Internal combustion engine

Claim 1

An improved internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders coupled to a common power output shaft, the engine having means for metering a series of air rations and for metering a corresponding series of fuel rations, means for distributing the series of air rations with their corresponding fuel rations among the cylinders, each cylinder having means for firing each of its fuel rations with its corresponding air ration so as to produce a quantum of energy, the resulting series of energy quanta from all of the cylinders being delivered to the common power output shaft, the improvement comprising: an individual mixturastat connected to each one of the cylinders, the mixturastat including means for automatically adjusting downward the size of the fuel rations distributed to its associated cylinder while the size of the corresponding air rations is held constant, the average rate of fractional reduction of size, when averaged over a thousand consecutive ones of its fuel rations and constant air rations, not exceeding one half per thousand consecutive ones of its fuel rations; a mechanical energy discriminator for detecting an abnormal deficiency in the size of one of the series of energy quanta, compared to both the immediately preceding and the immediately succeeding members of the series of energy quanta, the discriminator including means for associating the abnormally deficient quantum of energy with the particular cylinder which produced it and for sending a misfire signal to that mixturastat which is connected to the particular cylinder; means within each mixturastat for automatically adjusting upward the size of fuel rations distributed to its associated cylinder when the energy discriminator sends it a misfire signal, the single fractional increase in size of the fuel ration not exceeding one fifth when the size of the air ration is unchanged.