end of the center electrode  4  as a base material electrode. That is, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40  are joined to each other through a weld portion  45 . Next, the cross-sectional shape of the weld portion  45  is explained. 
     In  FIG. 2  showing a partial cross section of the center electrode  4  passing through the central axis line Q of the center electrode  4 , P 0  designates an intersection point at which the central axis line Q and the boundary line S 1  between the weld portion  45  and the noble-material chip  40  intersect with each other. P 1  designates an intersection point at which a phantom axis line Q 1  radially distant from the central axis line Q by D/4 and the boundary line S 1  intersect with each other. P 2  designates an intersection point at which a phantom axis line Q 2  radially distant from the central axis line Q by 3D/8 and the boundary line S 1  intersect with each other. P 3  designates an intersection point at which a phantom axis line Q 3  radially distant from the central axis line Q by D/2 and the boundary line S 1  intersect with each other. 
     In  FIG. 3  showing a partial cross section of the center electrode  4  passing through the central axis line Q, θ 1  designates an angle (degree) which the straight line joining the intersection points P 0  and P 2  makes with the central axis line Q. θ 2  designates an angle (degree) which the straight line joining the intersection points P 1  and P 2  makes with the central axis line Q. θ 3  designates an angle (degree) which the straight line joining the intersection points P 2  and P 3  makes with the central axis line Q. In the spark plug  1  according to this embodiment, θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3  are all greater than 70 degrees (requirement 1) 
     Returning to  FIG. 2 , B (mm) designates the axial thickness along the central axis line Q of the weld portion  45 . X designates an intersection point at which an extension of the contour line of the center electrode  4  and the boundary line S 2  between the weld portion  45  and the center electrode  4  intersect with each other. A (mm) designates an axial distance along the axis line Q between the intersection point P 3  and the intersection point X. In the spark plug  1  according to this embodiment, the relationships of B≧0.7A (requirement 2), and 0.3 mm≦A≦0.6 mm (requirement 3) are satisfied. 
     In  FIG. 3 , R 1  designates one of two regions which is closer to the noble-metal chip  40  (referred to as the first region R 1  hereinafter) of the weld portion  45  separated by the orthogonal cross section passing through the midpoint O on the central axis line Q, and R 2  designates the other of the two regions which is closer to the center electrode  4  (referred to as the second region R 2  hereinafter). Here, it is assumed that the content of the chemical composition constituting the metal-noble chip  40  in the first region R 1  is C 1  (mass %), and the content of the chemical composition constituting the metal-noble chip  40  in the second region R 1  is C 2  (mass %). Also, it is assumed that the relationship of |C 1 −C 2 |≦20 mass %. Each of the contents C 1  and C 2  can be obtained by measuring the chemical compositions at least at three points using an EPMA (Electron Probe MicroAnalyser), and calculating an average value of the measurements. 
     Next, a method of manufacturing the spark plug  1  having the above described structure is explained with reference to  FIGS. 4 to 7 . In this embodiment, the noble-metal chip  40  is joined to the distal end of the center electrode  4  as a base material electrode by the following steps. 
     First, the noble-metal chip  40  is laid on and pre-joined to the distal end of the center electrode  4  as shown in  FIG. 4 . In this embodiment, the center electrode  4  has a shape that includes a tapered surface  401  having a small-diameter end portion in its front end and a columnar pedestal portion  402  extending from the small-diameter end portion. The noble-metal chip  40  is placed aligned to the center of the pedestal portion  402 , and pre-joined to the pedestal portion  402  by resistance welding. 
     Next, a pulsed laser beam  8  is applied to the boundary portion between the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40 , while rotating the center electrode  4  around its central axis so that the point of application of the pulsed laser beam  8  shifts in the circumferential direction. The emission angle of the laser beam  8  is kept perpendicular (90 degrees) to the central axis line Q. 
       FIG. 5  shows the structure of a laser beam emission apparatus  7  used to emit a YAG laser beam as the laser beam  8 . The laser beam emission apparatus  7  includes an oscillator  70  having a laser emission opening  71 , a collimator lens section  72  having a focal length F 1  equal to 200 mm for collimating the emitted laser beam  8 , and a collector lens section  73  having a focal length F 2  equal to 200 mm for collecting the collimated laser beam  8 . The laser beam emission apparatus  7  is capable of reducing the laser spot diameter down to 0.15 mm. The laser beam emission apparatus  7  is the so-called CW laser oscillation apparatus capable of continuously emitting a laser beam. However, in this embodiment, the laser beam emission apparatus  7  is controlled to emit a pulsed laser beam. 
     The laser beam  8  is emitted such that the emission energy is the highest at the first pulse emission, and is gradually decreased with the increase of the number of times of the pulse emission. More specifically, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the output power of the laser beam emission apparatus  7  is set to 340 W for the first pulse emission, decreased in the order of 280 W, 260 W and 250 W for the second to fourth pulse emissions, set to 240 W for the fifth to seventh pulse emissions, set to 230 W for eighth to twelfth pulse emissions, and set to 220 W for thirteenth to fifteenth pulse emissions. 
     The time duration of each pulse emission is 6 ms, and the cooling time from the end of one pulse emission to the start of the next pulse emission is 44 ms. The rotational speed of the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40  relative to the laser beam is 80 rpm so that the first to fifteenth pulse emissions are applied to fifteen points evenly spaced along the circumference of the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40 . 
       FIG. 7  shows simulation results of temporal variation of the temperature of the weld portion  45  due to applications of the pulsed laser beam. In  FIG. 7 , the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the temperature of the weld portion  45 . Here, the temperature of the weld portion  45  is defined as the maximum of different temperatures of different parts of the weld portion  45 . In  FIG. 7 , T 1  (° C.) denotes the melting point of the center electrode  4 , and T 2  (° C.) denotes the melting point of the noble-metal chip  40 . As seen from  FIG. 7 , the temperature of the weld portion  45  exceeds the melting point T 2  of the noble-metal chip  40  after each application of the pulsed beam, and thereafter decreases below the melting point T 1  of the center electrode  4  before the next application of the pulsed beam. 
       FIG. 8  is a photograph showing the longitudinal cross-section of the weld portion  45  between the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40  obtained by the above described method. In  FIG. 8 , the noble-metal chip  40  is shown in the upper side, the weld portion  45  is shown in the middle side, and the tapered portion of the center electrode  4  as a base material electrode is shown in the lower side. As seen from  FIG. 8 , since the thickness variation along the radial direction of the weld portion  45  is small, the foregoing requirements 1 to 3 are satisfied. 
     For each of the first region R 1  and the second region R 2  constituting the weld portion  45 , the chemical compositions were measured at three different points, and the average value was calculated. As a result, it was found that the first region R 1  contains Ir, which is the composition of the noble-metal chip, by 55 mass % on average, and the second region R 2  contains Ir by 38 mass % on average. Accordingly, it was confirmed that |C 1 −C 2 |=17 mass % which is lower than 20 mass %. 
     As described above, the spark plug  1  according to this embodiment satisfies the first requirement that the angles θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3  are all greater than 70 degrees, and the second requirement of B≧0.7A where B is the axial thickness and A is the axial distance. Accordingly, the thickness variation along the radial direction of the spark plug  1  can be made small. More specifically, although the axial thickness of the weld portion  45  becomes smaller in the direction from its outer periphery to its axial center, it is possible to prevent the thickness variation from becoming excessively abrupt. Since this makes it possible to lessen the thermal stress applied between the weld portion  45  and the noble-metal chip  40  or the center electrode  4 , the reliability of the joining between them can be increased. 
     Further, since the weld portion  45  satisfies that the difference between C 1  and C 2  is smaller than 20 mass %, it is possible to prevent cracks from being formed by the thermal stress due to non-uniformity of the chemical compositions of the weld portion  45 . 
     The spark plug  1  satisfies, in addition to the first and second requirements, the third requirement of 0.3 mm≦A≦0.6 mm where A is the axial distance A. Accordingly, since the volume of the weld portion  45  can be limited within an appropriate value, it is possible to reduce an amount of the noble-metal chip necessary to form the weld portion  45 . Since this makes it possible to reduce a use amount of the expensive noble-metal chip  45 , the manufacturing cost of the spark plug  1  can be reduced. 
     In the method of manufacturing the spark plug  1  described above, the angle of application of the pulsed laser beam  8  to the boundary portion between the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40  is set substantially perpendicular to the central axis line Q. This makes it possible to suppress the shape of the weld portion  45  from suffering due to the effect of the angle of application of the laser beam. 
     As described in the foregoing, the laser beam  8  is emitted such that the emission energy is the highest at the first pulse emission, and is gradually decreased with the increase of the number of times of the pulse emission. This makes it possible to prevent the weld portion from becoming excessively large due to overlap of the heat brought by one emission of the laser beam and the succeeding emission of the laser beam. Hence, according to this embodiment, it is easy to form the weld portion  45  having the above described specific shape. 
     Further, since the laser beam emission apparatus  7  used in this embodiment excels in beam collection, and is capable of forming a laser beam spot of a very small diameter, shape control of the weld portion  45  can be performed accurately. 
     Comparative Example 1 
     An example of the weld portion formed between the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40  not satisfying the requirements 1 to 3 is shown in the following as comparative Example 1.  FIG. 9  shows the structure of a laser beam emission apparatus  97  used in this comparative Example 1. The laser beam emission apparatus  97  includes an oscillator  970  having a laser emission opening  971 , a collimator lens section  972  having a focal length F 1  equal to 90 mm for collimating the emitted laser beam  8 , and a collector lens section  973  having a focal length F 2  equal to 90 mm for collecting the collimated laser beam  8 . The laser beam emission apparatus  97  is inferior to the laser beam emission apparatus  7  used in Embodiment 1 in the beam collecting characteristics, and the laser beam spot diameter of this laser beam emission apparatus  97  is 0.4 mm at minimum. 
     In this comparative Example 1, the pulsed laser beam is applied at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the central axis line Q (see  FIG. 4 ) to the boundary portion between the noble-metal chip  40  and the center electrode  4  which is being relatively rotated. The emission energy of the pulsed laser beam is kept constant. 
       FIG. 10  is a photograph showing the longitudinal cross-section of the weld portion  45  between the center electrode  4  and the noble-metal chip  40  of this comparative Example 1. In  FIG. 10 , the noble-metal chip  40  is shown in the upper side, the weld portion  45  is shown in the middle side, and the tapered portion of the center electrode  4  as a base material electrode is shown in the lower side. As seen from  FIG. 10 , the thickness variation along the radial direction of the weld portion  45  is far larger than that in Embodiment 1, and the requirements 1 to 3 are not satisfied. 
     Evaluation Simulation 1 
       FIG. 11  is a diagram showing a modeled version M 1  of the comparative Example 1 in which the thickness of the weld portion  45  is a at its center, and increases toward its outer periphery.  FIG. 12  is a diagram showing another modeled version M 2  of the Embodiment 1 in which the thickness of the weld portion  45  is constant at b along the radial direction. In this evaluation Simulation 1, the value of the thermal stress assumed to occur in use is acquired for each of the cases where the value of the thickness a is a1 (0.2 mm), a2 (0.4 mm) and a3 (0.6 mm), and for each of the cases where the value of the thickness b is b1 (0.2 mm), b2 (0.4 mm) and b3 (0.6 mm). The results are shown in Table 1 and  FIG. 13 . 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 model No. 
                 model shape 
                 dimension of a or b (mm) 
                 stress (MPa) 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 a1 
                 M1 (FIG. 11) 
                 0.2 
                 2662 
               
               
                 a2 
                 M1 (FIG. 11) 
                 0.4 
                 3345 
               
               
                 a3 
                 M1 (FIG. 11) 
                 0.6 
                 3248 
               
               
                 b1 
                 M2 (FIG. 12) 
                 0.2 
                 1367 
               
               
                 b2 
                 M2 (FIG. 12) 
                 0.4 
                 1248 
               
               
                 b3 
                 M2 (FIG. 12) 
                 0.6 
                 1236 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     As seen from Table 1 and  FIG. 13 , the thermal stress assumed to occur in the weld portion having the shape shown in  FIG. 12  is much smaller than that shown in  FIG. 11 . Therefore, it can be inferred that the spark plug whose shape is closer to the model shape M 2  shown in  FIG. 12  than to the model shape M 1  shown in  FIG. 11  is applied with less thermal stress in use, and accordingly has excellent durability. 
     Incidentally, noble-metal chip  40  is joined to the center electrode  4  in the above described embodiment, however, the noble metal-chip  40  may be joined to the ground electrode  5 . 
     Evaluation Simulation 2 
       FIG. 14  is a diagram showing relationships between the maximum thermal stress applied between the weld portion  45  and the noble-metal chip  40  or center electrode  4  and various values of each of the angles θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3  in the spark plug according to Embodiment 1. This simulation is made assuming that the axial thickness B along the central axis line Q of the weld portion  45  shown in  FIG. 2  is constant at 0.3 mm, the curvature of the boundary line S 1  is constant along its whole length, and the tangent of the boundary line S 1  at the point P 0  is orthogonal to the central axis line Q. By determining one of the angles θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3 , the curvature of the boundary line S 1  is determined. Incidentally, the boundary line S 2  is assumed to be a line symmetrical to the boundary line S 1  with respect to the straight line passing through the midpoint O on the central axis line Q of the weld portion  45 . 
     As seen from  FIG. 14 , if at least one of the angles θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3  is smaller than 70 degrees, the maximum thermal stress increases with the decrease of this small angle, and if the angles θ 1 , θ 2  and θ 3  are all larger than or equal to 70 degrees, the maximum thermal stress can be suppressed reliably. 
     In the above described Embodiment 1, the emission energy of the pulsed laser beam is decreased with the increase of the number of times of the pulse emission to remove the effect of heat accumulation. However, the way to remove the effect of heat accumulation may be achieved by increasing the interval of the pulse emission or by provision of a cooling means. In these cases, the emission energy of the pulsed laser beam can be constant. 
     The above explained preferred embodiments are exemplary of the invention of the present application which is described solely by the claims appended below. It should be understood that modifications of the preferred embodiments may be made as would occur to one of skill in the art.