An electronic device for the ignition system of an engine, which may incorporate circuitry for voltage amplification via transformer action, while also containing circuitry for sensing operational parameters, circuitry for calculation of derived values from the sensed data or operational parameters, circuitry for storage of the data and derived values, circuitry for engine system control, and circuitry for the wireless communication of data and derived values.

A combustion test system includes a power source and a corona generator coupled to the power source. The combustion test system also includes a charge storage device. The charge storage device includes a charging surface spaced apart from the corona generator such that charge carriers, motivated by an electric field of the corona generator, intersect the charging surface to charge the charge storage device. The combustion test system also includes a first electrode coupled to the charge storage device and a second electrode coupled to a reference ground. The second electrode is spaced apart from the first electrode to produce an electrical arc between the first electrode and the second electrode based on a voltage difference between the first electrode and the second electrode.

A combustion test system includes a power source and a corona generator coupled to the power source. The combustion test system also includes a charge storage device. The charge storage device includes a charging surface spaced apart from the corona generator such that charge carriers, motivated by an electric field of the corona generator, intersect the charging surface to charge the charge storage device. The combustion test system also includes a first electrode coupled to the charge storage device and a second electrode coupled to a reference ground. The second electrode is spaced apart from the first electrode to produce an electrical arc between the first electrode and the second electrode based on a voltage difference between the first electrode and the second electrode.

A method for monitoring an ignition system including a spark plug of an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The method comprises determining an operation value associated with an electrical parameter indicative of an operation of the ignition system during actuation of the spark plug. The method further comprises determining at least one parameter indicative of a current engine operation condition of the internal combustion engine, and determining a current spark plug state of the spark plug based on the at least one engine parameter and the operation value associated with the electrical parameter of the ignition system.

A semiconductor apparatus can block the voltage from the power source when the voltage from the power source reaches an excessive level, without requiring a larger chip size. Provided is a semiconductor apparatus including a power semiconductor element a gate of which is controlled in response to a control signal, an overvoltage detector configured to detect that a voltage at a collector terminal of the power semiconductor element reaches an overvoltage level, and a block unit configured to, in response to the detection of the overvoltage level, control the gate of the power semiconductor element to transition to an off-voltage. The semiconductor apparatus may further include a reset unit configured to, in response to that the control signal is input that turns on the power semiconductor element, output a reset signal for a predetermined period of time.

An internal combustion engine igniter of the present invention includes a current limiting circuit that limits current flowing to the IGBT by controlling a gate voltage of the IGBT in accordance with the current flowing to the IGBT, a waveform-shaping circuit that suppresses an oscillation of the current flowing to the IGBT by applying to the gate voltage of the IGBT an auxiliary voltage generated from a collector voltage of the IGBT when current is being limited by the current limiting circuit, and, in addition, a heat-generation suppressing circuit that obtains an intermediate voltage by resistively dividing the auxiliary voltage generated by the waveform-shaping circuit when current is being limited by the current limiting circuit, and that suppresses IGBT heat generation by increasing the current flowing to the IGBT in accordance with the intermediate voltage.

A method for operating an ignition coil is described, wherein a secondary voltage pulse is generated by feeding a primary voltage pulse into a transformer of the ignition coil, and a primary current, a primary voltage, a secondary current and/or a secondary voltage are measured, wherein the course of the primary current, the primary voltage, the secondary voltage and/or the secondary current are monitored and, when a malfunction is determined during subsequent primary voltage pulse, an error signal is generated which indicates that a malfunction has occurred during the previous primary voltage pulse and classifies the malfunction. In addition, a corresponding ignition coil is described.

A method for operating an ignition coil is described, wherein a secondary voltage pulse is generated by feeding a primary voltage pulse into a transformer of the ignition coil, and a primary current, a primary voltage, a secondary current and/or a secondary voltage are measured, wherein the course of the primary current, the primary voltage, the secondary voltage and/or the secondary current are monitored and, when a malfunction is determined during subsequent primary voltage pulse, an error signal is generated which indicates that a malfunction has occurred during the previous primary voltage pulse and classifies the malfunction. In addition, a corresponding ignition coil is described.

A method of verifying a cylinder deactivation mode on an engine is provided. The method can include activating an ignition device in a deactivated cylinder during an exhaust stroke of the deactivated cylinder. The method can include measuring a voltage of the ignition device. The method can include comparing at least one of an amplitude and a timing of a measured spike of the voltage against a baseline voltage spike. The method can include indicating a status of the deactivation mode based on the comparison against the baseline voltage spike.

A device registers an On state of a drive motor of a tool. A changing magnetic flux is produced in the On state of the drive motor. First and second peak hold detectors generate upper and lower peak signals from induced voltage output signals. An evaluation device is configured to form a difference from the generated upper peak signal and the generated lower peak signal, and compare the formed difference with an adjustable threshold value in order to determine the On state of the drive motor when the threshold value is reached or exceeded.