Capacitor discharge ignition system with revolution limiter

Claim 1

A capacitor discharge system for use with an ignition system of an engine wherein the ignition system includes a source of electrical energy, a coil and means for generating timing signals at a rate proportional to engine speed, said capacitor discharge system comprising: a first capacitor coupled to the coil; means for coupling said first capacitor to the source of electrical energy to permit said first capacitor to be charged by the electrical energy from said source; trigger means responsive to a triggering signal for discharging said first capacitor to provide a pulse of electrical energy to the coil each time said triggering signal is received by said trigger means; control means including a control capacitor chargeable by the source of electrical energy for providing said triggering signal to said trigger means in response to substantially each of said timing signals; revolution limiting means responsive to the engine exceeding a preselected engine speed for preventing said control means for supplying said triggering signal to said trigger means in response to substantially each of said timing signals whereby the first capacitor is not discharged in response to each of said timing signals, said revolution limiting means allowing said control means to supply said triggering signal to said trigger means in response to some of said timing signals when the engine exceeds said preselected speed whereby the revolution limiting means causes a power loss at engine speeds greater than said preselected speed but does not shut down the engine; and said revolution limiting means including a discharge path for the control capacitor, said discharge path including a variable resistor and a diode in series, said preselected engine speed being variable by varying the value of the resistance of said variable resistor.