Timing device

Claim 1

In an automotive engine having plural cylinders, a fan belt pulley and a distributor, the combination of a plurality of equally spaced contacts on the pulley, the number of said contacts corresponding to the number of cylinder firings per revolution of said pulley and a timing device permanently mounted in said engine for enabling the timing of any cylinder to be adjusted to a predetermined condition, said device being fixedly mounted in said engine adjacent said pulley and comprising a plate carrying markings corresponding to the desired timing position fixedly mounted in said device, a movable body member coupled to the plate for lateral movement with respect thereto and carrying a spring-loaded plunger, adjustable means connected to said body to move said body and said plunger carried thereby laterally in the direction of rotation of said pulley and in the opposite direction thereto, said adjustable means also including a movable pointer that moves together with said body and plunger and across said fixed plate, said plunger being electrically connected to a timing light and to a spark plug wire in the distributor, whereby upon rotation of said pulley said plunger makes electrical and mechanical contact with said equally spaced contacts on said pulley to cause sequential flashing of said timing light to indicate whether the distributor has been adjusted sufficiently to achieve the desired timing corresponding to the position of the pointer relative to the markings on the fixed plate.