Capacitive discharge ignition circuit

Claim 1

A capacitive discharge ignition circuit for an internal combustion engine comprising a first capacitor, a direct current source, control impulse generating means coupled to said direct current source, said impulse generating means including a resistor in series with said direct current source, a second capacitor in series with said resistor, and circuit breaker means connected between the point of connection of said resistor and second capacitor and ground whereby the opening of said circuit breaker allows said second capacitor to charge through said resistor, thereby producing a control impulse, a conversion circuit connecting said first capacitor and said direct current source and operating to charge said first capacitor fRom said direct current source during successive cycles of operation, a high voltage coil, means for discharging said first capacitor into said high voltage coil during said successive cycles of operation, said conversion circuit including a blocking oscillator coupled to said control impulse generating means and turned on thereby, said blocking oscillator comprising a transformer, a saturable magnetic core on said transformer, and a transistor coupled directly to said second capacitor for receiving said control impulse, said saturable magnetic core storing a given quantity of magnetic energy in each said cycle of operation, said given quantity of magnetic energy being independent of the voltage of said voltage source, said blocking oscillator transferring said given quantity of magnetic energy to said first capacitor upon saturation of said magnetic core, said blocking oscillator triggering said means for discharging said first capacitor at a time when magnetic energy is accumulating in said saturable magnetic core whereby said energy stored in said first capacitor in the previous cycle of operation of said circuit is discharged into said high voltage coil.