Patent ID: 7661402

Claim:
A multipoint ignition engine, comprising: a cylinder head having a combustion chamber formed on a bottom surface thereof; a cylinder block having a cylinder in a position opposing the combustion chamber; a piston accommodated in the cylinder; a central electrode pair, disposed in a center of the combustion chamber, for forming a central spark gap; and a plurality of peripheral electrode pairs held in an insulating member, which has an opening portion having a.substantially equal diameter to an opening portion of the cylinder in a position corresponding to the opening portion in the cylinder, for forming a plurality of peripheral spark gaps around an inner periphery of the opening portion in the cylinder, wherein an air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, which is obtained by mixing together fuel and air evenly, is ignited using both the central spark gap and the plurality of peripheral spark gaps, and wherein a voltage is applied to the peripheral electrode pairs after a voltage is applied to the central electrode pair, so that ignition by the peripheral spark gaps occurs after ignition by the central spark gap.