Ignition device

Claim 1

An ignition device for a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having at least one spark plug for each cylinder, said ignition device comprising: a respective ignition transformer assigned to each of said spark plugs, each of said ignition transformers having a primary winding and a secondary winding; a plurality of ignition capacitors, commonly connected on one side with the primary windings of said transformers and being individually connected on the opposite side to a charging current source; a respective discharge switch connected to each of said capacitors; a first control circuit connected to said discharge switches for operating same in a preprogrammed step-by-step sequence, said capacitors each being connected in circuit with at least one of said discharge switches and each discharge switch being connected in circuit with at least one of said capacitors whereby the energy level applied through the respective primary windings is controlled by the operation of said switches by said first control means for each spark plug firing; respective ignition distributing switches connected between each primary winding and said source and operable independently of said discharge switches; second control means including a step-by-step actuator operatively connected to said ignition distributing switches for successive operation thereof; means for connecting each of said primary windings to a respective spark plug; and trigger means positively connected to said internal combustion engine for clocking said actuator and simultaneously activating said first control circuit to select the respective energy level per spark plug firing.