Rotary combustion engine ignition

Claim 1

A rotary internal combustion engine having a housing with an internal rotor defining with said housing a plurality of variable volume working chambers, a primary electrode mounted in said housing and exposed to said chambers, a plurality of secondary electrodes on said rotor, one in each of said chambers, said primary and secondary electrodes being positioned such that the outer surface of the secondary electrode of each working chamber passes in closely opposed relation to said primary electrode when said working chamber is near its position of smallest volume, and means adapted to create and momentarily maintain an electric arc between the primary electrode and each of the secondary electrodes during various portions of the movement of said electrodes in opposed relation, said arc being of intensity sufficient to ignite a combustible fuel-air mixture in the respective working chamber, said secondary electrodes each having their outer surfaces profiled to form a plurality of adjacent, circumferentially spaced areas arranged in sTep-like fashion, said adjacent areas being positioned at differing levels to provide a predetermined variation of clearance between the primary electrode and the adjacent areas of the secondary electrode as they pass sequentially opposite the primary electrode so as to vary in a desired manner the length and intensity of arcs initiated and maintained between said electrodes during said various portions of their movement in opposed relation.