Automotive internal combustion engine

Claim 1

An internal combustion engine comprising a mixture supply system for producing a mixture of air and fuel to be delivered into the engine cylinders, an exhaust system having therein a catalytic converter which is reactive to at least one type of air-contaminative compound in the exhaust gases passed through the exhaust system and which is capable of producing a maximum conversion efficiency against the exhaust gases resulting from a mixture having a predetermined air-to-fuel ratio, an exhaust sensor for detecting the concentration of at least one chemical component in the exhaust gases passed through the exhaust system and producing an output signal representative of the detected concentration of said chemical component, control means responsive to the output signal of said exhaust sensor for regulating the air-to-fuel ratio of the mixture to be produced in said mixture supply system toward said predetermined air-to-fuel ratio on the basis of said signal, detecting means for detecting engine temperature and producing an output signal representative of the detected engine temperature, a control circuit responsive to the output signal of said detecting means for producing an output signal when the signal from the detecting means is indicative of an engine temperature lower than said predetermined level, an ignition system including a vacuum spark advance mechanism to produce vacuum advance responsive to the vacuum developed in the engine intake manifold through a vacuum passageway, ignition timing retarding means including valve means electrically connected to said control circuit and operable to interrupt the communication between the vacuum advance mechanism and the intake manifold through said vacuum passageway and provide communication between the vacuum advance mechanism and the open air in response to the output signal delivered from said control circuit whereby said vacuum advance mechanism is disabled from producing the vacuum spark advance in the presence of the output signal from said control circuit, said valve means comprising a valve chamber formed with an air inlet port open to the atmosphere and an air outlet port in communication with said vacuum passageway, a valve element movable in said valve chamber between a first position to close said air inlet and outlet ports and a second position opening the air inlet and outlet ports concurrently for providing communication therebetween, said valve element being in the first and second positions thereof in the absence and presence, respectively, of the output signal from said control circuit, and a plunger with a conical free end movable together with said valve element between a position to provide vacuum communication through said vacuum passageway in response to the movement of said valve element into said first position thereof and a position to block said vacuum communication by the abutment of said conical free end onto a corresponding conical passage portion in said vacuum passageway and provide air communication between the vacuum advance mechanism and the atmosphere through said air inlet and outlet ports in response to the movement of said valve element into said second position thereof.